Common Knowledge, the E-Newsletter of the Core Knowledge Foundation

Vol. 18 No. 2 2005

Feature Articles:

After Core Knowledge, What Next? by Matthew Davis

Using Picture Books to Enhance Core Knowledge by Susan Stern, with an introduction by Robert Shepherd

Core Knowledge Lauded in New York Review of Books by Mary Kathryn Hassett

After Core Knowledge, What Next?

In recent years, due in part to the growth of the charter school movement, the U.S. has seen a growing number of schools that combine elementary, middle, and high school under a single roof and/or administration. Some of these K–12 schools choose Core Knowledge as their curriculum for the early grades. But this inevitably raises the question

What should such a school do for curriculum after Core Knowledge ends in grade 8?

Read on ...

Using Picture Books to Enhance Core Knowledge

*Pilgrim Cat*
by Carol Antoinette Peacock

A new genre of picture books has exploded onto bookstore and library shelves. . . The real advantage of reading these books out loud is that subtle nuances and important details become available to all children without regard to levels of skill. . . .
These books can be used to build background knowledge, preview vocabulary, and introduce difficult concepts before reading textbooks about a new subject. They can also be grouped thematically and read as a supplement to an ongoing topic.

Read on ...

Core Knowledge in Philadelphia

Thanks to all of you who took the advice of Ben Franklin and made a valuable “investment in knowledge” at the fourteenth Core Knowledge National Conference in Philadelphia! Attendees from forty-three states and four foreign countries gathered in the birthplace of American democracy to share ideas, discuss innovations, and expand their education horizons.

Read on ...

Core Knowledge Lauded in New York Review of Books

In the April 7 edition of the New York Review of Books, Roger Shattuck, renowned literary scholar, cultural critic, and more recently a champion of public school reform, singles out Core Knowledge as the curriculum of choice for K–8 schools that want a high quality education for their students.

Read on ...