Do you think that the average 8 year old would be able to name 4 cities in their state that they've never visited?

Indulge my curiosity, I've got a bee in my bonnet. Maybe I just think too highly of kids' abilities.

At that age, the average 8 yr old barely understands the difference between a city, a state and a country. So, no.

...

Hmmm.

Unless they had a lot of relatives living around the state who are discussed often . . .or if they had had a recent 'state geography' section . . .

No. Ditto Amy's thought.


...tom...

Same here. Hubby's sixth graders once thought Japan was a state.

mjfrombuffalo Wrote:Same here. Hubby's sixth graders once thought Japan was a state.

.
That, on the other hand, is a typical demonstration of the quality of the American education system.

Without going all symposium on the thought...


...tom...

My kids (6 and 9) could name 4 cities in our state, but not that they hadn't visited. We don't typically talk about cities unless we have been or are going there.

I believe most kids that age could if they'd studied them or if they'd visited them or know of them because relatives live there. But, it takes interest on the child's part too to learn them and not all kids would (care about or learn them).
So it's all positive!

Prepoia Wrote:--snip--

So it's all positive!

.
...truelol...

What a refreshing 'Sunday morning coming down' attitude..!!


...tom...

sleeper54 Wrote:.
That, on the other hand, is a typical demonstration of the quality of the American education system.

Without going all symposium on the thought...


...tom...

Given the teachers and teacher spouses here, there is no way what you typed is NOT "going all symposium."

I just asked my 11-year-old. The answer was no. In fact, he was only able to name three cities period. None of the three were the ones his grandparents lived in, the ones we've vacationed in, or the one that we live in (though that's sort of a trick question since we technically live in a township). OK, I just prompted him by saying, "What city do we live in?" and he came back with "It's not really a city, it's a township."

So maybe we need to work more on the geography--at least get beyond continents, states, and capitals.

I am having trouble naming cities I have never been to in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The problem in Rhode Island is that I think I might have been to all of them. In Massachusetts, I've been to nearly all the cities I know of, and I'm not sure whether some of the other larger municipalities I know are considered cities. I had to l ook at a list, and a lot of the cities I'd heard of I didn't realize they were considered cities.

I was able to name 3 in Massachusetts, though, because there are cities in the western part which I have never visited.

It's a tricky question, and depends on how many places you've been. I do not think the average 8 year old sould be assumed to be able to answer this question.

(BTW - my kids could name 3 cities, but not if they had to name ones they'd never been to)

Huh. I guess I'm mistaken. It's okay, it was bound to happen sooner or later.


I do have a reason for asking - I was reading something a mom wrote the other day. I don't want to go into too much detail, but she was bemoaning a question her child (8 y.o.) had on a worksheet. Name four cities in your state you've never been to. The thing that bugged me is that the conversation she quoted between her husband and herself over whether this question was too difficult repeatedly referenced "cities you've never heard of". Totally different question. They went on and on about how was he supposed to name four cities he'd never heard of. Granted, there are going to be many cities that anyone has never gone to that one has never heard of, either. I said that I thought a child could probably name four cities they'd never been to, and since that was the actual question, I thought he should have been able to do it.

I guess maybe my expectations were too high. S'alright. I was just completely befuddled about the differences in the question as written and the question as interpreted, especially since this is a person who bills herself in her site title as a "thinking" person.

emeleel Wrote:Huh. I guess I'm mistaken. It's okay, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

--snip--

.
...smalllol...


...tom...
" It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so. "
--Mark Twain