How to Teach the Fifty States and Capitals
Many schools teach students the 50 states and capitals somewhere between the third and fifth grade. The more entertaining the process is, the more likely the children are to remember the names. In fact, some schools show classes the segments from "Animaniacs" where a cartoon character put all of them into a song. Those links are available on You Tube.
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Instructions
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Sing states and capital songs with your kids. The "Animaniacs" videos are a good place to start. You can also use the tune of commercial jingles and work in state and capital names.
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Make or buy puzzles for your children to use. Kinesthetic learners benefit from seeing how the states fit together and relate to each other geographically. Older children can make their own puzzles or at least draw maps of the states.
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Create activities, games, and worksheets that start with focusing on regions. Look for relationships among the states. Emphasize what states "live" next door to each other. Look for odd shapes and special physical characteristics that make a state stand out. For example, ask your children to tell you which states have a square shape one day. The next day, have them identify which state shares a name with its capital city. It will force them to get on the computer and look up the information.
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Seek card, board and Internet interactive games with a state theme. For example, sheppard software has a free site with a map of the U.S. When a user clicks on a state, the site announces which state it is, and a text box on the side identifies state facts.
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Tips & Warnings
Use multiple methods
Keep it fun.
Start early.
References
Resources
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