If you DO memorize states/capitals...

[Mommy22alyns]

What do/did you use?

 

I'm debating between MP's States and Capitals or just a CD/workbook combo. MP looks a bit dry but more structured. The CD would be more fun, but it might not get done.

 

Help please!

[NanceXToo]

We used some flash cards initially which we reviewed together gradually and regularly for practice, eventually we moved on to reviewing via games... it's easy to find state and state capital games free online. I don't think it's something a curriculum or workbook is necessary for.

[lmrich]

Just by learning them. I broke it down into 8 states a week (8 great states) for her to memorize and locate on the map. We did that for 8 weeks with adding in lots of review, obviously there are not 64 states! We also review in the car etc.. I would not spend money on curriculum.

[Lily_Grace]

 

! :lol: (more than twenty years later and I still can sing most of Wakko's World, too!)

 

We also played a LOT of Scrambled States of America and on family vacations we'd talk about where we were passing through and facts about the state.

[Nestof3]

I like Sequence States and Capitals

 

http://www.amazon.com/Jax-Sequence-States-and-Capitals/dp/B000RZHGL4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310076963&sr=8-1

 

[PentecostalMom]

I like Sequence States and Capitals

 

http://www.amazon.com/Jax-Sequence-States-and-Capitals/dp/B000RZHGL4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310076963&sr=8-1

 

 

 

Ooooo, this looks fun!

[Nestof3]

Ooooo, this looks fun!

 

It plays just like the regular Sequence, which I got rid of, because this teaches as well. ;) My boys started on the animal sequence one. I just like these games.

[LizzyBee]

We used the book Yo, Sacramento and a US puzzle.

[Rbsmrter]

My daughter will be memorizing the states and capitals for Classical Conversations this year and we'll be using these mp3s:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BIKI5Q/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=theadvofbea0a-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=B002BIKI5Q

 

The states are broken into regions so you can buy the songs individually or buy the entire CD. At $8.99 it's much cheaper than any curriculum you'd buy and probably most workbooks. Target's dollar section also has state flashcards right now. You could use those and the songs for practice on the go.

[mrs.m]

I bought some flash cards at the Dollar Store and put magnets on the back of them. We use the side of the fridge to match them together. We work on a few each week. (and I broke out the 3rd cycle Classical Conversations CD today which has a song! I prefer Animaniacs. LOL!)

[Mommee & Baba]

We're using the Confessions of a Homeschool geography Road Trip USA curriculum. It's broke up into each week learning about 2 different states, as well as about each state and their capital. I liked that it's a 36 week plan and gives some time to enjoy learning about each state as well as plenty of review.

 

I will take a picture and post it later but I took 2 tri-fold boards and taped the end of 1 to the other to make it large enough to put our states puzzle pieces that I got and on each state are velcro dots and then we have the capital cards laminated and as we learn each state we get to put it onto the Tri-Fold board and add it's capital. I'm still trying to debate on what else to allow the kids to add to each state puzzle piece. The puzzle when put together is HUGE, I mean floor puzzle size.

 

Although a game would do the job, I love the actual "study" of each state.

[Chris in VA]

Just the information?

Dd wrote out the states and capitals on one (very crowded) index card. She's taking it bit by bit, in alphabetical order by state. She just carries it around with her. I didn't instruct her to--she just wanted to learn them and is doing it on her own.

 

Sometimes she makes things so easy for me...:D

[Guest momk2000]

We used the Children's Illustrated Atlas of the United States, and made our own flash cards. On the front of the card I had dd draw an outline of the state, and write the names of the bordering states as well. On the back she would write the state capital.

[mrsbushman]

I agree with The Anamaniacs! Search for their Youtube video. Let the kids watch it daily and copy a couple of lines on a dry erase board to focus on each week. It worked for us and the kids loved it!

 

P.S. The Anamaniacs has lots of great songs. We do all our memory work via fun songs! :001_smile:

[SeekingSimplicity]

! :lol: (more than twenty years later and I still can sing most of Wakko's World, too!)

 

We also played a LOT of Scrambled States of America and on family vacations we'd talk about where we were passing through and facts about the state.

 

I love animaniacs!

[NittanyJen]

Stack the States (iPod)

 

Hot Dots states collection

 

Great States game

 

Sing "Fifty Nifty United States."

 

On a related note, I am loving a geography method outlined in "The Core.".

 

Take a blank sheet of paper. Draw the 5 great circles on it (arctic, Antarctic, equator, 2 tropics). Add the Prime Meridian. Label. Now draw blobs for continents-- not the actual shapes, just circles and ovals. But, using a globe or clear map, check first-- look at North America. Does it cross the arctic circle? What about the Tropc of cancer? How about the equator? The PM? Use that info to draw your NA circle. Repeat with the other continents. Repeat daily until you can do it from memory-- then you can get more detailed. Add in some seas, or major mountain ranges. Before you know it, your 6YO can hand-draw a reasonable world map from memory. From there, you can move on (as fine motor and spelling skills develop) into learning the different continents in individual detail, using longitude and latitude as guidelines. NB that is my interpretation of one very short section of the book. Any embellishments or misunderstandings are mine; it doesn't represent the whole content of the book.

 

Note also this book sometimes seems a bit critical of the WTM way of doing things. I am commenting only on the geography lesson as it has value, not writing a book review. If you are the type who is offended by anything even

hinting of being critical if SWB, forewarned s forearmed. It's not completely critical; it goes both ways-- both books are about classical education.

[SilverMoon]

I had mine do a map from Sheppard Software twice on a daily basis until it was mastered, then occasionally after that.

[mcconnellboys]

I use workbooks, memory lists, flash cards, write on/wipe off books, etc. We have used CD's in the past, but I decided learning things to music was not ideal, so I don't do that any more.... When we did use these, we would use them while in the car....

[Poke Salad Annie]

I used the sections listed at Enchanted Learning to make flash cards. Mine are color-coded by section, and glued onto black poster board cut into 4" X 6" cards for backing. I made two sets this way--one for me and one for my little guy. His cards are blank. :D (You can guess why... Mine are the key cards, and he has to write all the info onto his own set. Learning process to help the info stick!)

[Ravin]

DD has a cardboard book with little flip-open sections. The state and its picture are on the outside, then you flip it open and it tells you the capital, state bird, and something else (flower maybe). They're arranged in alphabetical order, so we're also using things like a U.S. state puzzle (DD has two and we're missing pieces to both, though.:glare:)

[Lizzie in Ma]

Troxel's States and Capitals. YOu will learn them and you will never be able to get those songs out of your head, I mean forget them. :D

Best thing I ever bought, 10 years later we can still sing them and remember them. The Geography Songs one is essential too.

[2GAboys]

If you do not want to spend any money a organized way to teach it is by breaking the country into regions, ie. New England States, mid Atlantic states, etc. I used the free maps from enchantedlearning.com. I also used cardstock and had my child make memory game cards for each state and capital in a region. We would play the memory specific to a region until they were learned and then combine a few regions. He also had to learn to spell all the states and capital too and I used spelling city.com for this. Another free rescource.

[Poke Salad Annie]

If you do not want to spend any money a organized way to teach it is by breaking the country into regions, ie. New England States, mid Atlantic states, etc. I used the free maps from enchantedlearning.com. I also used cardstock and had my child make memory game cards for each state and capital in a region. We would play the memory specific to a region until they were learned and then combine a few regions. He also had to learn to spell all the states and capital too and I used spelling city.com for this. Another free rescource.

 

This is what I was trying to describe in my post, but you've made yours much clearer.:)

 

My answer key cards were printed from /www.teachervision.fen.com/ (United States and Capitals Flash Cards). I cut them out and glued them to cards I cut from blue poster board I found at Dollar Tree. For the set for my child, I cut cards from black poster board, then cut different colored card stock for each region of the US shown at the Enchanted Learning site, then glued this on top of the black card stock. I glued a blank sheet of paper on the colored cardstock for him to write the state on one side and capital on the other. This way he can learn by region, but I can also drill from the answer set.

[Karen in CO]

My ds memorized with a song which I no longer remember, but when he needs to know one that isn't common you can see him singing in his head.

 

For child #2 I'm trying a different approach. I have a laminated card in my truck with the states and capitals on it. As we're driving, when we see an out of state tag, we call the state and another person calls out the capital. Living near military bases, we get more out of state tags than you'd think. We've even seen Alaska and Hawaii. Since we made our latest cross-country drive, we now all try to list all of the neighboring states when we find an out of state tag. This process is helping me recall them better and faster.

 

For child #3, if states and capital tag approach doesn't work, I think we'll go with the MP material.

 

Child #2 and #3 also play Stack the States on the ipad.

 

If I had more kids, I might even find more way to teach this. Experimenting on kids is fun.:lol:

[BatmansWife]

Troxel's States and Capitals. YOu will learn them and you will never be able to get those songs out of your head, I mean forget them. :D

Best thing I ever bought, 10 years later we can still sing them and remember them. The Geography Songs one is essential too.

 

:iagree:

 

LOVE this (both, actually...the states/capitals and geography). When my oldest was 5 she sang these all.the.time. They are actually on my list to order for my 7 year old (since I can't find where ours are anymore). There are a lot on the geography songs one that I just love....and they are so fun to sing! Now they have a DVD that goes along with the states & capitals one. I'm getting that too. :001_smile:

Edited July 25, 2011 by ~AprilMay~

[gardenmom5]

What do/did you use?

 

I'm debating between MP's States and Capitals or just a CD/workbook combo. MP looks a bit dry but more structured. The CD would be more fun, but it might not get done.

 

Help please!

 

I had a music teacher in elementary school named - unfortunately - Mrs. Paine. (she was a drill sargent, but I learned alot and now appreciate it.) I don't know the name of the song, but there was one that had all 50 states in alphabetical order - and to this day I can remember the list of states (with the tune accompanying them). Came in really handy later when learning the capitals, as the states were already memorized.

[lulubelle]

Wow, lots of options! We are using http://www.eduplace.com regional mapping. They have blank maps to fill in! Plus, we are using The Young Peoples Atlas of the United States - we read about each state depending on which region we are working with. I am planning to do the States first and then go back and add the capitals! I've also had my son trace the states with tracing paper to get a true feel for the shape of each state.

[aliall]

Has anyone mentioned Seterra yet?

 

http://www.seterra.net/

 

It is free and has states, countries, flags, continents etc. Just a basic quiz game, but dd learned all the states from it.

[Guest]

What do/did you use?

 

I'm debating between MP's States and Capitals or just a CD/workbook combo. MP looks a bit dry but more structured. The CD would be more fun, but it might not get done.

 

Help please!

 

I noticed you are planning to use MFW Adventures this coming year, is that not covered in it? (I'm asking b/c that's something I'm looking at next year and I thought that it was...)

[Mommy22alyns]

I noticed you are planning to use MFW Adventures this coming year, is that not covered in it? (I'm asking b/c that's something I'm looking at next year and I thought that it was...)

 

 

No, it's not. You go through the states in order of their joining the union at a rate of about one a day (in the latter 2/3 of the year). It looks to me like actual memorizing of states and capitals goes on in 1850-Mod, but Rebecca would be in 8th grade by then and I'd prefer she learn them earlier!

[lizziewho]

We used an app from Iphone called "stacks the states" with my k and 1st grader. They both love playing the game!! I also reinforce what they learned by using a US puzzle,flashcards and reading US states books. They love the app, its only 2 or 3 dollars I believe.

[wtrmlnlabs]

 

We use "Yo Millard Fillmore" for Presidents and "Yo Sacramento" for States.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Yo-Millard-Fillmore-those-Presidents/dp/1935212419/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311685734&sr=8-1

 

http://http://www.amazon.com/Sacramento-Will-Cleveland-Mark-Alvarez/dp/0761302379/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1311685734&sr=8-2

 

DS 8 LOVES them and is learning it all VERY quickly. We'd do one a day, each day go through the list and if he got them all right he go to do a new one. If not he was reminded the ones missed and we waited for the next day. He only doesn't know all of it by now because I slacked off. :D

 

 

[Marsha SC]

I went a very simple route here. I bought some index cards. I wrote a state name, or a capital, on each card, then we played the matching game. The fun came in when my girls figured out I had not learned these in school. I knew many just from "living", but some I had no idea or I was just plain wrong. We learned them together.

 

I had several different "sets", at first divided by region. The state cards were written with one color (orange) and the capitals in another (green). As we learned each region, we began mixing two regions together.

 

DDs had great fun with this game and still ask to play.

 

Marsha