The Core Knowledge curriculum series offers many options for parents and guardians, whether you are the sole source of school instruction for your child, or you are looking to support the education your child receives at school. Many of the instructional materials are available for FREE DOWNLOAD, as well as for purchase.

 

Core Knowledge offers curriculum materials—including daily lesson plans, assessments, student books, and activities—in these core subjects:

  • English Language Arts
  • History and Geography
  • Science
  • Mathematics

Our approach to curriculum and learning is organized around the idea that what students learn and know at each grade level matters. Knowledge-based schooling is important for all students, regardless of their race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status, to promote both excellence and equity in education.

Read more about the Core Knowledge approach What is knowledge-based schooling? What results and research support the Core Knowledge approach?

We recommend that you start by reviewing the Core Knowledge Sequence: Content and Skill Guidelines for Preschool–Grade 8, the basis for the curriculum in all subject areas and grade levels.

The Core Knowledge Sequence outlines a content-rich, cumulative, and coherent way to engage students in learning about the world.

What is the Core Knowledge Sequence? Read more about the Preschool Sequence Read more about the Kindergarten–Grade 8 Sequence

Many of our comprehensive teaching and learning materials are available for FREE download

Download digital PDFs of the Teacher Guide, Student Reader or Student Book, and all supplemental materials for the following series:

  • Core Knowledge Language Arts, 1st edition (CKLA Preschool–Grade 5)
  • Core Knowledge History and Geography (CKHG Kindergarten–Grade 6)
  • Core Knowledge Science (CKSci Kindergarten–Grade 5)

All of our publications are available for purchase in professionally printed format

Visit our online store or call us at 1-800-238-3233 to purchase any of our CKHG and CKSci homeschool sets or other print publications.

You may find the following supplemental resources useful in your home:

  • What Your ___ Grader Needs to Know (Preschool–Grade 6)
  • Core Classics, classic novels abridged for young readers (Grades 4 and up); Free Teacher Guides are available here
  • Grace Abounding, a lavishly illustrated anthology that gives students comprehensive insight into African American literary and arts traditions (Grades 4–8); Free Teacher Guides are available here

The Core Knowledge Foundation has partnered with Amplify Education for nationwide distribution of professionally-printed and packaged CKLA classroom materials. Please contact Amplify at (800) 823-1969 or CKLA@amplify.com if you are interested in purchasing homeschool kits of the 2nd Edition CKLA program.

If you wish to self-print PreK–2 CKLA materials. You can access the printing specifications here.

View our FAQ to learn more about differences between the 1st and 2nd editions of CKLA.

The Teacher Guide for each unit provides a teacher, whether in a classroom or a homeschool setting, with the details needed to use the curriculum. Key features of our Teacher Guides for CKLA, CKHG, and CKSci include:

  • An introduction to what students will learn and why: Learn about the scope of each unit by reading the Introduction and seeing an overview of what materials you will need to organize in order to implement the unit well.
  • Pacing Guides: Suggested pacing and/or the total length of a unit is outlined in the Introduction section of each unit.
  • Activity Pages: In CKHG and CKSci, these pages are found in the back of the Teacher Guide. While most CKLA units offer activity pages as stand-alone resources, activity descriptions and answer keys are always provided in the Teacher Guide.
  • Lesson Plans: The interior of each Teacher Guide offers step-by-step instructions for what knowledge-based schooling looks like. The lesson plans in each guide offer instructions for activities to do with your children and guiding discussion questions to dig into the content.
  • Guided Reading Support: The Teacher Guides also include prompts and guidance for how to use the Student Book, Student Reader, or read-aloud text with your young readers in order to check for understanding and build literacy skills.
Start downloading Teacher Guides now

Here’s a video by a Core Knowledge homeschooling parent demonstrating how she prepares for instruction.

How I Prep & Use Core Knowledge Geography How I Use Core Knowledge Science | Grade 3
  • Download or purchase all of the teacher and student-facing materials in advance. This will provide you with time to preview the Student Book, Student Reader, or Read-Aloud Anthology.
  • Before sitting down with your child to work through each lesson, carefully review the entire lesson so that you are familiar with the content and have all materials readily available.
  • Listen to our Building Knowledge podcast with veteran homeschooler, Julie Freickert. Julie shares what parents should consider when thinking about homeschooling with Core Knowledge as well as discusses the resources available through her “Homeschool Work Plan” website.

We have a growing network of homeschooling parents on our Facebook Discussion Group. You may also be interested in connecting with us across these social networks:

The ever-growing Core Knowledge Community can support you too. Join the conversation happening around a diverse set of topics on social media and our blog.

See all of the Core Knowledge Discussion Groups Read the Core Knowledge Blog

Core Knowledge is used by families and schools across the country. Your child will benefit too.

Homeschool FAQs