Memorizing state capitals: Strategies for effective learning

One of our readers asked a very practical question:

Let’s say you memorized all of the U.S. states and their capitals when you were in 4th grade. But now, you’re in 6th grade, and you’re having trouble recalling even half of the state capitals.

What can you do to make sure that, this time, after you learn the capitals again, you’ll remember them better over time?

First, as you re-learn the capitals, space out your studying. If you cram your memory full of all those capitals in a short period of time, you are also likely to forget them after a short period of time. Instead, spend a little time each day studying them. Spacing out your studying can maximize your ability to hold onto the information in memory.

Then, refresh the knowledge. Quiz yourself on those state capitals every month or two. If you find that you confidently know the information, you can leave a little more time in between your quizzes. But if you find you are forgetting some of the capitals or aren’t very confident in your answers, then (after looking up the capitals you aren’t sure about) quiz yourself on them again after a couple of days and keep doing that until you can again confidently remember them.

Also remember to quiz yourself in different ways. Sometimes, give yourself a map of U.S. and write in the capitals. Sometimes, use flashcards with a state name on one side and the capital on the other (and try going in both directions, using the state name to generate the capital and the capital to generate the state). By doing this, you will increase the likelihood that you can remember the capitals no matter how you’ve asked about them.

You can read more about the benefits of quizzing yourself in our prior blog post, There’s a reason to be happy about that pop quiz!