Gary learned a bunch of Singin' Smart songs in elementary school to memorize stuff like the 50 states, their capitols, US presidents, countries of Europe, etc. My sister Stephanie also learned a bunch of them. They're catchy songs that get stuck in your head, so Steph was always singing bits and pieces of them around the house, and after I married Gary, he did the same. Thus, I ended up learning parts of them, but I never actually learned the full versions.
Recently, I found a tape with the Singin' Smart songs on it, so I asked Gary if the songs actually helped. "Oh yeah," he replied. So I decided that I want Gregory to learn a few of them someday. I figure that means I have to learn them first, so the other day, I gave it a whirl. I started with the US states. It was harder than I expected because a) I couldn't visualize the states very well, and b) audio tapes don't do repeat.
SO I MADE A YOUTUBE! It worked brilliantly. After a few views of the video, I had memorized all 50 states. Woot!
Check it.
Recently, I found a tape with the Singin' Smart songs on it, so I asked Gary if the songs actually helped. "Oh yeah," he replied. So I decided that I want Gregory to learn a few of them someday. I figure that means I have to learn them first, so the other day, I gave it a whirl. I started with the US states. It was harder than I expected because a) I couldn't visualize the states very well, and b) audio tapes don't do repeat.
SO I MADE A YOUTUBE! It worked brilliantly. After a few views of the video, I had memorized all 50 states. Woot!
Check it.
It worked so well that I ended up making one of the US Presidents, too. (It doesn't work quite as quickly as the state one, but it's still very helpful.)