Customer Reviews

What Your Third Grader Needs to Know: Fundamentals of a Good Third-Grade Education (Core Knowledge Series)

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Parental spelling errors aside, this series is a very good foundation for a thorough education.

Each book in the series covers the basic subjects (language arts, math, science, geography, world civilization, American civilization and fine arts.) It is not intended to be a child's only source of materials, but rather a guideline for what should be covered each year.

I would not imagine that a child would sit down with the book and read through it; that is not actually the intention of the editor. Rather, it covers the basic subjects and give further resources where the parent or teacher can find more information on the subjects.

As any reviewer of this book should have read, in the Introduction, the editor writes, "The books in this series are designed to be useful tools for parents and teachers, both at home and in school. They are called 'resources' to signal that they do not replace the regular local school curriculum, but rather serve as aids to help children gain some of the important knowledge they will need to make progress in school and be effective in society."

For my children, we use checksheets that cover the material in the books, but use corresponding reference matter that we already have. For the younger kids (grades K - 2), I would not recommend sitting them down with the book at all... but rather, sitting down with them - reading it with the child - making it interesting. Looking for more data via the internet, or World Book, or atlases.

The idea behind the series is that if each school district, private school and homeschool uses a different format each year, children who move around will be at a severe disadvantage. A child going from a homeschool environment to a public school, for instance, may spend two years studying the same material, and may miss some other vital component to his education completely. The Core Knowledge series, used as it is in private and public schools alike, eliminates this problem.

Someone with a 3rd grader in a private school that uses the Core Knowledge guidelines will know their child is "on track" with the public school's 3rd graders, if they use the same system. Then, if that privately educated 3rd grader transfers to the public school in 4th grade, he is not at a great disadvantage.

Since we create our own curriculum, this is a very nice reference to have. I make sure everything in these books are covered in my children's homeschooling. That doesn't mean it's all we do! But we do cover this material.

The 3rd grade book covers extensively the Roman Empire, including Roman mythology, the Roman invasions of North Africa, and the rise of Islam. American history stretches from the first Americans through European settlements in America and culminates in the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The math section is strictly to be used as a guideline for what the typical 3rd grader should be learning in math. Explanations for various math concepts are given, but exercises must come from another source.

Science briefly covers the food chain, environmental pollution, animals that live in colonies, the human nervous system, electricity, chemistry, astronomy and famous scientists. Again, this information is not intended to be the sole source of educational materials for your child, but rather an overview of the subjects that should be covered in 3rd grade.

Language Arts contains excerpts from a few classics "Arabian Nights" and "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", among others, some poetry, grammar, sayings and phrases and Norse mythology.

I highly recommend these books to homeschoolers, teachers and all parents who want to ensure their child is receiving a comprehensive education... I have been using them for years now, and my children are doing very well...

I am a home schooler with an eleven year old. I started homeschooling my child last year. I found, finding descent curriculums to be quite a challenge. I discovered the Core Knowledge series before the beginning of this school year. I purchased the fifth and sixth grade editions. However, when I went through the third grade edition I was amazed. I would like to see an average third grader, in these United States, that has the basis of what is in this book. Of course many people will find fault with it, as all people do. Whites will think it is minority favored, women will think it is male biased, and minorities will think it is lacking in their cultural history. Being a female of American Indian and multicultural background, I find the Core Knowledge series to be well rounded. I found the literature and history sections to be quite compelling. It is based on the literature that we grew up with. You might not agree with the choice of tales, but they are part of our historical background. I realize there are a number of people concerned with violence these days, I am one of those concerned...however the literature that we and our parents grew up with, is not the core of violence in the world. I loved the fact that the arts were included in the series. I believe that the lack of creative outlet, is one of the biggest downfalls in the educational system today. Children have no outlets. Music is being irradicated, along with the rest of the arts, yet here it is. Obviously someone else feels the arts have an important role in a balanced education. I also have a 23 year old and from what I have experienced over the years, our educational system is crumbling. I applaud the Core Knowledge series, I find it to be a wonderful addition to my child's homeschooling curriculum. It has reintroduced a well rounded education to our family. I do believe, that in order to receive the full benefits of the Core Knowledge series, you need to start at the beginning. Each year of the series has references to years prior. They are building blocks to education, isn't that a nice perspective for a change? I think so!

My son is in a public school that has breaks and half-day school almost every week. This book helped me figure out what he really needed to know at his level and in those breaks we were able to complete most of them for him to remain at his grade level compared to the private schools. Plus it encouraged him to read about other books with similar topics. However, I wish the author could site some further references for the curious minds. Overall this book is very essential.

This is an excellent book. I read many chapters for my son before bed. We both like them very much. They broaden his knowledge and enrich his mind like nothing else. My son's school does not provide this much content. We would have missed significant literature, history, and geography without it. The authors have done an important and nice job!

I do see the math section is too easy for 3rd graders nowadays. We use BeeStar online math instead. Its free weekly exercises are about right and very helpful. Overall, this is an outstanding book loaded with fine content. I highly recommend it.

For our two children, we have been using Core Knowledge Curriculum Textbooks. They are great a supplement to the learning they get at their school.

We like the systematic curriculum presented in Core Knowledge books. However, these books do not contain question sets to test the learning of the students. Fortunately, we found the following website that provides worksheets based on Core Knowledge curriculum:

http://www.kwizNET.com

Please share if you know of any other resources related to Core Knowledge books. Thank you.

We are first year homeschoolers and found this book quite helpful in determining what we should be teaching our children and in what grade. These books are written so that the child can read them and are written in such a way as to hold their interest.

This book contains such a comprehensive overview that it is invaluable as resource for parents of public schooled children.
If you are not sure about what your children should be learning, buy this book. No book contains every aspect of education and it doesn't address how to tailor to individual learning styles or needs but it is very well rounded. My daughter uses it as pleasure reading at bedtime. Also, as a parent, you will be surprised what you've forgotten in a few areas. Highly recommend as a teaching at home resource.

I find this series very useful for reviewing with my children - to ensure that my son "got it" for material taught in class, and to cover aspects that teachers were less interested in (like simple machines). It isn't glitzy, but it lets me know what my kids ought to know and helps with the level of detail they can handle. I can augment with glossy picture-books, testing material out with hands-on work at home, ad lib. This provides the framework. (Wish there was a pre-school book for my 3-year old!)

This book is great if you homeschool or want to help your child during the summer. If you want to use it for homeschool, Hirsch has made a teacher handbook. The Teacher Handbooks provide background about language arts, history and geography, visual arts, music, mathematics, and science. Each handbook has been written to look like the Core Knowledge Sequence. For each section in the Sequence, there is a matching section in the handbooks.

I am a homeschooling parent of a 10 year old and this book has helped me narrow my teaching down to include some important things ( even some I was missing!) Every 3rd grade teacher should at least look at this book. All kids should be learning the same things regardless of school or home state. Half of the things in this book were never even mentioned in my child's previous school's curriculum plan. A great guidebook to make sure you are including important subjects in your child's learning plan.