The World According to Children

I've spent several days over the past couple weeks teaching at an elementary school that I had never gone to previously. Since each lesson was the first time for the kids to have English class with the super cool, slightly crazy foreigner, I brought my huge world map and showed them where I came from.

The map is Eurocentric (like what all my readers are probably used to). This tends to throw the children off a bit, since most of their maps feature Japan front and center (Asia on the left and the Americas on the right).

"Where is Japan on the map?"--I have kids come up and point to it.

"No...that's Madagascar."

"Nope, that's New Zealand...you're getting closer."

Finding the US is even more fun.

"That's China."

"That's Russia."

"That's Australia. They speak English there."

"Mongolia?"

At some point I give a kid a little nudge over to the left. Or perhaps another merely started by staring intently at Africa.

"No. That's the Democratic Republic of Congo."

Sometimes I see their eyes on the correct hemisphere.

"Nope. That's Brazil."

"That's...what is that Cuba? [squints]. That's the Dominican Republic."

I felt bad every time they pointed to Canada...so close...especially since the US is referred to as simply America. And one time, a girl pointed to Alaska and I wasn't sure whether to give her credit or not.

Oh geography...looks like people are bad at it all over the world.