Julie might as well skip the fourth grade next year, because one of the main things that fourth graders do in our school is master the United States of America—they learn the "Fifty Nifty" song so that they can recite the names of all 50 states in alphabetical order for the rest of their lives, they learn all 50 state capitals, and they learn where each state is on the map. And Julie? Well, she could already do all that stuff a couple of years ago. When Pete was in fourth grade and Julie in first, she was fascinated by what he was learning, so she kind of taught herself. We got the Scrambled States game (yet another fine Gamewright product!) and she soon became unbeatable. She hasn't learn the song yet, but she can still name all 50 states in alphabetical order (same as me). And she knows all the capitals (me, too). And she can fill in the names of the states on a blank map (which I cannot do, no way no how).
On the drive home from dropping off Steph at camp a few weeks ago, Julie started noticing the license plates of the other cars, and she just happened to have a book with her that contained a map of the U.S.A. (oy, I told you), so she started shading in every state she saw. In the space of that hour she quickly racked up all 6 New England states, plus Florida, New York, and two big surprises for our neck of the woods: Washington and Oregon. Well, that was just the beginning. She continued to find plenty of new ones on our drive up to New Hampshire the following weekend, and in the parking lot when we went canoeing at Echo Lake, we found tourists from Texas, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and more. And, as is usually the case up there, quite a few from Ontario and Québec—and even one from Nova Scotia!
She's up to something like 36 now (including those Canadian provinces and Washington, DC). I explained why she's not likely to ever see a Hawaii plate, but told her that Alaska is certainly a possibility. (Andy actually saw an Alaska plate on his way to work last week, but we're not going to tell her.) I bet it's rare for people in, say, California, to see a Rhode Island plate, just as we are not holding our breaths for Wyoming—too few people there, and too far away. But she knows to keep her eyes peeled for rental trucks, moving vans, tractor-trailers, and RVs in particular.
I've come to several conclusions about license plates:
1. Massachusetts has the most boring license plates of all the ones we've seen.
2. I can now recognize the license plates of quite a few states from several yards away—specifically, Mass., RI, Conn., Vermont, Maine, NH, NY, NJ, Penn., Fla., and maybe a few others.
3. It's dangerous to try to read the name of the state on a license plate while driving in traffic, particularly if it's one of those stupid scripty fonts in white (I'm talkin' to you, Ohio!) or if the license plate is in a frame that partially obscures the state name at the top.
I actually saw a Hawaii license plate in this area not long ago. (I'm wondering if it was on our trip to New Hampshire.) So you never know!
Posted by: Elena | July 18, 2011 at 03:07 PM
We have License plate bingo in our car. . . a map of the states and each one has a plate that you flip over when you see it. It is a Melissa and Doug game. We have one for each kid.
And BTW, while in RI yesterday we saw an Alaska plate!
Posted by: Stephanie | July 18, 2011 at 03:11 PM
Hey there! I followed you daily years ago and when our computer died, we were without for a while, long enough for me to forget how to find you!
I've tried various ways over the last few months, and suddenly I had a brain wave and found you again!! I'm glad all is still well with you and family, it'll be nice catching up again!!
Posted by: Sharon Heinrichs | July 18, 2011 at 03:17 PM
Forth grade was when I first said I was going to be a mapmaker when I grew up(I didn't the word cartographer yet). I didn't know they would actually hold me to it!
Posted by: twitter.com/mhgatti | July 18, 2011 at 03:19 PM
I may have to lend you my Roadside Geology of [state name] books....
Posted by: Seth Lipkin | July 18, 2011 at 03:50 PM
Toll booths, specifically the Hampton and York ones, area great places to spot the plates. Husband and I have a license plate wheel in the car and we have filled in almost all except Hawaii, Mississippi and a few odd ones like Idaho and one of the Dakotas. For a long time we assumed people from West Virginia never left home, but we finally spotted one.
Our rule is we must be together to count the plate.
Posted by: jo | July 19, 2011 at 08:34 AM
We live in far, far northern CA, and the kids did this a couple years ago. We actually found every single state plate, as well as some Canadian ones, within a couple months, EXCEPT for Delaware. We still sort of keep an eye out, but have not seen a Delaware plate in this area!
Posted by: Me | July 20, 2011 at 12:38 AM
OY, that Fifty Nifty song. I still have nightmares of the singing teacher. She was VERY peppy.
Trick about license plates? Drive around BC, BU and Harvard/MIT and you'll fill in that map fast, including Alaska and Hawaii.
Posted by: margalit | July 20, 2011 at 01:57 PM