At Buckner Fanning Christian School your child will be offered a very special curriculum called Core Knowledge�. It is based on some of the ideas presented by E. D. Hirsch, Jr. in his well known books, Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know and The Schools We Need and Why We Don’t Have Them, and further developed by the Foundation he established in 1986.  As your child proceeds in school from month to month and year to year, he or she will be exposed to a broad range of historical, scientific, and cultural topics that will build on one another and prepare the student for later educational success. This exposure to a wide array of subject matter is intended not only to develop cultural literacy but also to build a strong vocabulary, now recognized, along with the decoding skills,  for true reading comprehension.
Cultural literacy, or familiarity with the traditions and knowledge commonly shared by educated citizens in a society, is sometimes acquired in informal ways as well as by formal study. Core Knowledge tries to develop cultural literacy in a way that is systematic but leaves lots of room for creativity. This curriculum eliminates some of the gaps and repetitions that frequently characterize a curriculum in which textbooks and programs are selected more or less at random. The Core Knowledge Curriculum covers language arts, history and geography, mathematics, science, art and music and can also be complemented by other subjects. Music and art are prominently included in the Sequence and integrated whenever possible with history and literature. Even programs not included in the Sequence, such as physical education, can be related to various elements of classroom study. We believe the curriculum can be described as solid, specific, sequenced, and shared.

Solid and Specific The following sample — one subject for each grade — will give you an idea of the specific content requirements of the curriculum. Teachers are free to teach the subject matter as creatively as they like, but the content is specified and builds from year to year. Kindergarten: History - overview of the seven continents, Native American peoples (past and present), early exploration, presidents First Grade: World History - early civilization; Ancient Egypt - the Nile River, pharaohs, pyramids, mummies, and hieroglyphics Second Grade: American History - U.S. Constitution; Civil Rights: women’s roles (Susan B. Anthony, Eleanor Roosevelt, et al); equality: (Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez, et al.); Geography of the Americas Third Grade: Math - fractions to one-tenth, numerator and denominator, mixed numbers equivalent fractions; introduction to geometrical concepts Fourth Grade: Human body - circulatory and respiratory systems; Chemistry - atoms, matter, elements, solutions; science biographies Fifth Grade: American History and Geography - westward exploration and expansion, Daniel Boone, the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark, Sacagawea, land and water routes, major rivers, American Indian resistance, Manifest Destiny Sixth Grade: Art History periods and schools (Classical, Renaissance, Rococo, Romantic, et al.) Seventh Grade: Music-classical music, romantics, and nationalists (Brahms, Berlioz, Liszt, Wagner, et al.); American musical traditions – blues and jazz Eighth Grade: Language Arts – novels and stories (Animal Farm; The Good Earth; “The Bet”; “The Open Boat”); Writing the research essay-organizing with an outline, quoting materials from secondary sources, summarizing and paraphrasing, acknowledging sources and avoiding plagiarism, preparing a bibliography

Sequenced Here is how one subject – science – builds from year to year in a sequenced way: Kindergarten: Magnetism, the idea of forces we cannot see, classification of materials according to whether they are attracted to a magnet. First Grade: Basic concept of atoms – names and common examples of the three states of matter in a single substance; properties of matter – measurement Second Grade: Lodestones – naturally occurring magnets, magnetic poles and fields, law of attraction Fourth Grade: Atoms: matter made up of particles too small to see, atoms made up of even smaller particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons, concept of electrical charge; Properties of matter: mass, volume and density. The elements: basic kinds of matter. Fifth Grade: Atoms in constant motion, electrons, the nucleus, paths called shells (or energy levels), atoms molecules, and compounds, The Periodic Table Eighth Grade: Earth’s magnetism – Connection between electricity and magnetism, electromagnetic radiation and light.

Shared Studying topics together in the same grade can build a sense of community in much the same way that common knowledge can bind the larger society together. E. D. Hirsch, Jr. believes that a diverse society like ours has special need for commonly shared background knowledge and further that everybody has a right to share it, not just a select few. Students can also understand the shared dimensions of knowledge, how subjects relate to one another and build over time as well as how history influences contemporary events. They can command the necessary vocabulary to comprehend the complex subjects that lie ahead as well as the increasingly complex world around them. They can, in other words, share the culture of the nation and the world. Even more importantly they can have a share in it. Parents interested in more detail about Core Knowledge can visit the web site at www.coreknowledge.org. If you would like more information on how the Core Knowledge� Sequence can benefit your child, please call the school at 402-6905 to schedule an appointment with Mr. John Purcell, Head of School.