If your child struggles to remember the cardinal directions or can’t keep latitude and longitude straight, I have a few map reading mnemonics that might help.
These mnemonics come in the form of acronyms, fun sentences, tips, and a poem.
I hope they help your child memorize important geography concepts.
Map Reading Mnemonics
Cardinal Directions
There are a few mnemonics for memorizing the four cardinal directions. One is this acronym:
NEWS
North
East
West
South
Then there are these fun sentences with words that begin with the same letters as the directions.
Never Eat Soggy Waffles
Never Eat Shredded Wheat
Naughty Elephants Squirt Water
Latitude and Longitude
Keeping latitude and longitude lines straight can be a challenge for anyone, but there are a few mnemonics that make it easier. Before I share them with you, keep this in mind. The Earth is not a perfect sphere. It’s actually fatter in the middle along the equator. Knowing that will help you understand these memory tricks.
For latitude:
Teach kids this saying: Lat is fat.
For longitude:
Longitude has the letter ‘n‘ like the word north and these lines run north-south.
Multiple Geography Concepts
Here’s something that will help children learn both latitude and longitude as well as other geography concepts.
The Longitude – Latitude Poem by Jacquie Eaton
The longitude lines go up and down,
While the latitude lines go round and round.
The International Dateline and the Prime Meridian,
Split the Earth down the middle like a hotdog bun.
Now wait a minute…did I hear you say?
The Equator splits it the hamburger way.
History, anthropology, archaeology
Geography, psychology, sociology.
People, places, things and ideas,
That’s what Social Studies is.
Know anyone else who could use these map reading mnemonics? Share this post with them.
Many blessings,
