It's Vacation Time!
Travel Ideas
We have come to a wonderful part in the year where many people take vacations. Some are short, just over to Grandma's house or a nearby vacation spot; some are long cross country trips or maybe even to another country. Whether you're in the first category or the second, or maybe somewhere in the middle, don't miss out on this great opportunity for the words "fun" and "educational" to come together! Before you go on your trip make sure to grab an atlas your children can use. If you don't have one, a good resource to have is the Kid's Road Atlas. Your family can follow along on your journey and learn a few things about traveling and reading maps. Point out things such as landmarks, state parks, state boundaries, rivers, or cities as you pass them and then see if they can be found on the map. Another great idea is to time how long it takes to travel a certain distance. This helps children gain real life experience in making estimates of things like time and distance. You could introduce the idea of miles per hour and the speedometer and then see if you truly do go 60 miles in one hour.
Another valuable experience is to have your children help determine the best route to get to your destination. By taking that route they might realize the small, curvy roads take much longer than the highways. If you take a different way home, you can then talk with them about what was better about one route or the other. This develops the thinking skill of comparing and contrasting, which looks at what is the same and what is different about two things. Perhaps they will realize that they like the more scenic routes better than the highways. Either way you look at it, they're learning!
I hope everyone gets a chance to take a trip this summer. Whether it's for a couple of hours, or a couple days, it's worth it! Be sure to stay safe, and have lots of fun.
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