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:
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.
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.
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 8)
- Core Knowledge History and Geography (CKHG Kindergarten–Grade 8)
- Core Knowledge Science (CKSci Kindergarten–Grade 8)
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
A note about Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA)
Our publishing partner, Amplify does not sell CKLA PreK–5 homeschool sets. The Core Knowledge Foundation sells CKLA grades 6–8 homeschool sets. Visit our bookstore for more information.
Interactive eBooks are available for purchase!
Read about our CKHG eBook series
Read about our CKSci eBook series
Read about our Core Classics eBook series
Start by reading the Teacher Guide
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!
Sample Preparation Steps
Here’s a video by a Core Knowledge homeschooling parent demonstrating how she prepares for instruction.
Other Helpful Tips
- 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.
Here is a sample of the books your students will read using Core Knowledge:
*Read-Aloud texts marked with an asterisk have text read by the adult, which is found in the corresponding Read-Aloud Anthology/Teacher Guide. Students listen and learn while answering questions about the story and looking at a Flip Book of colorful images and illustrations.
Preschool
Kindergarten
Grade 1
Grade 2
Grades 3–6
- CKLA Skills Reader (Grade 3)
- CKLA Student Reader (Grade 4)
- CKLA Student Reader (Grade 5)
- CKHG Student Reader (Grade 5)
- CKHG Student Reader (Grade 6)
- CKSci Student Reader (Grade 3)
- CKSci Student Reader (Grade 5)
Join our discussion group to connect with other homeschoolers.
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:
Read answers to our Frequently Asked Questions for Homeschool.
Many parents have been using Core Knowledge in their homes for years. Over time, we have answered a variety of questions that may help you too.
Frequently Asked Questions for Homeschool
Join the conversation about Core Knowledge at large.
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.