Engaging elementary-level knowledge-focused series/books

[Anonymous]

Hello, I care about my children’s education and I keep reading how nowadays elementary school curriculum is focused on skills and very stripped down of knowledge. Do you have any advice for great books or series to read at home to help with this issue?

[Anonymous]

The idea behind this educational theory just means that kids need to learn more, not necessarily read more. You can have them learn by watching documentaries, learning things together as a family, letting them loose on the wikipedia app, etc.

But if you are up for it you can be an overachiever and look at the core knowledge foundation. I am doing their grade science curriculum with my kid after school since they don't teach a lot of science in school. It's a ton of work though. You could also look at history, which is really fun and doesn't require projects and such.

[Anonymous]

You can do the “what your [x] grader should know” books for some core knowledge.

[Anonymous]

I’m not sure if you’re looking for instructional material or fiction that also exposes them to other things.

For educational content, I recommend the Core Knowledge series (What Your ______ Grader Needs to Know) by E. D. Hirsch

Fiction that also informs:
Magic Treehouse
Time Warp Trio
American Girl
Magic School Bus (picture and chapter books)
Einstein Anderson
Sir Cumference

Really, any book can offer the chance to learn something new. Nancy Drew introduced me to a wide variety of subjects.

I agree with PP that screens today offer marvelous sources for learning. PBS generally has some great educational shows. YouTube can provide videos on any subject.

Hoagies has great links for enrichment for all subjects and levels:
https://www.hoagiesgifted.org/links.htm

There are websites like Scratch and Duolingo to learn about subjects like coding or foreign languages.

Games and aps offer fantastic opportunities for a child to learn and enjoy themselves in the process.

[Anonymous]

Are they still updating The Way Things Work?

[Anonymous]

Are you talking about how reading is taught, like how kids need to learn background knowledge and vocabulary and not just how to read the words?

Ordinary People Change the World book series and PBS KIDS series Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum
Magic School Bus books series and on streaming
National Geographic First Big Book of... series
Magic Treehouse
Science Max (streaming)
Free programs at Arboretum and Smithsonian museums (about plants, artists, etc.)
Planet Earth series

[Anonymous]

My kids went to a Core Knowledge elementary school. This was a few years ago, but each grade level had a whole library of books in the classroom that the kids could read on their free time. My kids read many of these books and knew so many random facts I was always amazed at the quality and depth of the library (everything from Science to History to the history of art and math). I just looked it up and they recently created a pre-K library too. Anyway - not sure where else you can find these books besides getting the whole library but here is an example of the books. https://teacher.scholastic.com/products/classroombooks/coreknowledge.htm. Both of my kids are grown up now (one in law school and one just started their first job) and I honestly think the foundation of the core knowledge education and the supplemental classroom reading library had a lot to do with their love of learning and success in life.