Book Review: The Core-Knowledge Series edited by E. D. Hirsch, Jr.

The Core-Knowledge Series includes resource books for grades one through six. Each is titled in turn; What Your First Grader Needs To Know, What Your Second Grader Needs To Know, and so on, through What Your Sixth Grader Needs To Know. Each book details the fundamentals of a good well rounded education for the particular grade it focuses on. All the books in this series are edited by E. D. Hirsch, Jr., who as many of you probably already know, also wrote A First Dictionary Of Cultural Literacy: What Our Children Need To Know, and also, Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs To Know.

All of the books listed above are excellent sources for home schooling parents who want to make as certain as possible that they are not leaving anything important out of their child’s education. Everyone wants his or her child to have a well-rounded education. The Core-Knowledge Series covers a wide variety of areas including language arts, English literature, geography, American civilization, world civilization, fine arts (music and visual arts and plays), mathematics, natural sciences, and much more.

All through public and private school, teachers add information from a variety of sources that is usually not included in the classroom textbook in order to bring additional perspectives and information to their pupils. I highly recommend that parents who are home schooling their children do the same thing. The Core-Knowledge Series of books is very helpful in bringing parents’ attention to those things that are important to add to their child’s educational experience. Parents should use these books as an excellent guide to make sure they have left nothing out, but should not limit themselves to what is listed in these books. There are new things happening everyday that our children need to be aware of and informed about according to their age and grade level.

The Core-Knowledge Series is an excellent resource, and I highly recommend the Series to everyone, both for their children and for themselves. Many adults may have missed some of the information included in these books when they were in school, or may have forgotten it, but I especially recommend this Series of books to home schooling parents. I utilized the books when I was a home schooling parent and I found them invaluable. They are continually being updated to keep them relevant.

The Core-Knowledge Series of books are generally available both new, and used, at bookstores, on eBay and in a great many other places, so they need not be expensive. Also, the books can be purchased separately. My child was already at 4th grade level when I discovered these books, but I purchased them all anyway. I was glad I purchased them all in the end, even though my child was beyond the grades covered in some of them, because there were a few things in the books covering the first through third grade levels that I had left out of my child’s curriculum, so we were able to include them in the lessons we were doing at the time.

Also for home schooling parents, I highly recommend, A First Dictionary Of Cultural Literacy: What Our Children Need To Know. It is a single volume written prior to The Core-Knowledge Series and can also be very helpful in making sure you aren’t leaving anything important out of your child’s educational experience.

So that my readers will know, I am recommending The Core-Knowledge Series of books because I utilized these books myself when I home schooled my child, and I consider them one of the best resources available for home schooling parents available. I hope this information will be helpful for other home schooling parents as well as parents generally who want to take an active roll in their child’s education.