| At some point in your child's educational career, he will | | | | Or remember them for what they did, which is easy in |
| have to memorize the United States Presidents from | | | | the 20th century: Hoover Caused the Great |
| Washington to Obama. Given that some were lame | | | | Depression, FDR got us out of it. But he got us into |
| ducks, others have confusingly similar names, and that | | | | WWII, which Truman got us out of. Because |
| there are so many of them, this task is always | | | | Eisenhower was so great in WWII, he got the next |
| incredibly difficult for students. Thankfully there are | | | | seat. Then was JFK, who starts our second train of |
| some mnemonic devices that your child can use to | | | | thought. JFK was assassinated, LBJ took over and |
| remember each of the President's names. | | | | sent us to Vietnam. Nixon got us out of Vietnam, then |
| Poems and other statements to help with the first | | | | Ford took over when he was impeached (both |
| letters are very helpful. An example using the beginning | | | | American products). The third product came in the |
| of the presidential list: | | | | form of Carter, the peanut farmer, and Americans |
| While all jugglers may make jokes, very happy | | | | were so confused by the "everyman" president that |
| tightropers pray to fly. (Washington, Adams, Jefferson, | | | | they put a famous actor in, Mr. Reagan. Then there |
| Madison, Monroe. John Quincy Adams, Jackson, Van | | | | was a Bush sandwich with Clinton playing the part of |
| Buren, Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore.) | | | | the grilled big cheese, which brings us to now, President |
| A common way to take on the memorization is in | | | | Obama. Telling it like a story is much easier than rote |
| clusters, whether by sentence or by grouping | | | | memorization. |
| presidents with completely different mnemonic devices. | | | | If all else fails, use a song. Music is known to help |
| (Founding fathers, growth leaders, pre-civil war, etc.) | | | | students remember difficult lists of information. The |
| Something that works for many is to replace the | | | | Animaniacs had a popular one, and there are many |
| name with a funny or common word, something that | | | | newer versions available for teachers and parents to |
| will trigger your memory of Franklin Pierce in a context | | | | aide children in their memorization. |
| other than "pre-Civil War lame duck president." | | | | |