HELP! THE FARMER IN THE DELL TOSSED A BALE OF PENCILS INTO MY JERSEY!! I decided over the summer to introduce my 7-year-old daughter to mnemonics. She picked up on the names of the 5 longest rivers (NAMES HA! = NAYMH = Nile, Amazon, Yang Tze, Mississippi-Missouri, and Huang He), and now we are working on the 13 colonies in the order they were recognized:

1. Delaware
2. Pennsylvania
3. New Jersey
4. Georgia
5. Connecticut
6. Massachusetts
7. Maryland
8. South Caroline
9. New Hampshire
10. Virginia
11. New York
12. North Carolina
13. Rhode Island

I've been teaching her how to 'chain' the states together, using strange pictures. I am still in the process of fiddling with it, but right now, the images are:

The Farmer in the Dell (Delaware) uses his pitchfork to toss a large bale of pencils (Pennsylvania) into your jersey (New Jersey). It itches, and while scratching, you pull out a peach (Georgia) that you cut up (ConnectiCUT) and start chewing (MassaCHEWsetts) while going for a walk. You pass by a wedding where a couple is getting married (Maryland). The bride turns around and makes a scary (South CAREoline) face and runs off after a hamster (New Hampshire). You pass by a girl named Virginia (Virginia) who is eating a big bowl of Yorkshire (New York) pudding. A small person is driving a car (North CARoline) around the rim of the bowl and then takes off down the road (Rhode Island).

Right now we are in the experimental stage with this, but along the way I imagine we'll both learn a thing or two during the summer. I used to have a book on memorizing, which is where I got the idea for this. If I could, I'd like to go through it again.

Unfortunately, I forgot where I put it.

Technorati Tag: Mnemonics.