When they begin to address state history in 4th grade it's primarily about the missions. San Pasqual battlefield apparently gets some 4th grade class visits, as does the mission and Mexican army barracks over in Sonoma. But it's primarily missions, or at least it was in my day (admittedly many years ago).
In fact, I was in college before I was introduced to the fact that ante-bellum California had a sizable number of southern citizens (some of whom came/stayed here after being discharged from service in the Mexican war) and were sympathetic to slavery and the southern cause when the time came. One of California's senators and a chief justice of the state supreme court fought a duel right over here south of San Bruno Mountain, and the root of their antagonism was the issue of slavery. The senator, Broderick, was a free state man and his killer, Chief Justice Terry, was a southern sympathizer. Because of the circumstances of the duel many of the state's citizens viewed it as a murder, and reaction to it was one of the factors that turned public opinion more directly against the south.
This state has a very interesting history beyond that of the missions but I don't think they cover much of it prior to college. In fact, I was over at Vallejo's Petaluma Adobe a couple of days ago, a place established with the help of the Mexican government to keep an eye on the Russians up at Fort Ross (among other things). Very little of this is taught prior to college, as far as I know.
However, I am prepared to be corrected. As I say, it's been about 45 years since I was in school age. 
Edit history
Recommendations
0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):
= new reply since forum marked as read