Core Knowledge Music

Work in Progress: Core Knowledge Music™

The Core Knowledge Foundation is developing supplemental materials to support teaching of major topics in Music specified in the Core Knowledge Sequence. We will announce when these materials are available for download.

Materials in the Store

Check the Store for resources to support the teaching of Core Knowledge music topics.

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The Arts in the Curriculum

The Core Knowledge Foundation sees the arts not as a peripheral part of the curriculum but as an essential part of the knowledge all children should learn in the early grades.

Early instruction in the arts should be noncompetitive and provide many opportunities to sing, dance, listen to music, play act, read and write poetry, draw, paint, and make objects. Equally important, children should be exposed to fine paintings, great music, and other inspiring examples of art. As children progress in their knowledge and competencies, they can begin to learn more about the methods and terminology of the different arts, and become familiar with an ever wider range of great artists and acknowledged masterworks.

Through attaining a basic knowledge of the arts, children are not only better prepared to understand and appreciate works of art, but also to communicate their ideas, feelings, and judgments to others. A good understanding of the arts grows out of at least three modes of knowledge: creative (i.e., directly making artworks), historical, and analytical. Early study of the arts should embrace all three modes with special emphasis on creativity and active participation.