My 14yod has always been naturally interested in geography. Her interest in this topic has been her number one hobby and talent as well. If you have any geography questions, ask her. Her favorite games are all geography based. She looks up locations she reads about. She dutifully studies her states and capitals and nicknames, countries and capitals, mountain ranges, etc. However, she has struggled over the years with Sensory Integration Disorder, and her lack of composure during competitions has hurt her. A couple of years ago when she placed second, the man who had been reading the questions the last several years remarked at how composed she was that year. She continues to blossom and last year she placed second as well. This is her last year to compete…I hope. More on that in a bit.

Meanwhile, 12yos is more interested in ideas and books than studying facts and memorizing names of places, capitals, mountains, etc. He has learned best by the time we’ve spent reading history and literature and the map quizzes we take weekly for our current history study. I usually choose places that could come up on the geography bee. However, he still needs to fill in the cracks on the nitty gritty…all those states, countries, capitals, waterways, mountains, etc. Thankfully, he is most motivated to hit the books at the beginning of the year, right before the competition. Last year he came in third place! I am quite willing to take advantage of teachable moments! Lol

While they "study", I discover that I need to teach them "how to study". They seem to prefer not to study, despite my cutting back on the school schedule to give them time. Then when they do study, they study the easy things that they know the answers to. I’ve been talking to them about how to study, spending time on countries they don’t know info on, lists they need to memorize, etc. Here it is the day before the competition. While we were driving out of town this afternoon to the orthodontist nearly an hour away, I overheard them quizzing each other on the flash cards they already knew…London, England; Paris, France…. I had yet another talk with them about studying the flash cards they kept missing and putting aside the ones they knew. Hmmmm…..  

A couple of weeks ago I registered the children to compete at the local homeschool support center. As I turned in the form, I noticed that competitors cannot be 15 by April 6. DD will be 15 on March 19. I was shocked. She was sad too. I mentioned this on my TOG yahoo group and a friend who is administrating the contest in her area called the National Geography Bee for me. She found out that as long as the student has not turned 16 by the national competition in May, or repeated 8^th grade, they can compete! I had left information about this with the co-ordinator and I just received a phone call from her at 8pm.  She apologized for the mix up on the ages; she's not sure where she got that information.  So.....DD is in! Thank you so much to my friend who checked into this for me!