Core Knowledge
Core Knowledge was chosen as the curriculum for the Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School
because the founders were drawn by the spiraling nature of the curriculum and the richness of its content. Both of these attributes made it a natural choice for parents looking for academic excellence for their children, and it set well within the classical context of education planned for the school. Further, the content for each grade is outlined and provided in book format, available for parents to purchase, which conforms to the School's premise that parents are the primary educators of their children.
A solid, specific and shared curriculum, the Core Knowledge Curriculum was created by educator and author E.D. Hirsch to help children establish strong foundations of knowledge, grade by grade. As the founders of the school wrote in their original application for a charter, this curriculum addresses the heart of sound education: Core Knowledge is "solid," which means that there is a body of lasting, basic knowledge that every educated person needs to know. This knowledge is transmitted to children sequentially, grade by grade, so that there are no gaps in learning. A topic covered in the first grade "spirals" back to be covered in greater depth or from a different
perspective in later grades. Core Knowledge is distinguished by its specificity, providing practical answers to the question, "what do our children need to know?" The goal of the curriculum is to provide all children with a background of shared knowledge they need to be included in our national, literate culture.
People often find the topics covered in Core Knowledge to be challenging ones, and so they are surprised that first graders, for example, learn topics such as Mesopotamia and electricity. What parents and teachers together have discovered is that children are sponges, and it is up to us as educators to provide them with the right kind of "liquid" knowledge to absorb.
The curriculum is managed by the Core Knowledge Foundation, which also sponsors annual conferences attended by teachers from the Benjamin Franklin Classical
Charter Public School. These conferences encourage teachers of core knowledge to share ideas and lesson plans, demonstrate new approaches to topics, and generate enthusiasm for the subjects taught.
The Core Knowledge Foundation publishes a book, called the Core Knowledge Sequence, which outlines the content covered for every grade. Having the complete curriculum, grades K-8, which their children will study at the Benjamin Franklin
Classical
Charter Public School is a unique bonus for public school parents, and they are encouraged to purchase this spiral bound book so that they may make at-home connections with the content covered in the classroom. Making these connections is a basic responsibility for parents, the primary educators of their children.
The Core Knowledge Foundation has its own website at www.coreknowledge.org.
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