What Is Common Core? A Guide for Parents of Kids K–5
Common Core is a list of what children should be able to do in math and English by the end of each grade. Here’s what it covers from Kindergarten to Grade 5, in plain words, and how Steady Learners follows it.
What is Common Core?
The Common Core State Standards are a shared set of learning goals for math and English language arts, from Kindergarten to Grade 12. Published in 2010, they say what a child should be able to do by the end of each grade, not how to teach it. Most US states adopted them, and many still use them today.
They were written by teachers, researchers and state education leaders, coordinated by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. Some states use them as written; others have their own state standards built closely on them.
The standards say what a child should be able to do by the end of a grade, such as “know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers” by the end of Grade 2. They don’t say how to teach it. The method, the books and the order of lessons are left to schools, teachers and parents.
Why does Common Core matter for parents?
Common Core tells you what your child is expected to learn each year. If your child goes to school, practicing the grade’s skills at home lines up with the class. For homeschoolers it’s a clear map that makes a move back to school easier. It also helps you compare workbooks and apps by the standards they cover.
- Practice that matches school. If your child goes to school, practicing the grade’s Common Core skills at home lines up with what the class is learning.
- A clear map. If you’re not sure what a second grader “should” know, the standards are a well-tested answer, grade by grade.
- No surprises if your child goes back to school. Most US classrooms, and most state tests, follow Common Core or something very close to it.
- Easy to compare materials. Workbooks, apps and curricula often list the standards they cover, so you can see gaps at a glance.
Homeschoolers don’t have to follow Common Core. Many families use it as a checklist and teach in their own way, at their own pace.
How do you read a Common Core standard code?
A Common Core code names the grade, the subject area and the standard number. In math, the grade comes first: 2.OA.2 is Grade 2, Operations & Algebraic Thinking, standard 2. In English, the strand comes first: RF.1.3 is Reading: Foundational Skills, Grade 1, standard 3. A letter at the end marks one part of a standard.
| Code | Means | In plain words |
|---|---|---|
| 2.OA.2 | Grade 2 · Operations & Algebraic Thinking · standard 2 | Add and subtract within 20 quickly; know every sum of two one-digit numbers by heart. |
| 3.NF.2 | Grade 3 · Number & Operations, Fractions · standard 2 | Show fractions on a number line. |
| RF.1.3 | Reading: Foundational Skills · Grade 1 · standard 3 | Use phonics to sound out words. |
| L.3.2c | Language · Grade 3 · standard 2, part c | Use commas and quotation marks when someone speaks. |
What math does Common Core cover from Kindergarten to Grade 5?
Common Core K–5 math covers counting, operations and algebraic thinking, place value, fractions from Grade 3, measurement and data, and geometry. Children move from counting and adding within 10 in Kindergarten to knowing sums within 20 by Grade 2, the times tables by Grade 3, and decimals and fraction operations by Grade 5.
These big areas are called domains (place value is “number and operations in base ten”). Here are the headline skills for each grade:
| Grade | Big ideas |
|---|---|
| Kindergarten | Count to 100 by ones and tens; count objects; compare groups; add and subtract within 10; teen numbers as ten and some ones; name flat and solid shapes. |
| Grade 1 | Add and subtract within 20 (fluent within 10); tens and ones; compare two-digit numbers; measure length; tell time to the half hour; halves and quarters. |
| Grade 2 | Know sums within 20 by heart; add and subtract within 100, then 1,000; measure in inches and centimeters; money; time to 5 minutes; bar graphs; equal rows as a first step to multiplying. |
| Grade 3 | Multiplication and division within 100 (facts by heart); fractions and the number line; area and perimeter; time to the minute; rounding. |
| Grade 4 | Multiply and divide multi-digit numbers; equal fractions; add and subtract fractions; decimals to hundredths; angles and lines; factors and primes. |
| Grade 5 | Decimals to thousandths and all four operations with them; add and subtract unlike fractions; multiply and divide fractions; volume; the coordinate plane; powers of ten. |
What does Common Core cover in English from Kindergarten to Grade 5?
Common Core English for K–5 has six strands that build on each other: foundational reading skills like phonics, reading literature, reading informational text, writing, language (grammar, punctuation, spelling and vocabulary), and speaking and listening. Each strand has its own letters in the standard codes, such as RF for foundational skills.
- Reading: Foundational Skills (RF): letters, sounds and phonics, sounding out words, and reading aloud smoothly. This strand runs from Kindergarten to Grade 5.
- Reading: Literature (RL): understanding stories: who, what, why, the lesson of a story, how characters feel, comparing stories.
- Reading: Informational Text (RI): true books about the real world: the main idea, key facts, headings, captions and diagrams, comparing two texts on one topic.
- Writing (W): opinion pieces with reasons, writing that explains a topic, and stories with a beginning, middle and end.
- Language (L): grammar, capital letters and punctuation, spelling patterns and vocabulary.
- Speaking & Listening (SL): conversation, listening to texts read aloud, and presenting ideas.
How does Steady Learners follow Common Core?
Every Kindergarten to Grade 5 math standard has a lesson in Steady Learners, and its reading, phonics and grammar lessons are built around the Common Core English standards. In all, it has 214 lessons (144 math, 33 writing, 28 phonics and spelling, 9 reading), 260 Tuck stories, 56 true books with real photos, 64 classic books and 3,000 spelling words.
Math: aligned with Common Core, K–5
Every Kindergarten to Grade 5 math standard has a lesson in Steady Learners: 144 lessons in all, in the order the standards build on each other. Each lesson is taught by the app itself: questions are read aloud, a wrong answer gets a step-by-step walkthrough on the same picture, and the lesson moves on only once it’s mastered. Fact lessons, like sums within 20 or the times tables, check that facts are known by heart, as the standards ask, not just worked out.
| Grade | Kindergarten | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Math lessons | 13 | 18 | 24 | 29 | 31 | 29 |
See every lesson with the standards it teaches: Common Core math standards, lesson by lesson.
English: built around Common Core reading, phonics and grammar
- Phonics (RF): letters and sounds, rhymes, word families, sound teams like sh and ee, silent e, tricky words and long words in parts, then 3,000 spelling words, easiest first.
- Reading aloud (RF): in Read Along, the app reads each page, then listens as your child reads it back and helps with any word they get stuck on. Listening happens on the device.
- Stories (RL): 260 picture and chapter books, with questions after each story about the details, the lesson, how a character felt, what happened first, and how it compares with an earlier book.
- True books (RI): 56 nonfiction books with real photos, from frogs to astronauts; for Grades 4–5, headings, captions, diagrams, words to know and pairs of books to compare.
- Grammar and language (L): 33 writing lessons, from capital letters and end marks to apostrophes, quotation marks, verb tenses, context clues, similes and word roots.
Where we’re still growing: longer writing pieces (opinion, explaining and story writing) for Kindergarten to Grade 4 are next. Grade 5 already writes short paragraphs with instant feedback. Speaking and listening is mostly a classroom and family-table skill, though every question and book in the app is read aloud.
Questions parents ask
Is Common Core required for homeschoolers?
No. Homeschool laws vary by state, and none require you to teach Common Core itself. Some states ask for testing or a portfolio, and Common Core is a useful checklist for that. Check your own state’s rules.
Is Steady Learners “Common Core certified”?
Nobody certifies apps against Common Core. What we can say is that every K–5 math standard has its own lesson in Steady Learners, and our reading, phonics and grammar lessons are built around the Common Core standards. Each lesson is tagged with the standard it teaches.
My state doesn’t use Common Core. Does that matter?
Not much. States that replaced Common Core mostly kept the same skills in a similar order, with different names. If your child can do everything in Common Core for a grade, they’re ready for that grade almost anywhere.
Does Common Core math use “new math” methods?
The standards ask children to understand why math works, such as place value and making a ten, as well as to know facts and use the standard methods. In Steady Learners, the walkthroughs show the idea first, then the quicker way, like column addition with carrying.
Does Common Core tell teachers how to teach?
No. The standards say what a child should be able to do by the end of each grade, not how to teach it. The method, the books and the order of lessons are left to schools, teachers and parents.
When did Common Core start?
The standards were published in 2010, and most US states adopted them. Many still use them, as written or as their own state standards built closely on them.
Source: the standards themselves, at thecorestandards.org.