School Daze

SCHOOL DAZE by Terri Andersen
With kids going back to school soon I thought it might be a good idea to impart some of the wisdom I've accrued over the years when it comes to remembering Certain things, like state Capitals and the nine times table, for instance. For some reason, when I was in school the nine times table seemed the hardest to memorize. Then I came up with what I thought was an incredible discovery. (Maybe it won't be that incredible to anyone else, but it was to me, so for what it's worth, I'd like to share it.) If you want to know what nine times another number is (up to l0), just take one away from the number you want to multiply and add whatever it takes to total nine. Example: 9 x 3 = 27. Two is one less than three and two plus seven equals nine. 9 X 7 = 63. Six is one less than seven and six plus three equals nine. Got it? I just think that's so neat. Then there were the state capitals to memorize. I found if you make up sentences to help you remember, it's a lot more fun. For example: D'you know the Capital of Alaska? (Juneau). Here are a few more I thought up for my kids when I was trying to help them remember the capitals. Shy Anne never left her home in Wyoming. (Cheyenne). Columbus liked Ohio best when he discovered America. (Self explanatory). All the boys he knew went to Idaho (Boise). There are an awful lot of little rocks in Arkansas (Little Rock). Johnny Carson played Nevada so many times, they named their capital after him (Carson City). Okay, just One more and then you can think up your Own. A Frenchman named Pierre Was headed for Canada but he only got as far as South Dakota (Pierre, S.D.)
Do they still teach the spelling helps they did years ago? Like "i before e (believe, niece), except after c (deceit, receive), or when sounded like 'a' as in neighbor or weigh." I added a few of my own clues to remember how to spell certain words. Example: accommodations. So many people seem to spell that Wrong. To remind myself that there are two c's and two m's, I think of a hotel room with two double beds. (Got it? Hotel accommodations?) In comparison, "accumulate" has two c's and one m, and "recommend" has one c and two m's. (No wonder they say the English language is one of the hardest to learn.)
Affect and effect seem to give people a lot of trouble, so here's my little secret. If it affects you, it will probably have an effect on you. Affect is a verb denoting an action that brings about a change; effect is usually a noun meaning the result. (What can I say, I used to like to diagram sentences when I was in school. Do they still teach that?)
To anyone going back to school, enjoy all the learning you can. It's good for the brain, it makes life more interesting, and who knows, it may give you material for a column someday.