Ecclecticmum Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 I have the 2nd Edition of Preschool, Kindergarten & 1st Grade, and the 1st Edition of 2nd & 3rd Grade. I have problems figuring out how to use them :confused1: I understand if you were using it as your "base" to build from, it would be easier to do this. For those who use it *other* than a building base, why do you use it, and most importantly HOW? (I'm trying to figure out whether to keep them or not) Thanks!! :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 I mostly skim through them and take a look at what they figure my child "should" know vs what we are covering. Some things don't line up, like science (we do the WTM approach of one topic per year) and history/social studies but I am okay with those areas. I do pay closer attention to math and LA. If there are stories they say a child should know I make note of them and try to include them in our year. I found the earlier years helpful with the nursery rhymes and such. I would bring out the book and would read several of them to the kids during quiet afternoons. I never stressed about it but was aware of what was in the books and did try to adapt where I could. One book I have found very valuable is The Educated Child by William J. Bennett. It relies heavily on the Core Knowledge Series of books but has all the information nicely condensed into what he believes makes up a solid education. I especially appreciate the sections where he notes things like: "A good grade 2 classroom will include..." or "A good 6th grade teacher will have their students..." "A good fifth grade class will be reading these books..." (these are rough examples, not exactly what is in the book). I read this book over every single summer to get some inspiration before I start my planning for the next year. :) I hope this answers your question a bit. :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 Here's my "replay" answer from this past thread on "How do you use Core Knowledge Books (What Your ____ Grader Needs to Know)?" (Also check out these old threads, "Anyone Here Use Core Knowledge?", "What Your ___ Grader Needs to Know", "What Your ... Grader Needs to Know", and, "?s about What Your X Grader Needs to Know"). Cheers! Lori D. ___________________________________ We used the "What Your ... Grader Needs to Know" books by Core Knowledge in an informal way here. They were older editions (c. 1999 and early 2000s). We read through about 1-2 books per year, maybe a page or two at a sitting, several times a week as part of a family "together time". We had the grade 2 through grade 6 books, and we dipped into various books at different times in different ways over the course of several years. For example, we took about 5 minutes 2 times a week to read the poetry and literature selections during our morning "together time". After lunch a few days a week, we did the famous sayings/adages as a fun "Wheel of Fortune" game (fill in the blanks for the letters of the saying on the white board like Hangman, used dice instead of a wheel), and then read about the saying/discussed it. We read the art and music sections for about 10-15 minutes once a week whenever we did art or music. We read a history or science section whenever it fit in with whatever history or science we were covering at the time. We never really used the math section -- although, I sometimes would read through it on my own to make sure we were covering all the math topics for that grade level, or to get an idea of a different way to present a math topic that a child was not getting. We really enjoyed the series, and were sad when we finally outgrew them. Overall, we found the books to be a great additional resource to schedule in whenever various topics in the books fit in. Warmest regards, Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 I use them as my American history spine (along with Artner's, and What You Need to Know About American History Homework); the scope and sequence in Artner's lines up with the OLDER ed. of these books. Artner's uses the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th NtK books. I also like their world history sections--good, brief overview. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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