INA News

The INA Nanny of the Year Committee is taking nominations for the Nanny of the Year. The nanny need not be a super star, but someone who epitomizes the "role model" nanny. She takes her job and profession seriously, while carrying out her duties with grace and humor. In past years, the Nanny of the Year has had a variety of backgrounds and experiences. The nannies that are nominated are recognized at the Annual Conference.

I have sent a letter to all of your employers about this award and would love to see you nominated!!! You need to join INA (which you should join in any event!).

This year The Philadelphia Nanny Network, Inc. will sponsor the winning nanny's air travel to the conference. Go to the web site for the International Nanny Association, www.nanny.org for more information. The INA Annual Conference is June 20-23, 2002 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The hotel site is the Radisson Bahia Mar Beach Resort. Sounds like fun, doesn't it!!!!

Helping Young Children Learn Geography

Children are playing in the sand. Melissa makes roads for cars. Max builds a castle where the doll can live. Lucy scoops out a hole, using the dirt to make a hill and Peter pours water in the hole to make a lake. Peter finds sticks for bridges and trees. Max names the street and Melissa uses the watering can to make rain. Although they don't know it, these children are learning the basic principles of geography. They are locating things, seeing how people interact with the earth, manipulating the environment, learning how weather changes the character of a place, and how places relate to each other through the movement from one place to another. Nannies can use playful activities to informally help their charges learn more about geography-the study of the earth.

Region: How They Form and Change

Geographers categorize regions in two basic ways-physical and cultural. Physical regions are defined by landform, climate, soil and natural vegetation. Cultural regions are distinguished by political, economic, religious, linguistic, agricultural and industrial characteristics.

• Help the children understand physical regions by examining areas in the home. Do you have an eating area? Is there a sleeping area? What other regions are in the home?
• Take children to visit other different political, residential, recreational, ethnic, and commercial regions of their city.
• Explore ethnic holiday themes to learn about customs of people around the world. Use the library to discover how other people celebrate special days.
• Learn simple words in different languages.
• If you know people who are from other countries or who have traveled to far away places, invite them to speak with the children about where they have visited or lived. Ask them to bring pictures showing these places.
• Make a three-dimensional, map of the home or neighborhood, using milk cartons for buildings. Use bottle tops or smaller boxes to add interest to the map, but try to keep the scale relationships proportionate.

Geography is a way of thinking, of asking questions, of observing and appreciating the world around us. You can help children learn by providing interesting activities for them and by prompting them to ask questions about their surroundings.

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