Quiver0f10 Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 (edited) One of my brothers called me last night and we were discussing school. He sends his son to a private school(K) and was telling me @ one of my other brother's kids who is 12 and in PS. My brother was saying how the 12 yo didn't even know her states and capitals and that it was because of the bad school system etc. I don't know if MY 12 yo knows all his capitals. We have done the 4 year rotation and are on round 2, but never did just US History and never studied all the states. Now I am wondering what else I have missed :blush5: Maybe we need tot ake abreak and do some US History and geography ( i can't type a question mark for some reason LOL! and this is a NEW keyboard) Anyways, I am feeling inadequate today. Help! Edited February 13, 2009 by Quiver0f10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ria Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Jean, don't worry about it. Have your kids make a set of state flashcards and they'll know them in a few days. Much more important to your children's education is the ability to do math competently, read widely, and write well. Those are the skills that will make or break their future, not whether or not they can name the states. Ria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Don't worry about it. State capitals at 12 aren't going to determine if dc gets a good job, goes to college, or is happy the rest of his life. Every school covers something that another schools doesn't. Around here, the major focus is the Iditarod (and no, the great white north is nowhere near Alaska). It's just a rabbit trail in the greater scheme of things. Just for fun, teach dc this song: You have a plan. You know it works. Don't let them distract you. Stay the course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I don't know if MY 12 yo knows all his capitals. We have done the 4 year rotation and are on round 2, but never did just US History and never studies all the states. Now I am wondering what else I have missed :blush5: Maybe we need tot ake abreak and do some US History and geography ( i can't type a question mark for some reason LOL! and this is a NEW keyboard) Anyways, I am feeling inadequate today. Help! Welll....... we've jumped around so much that mine are in the same boat. She's doing a full year of American History next year and we will hit it hot and heavy then! LOL!!! I just didn't want you to feel all alone in your inadequacies today. (heck, i even own the Geography Songs thing..... i should get that out huh?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 But he was telling his ps friend all about the Statue of Liberty and how France gave it to us and why. He frequently shares history and science info with his ps friends and they frequently reply "I didn't know that!" It works both ways. They are all at different places in their education. The WTM focuses on world history and much ps history focuses on USA only. BTW, I didn't learn any world history until high school. hth, K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie in IL Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Hi Jean - just a few quick thoughts before we start up here for the day. I really believe that you are able to teach your dc more of what is truly (eternally) important at home than a ps could possibly do, simply because your dc are home with you, all day. Character issues, relationship issues, etc. In addition to all of the academic subjects! If your dc don't know the states and their capitals, that is fine. :) They can always learn them, right? You are not only teaching them specific things, but also how to find out, research, discover - those things that they don't know. I'm sure you know all of this that I've already written, as well as what I'm about to write - try not to let one person sway you. My sister is a ps teacher; I'm speaking from experience. ;) I think it sounds like you are doing just fine. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela H in Texas Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 The great majority of people (of all ages) cannot tell you the capitals of every state. I'd actually guess that most people don't know quite a few of them. There are a few talked about ALL the time. And there are a few that are just memorable. But.... So most kids go through school, memorize them for the test about it in two grade levels and forget many of them after the test. I think a better exercise than learning them (though that would probably take all of a week or two) would be doing a poll at Walmart/youth group/on the street to find out how many people know how many of them. Your brother would probably be surprised how many his own 12yo doesn't know (assuming that that wasn't one of the things covered in the past few months at his school). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Virginia Dawn Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Do you know all your state capitals? Does your brother? I don't know if I could rattle them off myself, though I could probably match them up if I was given lists of states and capitals. It's never really hampered me. :-) Now I'm not saying that it's not admirable or desireable to know them, that's not it at all. I'm just saying you need to decide what level of knowledge you are comfortable with and go with that. On the other hand, when we go through the history cycle, we do it my way, which is basically focusing on American History in 3rd and 4th grade, instead of the regular 3rd and 4th year of World History. For History I read aloud from the Story of US, and we read historical fiction that is based on American events. I also have each child complete the Big Book of States and Presidents, and give them the states as spelling words. We also fill in blank outline maps and play a geography computer game that tests your speed in finding the states. Sometimes we memorize things but not always. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary in NJ Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I didn't teach the states and capitals until just a couple of years ago. I took a couple of months and covered about five or six a week. I made a worksheet that they completed while I read aloud information from a couple of books. They compliled the worksheets into a prong folder and labeled it My 50 States. They look through it from time to time and add more information when they read current events about a particular state. The only reason that I decided to teach the states and capitals, was during a time that we lived in Germany. The town that we spent a lot of time in shopping and etc, was named Mainz. One day when we were reading a book about a boy who lived in Maine. My kids were upset that the editor didn't see the typographical mistake in the book (Mainz - Maine). UGGGHHHH. They also did not think that George Washington's river crossing should have been named The Delaware River. They felt that the Rhein River was a better waterway. Happy to say, they are almost straightened out! Learning the states and capitals, along with major waterways in the states has really helped them out tremendously! Good luck! Joyfully, Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie in Ma Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 One of my brothers called me last night and we were discussing school. He sendes his son to a private school(K) and was telling me @ one of my other brother's kids who is 12 and in PS. My brother was saying how the 12 yo didn't even know her states and capitals and that it was because of the bad school system etc. I don't know if MY 12 yo knows all his capitals. We have done the 4 year rotation and are on round 2, but never did just US History and never studies all the states. Now I am wondering what else I have missed :blush5: Maybe we need tot ake abreak and do some US History and geography ( i can't type a question mark for some reason LOL! and this is a NEW keyboard) Anyways, I am feeling inadequate today. Help! Don't sweat it Jean, you're doing just fine. Get Troxel's geography songs and states and capitols, not only will the entire family learn them, they will likely never forget them. I can hum my way around the US and most of the world now. :) Download the Owl and Mouse puzzle maps too for memorizing by shape and placement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 You all are right, of course. Thanks!!! :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRAAB Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 (edited) Last Thanksgiving I was talking with one of my teacher sil's, and states and capitals came up. Guess what? She didn't know them all. I certainly don't think knowing states and capitals is the measuring stick by which you should measure your homeschool. I do always make sure mine know the difference between Iowa and Idaho though... Janet Edited February 13, 2009 by Ishki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofkhm Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 The WTM focuses on world history and much ps history focuses on USA only. :iagree: I was just looking at what the local private Christian school does the other day - it's on-line. It's also where my kids would be if they weren't homeschooling. They don't cover world history until 10th grade! 1 - County, Colonial America, Pilgrims 2 - state history 3 - states/capitals/presidents, first Americans, explorers, 13 colonies to Revolution 4- 1800-1900 5- 1918-1945 6- US History 1945-2001 7 - US history early exporers to colonization 8- US History Revolution to Civil War 9 - US History Civil War- WW1 10- World History 1910-present 11- Rhetoric 1 (looks like ancient lit to me) 12- Rhetoric 2 (looks like lit from Darwin's time) HTH! I think you are doing fine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I remember vividly being 13 when I learned my State capitals. In the 90's. Just FYI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I memorized the state capitals in 5th grade and the only time I have ever used the information is (every time) we drive through Oregon and my husband asks me what the capital is. What's funny is that is the only one I remember from that particular study session. My point is is that learing state capitals is one of the *least* important uses of brainpower I can think of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I went to one of the top rated school systems in the US. I went to a highly regarded state university (one of the so-called "public ivys"). I was not taught, never required to learn and could not list all state capitols today. If you are concerned get a / make a deck of flash cards and have him flip through them once a day for a while. I suspect your ds's depth of history will take him much further than rote memorization of states and capitols. By studying world history in 4 year cycles your ds is learning about the US and making connections to the whole world. He is learning how events in one place effect what happens elsewhere at a different time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 (edited) Jean, That is one piece of information I don't deem as important. When have you ever had to name the capital of a state in which you didn't live? I think state identification is important to some extent. I still get confused with those midwestern states. For US Geography, we loosely followed Trail Guides. I also ordered various tourist brochures from all of the states and bought a lot of black cardstock. I designed a form my son had to fill in for each state. He then had to cut out pictures from the brochures in various categories and adhere to the cardstock. For example, three historical sites, three entertainment, and so on. He worked on this over two years and ended up with a nice thick binder that looked like a tour guide of the states. The movie Scrambled States of America is a hilarious video that helps teach states. Even my husband likes watching this. http://www.amazon.com/Scrambled-America-Celebrate-Scholastic-Collection/dp/B00019G4QY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1234534819&sr=1-1 The board game, Sequence: States and Capitals, is also great for learning capitals in a fun way. http://www.amazon.com/Jax-Sequence-States-Capitals-8003/dp/B000RZHGL4/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1234534783&sr=8-1 Another great movie, for studying presidents, is So You Want to Be President. Lives of the Presidents is great if you can borrow the audio version from your library as well. http://www.amazon.com/You-Want-President-Revised-Updated/dp/0399243178/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234534850&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/Lives-Presidents-Shame-Neighbors-Thought/dp/015200808X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234534883&sr=8-1 In the larger sense of your question, yes, I am sure there are things we are not getting to, yet I feel that the things we do study are studied with more passion and are retained better. Edited February 15, 2009 by nestof3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 You know what, knowing how to find the information is more important than actually having all the capitals memorized. I am sure I knew them all once a very long time but I have since forgotten. But, I know how to access the information and find the answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen sn Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Can your brother name all his capitals? Can he name all the presidents? Do these children know how to count back change? I agree with Ria. Seriously, who really cares about capitals? It's nice to know them, you look smart....etc.....but I would rather my dd know how to manage money Dave Ramsey style! I would rather she know how to eat (what toxic chemicals to avoid). That said - of course we will study the capitals/states. But it WILL NOT be this stupid thing of memorizing useless information. We will actually study every state and discuss the interesting facts....etc. It will be in maybe 3 years....when she can remember them. (She is 11 now). All of this comparing children is pointless. You can't know everything at 12. If you do - how much do you remember at 32? I am so sick of everyone thinking that real intelligence is being able to spit out a few meaningless memorized facts. I would rather learn it later - when it's maningful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Really, unless your kids plan to make a career out of being on game shows why do we need to know the state capitols? I learned them over a two week period at some point in public school. I remember doing it so it had to have been 5th grade or above. Since then I've forgotten more than I remember, and I've only used the info while playing Trivial Pursuit type board games or watching Jeopardy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMindy Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 First of all, I don't think that whether a kid knows that capitals or not is that important, but the broader point is good to think about. I like to know what other students know so that I can fill in some gaps. A person can't learn EVERYTHING, so there will be gaps, but I like to try and plug as many of them as I can. But, that doesn't mean that I wish they were going to ps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen sn Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 We can never teach our kids all they will need to know. Some of that information doesn't exist yet! Good point! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imeverywoman Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Girl, you know that you can teach that to him in a matter of days. Actually, you know that HE can teach it to himself in a matter of days. Moreover, you've given him skills that he may not have, were he at PS. You already know, and may just need a reminder, that you're not comparing yourself to PS. It's apples to oranges. You're nurturing the love of learning and giving him the skills to fill in the gaps. Now, save this and remind me next week when I'm in the same quandry. Hugs, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plucky Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Don't stress it. It's very easy to learn the states & capitals. I did it with my oldest in 10 minutes a day when he was in the 6th grade. I bought a book on the states & capitals. We'd have a brief reading/ study period about the region and states and then he'd study them every day. He had a test every Friday adding to his list of states so at the end of this unit he knew them all. I supplemented with a geography computer game and tacked a U.S. poster with all the info. he needed next to his bed. The results were also that his little brother in 3rd grade ended up knowing them all, too. Not to add any pressure but I do consider geography to be important and we do a big world study in 8th grade as part of our foundational skill effort before high school. Don't panic! Make whatever you changes you see fit and move on. You are doing a great job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I agree - learning to learn is better than memorizing bits of knowledge. My now grown 21 year old son thanked me at Christmas for not just teaching him facts, but helping him LOVE to learn and how to do it on his own. It really does pay off in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne in ABQ Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I never learned my capitals in school. Some classes learned it, but my teacher didn't think it was important, apparently. It's never hurt me, except in trivia games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moni Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Maybe we need to take abreak and do some US History and geography Only if it's a priority now. Or you can do it in February 2011, or 2012, or in 18 months, or hand them a box of flashcards when they are 16....or.... :seeya: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moni Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 My brother was saying how the 12 yo didn't even know her states and capitals and that it was because of the bad school system etc. Isn't that a most interesting definition of what makes a good school system, a bad school system? Who needs a "school system" to learn the states and capitals. A box of flashcards and :10 minutes a day, daily, until mastered is all that takes to learn, school system or no school system. But I just wanted to comment, what a telling statement, how the states/capitals is the make or break definition of a "good education" :glare: Interesting......... :seeya: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 LOL thanks everyone! I needed the reminder that what I am doing is working. I need to not let comments from family bother me. And for the recond, I dont remember learning the states and capitals :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talexand Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I agree its just trivia. What would be more important is to be able to find all the states on a map and pronounce them correctly. I've lived in both Illinois and Oregon. The people in Oregon can't believe that the state name is mispronounced so often by people in other parts of the country, but it is not unusual to hear the same Oregonians pronounce the "s" in Illinois. Yikes! Nevada is often mispronounced too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akmommy Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 (edited) What would be more important is to be able to find all the states on a map and pronounce them correctly. We live in Alaska and many towns and geographic locations still go by the names the natives originally gave them. It's always fun to listen to outsiders and the national news try to pronounce them. :lol: Edited to add that I has to learn the states and capitals in 6th grade, I remember some and have forgotten some, but can honestly say it was useless trivia. I have never needed to know them since we took that test. If for some reason I need to know the captital of a particular state I know of many different places to look it up. Edited February 13, 2009 by akmommy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Savannah Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 I would imagine that your children can probably tell where Rome is and they can also discuss the historical significance of Rome. I'm sure they can also identify many countries and cities throughout the world which the PS kids would be totally unaware of. As other posters have suggested, a bunch of flash cards or a geography game might be able to fill in the blanks in terms of US Geography. North American Geography and History because it is so relatively recent can be learned more quickly than hundreds of years of world history which have caused country borders to change as the times changed. Don't feel inadequate, as I'm sure you have done a wonderful job. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erica in PA Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 I know very few of the state capitals, really, maybe 5 of them?, and it hasn't been a problem for me. I can't remember if I ever learned them in school, but if we did, they sure didn't stick. I know what you mean about gaps though. I think every student is going to have some gaps in some information areas, no matter how they're educated. Just do the best you can to cover the most important things, and your kids will be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 But mostly all that's studied in elementary grades of many ps and private school systems *is* American history. There's really no world study to speak of at all and certainly no integration of the stream of US history into what's happening with the rest of the world. So all in all, I'm guessing that your child has received a more broad, integrated understanding of the stream of history than most kids in other organized schools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phathui5 Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 I don't know the state capitals, though I did for about two weeks in the fourth grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlockOfSillies Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 I didn't have my states and capitals down pat until Mr. Miller had us play the "Map Game" in 8th grade. You have enough kids that you could actually recreate this. Every Friday, the kids who'd behaved well all week could play the game. We lined up in teams of two in front of the US wall map. Mr. Miller called out a state's name, and the two kids at the front of the lines had a chance to call out the capital. Whoever called it out correctly got a point for his team. I can't remember if we were allowed multiple guesses, or whether we lost automatically if we guessed wrong. At first, lots of us had to hunt the map for the state, and then scour the state for the capital. After a while, we didn't need to look at the map anymore, and we all got a lot faster. It was the highlight of our week. Now that I think of it, you could do the same thing with world capitals. Or world capitals by time period! Ha! Now THERE'S a challenge... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 I was never taught the state capitals in school nor was I ever taught any geography (US or World) with the exception of the 13 colonies. I still don't know them nor do I see any reason that it is essential in day-to-day life. If I need to know the capital of a certain state, I just look it up. I agree with the person that said it is just trivia and those that said it is usually forgotten as soon as the test is completed. What's important is your kids' ability to do mathematical computation, read, write coherently, express themselves coherently, and know how to find the answer to something. These are skills that many public schoolers graduate without. Sure, they could recite the state capitals when they were 12 but can they do the basics adequately upon graduation? And which is more important? You are doing fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 I know the state capitals. I'm sure it's taking up space in my brain that could be used for something more useful, like where my keys are. That, and Avogadro's number (is there a regular life use for measuring a mole of something?). I just had my 8 y.o. take an online state capitals quiz. She knew most of them. We have never studied US history... I think it comes from playing with US map puzzles and our Smart Globe. It's certainly not something I've taught her... we're just into the formation of the US in history. (We school year round and will be taking our time this year to incorporate additional US history) Anyway, this is one of the reasons I generally counsel new homeschoolers to consider opting out of standardized testing (optional here); depending on your educational approach, your not necessarily covering the same things as the public schools by any given grade level. My daughter can tell you much more about the ancient history of the Middle East than the modern history of the US. Whereas the public schools start from the student and work out, we (Classical homeschoolers) start at the beginning and work forward. No worries. And, maybe, your kids will be able to remember where their keys are in their 30s. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PollyOR Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 I know the state capitals. I'm sure it's taking up space in my brain that could be used for something more useful, like where my keys are. :lol: I would love to claim that excuse! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 I didn't have my states and capitals down pat until Mr. Miller had us play the "Map Game" in 8th grade. You have enough kids that you could actually recreate this. Every Friday, the kids who'd behaved well all week could play the game. We lined up in teams of two in front of the US wall map. Mr. Miller called out a state's name, and the two kids at the front of the lines had a chance to call out the capital. Whoever called it out correctly got a point for his team. I can't remember if we were allowed multiple guesses, or whether we lost automatically if we guessed wrong. At first, lots of us had to hunt the map for the state, and then scour the state for the capital. After a while, we didn't need to look at the map anymore, and we all got a lot faster. It was the highlight of our week. Now that I think of it, you could do the same thing with world capitals. Or world capitals by time period! Ha! Now THERE'S a challenge... That is one smart teacher...make you work hard...to be able to participate in a learning activity! WOW! Gotta remember that. I actually believe that knowing States and Capitals are important, and I'm excited to learn more about the different Continents as we go along. This allows you to intelligently participate in conversation and appreciate the world around you. Just my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2agang Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Do you like board games? Rainbow Resource has geography board games. My kids love scramble the states. They learned capitals and other info about the state with out it being "school" there is another one called "where in the world" that one is fun. They have a lot of different games like presidents and such. So I like filling in my gaps with games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 This allows you to intelligently participate in conversation and appreciate the world around you. Uh-oh -- I guess I haven't been able to intelligently participate in conversation and don't appreciate the world around me, because I don't know all of my capitals. :w00t: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Uh-oh -- I guess I haven't been able to intelligently participate in conversation and don't appreciate the world around me, because I don't know all of my capitals. :w00t: Dawn, I don't mean that this is the only batch of important information to know. I understand that you can't know everything. I just don't want to have my children learn less than they are capable...because some of it might be considered "trivia." For that matter, my son wouldn't know what to say if made fun of when drawing flowers:-) (Except for, "I'm gonna tell my mama!" Carrie:-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Dawn, I don't mean that this is the only batch of important information to know. I understand that you can't know everything. I just don't want to have my children learn less than they are capable...because some of it might be considered "trivia." For that matter, my son wouldn't know what to say if made fun of when drawing flowers:-) (Except for, "I'm gonna tell my mama!" Carrie:-) I know what you meant -- I was being fiesty, but in a non-serious way. I do love that Nathan can ID any state just on its shape alone (even the rectangular ones), but I cannot take any credit, as he learned this on his own. I remember when Aaron memorized all of the presidents in order. It was fun hearing him rattle them off. That info didn't stay in the brain too long, but he does regularly floor people with how much history he knows -- including me. (again, I cannot take credit for most of that either). :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlockOfSillies Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 I actually believe that knowing States and Capitals are important, and I'm excited to learn more about the different Continents as we go along. :iagree: :rant: I'm gonna get in big trouble for saying this, but I get seriously weirded out when I see all these posts on a Classical Education homeschooling message board, :001_huh: pooh-poohing the need to know things like states and capitals. It's not just this thread. I see "Do my kids really need to learn ______________?" posts on a not-infrequent basis here. Frankly, I find it troubling. I'm all for making connections, and training lifelong learners, and the whole shebang, but if we don't fill our kids' minds with facts, there won't be any mental pegs for hanging more advanced knowledge, to borrow SWB's analogy. "They can look it up" isn't good enough, in my book. I don't want my kids dependent on calculators and spell-check. If I can't do at least as good a job as the average ps, then I need to rethink my choice to homeschool, because I'm wasting a lot of time, effort, and money just so I can avoid having my kids arrive late again. I know that not all of us homeschool for academic reasons, but it's one of my primary reasons for keeping my kids home to learn. I know there are lots of people who "make it through life OK without knowing" X, Y, or Z. I have my own share of gaps in my knowledge. But IMO we're trying to turn out well-educated minds. Don't we want our kids to be better educated than we were? US geography may not be the most important thing, but it is important to know nonetheless. Ignorance of US geography is a gap I'm hoping to avoid. Personally, I can't imagine graduating any of my kids from high school without giving them a well-grounded knowledge of the layout of THEIR HOME COUNTRY! There's room in our kids' minds for times tables AND the definition of "gastropod" AND the proper use of "it's" vs. "its" AND the proper spelling of Mississippi. I'd rather have them know all those things, and more, if it means they're often forgetting where they parked the car. Jean, I'm glad you asked your question. It's OK to see a gap in your kids' knowledge and say, "Hey, I need to fix this." And it's OK if the reason you discover the gap is because your ps brother showed it to you. A certain amount of comparison can be healthy, as long as you don't dwell on it. What's great about homeschooling is that you can fill that gap in a short period of time, without fighting "the system" to do so. You can just get it done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 You make a good point, Brenda. I happen to live in a state where it seems as if half the native population thinks the capital is Baltimore. And I had a rather disturbing conversation with a woman in her 50s, when I was a teenager, in which she asked if I was here on a student visa because I am from Maine. :001_huh: It spiraled downhill from there. But on some functional level, learning the capitals of the 50 states is trivia. It certainly isn't scandalous to have not covered them by X year. (I am actually surprised at the number of people saying they remember learning them in the middle grades - I am sure I learned them earlier than that.) There is a lot of trivial knowledge I've picked up that I don't have a regular use for - Avogadro's number (and I got a D in chemistry - Twice!), what a cotter pin is and its use, same with a spanner wrench... These things aren't as basic and usable as, say, the proper use of "it's" and "its". We homeschool for academic reasons, and I hold firmly to the belief that the only thing keeping children from learning anything is that it hasn't been presented. But there are only so many hours in the day, too, so none of us can possibly present everything there is to know. Given the choice, I would present the it's/its functionality and leave state capitals as something they'll pick up when it's necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LND1218 Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 :iagree: :rant: I'm gonna get in big trouble for saying this, but I get seriously weirded out when I see all these posts on a Classical Education homeschooling message board, :001_huh: pooh-poohing the need to know things like states and capitals. It's not just this thread. I see "Do my kids really need to learn ______________?" posts on a not-infrequent basis here. Frankly, I find it troubling. I'm all for making connections, and training lifelong learners, and the whole shebang, but if we don't fill our kids' minds with facts, there won't be any mental pegs for hanging more advanced knowledge, to borrow SWB's analogy. "They can look it up" isn't good enough, in my book. I don't want my kids dependent on calculators and spell-check. If I can't do at least as good a job as the average ps, then I need to rethink my choice to homeschool, because I'm wasting a lot of time, effort, and money just so I can avoid having my kids arrive late again. I know that not all of us homeschool for academic reasons, but it's one of my primary reasons for keeping my kids home to learn. I know there are lots of people who "make it through life OK without knowing" X, Y, or Z. I have my own share of gaps in my knowledge. But IMO we're trying to turn out well-educated minds. Don't we want our kids to be better educated than we were? US geography may not be the most important thing, but it is important to know nonetheless. Ignorance of US geography is a gap I'm hoping to avoid. Personally, I can't imagine graduating any of my kids from high school without giving them a well-grounded knowledge of the layout of THEIR HOME COUNTRY! There's room in our kids' minds for times tables AND the definition of "gastropod" AND the proper use of "it's" vs. "its" AND the proper spelling of Mississippi. I'd rather have them know all those things, and more, if it means they're often forgetting where they parked the car. Jean, I'm glad you asked your question. It's OK to see a gap in your kids' knowledge and say, "Hey, I need to fix this." And it's OK if the reason you discover the gap is because your ps brother showed it to you. A certain amount of comparison can be healthy, as long as you don't dwell on it. What's great about homeschooling is that you can fill that gap in a short period of time, without fighting "the system" to do so. You can just get it done. :iagree: I have to agree - this is well said! It's okay to have missed something - I know we all have gaps. I have gaps that I know about and ones I haven't seen yet. But I want to be encouraged to fill them not ignore them. I value knowing geography of everywhere. It's not hard at all to get in. I am not sure I would stop what I was doing and do a whole US thing right now. What I would probably do is get some maps - laminated of course - and stick them on the kitchen table. You can do placemat maps, large maps - whatever! You can put a clear plastic table cloth over them and just do them. I would also get a geo CD and listen to it in the car. And there are great geo games!! I would get one or two of those. This is how we reinforce our geo, and it's not hard at all. We also like to just play some games in the car when we travel or see out of state plates. And I LOVE that my 3 yr old knows where Florida is - it's the only state he knows! But he knows it, and he gets so excited when he see it on another map. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LND1218 Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 And I agree that we are trying to do better for our kids, and that is important. And I thought I did fine not knowing certain things, but now that I have this knowledge I realized what I have missed. I didn't know enough to know what I was missing. I was blissfully ignorant that I could even benefit from certain things. Now that I have learned some of these things, I see what I was missing, and I don't want that for my kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Ummm....Am I the only one here who also (meaning not just the kids) does not know all the state capitals? At least I do know all the states. However, I don't think it's been a handicap at all in my life not knowing all the capitals.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted February 15, 2009 Author Share Posted February 15, 2009 I didn't have my states and capitals down pat until Mr. Miller had us play the "Map Game" in 8th grade. You have enough kids that you could actually recreate this. Every Friday, the kids who'd behaved well all week could play the game. We lined up in teams of two in front of the US wall map. Mr. Miller called out a state's name, and the two kids at the front of the lines had a chance to call out the capital. Whoever called it out correctly got a point for his team. I can't remember if we were allowed multiple guesses, or whether we lost automatically if we guessed wrong. At first, lots of us had to hunt the map for the state, and then scour the state for the capital. After a while, we didn't need to look at the map anymore, and we all got a lot faster. It was the highlight of our week. Now that I think of it, you could do the same thing with world capitals. Or world capitals by time period! Ha! Now THERE'S a challenge... This sounds fun! I think we will copy this, thanks! We can do hershey kisses as prizes. One for the winner of each capital, one for me...:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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