Core Knowledge Sequence of Learning

Town & Country Lutheran School is a member of the Core Knowledge Coalition of Schools. Teachers use a published, culturally integrated curriculum, which systematically builds children's knowledge in all subject areas, including visual arts and music; thus providing students with a content-rich course of study. Each week parents receive an outline of topics their child will study that allows them to follow along with their child's work. The student's love of learning attests to the curriculum's effectiveness.

Core knowledge is a curriculum that achieves academic excellence and higher literacy. Elementary and middle school children need a solid, specific, shared core curriculum in order to establish strong foundations of knowledge grade by grade.

Core Knowledge Promotes Excellence and Fairness

Excellence:

All the most successful educational systems in the world teach a core of knowledge in the early grades. Both research and common sense demonstrate we learn new knowledge by building on what we already know. It is important to begin building foundations of knowledge in the early grades because that is when children are most receptive and because academic deficiencies in the first few grades can permanently impair the quality of later schooling.

Fairness:

Only by specifying the knowledge that all children should share can we guarantee equal access to that knowledge. Through Core Knowledge curriculum, children are exposed to a coherent core of challenging, interesting knowledge. This knowledge not only provides a foundation for learning, but also makes up the common ground for communication in a diverse society.

Knowledge Builds on Knowledge

We learn new knowledge by building on what we already know. Students in Core Knowledge schools know a lot, because they are offered a coherent sequence of specific knowledge that builds year by year. For example, in sixth grade they should be ready to grasp the law of the conservation of energy because they have been building the knowledge that prepares them for it, as shown in this selection from the physical science strand of the Core Knowledge Sequence:

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. Examine water as an example of changing substance. Properties of matter: measurement.

Second Grade: Lodestones: naturally occurring magnets. Magnetic poles: north-seeking and south-seeking poles. Magnetic fields (strongest at the poles). Law of attraction: unlike poles attract, like poles repel.

Fourth Grade: Atoms: all matter is made up of particles too small to see. Atoms are made up of even smaller particles: proton, neutrons, and electrons. Concept of electrical charge: proton has a positive charge: electrons a negative charge: neutron has no charge. Unlike charges attract, like charges repel (relate to magnetic attraction). Properties of matter: mass, volume and density. The elements: basic kinds of matter.

Fifth Grade: Atoms are constantly in motion: electrons move around the nucleus in paths called shells (or energy levels). Atoms form molecules and compounds. The Periodic Table organizes elements with common properties.

Benefits of Core Knowledge

For Students
• Provides a broad base of knowledge and a rich vocabulary
• Motivates students to learn and creates a strong desire to learn more
• Provides the knowledge necessary for higher levels of learning and helps build confidence

For the School
• Promotes an academic focus and encourages consistency in instruction
• Promotes a plan for coherent, sequenced learning from grade to grade
• Promotes a community of learners - adults and children
• Becomes an effective tool for lesson planning and communication among teachers and with parents. Guides thoughtful purchase of school resources.

For Parents and the Community
• Provides a clear outline of what children are expected to learn in school
• Encourages parents to participate in their children's education both at home and in school
• Provides opportunities for community members to help obtain and provide instructional resources

Communication and Relationships

CORE KNOWLEDGE IMPACTS WHAT TEACHERS TEACH AND STUDENTS LEARN

• Creates a focus for school community
• Introduces a common language
• Fosters communication
• Provides specificity
• Appeals to students, teachers and parents
• Increases levels of expectations for all children

CORE KNOWLEDGE IMPACTS ON RELATIONSHIPS

• Overall improvement in communication
• Increase in time collaborating with colleagues
• Increase in team work
• Increased sense of professionalism, belonging, and community
• Increase in parent involvement
• Increase in community involvement

CORE KNOWLEDGE INCREASES COMMUNICATION

• Content demands teacher collaboration and established planning times.
• Shared focus, content, and language increase communication between classroom teachers
• Teachers must develop innovative strategies for introducing new kinds of material
• Collaboration with parents for student work and the acquisition of content material
• Students take on more responsibilities

Core Virtue Curriculum

Conscious of the fact that it is not just "content" that matters, but the "content of our character", Core Virtue Curriculum presents a sequenced approach to the cultivation of virtue. If we want our children to possess the character traits we most admire, we need to teach them what those traits are.

Core Virtue Curriculum is a literature based moral development program in grades K - 8. The program goal is the cultivation of character through the promotion of basic moral, civic and intellectual virtues. The stories we tell in our youth help shape the adults we become. Stories that transmit images and examples of moral virtues that shape character can awaken a love for what is good.

Core virtues such as respect, responsibility, diligence, honesty, generosity, perseverance, courage, faithfulness, compassion, openness to inquiry and reason, and humility are emphasized in the Core Virtue Sequence. This is "education" in its truest sense - we need to mold good character and cultivate good vision with the right stories and the best examples.

From any standpoint, literature alone is not sufficient for the task of moral education. Quality interactions and deeds of service are necessary extensions of this. Parents and teachers need to hold children accountable and simultaneously inspire them to want to be accountable. Whether visiting local nursing homes, organizing food and clothing drives, or simply helping teachers set up chairs or helping out at home, students need to understand that "doing their part" for others is a life-long obligation, that can also be a joy!

Town & Country Lutheran Church and School

Town & Country Lutheran School operates as a ministry of Town & Country Lutheran Church. It is part of the largest Protestant parochial school system in the United States with over 2000 elementary and secondary schools. Town & Country Lutheran provides an opportunity for children to be educated in a loving Christian atmosphere that fosters the development of responsible Christian citizens.

Our goals are
• To provide a positive elementary school experience
• To equip students with the skills necessary to succeed
• To instill self-discipline, responsibility, compassion, friendship, courage, perseverance, honesty and faith

Admission and Tour Information

Please call our school office at (916) 481-2542 to arrange a visit to our school. During your tour, you will walk around, meet with teachers, and see our curriculum in action!

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