With kids stuck at home, often with one or both parents, now is a great time to see if your child has been learning important educational content.

And, thanks to E. D. Hirsch’s Core Knowledge Foundation (NO relation to the Common Core State Standards!), there is a straight-forward “checklist” you can use to see if your Kindergartener through Grade 8 student has been getting some of the “Right Stuff.”

Available online right now, “Core Knowledge Sequence, Content and Skill Guidelines for Grades K–8” has an easy to use, grade-by-grade listing of key material every student should be learning in school.

Since I’ve been paying a lot of attention to Kentucky’s abysmal social studies standards revision, I paid attention to what the document had to say about what students should learn in this academic area. It didn’t take long to determine that the Core Knowledge Foundation’s Sequence covers a ton of material never ever discussed in the Kentucky social studies standards.

So, if you care about your children, I urge you to take some time to download the Core Knowledge Sequence and see if your child knows what kids at the same grade level are expected to know. I think many of you are going to be in for a very big shock.

By the way, if you need more motivation to see how your kid measures up to the Core Knowledge Foundation’s recommendations, click the “Read more” link to see a very small sample of the things Kentucky’s standards totally ignore that Core Knowledge says your child needs to learn.

Just a few examples of historical figures and events listed in the Sequence along with an example of why they are important although the same people are totally ignored by Kentucky’s standards include:

Presidents Totally Ignored by KY Standards (Only presidents in KY Standards: Washington and Jefferson)

• James Madison (“Father of the Constitution”)

• James Monroe (the Monroe Doctrine)

• Abraham Lincoln (The Gettysburg Address)

• Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt (conservation and trust-busting)

• Franklin Delano Roosevelt (The New Deal) – NOTE: New Deal also missing in KY Standards!

Inventors and Scientists

• Rachel Carson (got people to stop using DDT)

• Thomas Edison (invented an electric light bulb) – NOTE: Invention of the Light Bulb also missing in KY Standards

• Edward Jenner (found a way to stop smallpox) – NOTE: KY Standards ignore all examples of diseases being brought under control! The only mentions of disease are negative impacts.

• Louis Pasteur (made milk safe to drink)

• Wilbur and Orville Wright (made first airplane)

• Other things are also poorly covered by the KY standards. Here are just a few.

Some ignored wars in KY Standards covered by the Core Knowledge Foundation Document

• Ancient Persian WarsWar of 1812

• Mexican-American War

• Arab-Israeli Wars

• Korean War

• Vietnam War

• Bosnian Conflict

• September 11, 2001 attacks

• Persian Gulf War

• Iraq war

• Ignored Regions of the World

• Central America

• South America

• Alaska (Including the purchase)

• Antarctica

Some other key items ignored by KY

• Louisiana Purchase

• Time Zones

• Climate Zones

This is a VERY incomplete listing, but I think you get the idea. Pay attention while you have the chance because it's your child's future that's at stake.