Core Knowledge Science

While I am not interested, as of yet, in purchasing a set curriculum for my home school, I have done quite a bit of research into what it is Maddi should be learning in her kindergarten year. As part of this research process, I have tried to coordinate with the curriculum used in my area schools in the event that we should ever need to place our kids back in public school while we are here. In the Rochester area, there are lots of elementary schools, as well as five Choice Schools. These Choice Schools use an advanced curriculum known as Core Knowledge Curriculum. After talking with a friend of mine who serves on the Rochester School Board and worked with the Core Knowledge Foundation on the development of this curriculum, I feel pretty confident that by using their curriculum sequence as a general guide I will stay up on all the things Maddi needs to learn during this school year.

Just for my own records, I want to include a copy of the Core Knowledge outline of the kindergarten Science Curriculum on this blog.

I. Plants and Plant Growth

Teachers: Through reading aloud, observation, and activities such as growing plants from seeds in

varying conditions, explore the following with children:

• What plants need to grow: sufficient warmth, light, and water

• Basic parts of plants: seed, root, stem, branch, leaf

• Plants make their own food.

• Flowers and seeds: seeds as food for plants and animals (for example, rice, nuts,

wheat, corn)

• Two kinds of plants: deciduous and evergreen

• Farming

How some food comes from farms as crops

How farmers must take special care to protect their crops from weeds and pests

How crops are harvested, kept fresh, packaged, and transported for people to buy

and consume

II. Animals and Their Needs

Teachers: Through reading aloud, observation, and activities, explore with children the common

characteristics and needs of animals, including:

• Animals, like plants, need food, water, and space to live and grow.

• Plants make their own food, but animals get food from eating plants or other living things.

• Offspring are very much (but not exactly) like their parents.

• Most animal babies need to be fed and cared for by their parents; human babies are

especially in need of care when young.

• Pets have special needs and must be cared for by their owners.

IV. Introduction to Magnetism

Teachers: Through reading aloud, observation, and experiments with magnets, introduce children

to the idea that there are forces we cannot see that act upon objects. Children should:

• Identify familiar everyday uses of magnets (for example, in toys, in cabinet locks,

in “refrigerator magnets,” etc.).

• Classify materials according to whether they are or are not attracted by a magnet.

V. Seasons and Weather

Teachers: The emphasis in kindergarten should be on observation and description; technical

explanations of meteorological phenomena should be taken up in later grades.

• The four seasons

• Characteristic local weather patterns during the different seasons

• The sun: source of light and warmth

• Daily weather changes

Temperature: thermometers are used to measure temperature

Clouds

Rainfall: how the condition of the ground varies with rainfall; rainbows

Thunderstorms: lightning and thunder, hail, safety during thunderstorms

Snow and snowflakes, blizzard

VI. Taking Care of the Earth

• Conservation: Some natural resources are limited, so people must be careful not to use

too much of them (example: logging and reforestation).

• Practical measures for conserving energy and resources (for example, turning off

unnecessary lights, tightly turning off faucets, etc.)

• Some materials can be recycled (for example, aluminum, glass, paper).

• Pollution (for example, littering, smog, water pollution) can be harmful, but if people are

careful they can help reduce pollution.