kids are confused about states vs countries, etc

[lgliser]

My kids are 4th graders and they still get really confused about naming cities, states, countries.... 

 

So if they're asked to name a state, they might say Africa.  Greenland.  Topeka.  Or maybe they'd get lucky and say Colorado :)

 

We've done the little craft where it's a bunch of different sized circles to show them their place in the world... Earth, our continent, our country, state, city. I think they generally grasp it but then when put on the spot, they just throw out a bunch of names of places.

 

Any tips?

[HS Mom in NC]

Don't teach them together.  Teach them one thing for a semester or so like continents. Have them just identify the continents for a few months.  Have them name the continents when they're not looking at the map. Don't talk about which countries are in those continents when you do it. 

 

Then spend a couple of semesters just  labeling countries on a world map.  Ask them to name some of those countries when they're not working on the map.

Then the next half of the year pick a country like the US if you're an American and work on labeling and naming just the states. 

This same thing happens when people try to teach left and right.  They introduce both at the same time contrasting them rather than teaching one to mastery before introducing the other. Some kids do just fine with both at the same time but some kids need them one at a time.

[Rachel]

From your thread title I was expecting your children to be younger, but perhaps it is just something that is too abstract to understand. Have your kids been to other towns, states, or even countries? My kids don't understand states as well. They can name several but often if we are in a different town within our state they don't understand it's the same state. When we have traveled to certain far away states like Texas or South Dakota they can hear different accents and see different landscapes. They struggle more when in neighboring states because they look similar to where we live and the accents are the same or similar. Talking about where we are, where we have been, and letting them have their own highway maps has helped.

 

Do your children understand attributes of countries? For example do they understand that the primary language of Mexico is Spanish and that certain foods are from Mexico? That might be how I would focus on teaching countries.

[TX Native]

Do you have maps in easy view? I constantly refer to the location on the map whenever we read about anything that has a location. We covered continents to the tune of "This Old Man." I tell the kids the US map is a blow up size of the US part of the world map. We watched "How the States got their Shapes" on Netflix a year or so ago, but am unsure if it is still on the Netflix list. I would be tempted to do a brief state study for a semester using a US atlas that notes the capital and few fun facts on each state. After that, I would do some type of geography that highlights 1-2 countries from each continent.

[rose]

It never cease to amaze me how many adults struggle with this too. A friend of mine recently referred to "the country of Africa" and she wasn't referring to the countryside. Your kiddos are young. Keep trying and eventually it will click. My dd13 too awhile to get it too.

[klmama]

Have you ever used the Geography Songs by Kathy Troxel?  If you have Amazon Prime, you can stream them:   https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_5_15?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=geography+songs+kathy+troxel&sprefix=geography+songs%2Caps%2C202    

[Junie]

I would also recommend a good map puzzle of the United States that has individual pieces for states, such as this one.  

[SilverMoon]

Maybe Galloping the Globe?

[ElizabethB]

I never should have taught complementary and supplementary angles at the same time, either. My 14 year old with a very good memory still forgets sometimes. I like Homeschool Mom in AZ's idea (is that a state, LOL), and will now just do complememtary angles for the next month before even discussing supplementary angles. I have said about 1,000 times that c is before s in the alphabet and 90 is less than 180 but this is not sticking.

[regentrude]

I recommend this

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Geography.htm

Varying levels of difficulty.

 

My 5th grader used it to learn all countries and their capitals. 

[KrissiK]

Mine don't get it either. They still can't figure out that California is PART of the United States. And we've taught the states separately, the countries separately, the continents separately. We have maps. I don't know. I gave up. I just try to nicely explain it every time they ask.

[bluejay]

I think some confusion is bound to happen at some point.  Keep a flag poster or placemat so the kids remember which are the countries and which aren't.  And keep a separate U.S. states poster or placemat.

 

We moved and my DS insists we no longer live in the same state! LOL

[Earthmerlin]

I use a United States quarters book. You know, the kind that opens up & into which you can put each state's quarter. This is interesting & allows for review. Plus, there's a desire to 'complete' it.

[eternalsummer]

My 3rd grader knows a lot of geographical places and sort of where they are - he can name cities, countries, states, etc., and where they are in relation to other cities, states, countries, continents.

 

But he does still have trouble at the order of progression - he forgets that kansas city is a city in missouri, which is a state in the US.  Sometimes he thinks Missouri is the city and KC is the state and the US is the continent.

[IsabelC]

I never should have taught complementary and supplementary angles at the same time, either. My 14 year old with a very good memory still forgets sometimes. I like Homeschool Mom in AZ's idea (is that a state, LOL), and will now just do complememtary angles for the next month before even discussing supplementary angles. I have said about 1,000 times that c is before s in the alphabet and 90 is less than 180 but this is not sticking.

Easy way to remember those: complementary angles add up to 90 degrees, which is a RIGHT angle, because giving somebody a compliment is the RIGHT thing to do.  Supplementary angles add up to 180, which is MORE, because when you supplement something, you add MORE to it.

Edited October 31, 2016 by IsabelC

[mamamoose]

Maybe you have used this analogy as well: states are like houses in a city and the city is like the country. Each house has its own rules and laws, and so does the city. My kids understood it better like this--my younger kiddos still struggle; its a tough concept.

[Xahm]

I thought everyone learned this the way I did: Complementary angles make a Corner, Supplementary angles make a Straight line. Interesting to see all the different tricks.

 

Easy way to remember those: complementary angles add up to 90 degrees, which is a RIGHT angle, because giving somebody a compliment is the RIGHT thing to do. Supplementary angles add up to 180, which is MORE, because when you supplement something, you add MORE to it.

[Mabelen]

Google maps? I would start small, with what is real and the kids can touch and see. Let's say you start with the kid's bedroom, it is part of your house like other rooms. The house, like other houses, belongs in the street; the street, like other streets, belongs in the town; the town belongs in the county or the state like other towns, and so on and so forth. I would relate all this to places they already know, the store, the doctor's office, vacation spots, or to people they already know, friends, family, who live somewhere else etc.

 

My kids were pretty quick to pick it up but we are a multinational family. We have traveled across states and continents since they were very little. It also helps that dad also traveled quite a bit for work and we would follow on the map whenever he was away. As an anecdote, when we relocated from the U.K., my husband's company put us up in long term hotel accommodations. The second day or so, we went out to explore our surroundings. After a bit of a stroll, my almost 3 year old insisted she wanted to go back to America. My husband and I were amused, and on further investigation, it turned out she thought the hotel where we were staying was all of America! We talked about how America was a really big country, that you would have to spend days just to fly from corner to corner etc. We still tease her about that! Maps were always our friends.