Core Knowledge Curriculum - ED Hirsch

[foronemoresoul]

Has anyone actually used the Core Knowledge Curriculum ( www.coreknowledge.org ) for homeschooling? I am not referring to using the "What your __ Grader Needs to Know" books or to referencing the Core Knowledge Scope and Sequence. I am curious about the experiences of anyone who has actually downloaded the free curriculum and/or purchased the Homeschool Sets. I recently came across a website that makes it look doable to use Core Knowledge for homeschooling (www.homeschoolworkplans.com ) so I am considering using this for the coming school year.

A little background on me - I've homeschooled for 18 years, and I'm looking at using this for my youngest two kids in elementary. I no longer have babies and toddlers in the house and am only homeschooling two of my kids now. I know using Core Knowledge might be a time consuming task especially at first until I get accustomed to sifting through the teacher's guides. I have always liked the engaging content in the Core Knowledge student books. For various reasons, I think it would be a good fit for us this coming school year. But I can't seem to find a single soul who has used it for homeschooling aside from the incredibly organized woman who created the site mentioned above (homeschoolworkplans.)

Any experiences to share?

[Clemsondana]

In one of his books, Hirsh wrote about the Core Knowledge plan not needing to be the entire year's content, leaving time for school districts (or homeschoolers) to accommodate local/school/family priorities in addition to covering a common set of core knowledge.  We took that to heart and happily used the content from his What your kid needs to know books as a guide but added all sorts of interesting books, trips, documentaries, etc as appropriate to tie in with the content and our family's interests.  My guess is that the homeschool plans are good, but that there are homeschoolers like me who wouldn't want to be tied down to a plan so use content more loosely, while those who want something more scripted go ahead and buy programs for each subject.  I'd love to hear from somebody who used the Core Knowelege curriculum, though.  I think the guides gave my kids a great foundation and helped me to include content that I wouldn't have thought about.  

[Malam]

2 hours ago, Clemsondana said:

the guides

Do you mean the "What Your X Grader Need to Know" books, or something else on the core knowledge website?

Edited May 3, 2023 by Malam

[Clemsondana]

@Malam The What your X grader needs books.  I looked at the website at one point there was interesting discussion of ideas but not additional stuff that would be helpful for homeschool teaching.  It's been years, though - my kids are in high school and once I found a groove with my first I didn't keep looking.  

[foronemoresoul]

The entire Core Knowledge curriculum that is available to schools is also available for free download on the Core Knowledge website. It is wholly geared toward a classroom setting. The homeschool sets available for purchase on the website are just printed copies of that free curriculum in a single-user set rather than a classroom set. But the person who created this website - homeschoolworkplans.com - did all the work of figuring out how to use the free, written-for-a-classroom-setting Core Knowledge curriculum in a homeschool setting. Her plans are incredibly thorough and detailed. It is not the same thing as the What Your __ Grader Needs to Know books which are a summary of what is taught in the Core Knowledge curriculum. 

I have used the What Your __ Grader Needs to Know books loosely as a guide in our homeschool for years. For various reasons, I do not want to piece anything together next year as I have done in the past. I want to start with the whole Core Knowledge curriculum and subtract bits and pieces as we go if needed. Just curious if anyone else has done that...

[EKS]

We used several grade levels of K12 literature, history, and science.  It is based on Core Knowledge.  I was impressed with it.

[foronemoresoul]

I have used K12 for Lit, History, and Science in the past too. I wonder if I should just go that route next year. K12 is already set up so well for use in a homeschool. 

[foronemoresoul]

What if I rephrase the question this way: has anyone ever looked at the Core Knowledge curriculum that is available for free download and considered using it for homeschooling but decided against it? If so, why? 

I like K12 but it cannot be reused from one year to the next. A subscription is needed to access the online content which is necessary to use the curriculum. With Core Knowledge there are engaging student books to come back to again and again.

[HomeAgain]

11 minutes ago, foronemoresoul said:

What if I rephrase the question this way: has anyone ever looked at the Core Knowledge curriculum that is available for free download and considered using it for homeschooling but decided against it? If so, why? 

I like K12 but it cannot be reused from one year to the next. A subscription is needed to access the online content which is necessary to use the curriculum. With Core Knowledge there are engaging student books to come back to again and again.

We decided against it.

1.There's a lot to download, and you either need two ereaders or a lot of ink.  Trying to order the books (I considered them as a supplement) was a pain.

2. It didn't feel like it flowed well.  We preferred the classical cycles.

3. The work wasn't very deep.

If I had to use it in a pinch, I would.  It's a well thought out program meant to hit the middle of the pack for kids who wouldn't otherwise be exposed, but it's just that: a fair program.  I wanted richer and deeper.  TBH, it just felt like the stuff we saw in schools and that turned me off from using it in its entirety.

 

I have 4 boxes downstairs of engaging student books my kids came back to again and again: Usborne non-fiction, lovely picture books, The Newspaper Series (The Greek Gazette, Roman Times..), You Wouldn't Want To Be...., Quark Chronicles, The Whole Story books (annotated classics), Lift and See (clear overlays with painted parts)...every book was carefully chosen to be something my kids would enjoy and want to pick up.  They were more engaging than something someone else curated for a kid they didn't know.

[FreyaO]

I tried a couple of history units. My kid found it dry and boring, so didn't pursue it further. For the record, I agree with Hirsch's idea that a solid content foundation is important. 

[foronemoresoul]

Thank you! I appreciate the feedback.

[Heartstrings]

6 hours ago, foronemoresoul said:

: has anyone ever looked at the Core Knowledge curriculum that is available for free download and considered using it for homeschooling but decided against it? If so, why? 

I have!! I tried to use the plans laid out on that website you mentioned.  It was cumbersome and clunky.  It took forever just to download a couple of units in one subject.  Downloading every unit for every subject for a grade would have been a huge undertaking.  The curriculum is free but it was going to be a LOT of printing. Some people suggested reading the teacher guide on the computer but that was just too much of a hassle.   Basically it was too much work and my time isn't unlimited.  The homeschool packs seemed pricey too.   I gave up.  

[Heartstrings]

6 hours ago, foronemoresoul said:

. With Core Knowledge there are engaging student books to come back to again and again.

It wouldn’t fit my definition of this. If I had used it it would have been on regular printer paper and bound with my comb binding machine.  It wouldn’t have been classic books with library binding.  Nothing that I saw felt deeply engaging and worth returning to.  It looked like school stuff.  Nothing special.  

[foronemoresoul]

Thanks so much for sharing your experience with it. I appreciate you taking the time to do that.

[*****]

I really liked all that they had online. But when it came out eons ago, we were already doing different things like WTM and K12. I used the  Core Knowledge free downloads as supplementals to what we were doing.  I remember the history paralleled well with k12's Ancient history at the time. 

I later found these manuals on sale: https://www.ebay.com/itm/325585479735?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=325585479735&targetid=1263104805526&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=9033761&poi=&campaignid=19860654916&mkgroupid=148297085498&rlsatarget=pla-1263104805526&abcId=9305063&merchantid=6296724&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIk6LXtuza_gIV-wOtBh1EjgJnEAQYByABEgICl_D_BwE

It has a plethora of information, but I never really used it as we were on to other things.

Just use bits and pieces as you see fit, you can't go wrong...

[Shoeless]

By the time I heard if it, my kiddo was too old for what was available. I looked it over, (because I'm nerdy like that), but I would have a hard time implementing it. We don't like reading off a computer screen for one, and I have a very hard time turning classroom materials into homeschool-for-one materials.  Like op, I've met a lot of people that are really excited about Core Knowledge, but no one that's actually used it. 

It seemed fine, as far as the content I reviewed.   

Edited May 4, 2023 by Shoeless

[foronemoresoul]

Thanks for all the responses. This was helpful.

[stripe]

They have printed books https://www.coreknowledge.org/store/ if that’s at all appealing. I bought “Grace Abounding” used, but it’s absolutely huge and I haven’t used it for much.

[foronemoresoul]

1 hour ago, stripe said:

They have printed books https://www.coreknowledge.org/store/ if that’s at all appealing. I bought “Grace Abounding” used, but it’s absolutely huge and I haven’t used it for much.

I do have several of their abridged classics and a handful of student books I've bought over the years from CK. If I do use it, I will purchase the student books for sure. Still thinking about it actually. Thanks.

[OakParkOwlets]

We have bought hard copies of the science and history readers for several years now.  I don't use the teachers guides or any of the activities, but they are nice information we can read aloud or give to an older kid to read.  Next fall my daughter will be in 6th and we are going to try using a few of the literature books and activity guides for the first time.  Downside is that they are a pretty expensive for just a supplement.

[Gil]

On 5/3/2023 at 1:51 AM, foronemoresoul said:

Has anyone actually used the Core Knowledge Curriculum ( www.coreknowledge.org ) for homeschooling? I am not referring to using the "What your __ Grader Needs to Know" books or to referencing the Core Knowledge Scope and Sequence. I am curious about the experiences of anyone who has actually downloaded the free curriculum and/or purchased the Homeschool Sets. I recently came across a website that makes it look doable to use Core Knowledge for homeschooling (www.homeschoolworkplans.com ) so I am considering using this for the coming school year.

Any experiences to share?

I used some of their Spanish language resources for US History. I had them color-printed, 3-hole punched and put them into a folder with prongs. Spanish language and free is one of my favorite combinations for educational materials. For the sake of language and efficiency, we're very heavy on reading and discussing content--that's much of what we did with the books. I didn't use the Teachers Guides or try to pace it because I didn't have the bandwidth.

If I were to home school again from elementary, I could definitely see myself including the use the Free CK Materials again.

[Green Bean]

Just use k12. Easier as it's all done. We've used K-8 history, but not using everything in the guides. Pick and choose.

The science is public school science so not deep, but sure covers a lot of topics.

 

[GoldenState]

I absolutely love CoreKnowledge and have been using it for multiple years for multiple grade levels now. It’s the one thing I 100% will not change for the upcoming school year. I would recommend a slow start to get used to it. When I started out, I only used Science and some History units. Eventually I switched over to the Language Arts units and since they cover so much history and science it actually saves me time on days when CKLA covers both, Language Arts and either History or science. This year I have used CKLA Grade 1 (currently finishing the last 2 units for the year) and CKLA Grade 4. We will be using CKLA Grade 2 and Grade 5 next year, as well as Science 2 and 5. For anybody interested I would say, start with the Language Arts units. My kids have learned so much! 

[Heartstrings]

On 6/13/2023 at 10:00 PM, GoldenState said:

I absolutely love CoreKnowledge and have been using it for multiple years for multiple grade levels now. It’s the one thing I 100% will not change for the upcoming school year. I would recommend a slow start to get used to it. When I started out, I only used Science and some History units. Eventually I switched over to the Language Arts units and since they cover so much history and science it actually saves me time on days when CKLA covers both, Language Arts and either History or science. This year I have used CKLA Grade 1 (currently finishing the last 2 units for the year) and CKLA Grade 4. We will be using CKLA Grade 2 and Grade 5 next year, as well as Science 2 and 5. For anybody interested I would say, start with the Language Arts units. My kids have learned so much! 

I’d love to hear how you use it.   Are you printing a million pages or using tablets or? I can’t figure out how to use it day to day.  

[GoldenState]

On 6/16/2023 at 7:13 PM, Heartstrings said:

I’d love to hear how you use it.   Are you printing a million pages or using tablets or? I can’t figure out how to use it day to day.  

Good question! I download the student readers and send them to our iPad mini. Occasionally I will purchase just the student readers if I can find a good deal to make my life easier but if not, then tablet it is. For the higher grades 3 and up I also transfer the teacher guide to the tablet. For the lower grades K-2 I transfer the readers to iPad or purchase readers and print the teacher’s guide for the Listening and Learning Strand since it includes the actual text you will be reading while showing the pictures on the iPad. Since I have two kids the combo of some print and some tablet works well for me. This sounds more complicated than it is but I recommend starting one unit and to get a feel for it. I typically print one week worth of just the listening and learning sections for my younger one and the HP InstantInk subscription helps a lot. I can print up to 300 colored pages a month for around $12ish so it’s a good deal. It depends on whether you are comfortable with digital teacher guides or whether you prefer to work with printed materials. With 2 kids a combo of both works for me.