How to help your child on using GPS navigation?

Iskandar Blogger 11:35 PM
It is of great benefit to show and guide the children in making use of the car GPS, a system of satellites running around the earth which enables people on earth to locate them-selves accurately and getting the right routes leading to the destination. Children are very vivacious and full of life and have the desire for going there and venturing into unknown places. They will become helpless when they have to go out alone to an unknown place like a mall or they can not find a way out of the woods without the GPS. To sum up, it is of importance and necessary for the parents to teach a child how to use and operate the GPS.

The very first thing the children must know is how the map functions and geographical information and knowledge. The directional system like north, south, east, west is very basic and a must.

In term of geography, the children must comprehend how to read terrain, relationship of one place to another in physical space and the relationship between the map and the actual situations in the world. In order to make the definition and concept of recreating the physical 3D world in a dimensional way more clearly, parents are advised to combine the geography with map reading lessons. After the lesson, people can have a general idea of where other places are in relation to where they currently are as well as how to go in certain direction in reality according to the moving instructions on the map.

Then we can start to explore coordinates together with the children. First of all, it is better to draw lines horizontally and vertically over a map which they all ready know, and then tell them where the lines which meet or cross together can be identified. Then draw more lines to show them every possible coordinate-identifiable place on a map. If possible, show them a map with actual lines drawn representing the way the earth is split up and how they are termed degrees, e.g. 50 degrees north or west in order to get them to understand the terminology used on a GPS system.

After making sure that your child grasps what you have taught, show them how the LCD screen of the GPS displays a map of your current position and final destination, and how it work with the coordinates. After that, show them the way to type in new coordinates to see their location on the map. Finally, teach them the way to save the coordinates so that they don’t need to take the trouble to keep common places they want to go in mind.

Then you should use the GPS device to inform the child of finding the way to different places. Show what you are doing first. When they are ready for a go, give them a chance to try it.

Surely your clever and lively child has mastered what you teach and is able to find his way.

You May Also Like