Help your child learn social studies

1. Help your child learn all that is possible about the natural world in which we live. Encourage curiosity in the area of geography, land formations, climate and weather. Try to answer questions when your child is young and, when older, explain to your child how to find the answers. Discuss current events, encourage the reading of newspapers and periodicals and the watching of local and national news telecasts.
2. Provide your child with social studies research materials, including a dictionary, atlas, globe and almanac. A map of the city and gasoline road maps are excellent for plotting trips and helping the child understand geographic relationships. Keep the research items conveniently close to the TV set for use during news and documentary programs.
3. Widen your child's horizons with visits to the airport, the docks, the courthouse, the museum, a historic landmark, a factory, a newspaper or whatever is available in your community. Some television stations and local newspapers schedule guided tours.
4. On trips, provide your youngster with notebooks and pencils. Encourage the child to draw pictures and make notes of things of interest along the way. Help with the collection of samples to take back to the classroom.
5. Map puzzles are good "learn as you play" items for youngsters. Distinctive shapes of states, countries, and continents form pictures in the child's mind to help your child learn and remember.
6. Discuss the world of work with your child, including the demands of various jobs and professions and the work and training necessary to qualify. Stress the idea that training can begin at an early age and that attention to school work is vital for future success. Feel out notions about future career plans, including personal preferences, inclinations and natural skills.
7. Teach your child the importance of being a good citizen by discussing at the dinner table local candidates for public office, issues and problems of the community. Help with the judgment of each person individually rather than by race, creed, or color, by curbing unthinking remarks about others. Give books that reflect the diversity of American culture. Don't be afraid to guide talk with your teenagers into the fascinating realm of ideas. Junior high and high school students love "bull sessions" on serious topics.
8. REMEMBER! Listen with interest, encourage and ask questions, be generous with praise, enthusiasm and sympathy. You can bridge the gap between home and school and make learning fun for both you and your child.