Just curious: Does your state 'require' a year (or two) of state history?

[G5052]

No homeschool requirements, but public schools cover state history in 4th grade, and then throw in more with the required high school government and U.S. history classes.

 

We cover it for completeness by going to the annual homeschool events at the capital, and will do some state history this summer in an informal way.

 

It isn't an absolute must IMHO.  People move around a lot.  I've lived in four states and worked in five.  And that isn't uncommon.

[vonfirmath]

You made me curious about this.  Texas has 254, so I'm betting memorizing counties isn't part of being a good citizen.  We had 29 growing up.  My 7th-grade teacher had a wooden map of the state where the pieces were counties.  We'd compete to see who could put it together fastest.  It helped that Utah has nice straight borders.

 

And I'm wondering at what point you don't memorize counties.  Does South Carolina make their students memorize all 46 counties? Or Oregon at 36? Or New York at 62?

 

Nope. We didn't memorize counties. We memorized battles. :)

[Night Elf]

Well, I'm feeling dumb. I have no idea if I learned any state history in the 12 years I was in school, in two different states. I am not sure if GA history is covered in schools here either, but I know it's not offered in high school. My ds17 is taking a GA History homeschool class this year. It's been great. The class meets once a week and have assigned homework on off days. We've gone on many field trips. I would have never thought to cover state history until I saw this homeschool class being offered. We're going to submit it for a Social Science credit with our online school because by next month, he'll have worked in the class for 190 hours.

[Butter]

I never had to memorize counties.  Not sure what the point of that would be.  The state I lived in at the time has 8. 

 

Probably they made us memorize them because that's easy to test on and it's geography.  We also learned the major rivers and where they are.  I can't say memorizing the counties of MD made me a good citizen of the state (and I honestly don't remember anything else we learned specifically as part of MD history since that was rolled up in US history... and government wasn't done until 9th grade and most of that was not state-specific).  And I don't live in MD anymore and never intend to again so the MD history only matters to me as far as it is tied to my family history.  But that's a personal thing.  My husband doesn't think he ever learned state history growing up.  He was in Wales until the end of 2nd when they moved to VA and then they moved to MD in 4th.  He thinks he missed VA history because it would have been done in 4th and he missed MD history because it was done in 3rd.

[Excelsior! Academy]

I have never heard of memorizing counties.

[Heather in OK]

 I really hate teaching OK history.  Really hate it.  

[abacus2]

Delaware requires very little of homeschoolers! I Know they cover state history in public school though. Memorizing our 3 counties as a kid was tough😉

Wow! TN has 95 counties. We did not memorize them all in state history when I was in school, thank goodness.

[Lady Florida.]

NJ has no HS regs, but as a Common Core state, there are vague PS requirements that tend to be written to allow plenty of wiggle room:

http://www.state.nj.us/education/cccs/standards/6/6-1.htm

 

 

I remember learning state history in NJ but I don't remember what grade. We moved to Florida the summer after I finished 8th grade, so I'm guessing it was probably in elementary school (we called it grammar school then). I do remember a hard cover small, dark blue book called New Jersey History or some similar title. It was a loooonnnnggg time ago, so things probably changed.

 

Also, there was definitely historical bias taught. We were led to dislike Aaron Burr, because Alexander Hamilton was one of the founders of our city. He was always put on a pedestal just for that. Seriously. As though that was the only reason to side with Hamilton.

[Ellie]

Maybe it is a Texan thing.  Not everyone identifies themselves ultimately by their state of residence.  So to single out one state to discuss history seems odd.  Granted, I happen to like history and local history so I read about it for fun, but I don't think it makes me a better citizen of my state.  I have no emotional attachment to the state in which I reside whatsoever.

 

I think it's useful to learn about local issues and news including who is running the state/city. 

 

We lived in California when my children were school age. We did California history. If we had lived in Kansas, we would have done Kansas history. If we had lived in Oregon we'd have done Oregon history.

 

Most states teach state history at least once in 12 years, sometimes twice. Many homeschool laws specify state history, as well.

 

So, no, not a Texas thing. :-)

[brehon]

You made me curious about this.  Texas has 254, so I'm betting memorizing counties isn't part of being a good citizen.  We had 29 growing up.  My 7th-grade teacher had a wooden map of the state where the pieces were counties.  We'd compete to see who could put it together fastest.  It helped that Utah has nice straight borders.
 
And I'm wondering at what point you don't memorize counties.  Does South Carolina make their students memorize all 46 counties? Or Oregon at 36? Or New York at 62?

 

 

Nope. We didn't memorize counties. We memorized battles. :)

In my 7th grade TX history class we not only had to memorize the names of all 254 counties, but also label a blank map with all the counties. I did not have any TX history in 4th grade. That must be a recent addition. I'm not sure that knowing where counties are helped me be a better citizen; but, I do think studying the history of an area (state, nation, world) can help produce better citizens.

[QueenCat]

I think I was the second year to take it. I remember studying with Ed Norton at dress rehearsals for Joseph. He had taken it the year before he would quiz me on and off stage that week.

 

That's a familiar name.......... did he go to my high school?

[twoxcell]

Oregon doesn't have any specific requirements of what home schoolers must cover. I do know that the public schools cover state history in 4th grade, but I do not know if they cover it again in the upper grades. We are always learning some state history. Mainly through field trips and historic sites. We did focus on the state of Oregon for one month of our small family co-op this year. I do not understand why someone wouldn't at least cover the basic history etc. of the state that they live in. Why not take advantage of local historical sites and local museums?