When learning about the 50 United States, a few excellent resources can serve you well. Too many choices will leave you feeling overwhelmed and lacking a sense of accomplishment.
These are our tried and true resources for learning about the states.
Drill and repetition has always been the foundation for our learning. This, coupled with books, games and activities, will cement this knowledge for years to come!
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Memory Work (Apps, Flashcards) for Learning the 50 States
Through our homeschool program we learned a few states and capitals each week. This constant drill and review cements knowledge of the states. We supplemented with these drill/repetition resources:
GeoMaster: a free app that drills state locations and capitals - much fun!
States & Capitals Flash Cards
Seterra Geography - a great site online for geography!
Games For Learning The States
The Scrambled States of America This game is such fun! We've had the book and DVD for years, and the game is such a fun addition to our collection. Learning about the 50 states has never been so easy!
The 50 States Card Game
Categories
My kids made up their own states and capitals review game at the pool. I'm always the "caller" -- I call a state name as they run off the diving board and they have to say the capital before they hit the water. Fun!
Notebooking the 50 States
The last time we learned the states, my children created notebooks.
We used our membership to Notebooking Pages and were able to download notebooking pages for each of the 50 states. This is a great project for your kids to sink their teeth into, and they will have a beautiful finished product when they are done!
Map Tracing
Map tracing is an integral part of our geography studies.
Find maps you like, get some tracing paper and Sharpies, and trace each state as you go. Trace the entire United States, too. You will be amazed at how quickly your child will learn to draw each state and draw the entire United States.
(Classical Conversations readers: I have used the maps from user heathergwyn on CC Connected.)
We have also found the 50 States Notebooking Pages to be very helpful with maps for tracing!
Fifty Nifty United States - A Song For Learning the States
This is the song I used in my elementary music classes when I was a teacher. It's catchy and your kids will be able to memorize all of the 50 states in alphabetical order in no time!
Whatever resources you choose, can I offer one piece of advice?
STAY CONSISTENT!
I've found that children love it when you repeat things in the same way. Our 50 State study looks like this each week:
introduce the new states (generally 4 or 5 per week) and their capitls -- DRILL THESE daily
listen to 50 Nifty United States and sing along
trace the entire United States daily and color in the states we are learning about
notebook about each of the states during that week
make books about the states available (strew around your house on coffee tables, bedside tables, etc...)
play games about the states as a family
Devise a plan that works for your children and stick to it.
Most of all, HAVE FUN!
Are you studying the 50 United States this year? Tell me about it!