Core Knowledge

As students mature in their language fluency, the curriculum directs their time and intellectual energy into more content-based (as opposed to skill-based) aspects. The basis of these subjects from Kindergarten through 8th grade is the Core Knowledge Curriculum, made available through the Core Knowledge Foundation.

The Core Knowledge curriculum is the most content-rich curriculum. Students at NOCA memorize facts, dates, names, places, and events, which give them the basic pieces of geography, history, and science. With this wealth of knowledge students form reasonable and coherent opinions, craft good arguments, and seek out deeper and broader knowledge. Background knowledge is vital for increased reading ability, interest in school, improved memory, and understanding abstractions and meaning.

For instance, students in the Second Grade learn about ancient Greece, about specific events, people, and contributions to civilization, including democracy, poetry, and philosophy. Some of these concepts are revisited in later grades in more complete and mature ways, but our content-rich curriculum inspires real delight in the richness of the human and natural world. By knowing that the Battle of Marathon was the first time the Greeks charged in battle, students join in the task of preserving our western heritage, and appreciate how history can teach us about ourselves, where we came from, and where we are going.