Core Knowledge
The Core Knowledge Foundation offers full courses in language arts (CKLA), history and geography (CKHG), science (CKSci) and math (CKMath), many of them free to download as PDF teacher guides and student books. Each teacher guide gives step-by-step lesson plans, pacing guidance and activity pages, and the courses build knowledge in a set order from grade to grade. Printed homeschool sets are sold through the foundation's bookstore, and the 2nd-edition CKLA kits come from Amplify.
Grades it covers
- PK
- K
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- Subjects
- All subjects: reading and phonics, language arts, math, science and history and geography
- Grades
- Preschool to 8th grade across language arts, history and geography, science and math source ↗
- Method
- Traditional source ↗
- Format
- Books and workbooks source ↗
- Faith label
- Secular
- Cost a year
- Free. Free: the CKLA (1st edition, kindergarten to 5th grade), history and geography, and science teacher and student materials download as PDFs at no cost. Printed homeschool sets cost extra. Read on October 31, 2026; prices change. source ↗
- Placement
- No placement test on the publisher’s site when we checked.
What it does well
- Language arts, history and geography, science and math can all be downloaded free, so a whole year can cost only paper and ink.
- Teacher guides lay out each unit with pacing, step-by-step lesson plans, guided reading prompts and answer keys.
- Topics follow one sequence across the grades, so history and science build year on year instead of jumping around.
- The math course is adapted from Illustrative Mathematics and published under an open licence.
Watch for
- The materials were written for classrooms; the homeschool FAQ gives no figure for daily parent time.
- There are no placement tests; the foundation's pages leave the starting grade to the parent.
- Printing a year of guides and student books is a big job, and printed homeschool sets are bought separately.
- Language arts comes in two editions, the free 1st edition and printed 2nd-edition kits sold by Amplify, so check which one a guide refers to.
It fits
A family that wants a free, knowledge-rich plan for every core subject and is happy to print the books and teach from a detailed guide.
It doesn’t fit
A family that wants a short open-and-go workbook, a screen course the child does alone, or a placement test to pick the level.
Compare Core Knowledge
Other programs for the same subject and grades:
- Abeka Pre-K (K4) to 12th grade
- AmblesideOnline Year 0 (kindergarten) to Year 12
- Beyond the Page Age levels 4-5 to 12-14 (about pre-K to 8th grade), plus High School 1 for 9th or 10th grade
- BJU Press Homeschool K3 (preschool) to 12th grade
- BookShark Levels Pre-K to J plus high school levels, ages 4 to 18 (about pre-K to 12th grade)
- Bridgeway Academy Pre-K to 12th grade, with college options
- Build Your Library Level 0 (kindergarten) to Level 12 (12th grade)
- Classical Conversations Ages 4 to 18, about pre-K to 12th grade
Lists it is on
- Homeschool all-in-one curricula 31
- Secular homeschool curricula 42
- Traditional homeschool curricula 44
- Homeschool curricula for pre-K and kindergarten 72
- Homeschool curricula for middle school 81
- Print homeschool curricula 66
- Free homeschool curricula 8
- Secular homeschool all-in-one curricula 11
- Secular traditional homeschool curricula 23
- Secular homeschool curricula for pre-K and kindergarten 35
- Secular homeschool curricula for middle school 34
- Secular print homeschool curricula 24
What we read, and how we label
Every fact on a card was read on the publisher's own website on the date shown, and the page it came from is linked. A fact we could not confirm there is left out. Costs are for one child and one year of the main package, as the publisher's page showed them that day; prices and sales change. Method and format are the publisher's own description where it gives one. The only thing we say about religion is one label, secular or faith-based, given by the rule above; where the publisher's pages don't settle it, the card has no label.
The publisher’s pages we read on October 31, 2026:
- coreknowledge.org/homeschoolers/
- coreknowledge.org/homeschool-faqs/
- coreknowledge.org/download-free-curriculum/
- coreknowledge.org/mathematics/
Something wrong or out of date? Publishers and parents can send a correction and we will fix it. Publishers can send corrections, never money. All programs compared · Find your homeschool style