Anonymous wrote:I hope the school is paying into the State Teachers' Retirement Fund on your behalf.

+1! Go hang out in the teacher's lounge today too. You are earning it!

We have a puzzle with each state being a piece.

Why on earth are they not teaching this in class if they still expect the kids to be tested on it? WTH?

I hope the school is paying into the State Teachers' Retirement Fund on your behalf.

OP here. We did have Stack the States on my phone but I'm not sure it's enough to memorize them. I'll check out some flashcards. I reread the sheet they sent home and only the names of the states will be required on the test. The capitals will be extra credit. They also didn't really teach students the multiplication facts at school. They clearly said at BTS Night that the facts would have to be reviewed at home. That's fine since we did that the past 2 summers.

When my kids were in 4th grade the music teacher taught them this for the fall concert.

http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/a/animaniacs8676/wakkosamerica295694.html

(or something like it)

We used Stack the States but it wasn't that helpful. We worked with flash cards on sets of 10 states at a time.

^^instead of learning the states

Stack the States is a great app, OP--my kids learned the states and capitals in no time and had fun doing it! It helped me, too, because I was in Canada during 4th grade so I learned the provinces and territories.

Our school did the same. She had to study the whole time we were on vacation over Thanksgiving. The test was right after.

Is the point that it's not being taught in school, but child will still be quizzed at school, so you're expected to do it at home? If that's the case, that's nuts.

But if you're setting up quizzes at home, that's crazy too.

Anonymous wrote:Oh, great and I am sure they are hoping the little hispanic kid whose parents speak no English and never went beyond 4th grade to succeed at this task? What school district is this?

Are you drunk? Do you have a reading comprehension problem? OP's point was that it was NOT being taught. (Which I'm totally fine with. OP, make some flash cards. Do a search for state capitals in the App Store.)

Umm why would they quiz/test something that is NOT being taught in the classroom? I have a hard time believing this...

Oh, great and I am sure they are hoping the little hispanic kid whose parents speak no English and never went beyond 4th grade to succeed at this task? What school district is this?

So my DD is in 4th grade and they used to teach the states and their capitals in school. Not anymore! We have to do it at home. Does anyone have any suggestions for games, etc? She will have a quiz on each region where she has to label a blank map with the state and its capital.