Educational Gift Helps Prepare Young Kids for Ivy League Schools

Several Ivy League schools have changed their curricula to reflect the importance of international knowledge in the global economy. Parents who have aspirations for the leading universities, can help their young kids by giving the new childrens world map as an educational gift.

Boston, MA (PRWEB) November 26, 2004 -- A recent review of the undergraduate curriculum at Harvard has concluded that its students need a far better grasp of international affairs. The review recommends several reforms of the curriculum with the aims of helping students, appreciate other cultures, develop global competency, and work as part of cross cultural teams.

Other Ivy League schools have performed similar reviews and are looking at giving their curricula a much more global outlook.

The top universities are making these changes because the world is changing and in particular:

- US companies have operations in every country on the planet

- Our homes are filled with food and goods from many different countries

- Threats are taking on a global perspective eg HIV/AIDS, environmental issues, terrorism, poverty, non democratic governments

- Globalization continues at a rapid pace

At a conference earlier this year, Howard Gardner, GSE Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at Harvard, gave an educator's perspective on the effects of globalization. Education should help students synthesize information from a variety of disciplines and geographies, so they understand how economics informs politics, for instance, or that the economy of India can affect their job prospects." said Gardner.

Janice Copley, owner of Mapkids, urges active encouragement from parents, grandparents and teachers. Parents, friends and relatives can help by showing the importance of international knowledge and encouraging children to be aware of and appreciate other cultures and countries. Knowledge of the world will be a critical factor for our children to succeed in the 21st century global economy."

If you plan to get your children into one of the leading universities its well worth starting to prepare them at an early age. The new childrens world map helps kids gain a global understanding, and is specially designed to make learning fun and entertaining. It provides kids from ages 3 to 12 with a great initial understanding about our global village. The childrens world map includes hundreds of illustrations and descriptions, and shows features such as oceans, rivers, mountains and cities.

It's important for kids to gain an appreciation for our varied world and to have a global understanding of our similarities and differences. They can start this education at a very early age by being exposed to the world and learning about it's people and places." continued Copley.

In todays global economy, the childrens world map is one of the best educational gifts you can give. This large, durable, wall map is available online at http://www.mapkids.org/world-map-for-kids.html. It comes with a booklet thats full of activities to help kids learn about and appreciate our world and the global economy.

About Mapkids

Mapkids provides educational maps, booklets and newsletters to help children learn about the world they live in.

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