Geography

My kids go to California public schools.
They learned the states and capitals in 5th grade, and again in 8th grade.
They have a Shakespeare unit in 7th grade (they actually attend a professional performance as well) and they read it again in either 10th or 11th grade (can't remember which.) These are mainstream, state funded classes, so all the kids take it, not just gifted or AP kids.
But you know, I doubt they remember most of it. I loved geography as a kid, I am a visual learner, so maps were especially interesting to me. I can still look at a map of the US and fill it out from memory. I don't know how many adults can do that.
But algebra, geometry, chemistry, statistics? I took all those classes too, solved problems and memorized countless formulas but if you tested me on any of that I bet I'd get a big fat zero!

It truly saddens me that in this day and age many public schools are not teaching basic concepts as geography as well as the classics of Shakespeare. That is why I make certain I teach at home as well. I am not a professional, far from it actually. I do however know that it is imperative that my children will be successful if they are taught beyond what is presented in the classroom.

That's sad! I have a 17 yr old too. He had AP geography and I think, is pretty good at geography! Maybe I need to test him, lol. They have done a few Sheakspeare plays in AP English. But I know one girl in a poorer district that claims to have read only one book in high school. I think our classes (I am 52) were somewhere inbetween AP classes and regular classes these days. There needs to be that choice today in my opinion. The regular classes have terrible disapline problems and no one learns. :(
The AP classes are very homework heavy with extra curriculars it's a huge burden. You would think kids in MA would know where Delaware is. We live in Big old Texas, to us that would be just a few counties away!

I think with states and capitals , many kids just simply forget. It's taught so early in their education that anything beyond a basic understanding is lost. Kinda like use it or loose it.

I know my kids did have a timed test on states, capitals, state birds and something else in high school. They also never read Shakespeare that I know of, I could be wrong here though, I just don't remember them reading anything. I did him in the 8th grade, it was a pretty good class, but I remember very little of any of it quite truthfully.

What's funny is that this reminds me of something my dd said once. We argue about how old she was when she said it so she was either in 5th grade or in 7th grade, but it happened when George Bush Jr, was elected. She was so confused as to how he could be our president. I was so confused by her question, I thought she meant literally, as in didn't understand our voting system (which she clearly should have known).

Turns out she didn't understand how anyone from Texas could be voted as president since presidents had to be residents of the United States. Now imagine my head spinning at this point. For some reason in her head, Texas was it's own country. She just couldn't comprehend a state that large as anything other then a country. She's 20 now and we still tease her endlessly about that one. LOL

ETA_______________

Did I miss something? I didn't see any homeschool snobbery...anywhere in here?

Things have indeed changed, but not for the better. I am 31 and a licensed secondary education social studies teacher, and cannot believe how terrible basic geographic knowledge is.

After I did my student teaching I worked 4 years in an unrelated field: global shipping. I was so shocked at how little many of my co-workers knew about the geography of the US and of the world. It was really sad to see some people have to rely on Google maps to be able to tell which coast (East or West) Nashville, or Boise was closer to. Imagine having someone who is supposed to send something to China, and instead of having the booking made from Boise to sail out of Seattle, they instead send it all the way across the US to sail out of Norfolk, VA, and then have to go through the Panama Canal and finally across the Pacific. It was maddening!

What was even worse was when they brought 2 "executives in training" who were basically glorified interns on a fast-track to management positions, and these guys didn't even know US postal abbreviations, much less the locations of various states.

ETA: When I was in high school we covered Romeo & Juliet our freshman year, along with Greek and Roman mythology, and poetry. Sophomore year was when we did British lit, and covered most of Shakespeare's major works, along with Jane Austen, et al. Jr year we did American lit, and Senior year I can't even recall what we did, but by then it was treated as an Honors course and I think we just did a broad spectrum of advanced lit.

Not exposing kids to Shakespeare in high school isn't the end of the world, but having to do the work to decipher Shakespeare is very helpful when it comes time for college and students have to read hundreds of pages of text or lit each week, with little guidance from professors. A rigorous English lit experience during high school is the best way to prepare for reading comprehension in college.

because our schools are teaching to pass the SOLs...short for S*it outta luck!!! (sorry)..

Our kids know the states and different parts of the world...I am working on the world globe "thing".

But overall? IN MY OPINION - schools are teaching to pass specific tests - not TEACHING them.

My fourth grader learned the entire geography of the US, Canada, Europe, Southeast Asia, Central America, South America, and a number of other areas last year. She also studied Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer Night's Dream in her class. She was 9 for most of 4th grade. She's in a public school in one of the worst districts in our state.

ETA: The snobbery that goes with the homeschool crowd is ridiculous. For every public school kid who fails, there are dozens more who excel. And for every home school kid I've met who is successful, there are many more I've met who couldn't read and write by 2nd grade, couldn't put together a presentation for a group, and who drew the same thing over and over again, no matter what the assignment is. I've worked with homeschool kids in lots of venues, and yes, some are very successful, but some are terribly underprepared. The same can be said of public school students. But I only hear the snobbery from the homeschool parents.

Unfortunatley, this isn't that uncommon. Our public school systems are so focused on teaching what's on "THE TEST" they're not getting a well rounded education.

As far as Shakespeare, how is it that your daughter read some of his works? It's usually part of the high school ciriculum. How would she read it and not her classmates? Personally, I hate Shakespeare and would not read or watch a play unless absolutely necessary.

My son went to a Montessori kindergarten. He could put most of the African, European and Asian countries on the continent maps correctly (age 5). I have no idea at all if he knows the states. We just look at the map before we go somewhere so he gets a grasp of what the map looks like and then what we really see in a state. I remember reading sonnets in Junior High (yes, the days before 'middle school') and 1-2 Shakespeare plays each year in high school. I took a quick peek at my son's future public high school (he is in first grade now) English curriculum and it looks like he will be reading the usual suspects - Beowulf, The Iliad, Chaucer, Shakespeare, etc. at pretty much the same time I covered them in high school

I personally thought memorizing the state capitols was pretty much a total waste of brain space and still do.

In Oregon, geography and knowing the states and state capitols is taught in 3rd or 4th grade. My granddaughter studied Shakespeare in 4th grade. Perhaps those kids knew but have forgotten? I find it really weird that hs students don't know.

Public school. Learn it quick, quiz, get tested on it, move on, forget it. That's the way it works.

I think homeschooled kids might be reading more classics (and non-classic books) that public schooled kids.

My kids are in public school. I went to public school. This is how I know how little we (they) remember/retain. And the proof is in the original post. Yes, there are exceptions, but sadly, they are exceptions.

What I intend to do with my kids is to SUPPLEMENT what they learn in school.

Read these reviews:
http://www.amazon.com/What-Third-Grader-Needs-Revised/dp/...

Bravo for your daughter! I always augmented my son's education and also made sure to have some classic dvds on hand for movie nights.

100% agree with Cheryl O. . There is way to much standard State Testing . Schools are rated on how well the children do on these tests, which is how they assess how much State Funds thet receive. Teachers are now teaching , for students to do well on these tests.

Testing and poor schools are part of the problem but honestly my kids have been very well educated through charter and regular public schools.

That being said many of the kids we know that have attended the exact same schools are often not as well educated. Either they don't take advantage of the excellent learning environment or they are "wasting"
A LOT of time outside of school watching TV, on social media, texting and hanging out at the mall. My kids do those things to but are just as likely to be reading or writing for pleasure or doing a creative activity that requires thought.

We should all be very aware of how our kids learn OUTSIDE of school as well as in school. My kids have always read for pleasure, we watch classic movies together as well as quality programming, we go to museums, spend time in nature, I read aloud to them and always have. I think blaming a kids lack of "worldliness" entirely on their formal education is wrong. Nothing is stopping most families from using time outside of school in activities that are both fun and educational.

My kids had to know all 50 states and their capitols to get an "A" in one of their classes. They all did, but I can't remember what class this was in or what grade. I knew all the the states from my 6th grade geography class.

When I was in the military (US Army) and I was on duty as the staff duty officer (SDO), I had to inspect the troops and determine which was the sharpest. The best soldier got the day off. The rest had to stand guard duty all night. If there was a tie breaker, I would ask the two best soldiers to name the states. First one, then the other. I never had any soldier that could name them all. But the more times I was SDO, the better the troops knew their United States.

Good luck to you and yours.

My 8 year old knows where Delaware is on the map. However, that's not from school, that's from us.

I find it soo sad how a lot of people are clueless when it comes to knowing our own history or states of the U.S. Heck, to not even know how to read a map..It's just getting worse.

Regardless of what the schools should be teaching them I think it is just sad that they wouldn't know where that is since it is only a few states away! We live in Texas and my kids know where all sorts of states are but that's because we have family living in other parts of the country and they have looked a globe many times. But I remember visiting New Hampshire one time and we asked a park ranger what a neighboring town was like. He was probably in his early 20's and said he didn't know b/c he had never been there! And it was only a couple of hours away. AND he was a state park ranger--you'd think he might have been to other parts of the state--especially since it's not that big of a state! Maybe some people just don't get much further than where they live.

Umm... my son's 2nd grade class did a school skit where they recited (in song) all the states and their capitols. I assume they also learned where they were on the map... but maybe they didn't. So I can't speak FOR SURE about that, or for EVERY. SINGLE. STATE in the U.S, .. but he is 14, and he certainly knows where all the surrounding states in our area are.... Florida, GA, SC, NC, AL, MS, LA, TN, VA....

I would kinda think the fact that Washington crossed the Delaware River would be at least a HINT....

As for Shakespeare? Umm... son (still 14, lol) is in 9th grade this year, and so far they have covered R & J, The Odyssey (yes, I know, it's Homer, but just to put things in context), and are about to do A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's an Honors Lit class, but still.... I read The Illiad in 10th grade, (in a Gifted class) but didn't get into much Shakespeare until senior year, and I had all AP Lit classes throughout high school... so maybe they just haven't gotten to it yet there? I don't know. Will be interested to see what others post in response..