Anonymous
Post 08/28/2025 11:18     Subject: Do your kids know about historical events, science?
Anonymous wrote:Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) builds many of these topics (probably not all of them) into the readings and related materials.

(Anyone can look at the CKLA material online at the Core Knowledge Foundation website. CKF predates and is NOT related to the so-called Common Core curriculum effort, but names are similar.)

MCPS and APS each switched to CKLA for K - elementary grades maybe 2-3 years ago. I think it is a good curriculum overall.


I forgot to mention. CKF also publishes a series of books (1 book per US grade) approximately titled "What a 4th Grader Needs to Know", where "4th grader" might be replaced with Kindergartener or 1st Grader ... 6th Grader.

These are very good for at home supplementing. They contain not only history, but also music, art, science, and other culture. They have most of the age-appropriate content that kids need to understand the context for stories they are reading.

Ser also Ed Hirsch s book on "Cultural Literacy".
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2025 10:37     Subject: Do your kids know about historical events, science?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I think back to when I was in elementary school (And not a good one. Several girls had dropped out by high school), and I'm pretty sure I learned about MLK, Jackie Robinson, mummies and Egypt, The Oregon Trail, and I remember reading about topics like Native Americans, pueblos / Zuni silversmiths and jewelry making, and things like ranch hands and cattle. We learned all the state capitals. We had spelling tests. Do your kids know anything about... well, anything? Mine knows a little, but pretty much just things we have talked about at home or read at the library. Is this normal for elementary school?

At school they are taught about math facts and reading skills, and I think he is ok in those areas. Science has been limited to building lego structures and making paper airplanes. History. I think they talked about being a good citizen and voted for a movie to see which movie would win a majority. His teacher last year made mention of "the old days" (like pre electricity, pre-internet) vs now, and they made a then vs now list of ideas, but that's about it. He does very little writing, and no spelling.

When do they start learning more actual content versus learning early skills like reading and math facts? 4th grade?


OP this is reason number 255,234,924 to put your kids in private schools.


Or just teach them stuff yourself. That’s what my parents did and what DH and I do with our kids. I figure it’s the parents job to make sure the kids know basic history and science (at least in elementary school— HS teaches more) and not assume the schools will teach it.


Considering less than 50% of kids are at grade level proficiency for basic reading and math, and now schools aren’t even teaching science and history like they used to, what it is exactly that kids are doing at school for 7 hrs?


According to my daughter one year, "not much" (that was 2nd grade and the year of return to school after the pandemic - my impression was the teacher was drowning in behavior problems that she did a decent job of managing, but it took a lot of her time and energy).

Note that there's shown to be a correlation between not learning content like science and history and not scoring well on standardized reading tests. So that the two are going down together is not surprising. Turns out if you know something about a topic it's easier to understand when you read about it. If you give all kids a piece of writing about something completely made up (so nobody knows anything about it), gaps in their performance on a reading comprehension tests largely disappear.


This tracks with what we saw too. Last year, DS switched out of an highly ranked public to a parochial school and came home the third week of school saying he was "way behind" in Spanish. I asked him how that could be, given that he had only had 2 Spanish classes so far. At his old school, his class of 18 students met for Spanish every single day. At the parochial they had classes approaching 25 students and Spanish was only taught 1-2x/week. He said in public school they were basically messing around and not learning anything, while the teacher yelled at the same small handful of kids. We also saw a big difference in grade level expectations for reading, writing/spelling, social studies, and science. The one exception was math. Public school math level was about the same or maybe they had an edge, since they allowed acceleration on the ipad and DS was able to work ahead.
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2025 09:11     Subject: Do your kids know about historical events, science?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I think back to when I was in elementary school (And not a good one. Several girls had dropped out by high school), and I'm pretty sure I learned about MLK, Jackie Robinson, mummies and Egypt, The Oregon Trail, and I remember reading about topics like Native Americans, pueblos / Zuni silversmiths and jewelry making, and things like ranch hands and cattle. We learned all the state capitals. We had spelling tests. Do your kids know anything about... well, anything? Mine knows a little, but pretty much just things we have talked about at home or read at the library. Is this normal for elementary school?

At school they are taught about math facts and reading skills, and I think he is ok in those areas. Science has been limited to building lego structures and making paper airplanes. History. I think they talked about being a good citizen and voted for a movie to see which movie would win a majority. His teacher last year made mention of "the old days" (like pre electricity, pre-internet) vs now, and they made a then vs now list of ideas, but that's about it. He does very little writing, and no spelling.

When do they start learning more actual content versus learning early skills like reading and math facts? 4th grade?


OP this is reason number 255,234,924 to put your kids in private schools.


Or just teach them stuff yourself. That’s what my parents did and what DH and I do with our kids. I figure it’s the parents job to make sure the kids know basic history and science (at least in elementary school— HS teaches more) and not assume the schools will teach it.


Considering less than 50% of kids are at grade level proficiency for basic reading and math, and now schools aren’t even teaching science and history like they used to, what it is exactly that kids are doing at school for 7 hrs?


According to my daughter one year, "not much" (that was 2nd grade and the year of return to school after the pandemic - my impression was the teacher was drowning in behavior problems that she did a decent job of managing, but it took a lot of her time and energy).

Note that there's shown to be a correlation between not learning content like science and history and not scoring well on standardized reading tests. So that the two are going down together is not surprising. Turns out if you know something about a topic it's easier to understand when you read about it. If you give all kids a piece of writing about something completely made up (so nobody knows anything about it), gaps in their performance on a reading comprehension tests largely disappear.
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2025 08:51     Subject: Do your kids know about historical events, science?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My kids knew a lot in elementary, but mostly from what we (parents) taught them via reading books, conversations, visiting museums and historic sites, and doing science experiments at home. They learned some science and history at school, but it was almost always very surface level stuff that my kids already knew. They did learn a lot during Virginia studied in 4th grade. Teachers would comment that my kids had a lot of “background knowledge.”

There has been a recent trend to focus on math and reading and less on “content.” In my view, you can’t rely on schools to provide 100% of your kid’s education.


This 10000%.

In my experience private lower school has been slightly better than our well-regarded public elementary school on this, but even then supplementing at home is helpful for providing the all-important background knowledge.

Interestingly background knowledge is highly correlated with reading comprehension scores.



How did you go about supplementing at home? My knowledge of american history is not exactly up to par either.


A lot of it was through reading books. When my kids were younger, we’d do “units” on a specific topic of interest. Examples include broad & narrow topics, like ancient Egypt, the solar system, or lighthouses. So take Egypt, for example. We’d read a bunch of library books on the topic, learn to write a few things in hieroglyphics, mummify an apple, build a lego pyramid, and visit a museum with Egyptian artifacts.

As for US history, in addition to books, there are so many great places to visit if you live in the DC area— NMAH, civil war battlefields, historic houses, Mount Vernon, Old Town, other museums, etc. Not to mention the historic triangle and Philly not too far away. You can also include age-appropriate documentaries.
Anonymous
Post 08/26/2025 13:48     Subject: Do your kids know about historical events, science?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My kids knew a lot in elementary, but mostly from what we (parents) taught them via reading books, conversations, visiting museums and historic sites, and doing science experiments at home. They learned some science and history at school, but it was almost always very surface level stuff that my kids already knew. They did learn a lot during Virginia studied in 4th grade. Teachers would comment that my kids had a lot of “background knowledge.”

There has been a recent trend to focus on math and reading and less on “content.” In my view, you can’t rely on schools to provide 100% of your kid’s education.


This 10000%.

In my experience private lower school has been slightly better than our well-regarded public elementary school on this, but even then supplementing at home is helpful for providing the all-important background knowledge.

Interestingly background knowledge is highly correlated with reading comprehension scores.



How did you go about supplementing at home? My knowledge of american history is not exactly up to par either.


My personal preference is to look up homeschool curricula - I try to cast a wide net to make sure we're including diverse perspectives. The library has most of the interesting books I see repeated over and over again, so we check them out, and voila. Free supplementing for only my effort and labor. I usually align the books to whatever the kids are learning at school in social studies and science. We've discovered some great ones.

And as other PPs have mentioned, family field trips and museum visits are good. For example this summer we hit up the Frontier Culture Museum. There are tons of places like that in the DMV and surrounding areas.
Anonymous
Post 08/26/2025 13:48     Subject: Do your kids know about historical events, science?
Ask the question on the homeschooling forum.
Anonymous
Post 08/26/2025 13:42     Subject: Do your kids know about historical events, science?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My kids knew a lot in elementary, but mostly from what we (parents) taught them via reading books, conversations, visiting museums and historic sites, and doing science experiments at home. They learned some science and history at school, but it was almost always very surface level stuff that my kids already knew. They did learn a lot during Virginia studied in 4th grade. Teachers would comment that my kids had a lot of “background knowledge.”

There has been a recent trend to focus on math and reading and less on “content.” In my view, you can’t rely on schools to provide 100% of your kid’s education.


This 10000%.

In my experience private lower school has been slightly better than our well-regarded public elementary school on this, but even then supplementing at home is helpful for providing the all-important background knowledge.

Interestingly background knowledge is highly correlated with reading comprehension scores.



How did you go about supplementing at home? My knowledge of american history is not exactly up to par either.
Anonymous
Post 08/26/2025 11:43     Subject: Re:Do your kids know about historical events, science?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You need to send him to private school. My DS learned a lot of history and geography (and was tested on all of it) started in 1st/2nd grade. This was in Catholic school.


What kind of history is being taught in 1st grade? For geography, the 1st and 2nd graders talked about how to read maps and keys, and drew a map of their neighborhood.


I believe they learned about native Americans including Aztec and Mayan cultures. I was impressed because I learned new things myself.


+1

I remember helping them with Native American projects in 2nd grade. Across 3 kids, we helped build a model longhouse, a teepee, and a cliff dwelling. Very fun!

1st grade was maps, so they memorized the states and capitals and the class tried to get postcards mailed to them from every state. I think they drew neighborhood or town maps also.
Anonymous
Post 08/26/2025 11:33     Subject: Do your kids know about historical events, science?
Anonymous wrote:My kids knew a lot in elementary, but mostly from what we (parents) taught them via reading books, conversations, visiting museums and historic sites, and doing science experiments at home. They learned some science and history at school, but it was almost always very surface level stuff that my kids already knew. They did learn a lot during Virginia studied in 4th grade. Teachers would comment that my kids had a lot of “background knowledge.”

There has been a recent trend to focus on math and reading and less on “content.” In my view, you can’t rely on schools to provide 100% of your kid’s education.


This 10000%.

In my experience private lower school has been slightly better than our well-regarded public elementary school on this, but even then supplementing at home is helpful for providing the all-important background knowledge.

Interestingly background knowledge is highly correlated with reading comprehension scores.
Anonymous
Post 08/26/2025 11:29     Subject: Do your kids know about historical events, science?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I think back to when I was in elementary school (And not a good one. Several girls had dropped out by high school), and I'm pretty sure I learned about MLK, Jackie Robinson, mummies and Egypt, The Oregon Trail, and I remember reading about topics like Native Americans, pueblos / Zuni silversmiths and jewelry making, and things like ranch hands and cattle. We learned all the state capitals. We had spelling tests. Do your kids know anything about... well, anything? Mine knows a little, but pretty much just things we have talked about at home or read at the library. Is this normal for elementary school?

At school they are taught about math facts and reading skills, and I think he is ok in those areas. Science has been limited to building lego structures and making paper airplanes. History. I think they talked about being a good citizen and voted for a movie to see which movie would win a majority. His teacher last year made mention of "the old days" (like pre electricity, pre-internet) vs now, and they made a then vs now list of ideas, but that's about it. He does very little writing, and no spelling.

When do they start learning more actual content versus learning early skills like reading and math facts? 4th grade?


OP this is reason number 255,234,924 to put your kids in private schools.


Or just teach them stuff yourself. That’s what my parents did and what DH and I do with our kids. I figure it’s the parents job to make sure the kids know basic history and science (at least in elementary school— HS teaches more) and not assume the schools will teach it.


Considering less than 50% of kids are at grade level proficiency for basic reading and math, and now schools aren’t even teaching science and history like they used to, what it is exactly that kids are doing at school for 7 hrs?
Anonymous
Post 08/26/2025 10:57     Subject: Do your kids know about historical events, science?
My kids just started 2nd and 5th grade. Kindergarten & first grade is focused on learning what it means to be a student, social-emotional learning, literacy, math, and then some other things. My child learned about a variety of things - cause & effect, coins, a bit about black history (like who was MLK jr, ect.), the water cycle, ect.

They start learning more about geography, traditions, state & national symbols, some basic US history, some very basic economic topics, ect.

My older child loved learning all about ancient civilizations in 3rd grade, Virginia colony/Jamestown/early US history in 4th grade and our division doesn't have social studies/history in 5th grade (which I am sad about) but instead focus on reading/literature/writing, stem/science, and math.

We always supplement with lots of hands on things at home and out and about.
Anonymous
Post 08/26/2025 09:48     Subject: Do your kids know about historical events, science?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I think back to when I was in elementary school (And not a good one. Several girls had dropped out by high school), and I'm pretty sure I learned about MLK, Jackie Robinson, mummies and Egypt, The Oregon Trail, and I remember reading about topics like Native Americans, pueblos / Zuni silversmiths and jewelry making, and things like ranch hands and cattle. We learned all the state capitals. We had spelling tests. Do your kids know anything about... well, anything? Mine knows a little, but pretty much just things we have talked about at home or read at the library. Is this normal for elementary school?

At school they are taught about math facts and reading skills, and I think he is ok in those areas. Science has been limited to building lego structures and making paper airplanes. History. I think they talked about being a good citizen and voted for a movie to see which movie would win a majority. His teacher last year made mention of "the old days" (like pre electricity, pre-internet) vs now, and they made a then vs now list of ideas, but that's about it. He does very little writing, and no spelling.

When do they start learning more actual content versus learning early skills like reading and math facts? 4th grade?


OP this is reason number 255,234,924 to put your kids in private schools.


Or just teach them stuff yourself. That’s what my parents did and what DH and I do with our kids. I figure it’s the parents job to make sure the kids know basic history and science (at least in elementary school— HS teaches more) and not assume the schools will teach it.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 21:46     Subject: Re:Do your kids know about historical events, science?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You need to send him to private school. My DS learned a lot of history and geography (and was tested on all of it) started in 1st/2nd grade. This was in Catholic school.


What kind of history is being taught in 1st grade? For geography, the 1st and 2nd graders talked about how to read maps and keys, and drew a map of their neighborhood.


I believe they learned about native Americans including Aztec and Mayan cultures. I was impressed because I learned new things myself.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 21:27     Subject: Do your kids know about historical events, science?
Anonymous wrote:The MCPS elementary reading curriculum weaves a lot of this in. Just from what I can remember, in 1st they did ancient civilizations and body systems. In second, the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and democracies (among other things).


Yes I was going to chime in to say this about MCPS ES. I have liked the ELA curriculum having units, some more literary and others focused on other content. It's sort of disjointed my kids who knows for example about the topics PP mentioned but not the threads that connect them. But it seems engaging and interesting.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 21:22     Subject: Do your kids know about historical events, science?
Anonymous wrote:No we had to spend a lot of time in museums with our kids and educational trips. If you want them to learn about the Pueblos, you need to go to New Mexico. I do think high school is where most kids learn things though. I had 4 years of different AP history classes.


I thought high school was where the kids just have to grind things out and cram for tests and APs while doing as many leadership extracurriculars as they can.