Core Knowledge books

[Guest]

Anyone used these. If so, how? I am sorry for the not well thought out questions. It is getting to me with the baby still getting up at all hours.

 

Thank you, Hive! Thank you SWB for this forum, your books and your time.

[Trivium Academy]

I had them but didn't use them as a spine, I know someone on the board does use them. I've found The Educated Child by William Bennett to be more helpful, providing an overview and goals for each grade level. There is a K-8 Sequence book from Core Knowledge

 

I contemplated using it but in the end I found that I like the trivium too much. Core Knowledge is like public school, mixing topics in history and science and I prefer studying history chronologically and one field of science at a time within cycles increasing depth as we go.

 

Hth

[G5052]

I've heard of folks using them as a spine with library books to provide more detail, and as a read-aloud to fill in "gaps" that some may feel they have.

 

Ironically, I'm looking into getting my teaching certificate, and they're recommended as a review for the Praxis II Elementary Education exam, which is required in many states for admission to teacher training and/or licensure. So the content is very much in line with public school education, if that's of interest for you.

[Janet in Toronto]

I'm not sure which books you are referring to. If it's the textbooks, we used "Rats Bulls and Flying Machines" as homeschoolers when we hit the Renaissance/Reformation in the second cycle (Grade 5). It's a very engaging book that my son spent hours reading and looking at. It was recommended in Biblioplan (and possibly TWTM? Can't recall).

 

He went to a Core Knowledge school for 6th grade and they used the Pearson text edited by Hirsch. It was also excellent.

 

The issue for classical homeschoolers is that Core Knowledge does not follow the historical sequence, so the general textbooks don't really work. Same problem with the "What your xth grader should know" books.

[Lori D.]

If you mean the "What Your ... Grader Needs to Know" books by Core Knowledge, we used those in an informal way here. You could just read through one book 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 when 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.

Edited December 2, 2008 by Lori D.
added info

[katilac]

Yep, there are two different series: the 'what you need to know' and then the teacher resource books.

 

The teacher resource books are far pricier, but have a great deal more background info and so forth. Like jessica, I looked at them but didn't like the mix of topics. The background info is really excellent, though! If they had chrono history ones, I'd probably bite.

 

The what you need to know books are pretty cheap and also easy to find used. They're a nice resource to have.

[Melissa B]

Actually, the Pearson series (Core Knowledge) does run chronologically - it just runs American history and world history separately.

 

American History

 

3rd grade

Earliest Americans

Exploration in America

13 Colonies

 

4th grade

American Revolution

Constitution

Early Presidents

American Reformers

 

5th grade

Westward Expansion pre-Civil War

Civil War

Westward Expansion post-Civil War

 

6th grade

Immigration

Industrial Revolution in America

Reform in America

 

 

World History (I would assume it begins with ancients in grades 1-2)

 

3rd grade

Ancient Rome

Vikings

 

4th grade

Middle Ages

Spread of Islam

 

5th grade

Renaissance

Reformation

England - Golden Age

Age of Exploration

 

6th grade

Enlightenment

French Revolution

Industrial Revolution

[Alessandra]

I'm rushing right now, but can post more later. This is out 3rd year of CK -- the Teacher Handbooks are what I find most useful, but we also have the What Your __ Grader NTK, the Sequence, Books to Build On, etc. If you search on this site, you can find some posts from earlier this fall. I'll be happy to answer in more detail -- if you wish -- later this evening or tomorrow.

 

Sorry to be in such a hurry now ....

[Gretchen in NO. CA]

My daughters (age 10 and 12) have been reading these books (or I read aloud to the younger one) the last few summers after they finish that grade. For the most part they have enjoyed them. They enjoyed reading about things that they already new or just learning new things. Some of the math stuff was new to them, so I just told them to read it and then they would that concept again in their next math books.

 

I will probably do this with my younger kids too. I wish I would have done it with my oldest, very reluctant reader, so that he would have more general knowledge.

 

Gretchen in NO. CA

[Guest]

So you either need the Teacher's Guide OR the What Your__ Needs To Know then? Also, are the planning on releasing 7th and 8th grade books? Personally, I would not like to start something that orderly and not have what i need to finish. Have you used the preK? What do you need to add?

 

I agree they run history chronologically but both strands at once which can be confusing.

Edited December 2, 2008 by Guest

[Guest]

oo:tongue_smilie:ps!

Edited December 2, 2008 by Guest
dual post

[Veritaserum]

Based on Alessandra's reviews on a thread a few weeks ago, I ordered the teacher handbook and schedule for grade three. I already have the Need to Know series (but didn't know how to best use them). I'm really glad that I got the additional resources! The teacher handbook gives great background info. I don't know that I'll order it for the other grades, too, but I will use this one this year for sure.

 

The schedule is what helped the most. I used it as a template to make a schedule for my first-grader (simply using the NTK first grade book's topics). I'm expanding certain topics/sections with other books. For example, in first grade you learn about families of instruments in an orchestra. We have The Story of the Orchestra that also has 1 or 2-page spreads for standard orchestral instruments. SOTO also comes with a listening CD. Today I introduced the topic via NTK1. For the next few weeks we'll learn about the instruments via SOTO.

 

I also ordered the music book from Core Knowledge (A Joyful Noise) which is a fantastic resource. It's a huge compilation of folk/general knowledge songs. There's also a list of which songs to cover in each grade. On the schedule you learn one song per week. My girls have really enjoyed it. :)

 

Realizing that CK is chronological helps a lot, thanks! Because they go between American and World History I got confused.

[Annie Laurie]

 

I also ordered the music book from Core Knowledge (A Joyful Noise) which is a fantastic resource. It's a huge compilation of folk/general knowledge songs. There's also a list of which songs to cover in each grade. On the schedule you learn one song per week. My girls have really enjoyed it. :)

 

That sounds like exactly what I've been looking for! When I was in elementary school, I had a wonderful music teacher that taught us a ton of great folk songs that I still find myself singing today when I'm cleaning and such. That is one of the few things I've felt that my kids are missing out on by not going to public school, because I wasn't sure how to find all the ones I learned, I've forgotten many of them. I introduced my kids to musicals and they have been singing songs from Mary Poppins constantly lately- they'll be excited to learn some new songs so I'm off to check out the resource you mentioned!

[kalanamak]

I found them all for less than a buck each, and also the resource book, at Goodwill over about a 2 year period. I glance through them at night when I'm not quite ready to fall asleep, just as a prompt to ME as to things to bring up with kiddo during discussion time. "Exposure" is what I use them for. What non-WTM things should I "expose" him to, so he isn't quite so different.

 

They are easy to use for that purpose.

[amyco]

I pretty much use the What Your __ Grader Needs to Know for the same purpose...to get them exposed to anything I "missed" and also, I admit it, to sort of "prep" them for the standardized tests they are required to take every other year. Plus, it would never occur to me to cover some of these topics, and I think they are pretty much all worthwhile, just not in our curriculum!

[Alessandra]

I don't want to take up WTM's storage space repeating things, so here is a link to a previous post:

http://67.202.21.157/forums/showthread.php?t=63986

 

Someone above mentioned classical vs CK. They are different in that CK does some World History and some American History each year. I would say that CK is more or less chronological. In World History, for example, Mesopotamia & Egypt are studied in grade 1, Greece in grade 2, Rome in grade 3 and so on. But kids do not spend a whole year just on ancient history. Each year there is a study of a modern country. In the first two years, world religions are studied. As much as possible, subjects are coordinated, but not in a forced way -- for example, Hinduism & Buddhism are studied in the same year that ancient China & modern Japan are studied. Also literature is coordinated -- Chinese & Indian folktales add depth to studies. Greek myths are read along with Greek history, etc.

 

But CK and classical are similar in that, at the end, a student is expected to have mastered a body of specific knowledge, a breadth of history & literature & science -- more so than in many ps curricula. In fact, one aim of CK was to provide this kind of common knowledge to ps students.

 

Within a subject, there are differences from classical/SOTW approach. I see SOTW as presenting a LOT of info -- I'm thinking of vol 1 -- probably more than my 2 kiddos would take in or be interested in. CK spaces things out (ancient history over 3 years) and also tends to focus on a few seminal topics, rather than on a range of people, events, or dates. I would not want to argue that one was better than another -- it is just a matter of what works for your family.

 

A book with a similar outline to CK is Rebecca Rupp's Home Learning Year by Year.

 

BTW, CK is secular and multicultural.

 

Veritaserum -- that is SO nice!! I enjoyed your post.

Edited December 3, 2008 by Alessandra

[Guest]

Thank you for the link and response, Alessandra.

 

is it difficult to jump in mid-stream? I will have 5th graders? Also, are there plans for 7th and 8th grade books? I asked on CK's forum, as well.

 

How do you do lit and hist/geo? These are the subjects I am thinking of using it with. Would you mind giving an example? Thank you.

[Alessandra]

I just wrote you a *long* reply and lost it when I hit "post'. I'll try to get back later.

[Alessandra]

is it difficult to jump in mid-stream?

No, because CK is organized in units. You can follow CK schedule, or break it up any way you like.

 

I will have 5th graders? Also, are there plans for 7th and 8th grade books? I asked on CK's forum, as well.

The Sequence goes through gr 8, as do the on-site lesson plans. I think new TH are coming out -- CK has a homeschool advisor -- I have found her very helpful. My dc are in 2nd & 3rd, but we do CK 2. You can go up or down several grades in CK, since you choose your own books & activities.

 

How do you do lit and hist/geo? These are the subjects I am thinking of using it with. Would you mind giving an example? (We do lit, hist/geog, science, not the other subjs) More briefly than my last post -- ancient Americas, a topic dc had little interest in. I read a colorful age appropriate history -- dc a bit bored. Then I read things like You Wouldn't Want to Be an Aztec Sacrifice, books about llamas, folktales -- much more interest. For every period, I make a concentration type memory game, using downloaded google images, plus a word or 2 of text. After playing, my dc can say Tenochtitlan without stumbling! And they love history! We also do some activities, like play Patolli (Axtec board game). I check TM to make sure I am not forgetting main points (one for each culture). My main challenge is knowing when to stop -- I usually get TOO interested!!

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