What Was the Purpose?

You Really Know Your State Capitols

You Got 20 State Capitols Correct You're either a geography buff... or you have an excellent memory.

Do You Know Your State Capitols?

It's the memory; because, I'm not a geography buff. I remember the whole "memorize your state capitals" thing all too clearly. It was horrible. We were forced to recite them in front of the class. The teacher drilled us for days ( forever to a little kid) circulating the room calling on each of us in turn. My innocent, young brain couldn't fathom a purpose to memorizing the capitals of all 50 states. Couldn't I simply look a capital up on a list, perhaps the one my teacher had given me, if I needed to know it? Without a good reason to learn I struggled to memorize them in the allotted time; but, somehow, I managed to do it. Three decades later, my much older, more worldly brain still can't understand why it was so imperative that I clog my brain cells with that particular knowledge. I've never truly needed to know the capital of any state; yet, useless knowledge clutters my mind, deeply etched there to this day. My time was wasted memorizing facts that were easily retrievable even back in the days before home computers. What idiot decided it was necessary for school children to memorize the capitals of every state in the country?

I haven't required my kids to memorize the state capitals. Before today, I was thinking that maybe I should; because, that's what the public/private school kids are doing at their age. I remember some of my college classmates couldn't recall certain state capitals, and it didn't stop them from earning a college degree. I can think of no career field in which it would be absolutely necessary to have the state capitals memorized. The only instance in which it might pay to know them is, perhaps, if one were a contestant on the game show, Jeopardy. (E came up with that one.) Therefore, I have concluded that memorizing state capitals, much like memorizing state birds/flowers, is a waste of my children's time. I'd much rather teach them the meaning of the word "pedantry."

And, of course, I'll make sure they know the meanings of the homophones: capitol (see Blogthing above) and capital. This one drives me crazy. For the record: a capitol is a building in which a legislature meets, while a capital is a city that serves as the seat of government.