What Your Preschooler Needs to Know »

E.D. Hirsch, Jr., is an emeritus professor at the University of Virginia and the author of The Knowledge Deficit, The Schools We Need, and the bestselling Cultural Literacy and the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. He and his wife, Polly, live in Charlottesville, Virginia, where they raised their three children.

Linda Bevilacqua is the president of the Core Knowledge Foundation and was responsible for the development of the Core Knowledge preschool program that is now being used in over 1,200 preschool classrooms across the country. She and her husband, Jean-Jacques, live in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Prepare your child for a lifetime of learning and wonder.

Designed for parents to enjoy with children, filled with opportunities for reading aloud and fostering curiosity, this beautifully illustrated read-aloud anthology offers preschoolers the fundamentals they need to prepare for a happy, productive time in school—and for the rest of their lives. Millions of children have benefited from the acclaimed Core Knowledge Series, developed in consultation with parents, educators, and the most distinguished developmental psychologists. In addition to valuable advice to parents, including what it means for a child to be ready for kindergarten, special sidebars throughout the book help parents make reading aloud fun and interactive, suggesting questions to ask, connections to make, and games to play to enrich their preschooler’s learning experience.

Discover:

Favorite Poems and Rhymes—all beautifully illustrated. Read and recite together— from Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem “At the Seaside” to limericks by Edward Lear and tongue twisters by Jack Prelutsky, plus fun “clap along!” and “fingerplay” verses that parents and children can act out together.

Beloved Stories and Fables—read aloud from stories like “The Three Little Pigs” and the African folktale “Why Flies Buzz” —and open whole new worlds of learning and discovery.

Visual Arts—help your child appreciate and talk about art. Beautiful full-color reproductions of great works of art will foster early appreciation of art history while igniting discussions about shapes, colors, and different styles and media.

Music—dozens of songs to sing and dance to, including “move around” songs like “Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes” and “The Wheels on the Bus”

History—a delightful introduction to American history—from the first Thanksgiving to Martin Luther King, Jr., —with activities and stories parents and children can enjoy together

Science—from the wonder of animals to exploring physical properties of light, air, and water—fun activities that will let children observe, experience, and enjoy the natural world

Krista Bush - Library Journal

Hirsch (education & humanities, emeritus, Univ. of Virginia; The Knowledge Deficit) and Bevilacqua (president, Core Knowledge Fdn.) target children aged three to five in this newest title from the "Core Knowledge" series. In 1986, Bevilacqua developed the Core Knowledge preschool program, now used in 1200 U.S. classrooms. Intrinsic to the program is the sequencing of social and academic skills. Here, the editors stress the importance of a society in which all children are taught the same content-rich curriculum. They claim that what makes their work unique is that it is based on an overarching set of goals for learning at the preschool level. Consisting of chapters dedicated to poems, rhymes, stories, fables, visual arts, music, history, science, and songs, the book also has lesson plans, an advice-filled chapter for parents, and additional resources. Two activity books-What Your Preschooler Needs To Know: Activities To Get Ready for Kindergarten, Vols. 1 and 2 (coreknowledge.org/bookstore/index.php)-complement the text. Recommended for public libraries, academic libraries with extensive education collections, and special libraries focusing on homeschooling.