I grew up in Texas and took Texas history. I learned things like Texas being the only US state that was once an independent country and where the Six Flags came from (later the name of an amusement park empire that originated in Texas).
But they never taught us much about New Mexico.
Vermont was also an independent country, and for longer than Texas was.
The Hawaiian Kingdom lasted from 1795 to 1893.
Yet another thing they didn't teach us in Texas history class.
Not New Mexico but New Spain is heavily taught - it's an entire section.
I also don't know when you were in K-7 but knowing HN's age demographics probably the 1980s to early 1990s.
From the 2000s onwards, New Spain and Spanish rule was prominent.
Here are the snippets of the Texas History textbook from around the time I was in grade school in the 2000s [0][1][2]
[0] - https://worleytxhistory.weebly.com/uploads/8/7/9/6/8796216/c...
[1] - https://worleytxhistory.weebly.com/uploads/8/7/9/6/8796216/c...
[2] - https://worleytxhistory.weebly.com/uploads/8/7/9/6/8796216/c...