Map reading used to be taught around 3rd grade, after kids could locate and name every state and capitol as well as talk about generalities about different regions and identify various landforms in the US.

School instruction has been dumbed down so much, many:

*can't differentiate among Iowa, Idaho and Ohio, let alone locating most other states;

*believe New Mexico is either part of Mexico or a foreign country in and of itself;

*can't read with expression or for comprehension;

*can't do math without a calculator (and even then are clueless about percents and fractions [ex. believing 1/3 is less than 1/4 because 4 is larger than 3]); and

*can't write in, or read, cursive as it wasn't taught because, "they can 'pick it up' themselves and 'everything is going digital' anyway".