general knowledge 9 yr olds

Spendless

When I was in my last year of 8-12 middle school (equivalent to yr 7 nowadays) my teacher used to give all his class a weekly general knowledge quiz (days before they had to follow a National Curriculum). We were set it on a Friday for testing the following week. With no internet to google answers (it was the late 70s) we had to ask people, try the library or any encyclopaedias we had at home. Frequently one of the questions would come up on a quiz show that weekend, so we watched them too.

You can't always think what you've forgotten for your child though until the incident occurs. My 13yo was selected to do a chemistry quiz recently, he's a mine of general knowledge info from watching documentaries. He got stuck on an anagram of copper as English is not a strong subject with him, we could have easily remedied that by playing Scrabble with him.

toshkininny

ViolaLass wrote: »

As a teacher, I find the idea of a list of 'general knowledge 9 year olds should know' just appalling but according to my husband, it should include all the managers of Premier league football sides, whereas I would want my children to be able to converse in Italian (i.e. we're all different).

Honestly, isn't it about talking to your child and spending time with them i.e. parenting? You can't and shouldn't expect school to cover everything!

I'm sorry you find my post idea appalling, and if you read my second post again - or for the first time - you will see that it was something she had asked that I realised she wouldn't really learn at school. I wanted some sort of gauge e.g. should she know who our prime minister is by that age - or would a teacher be "appalled" that she didn't know this!

toshkininny

fluffnutter wrote: »

Where would you start?? Anything and everything is general knowledge. The idea that you should know *this* by such and such an age and *that* a few years later is prescriptive and frightening.

Cor you get frightened easily !

toshkininny

I wondered when a simple question would turn into people like you taking over a thread and making it abusive. Do you now know what a wink means?! It means I'm joking with you. Read things properly for goodness sake.

swampduck

A good encyclopaedia book would be a mine of information just for general knowledge. I have one at home for our grandchildren and even I flip the pages every now and again. But then I am a book person - I read all the time - even in a waiting room I will read a leaflet just because that's the way I am! Other people don't have books preferring to rely on a computer to browse for information.
To go back to the OPs' original question how much should a nine year old know - you will be amazed at times at what children come out with. Sometimes this will come from just listening to other people be it a teacher or just watching the television. All you can do is encourage them and if you don't know something then it's your day to learn something new too! Puzzle books are also a good way of testing and adding to their knowledge too.

Swampy

mrcow

toshkininny wrote: »

I'm sorry you find my post idea appalling, and if you read my second post again - or for the first time - you will see that it was something she had asked that I realised she wouldn't really learn at school. I wanted some sort of gauge e.g. should she know who our prime minister is by that age - or would a teacher be "appalled" that she didn't know this!

As a secondary (grammar) school teacher, I'm often horrified over the lack of general knowledge displayed by my students. But it's because they are just children and they live in their own little bubbles.

Some children will know everything there is to know about cars, or space, or football etc. Others can't tell you where major UK cities are or name a single famous scientist. It's all pretty normal.

If you want to improve your 9 year old's general knowledge, get them to watch the news for 10 minutes every day and read a wide range of non fiction books.

As with all learning, however, a desire for knowledge and an interest in the subject matter in the first place is key. The best way to develop this is for the child to be brought up in an environment where learning and exploration of debate is encouraged.

mrcow

Just recalling actually that when I was 9, I was fascinated by history and could name every English/British king and queen in order from William the Conqueror to the present (along with many of the dates that they reigned)......completely useless general knowledge really, but I don't personally know many (or any!) adults that could tell me that now!

However, I am now a grown adult with an interest in most things.....I couldn't tell you who the current shadow home secretary is.

So is it unreasonable that a 9 year old couldn't name the Prime Minister? He's hardly a charismatic or memorable figure!



Edit to add: Just googled and it's Yvette Cooper.......my not knowing that is probably completely understandable as she's always been a complete political non-entity.

angelil

Lizard Planet is a good website for games that build general knowledge (e.g. flags/maps of the world).

Person_one

mrcow wrote: »

Edit to add: Just googled and it's Yvette Cooper.......my not knowing that is probably completely understandable as she's always been a complete political non-entity.

Now that's just not true, don't blame good old Yvette for your ignorance!

Dunroamin

Annisele wrote: »

I don't know of any specific websites, but I think I'd be thinking more along the lines of "skills that will be useful to him" rather than "facts he should learn". For example, I think it's more important to know "when and how should I call an ambulance" than "what is the capital of France".

The sorts of skills he should learn probably depend on where you live. In London, he might need to know how to use oyster cards and ticket machines, but not care much about level crossings.

My parents didn't leave me alone in the house until I was older than 9, but at that age they were already teaching me practical things like the location of the stopcock. (And slightly more specific things, like what to do when I upended a bowl of tomato soup over their carpet...)

I don't really see that it's an either/or situation - what's wrong with children knowing both?