What do you think?
Rate this book
Core Knowledge
What Your 3rd Grader Needs to Know: Fundamentals of a Good Third Grade Education
Grade by grade, these groundbreaking and successful books provide a solid foundation in the fundamentals of a good education for first to sixth graders.
B & W photographs, linecuts, and maps throughout; two-color printing.
B & W photographs, linecuts, and maps throughout; two-color printing.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
83 people are currently reading
214 people want to read
About the author
E.D. Hirsch Jr.
82 books111 followersE. D. Hirsch, Jr. is the founder and chairman of the Core Knowledge Foundation and professor emeritus of education and humanities at the University of Virginia. He is the author of several acclaimed books on education in which he has persisted as a voice of reason making the case for equality of educational opportunity.
A highly regarded literary critic and professor of English earlier in his career, Dr. Hirsch recalls being “shocked into education reform” while doing research on written composition at a pair of colleges in Virginia. During these studies he observed that a student’s ability to comprehend a passage was determined in part by the relative readability of the text, but even more by the student’s background knowledge.
This research led Dr. Hirsch to develop his concept of cultural literacy—the idea that reading comprehension requires not just formal decoding skills but also wide-ranging background knowledge. In 1986 he founded the Core Knowledge Foundation. A year later he published Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, which remained at the top of the New York Times bestseller list for more than six months. His subsequent books include The Schools We Need, The Knowledge Deficit, The Making of Americans, and most recently, How to Educate a Citizen: The Power of Shared Knowledge to Unify a Nation.
In How to Educate a Citizen (September, 2020), E.D. Hirsch continues the conversation he began thirty years ago with his classic bestseller Cultural Literacy, urging America’s public schools, particularly in Preschool – Grade 8, to educate our children using common, coherent and sequenced curricula to help heal and preserve the nation.
A highly regarded literary critic and professor of English earlier in his career, Dr. Hirsch recalls being “shocked into education reform” while doing research on written composition at a pair of colleges in Virginia. During these studies he observed that a student’s ability to comprehend a passage was determined in part by the relative readability of the text, but even more by the student’s background knowledge.
This research led Dr. Hirsch to develop his concept of cultural literacy—the idea that reading comprehension requires not just formal decoding skills but also wide-ranging background knowledge. In 1986 he founded the Core Knowledge Foundation. A year later he published Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, which remained at the top of the New York Times bestseller list for more than six months. His subsequent books include The Schools We Need, The Knowledge Deficit, The Making of Americans, and most recently, How to Educate a Citizen: The Power of Shared Knowledge to Unify a Nation.
In How to Educate a Citizen (September, 2020), E.D. Hirsch continues the conversation he began thirty years ago with his classic bestseller Cultural Literacy, urging America’s public schools, particularly in Preschool – Grade 8, to educate our children using common, coherent and sequenced curricula to help heal and preserve the nation.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 18, 2022
Bought this as our son finishes up P3 in a "foreign" school (i.e. not our native language, nor one of the most common daily life languages where we live, though it is one of the official languages). That curriculum has felt scattered to us parents? But, adjusting for Portugal and foreign language slowing things down, it is pretty in line with this book. I'm not convinced that is great, tbh, especially in the Science area, but here we are...
Unsurprisingly, given this series was produced for US families, a fair bit of the content is US-centric. The geography section was a pleasant surprise on this score -- more of the world's rivers are covered than I learned in the full twelve years. :)
Arithmetic was my area of particular concern, and this sure served to panic me. =D
The one thing I found very odd was how much of the content's voice is directed to a third grader instead of the adult who bought the book (and is the expected audience, givem the title). I mean, it's fine to combine them in theory, but with a title and cover like this one has? It's weird and as a parent I don't like it. If I were a third grader, I would hate it. /shrug To the extent I decide to use this with our son, it'll be read aloud via Kindle, so maybe he won't notice. Maybe.
Unsurprisingly, given this series was produced for US families, a fair bit of the content is US-centric. The geography section was a pleasant surprise on this score -- more of the world's rivers are covered than I learned in the full twelve years. :)
Arithmetic was my area of particular concern, and this sure served to panic me. =D
The one thing I found very odd was how much of the content's voice is directed to a third grader instead of the adult who bought the book (and is the expected audience, givem the title). I mean, it's fine to combine them in theory, but with a title and cover like this one has? It's weird and as a parent I don't like it. If I were a third grader, I would hate it. /shrug To the extent I decide to use this with our son, it'll be read aloud via Kindle, so maybe he won't notice. Maybe.
December 30, 2017
The author's organization has decided what all kids should know in particular grade levels. The book is written for parents, but also serves as a textbook for the third-grade child. You will find that most of this, your child is NOT getting in public school. This may inspire you to supplement your child's public-school curriculum, or to complain that your child isn't learning the "right" things in school.
The concept of a universal core curriculum that is followed and is consistent over the years is one I understand and see the need for (as I can never assume that my own students know ANYTHING, since they all come from different teachers and different schools), but I think it's ridiculous at the same time. I'm in conflict as to what I believe about this. If I child is committed to surviving the entire gamut of public education, then it makes sense that teachers work together vertically through the grade levels. However, for one committee or organization to decide what the essential body of knowledge or exposure should be also seems wrong, in a way.
Universal standards make sense (what we do have, but is varied by state), but they are vague and skills-based; the teacher has the liberty to decide what texts or experiences to use to help the child develop those skills. This book focuses a little less on skills than on knowledge and exposure to certain "timeless" works of art & literature. For example, there are poems, songs, and short stories included that "every third-grader" should know about or have read. Ironically, I hadn't read several of them, and I'm an English major and feel pretty educated! So who really is to say that those texts are more important than the texts your 3rd-grade teacher has selected? When will this core curriculum be reviewed to include more modern works of art, music, and literature? However, it certainly would be nice if a 7th grade teacher could know for certain that every child in her class has read Alice in Wonderland at one time so that she could use it in an example to teach something new.
The history, math, science & geography section caused me some alarm, as I could identify exactly what my child has not learned (there was no Roman history unit in my son's 3rd-grade class), but I could name several things that my son DID learn that was not included in this book (the many months studying government & culture, for example). I know for a fact that Roman history will be part of the public school curriculum eventually, so why stress about it now?
Therefore, I rate this book as "ok" because I can see the value in it, especially if your child is not learning much of anything in his or her classroom and you want to do something about it at home, but I would not treat it as gospel, and I'm not going to worry about whether or not he is up to par with this book because most kids won't have been exposed to this knowledge either. I am going to use it as a textbook for the summer, but I'm not going to test him!
The concept of a universal core curriculum that is followed and is consistent over the years is one I understand and see the need for (as I can never assume that my own students know ANYTHING, since they all come from different teachers and different schools), but I think it's ridiculous at the same time. I'm in conflict as to what I believe about this. If I child is committed to surviving the entire gamut of public education, then it makes sense that teachers work together vertically through the grade levels. However, for one committee or organization to decide what the essential body of knowledge or exposure should be also seems wrong, in a way.
Universal standards make sense (what we do have, but is varied by state), but they are vague and skills-based; the teacher has the liberty to decide what texts or experiences to use to help the child develop those skills. This book focuses a little less on skills than on knowledge and exposure to certain "timeless" works of art & literature. For example, there are poems, songs, and short stories included that "every third-grader" should know about or have read. Ironically, I hadn't read several of them, and I'm an English major and feel pretty educated! So who really is to say that those texts are more important than the texts your 3rd-grade teacher has selected? When will this core curriculum be reviewed to include more modern works of art, music, and literature? However, it certainly would be nice if a 7th grade teacher could know for certain that every child in her class has read Alice in Wonderland at one time so that she could use it in an example to teach something new.
The history, math, science & geography section caused me some alarm, as I could identify exactly what my child has not learned (there was no Roman history unit in my son's 3rd-grade class), but I could name several things that my son DID learn that was not included in this book (the many months studying government & culture, for example). I know for a fact that Roman history will be part of the public school curriculum eventually, so why stress about it now?
Therefore, I rate this book as "ok" because I can see the value in it, especially if your child is not learning much of anything in his or her classroom and you want to do something about it at home, but I would not treat it as gospel, and I'm not going to worry about whether or not he is up to par with this book because most kids won't have been exposed to this knowledge either. I am going to use it as a textbook for the summer, but I'm not going to test him!
June 26, 2013
I really like this book for the inclusiveness. I like to pick it up and go with whatever is on the page. Then when we're playing "What do you know?" (a quiz game about the things we've studied), I can pick it up and flip through.
June 19, 2015
Reminds me of the curriculum I grew up with in the 80's.
December 25, 2021
This is such an absorbing volume that I wish I were a third grader again. There is so much interesting history and science packed in that any child or adult who likes learning will devour this. It is one of my favorite volumes so far. Great for reading, reference, and enrichment.
December 27, 2021
Great as a supplement to the main curriculum.
52Books2021 Reading Challenge: A book you think they should read in schools
52Books2021 Reading Challenge: A book you think they should read in schools
December 29, 2020
Great ideas for homeschooling a 3rd grader
June 13, 2012
every year I choose supplemental books/textbooks/pamphlets/websites...and this particular format helped my son immensely...he went from a b average to a strong a and his confidence has grown immensely. I monitored his homework and supplemented it with work from this book and others and he grew strong. Even though our school district is using very innovative techniques...there was room for my old fashion teaching techniques and we both learned at the dining room table. He learned that I can be mistaken yet right and he learned to do things right from all different paths...brilliant!
January 31, 2012
I think this set of books, for grades Preschool through 6th grade, is fabulous. Even if you are sending your child to a wonderful private school, this book is worth reading. The poetry, literature, idioms, art, and music sections alone are worth reading to your children.
I have loved every book that E.D. Hirsch has been associated with, and I am so thankful that he is committed to improving the education and cultural literacy of this country.
I have loved every book that E.D. Hirsch has been associated with, and I am so thankful that he is committed to improving the education and cultural literacy of this country.
May 17, 2008
This series is a must have for any parent. I had no idea my child's private school education was so lacking until we started homeschooling during a international move. I will continue to supplement her education with this series.
June 13, 2009
I'm liking the Core Knowledge Concept. This book is a treasure with great suggestions for a well-rounded education. It would be great for homeschoolers (which I am not), but is just fun as a parent to introduce art and music and history that they're not getting in school.
July 7, 2010
I LOVE this series of books! I use them for our summer "school" sessions at home. They are great preparation for the school year ahead. I recommend them whenever I can, and I'm willing to loan them. :)
September 2, 2008
I am using this this year to help buid curriclum. I think it has a lot of good information and made a lot of good points about the educational system as well.
May 23, 2012
I like some of the information in this book but some of it is beyond ridiculous. My child did NOT learn multiplication tables in 2nd grade. I'll use about 1/8 of this book.
January 29, 2013
Wouldn't reccommend this book for a gifted homeschooling curriculum guide. My second grader is already way beyond the concepts of this book.
July 26, 2013
I really enjoy these core knowledge books. They are a fun fast reference to see if your children are learning what they should be learning.
July 8, 2016
Nice supplement for parents of third graders.
January 8, 2008
I use as a reference book.
Currently reading
September 15, 2010we are reading this in school its about all sujects
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews