Free – Learning United States Geography Tool

by Lori Cunningham

Recently, a friend of mine, Janet, told me about this great website she’d found on the Internet to teach her daughter about our 50 states.  Janet’s daughter is entering 5th grade and she wanted to give her a head start on some of the things she’ll be learning this year in school.

The website is a free educational website produced by Sheppard Software.  They profess to have “hundreds of educational games, activities, quizzes, articles and more for kids and everyone to use online – and free!”  There is so much to look at, I’d probably need to write a 10 post series on all of the resources!  At first glance, the website with all its vibrant colors appears simplistic.  To me, it didn’t appear to have a lot of “depth,” meaning it didn’t look like it would be very engaging.  But, looks can be deceiving!

Today I want to focus on the US Geography Names section of the website.

On the US Geography Names page, you can learn about Capitals, States, and Landscape (rivers, oceans, and lakes).  For each of these three sections, there is a tutorial  to explain where the Capital, State, or Landscape item is located.

First you start with the Tutorial, which tells your child the name of every state s/he clicks on.  There is a drop down list to the right, I recommend you help your child to learn by regions first (ie, Southern States, Great Lake States, Pacific States, etc.)

Now you’re ready for States 1.  In this level, the game says the name of a state and wants you to click on the outlined state within a region in which is belongs.  If you get it wrong, you get two more chances before it shows you the right location.

Once you’ve mastered States 1, you’re ready for States 2.  In this level, you drag the picture of each state into the correct spot.  The game works region by region so placement is easier.  However, the are no states lines, so it is still a challenge.  This is where you begin to see how rivers tend to divide state lines.

The fun continues until you reach States 9 where you are to drag, rotate it, and size each state onto the map.  Talk about difficult!  Perhaps at this level, it stops being fun!  LOL!

I spent two hours with my 7 year old daughter playing the States game.  We started with the Tutorial and worked ourselves up to Level 4.  She couldn’t wait for her daddy to get home.  After dinner, she took him into our office and showed him the game.  He was overjoyed to see how much she knew about the location of the states.  UNTIL….she turned the tables on him and asked him to place the states on the map without boundaries!  He squirmed a bit and then asked her to help him place them.  She was delighted to help.

When my friend first told me about the game, I was intrigued, but not moved enough to go find the website.  After all, aren’t we all too busy these days?  But once you see how the game works, you get hooked, and it was a great bonding time for my daughter and I.  So, for those of you who don’t want to take the time right now to check it out, I have prepared a video you can watch that shows the US States game in action — at Level 2.  Take a look………….

A Mom’s Perspective

I had a great time re-learning our country’s geography along with my daughter.  Earlier in the day, my daughter asked me if I would play Mr. Potato Head with her (again!).  I told her I had something special planned.  She sat on my lap as we took turns strategically placing each state on the US map.  After we were done, my daughter ran to her room to get her US States Map Book she received for Christmas.  She now has renewed interest in it.  In fact, she’s eager to learn our 50 capitals now!

In reflecting upon my US Geography learning experience with my daughter, there are three points important for moms to know:

1.)  Learning needs to be interactive – educational games like this one engage children and make it fun to learn.  I think back to when I was a 5th grader – I came up with picture words to remember the US capitals.  It was tortuous trying to remember all 50 of them.  With today’s free interactive games, learning is fun and competitive. 

2.)  There are plenty of interactive educational games online to supplement your child’s schooling.  Sheppard Software is a great resource, but there are plenty of other free resources.  Search Google and YouTube on the topic you want to learn about.  You’ll be amazed at the resources available – right at your fingertips!

3.)  Use online learning as a bonding time with your child.  My daughter has enjoyed spending a lot of time on Disney.com learning all sorts of things.  I have been very impressed with all the things she has self-learned.  But spending time with her on the US States game really hit home for me the fact that 1.) I can easily direct her learning to more relevant educational topics and 2.) learning together on the computer is a great bonding time and that’s priceless!