PreK–12: what is taught, and in what order

Reading

1. 1Rhyme and syllable awareness — hearing that words have parts
2. 2Phoneme isolation: first sound, last sound, middle sound
3. 3Blending and segmenting spoken sounds, before any letters are involved
4. 4Letter names and their most common sound, taught explicitly, a few at a time
5. 5Blending letters into words a child can decode themselves
6. 6Read-alouds far above decoding level, every day, with talk about the story

Why this order: Sound before letter, letter before word, word before sentence. A child who cannot hear that 'cat' has three sounds cannot be taught which letters spell them — the instruction lands on nothing.

Methods: structured-literacy · explicit-instruction · retrieval-practice · spaced-practice · multiple-representations

Mathematics

1. 1One-to-one correspondence: one number word per object, every time
2. 2Cardinality — the last number said is how many there are
3. 3Comparing quantities: more, fewer, the same
4. 4Number bonds to 5, then to 10, with physical objects
5. 5Recognizing and writing numerals last, not first

Why this order: Counting is not knowing how many. Cardinality is a separate idea that has to be taught, and numerals are a notation for something the child must already understand.

Methods: concrete-to-abstract · explicit-instruction · retrieval-practice · multiple-representations

The world (knowledge)

1. 1Families, homes, and neighborhoods — including that they differ
2. 2Weather, seasons, and living things
3. 3Jobs people do and what they are for
4. 4Rules: why they exist, who makes the ones at home and at school

Why this order: Comprehension later runs on background knowledge built now. This is the earliest civics there is — rules, fairness, and who decides — taught without the word.

Methods: knowledge-building · dual-coding · multiple-representations

Reading

1. 1Systematic phonics through the common spelling patterns
2. 2Irregular high-frequency words, taught explicitly rather than guessed
3. 3Repeated oral reading with feedback — the fluency engine
4. 4Morphology begins: prefixes, suffixes, root words
5. 5Comprehension strategies attached to real content, never in the abstract

Why this order: The National Reading Panel's finding was that phonics has to be INTEGRATED with fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension — not taught alone and not skipped.

Methods: structured-literacy · explicit-instruction · formative-feedback · spaced-practice · knowledge-building

Mathematics

1. 1Place value to 100 with concrete materials before symbols
2. 2Addition and subtraction strategies grounded in place value, not tricks
3. 3Number-fact fluency through spaced retrieval, not timed anxiety
4. 4Word problems with bar models from the first week
5. 5Measurement, time, and money as applied place value

Why this order: Bar models are introduced here, before the problems get hard, so the tool is fluent by the time it is needed. Singapore's model method works because it starts early and never leaves.

Methods: concrete-to-abstract · retrieval-practice · spaced-practice · interleaving · explicit-instruction

Writing

1. 1Sentence-level work first: what a sentence is, and what it is not
2. 2Sentence expansion — who, what, when, where, why
3. 3Conjunctions as thinking tools: because, but, so
4. 4Single paragraphs with one clear idea

Why this order: Writing instruction that begins at the paragraph skips the sentence, and a child who cannot control a sentence cannot control a paragraph. Sentence-level work is the least glamorous and highest-yield writing instruction there is.

Methods: explicit-instruction · formative-feedback · interleaving

History and civics

1. 1Chronology: then, now, and the order in between
2. 2Local community and who is responsible for what
3. 3Primary sources at their level — a photograph, a letter, a map
4. 4Rules and fairness: who decides, and how you would know if it were unfair

Methods: knowledge-building · dual-coding · concrete-to-abstract · multiple-representations

Already shipped: kids-structure-01 · kids-local-01 · kids-rules-01

Reading

1. 1Content-rich units — history, science, geography — as the reading material itself
2. 2Vocabulary taught explicitly and in families, not from lists
3. 3Text structure: cause and effect, compare, sequence, problem and solution
4. 4Reading two accounts of the same event and noticing the difference

Why this order: Comprehension is not a transferable skill you can drill in the abstract. What you already know about the topic predicts how much you understand, so the curriculum builds knowledge on purpose.

Methods: knowledge-building · explicit-instruction · retrieval-practice · interleaving

Mathematics

1. 1Multiplication as equal groups, arrays, and area — three representations of one idea
2. 2Division as both sharing and grouping, explicitly distinguished
3. 3Fractions on a number line before fractions of a shape
4. 4Equivalence and comparison of fractions
5. 5Operations with fractions, with the reasoning visible
6. 6Decimals as an extension of place value, not a new topic

Why this order: Fractions on a number line first is the specific correction. A fraction is a number; pizza slices teach a part-whole picture that breaks the moment fractions exceed one.

Methods: concrete-to-abstract · interleaving · mastery-before-moving-on · retrieval-practice · explicit-instruction

Writing

1. 1Single paragraphs: topic sentence, evidence, explanation
2. 2Summarizing — the hardest and most useful writing skill at this age
3. 3Multi-paragraph structure with a stated point
4. 4Revising against a checklist the student can apply themselves

Methods: explicit-instruction · formative-feedback · mastery-before-moving-on

History and civics

1. 1Chronological sweep, so later topics have somewhere to attach
2. 2The three branches and what each can actually do
3. 3Levels of government: which office fixes which problem
4. 4Primary sources, and the question of who wrote this and why
5. 5Money: where public money comes from and where it goes

Methods: knowledge-building · dual-coding · retrieval-practice · concrete-to-abstract

Already shipped: kids-structure-01 · kids-local-01 · kids-money-01 · kids-media-01

Science

1. 1Observation and measurement as habits, not as a unit
2. 2Fair tests: changing one thing at a time
3. 3Life, earth, and physical science content with real vocabulary
4. 4Evidence versus explanation — the difference is the whole subject

Why this order: Inquiry works once a learner has knowledge to reason with. Discovery-first science with novices mostly produces confident wrong models that then have to be unlearned.

Methods: explicit-instruction · knowledge-building · dual-coding · interleaving

Mathematics

1. 1Ratio and rate, with bar models carried forward from Grade 2
2. 2Proportional relationships as a constant multiplier
3. 3Negative numbers on the number line, with meaning
4. 4Expressions and equations — the bar becomes the variable
5. 5Linear functions, graphed and interpreted
6. 6Statistics: distribution, spread, and what an average hides

Why this order: The bar model does not get abandoned at algebra — it becomes the variable. That continuity is the point; it is why the abstraction is not a cliff.

Methods: concrete-to-abstract · interleaving · mastery-before-moving-on · retrieval-practice · spaced-practice

Reading and writing

1. 1Discipline-specific reading — a historian and a scientist read differently
2. 2Argument structure: claim, evidence, reasoning, counter-argument
3. 3Writing the other side's best case before your own
4. 4Source evaluation: who made this, what for, how would I check

Stating the opposing case first is the same discipline as the Assembly's Steelman. The habit is easier to build at thirteen than at thirty.

Methods: explicit-instruction · knowledge-building · interleaving · formative-feedback

Already shipped: adult-media-01 · adult-evidence-01

History and civics

1. 1How a bill actually becomes law — including where bills die
2. 2The Constitution and the Bill of Rights, read directly
3. 3Amendments and what changed, with the arguments on both sides
4. 4Federal, state, and local: overlapping powers and real conflicts
5. 5Elections: how votes become certified results

Methods: knowledge-building · dual-coding · retrieval-practice · explicit-instruction

Already shipped: adult-structure-01 · adult-rights-01 · adult-elections-01

Life and money

1. 1Income, taxes, and what a paycheck actually shows
2. 2Compound interest, in both directions
3. 3Credit: what it costs and what it buys
4. 4Assets and liabilities as a way of seeing

Methods: concrete-to-abstract · retrieval-practice · explicit-instruction

Already shipped: adult-money-01 · adult-money-02

Mathematics and data

1. 1Algebraic reasoning: functions as relationships, not procedures
2. 2Modelling — turning a real situation into mathematics and back
3. 3Probability and conditional probability, where most intuition fails
4. 4Statistical literacy: sampling, confidence, and what a study can't say
5. 5Reading a chart adversarially

Methods: interleaving · explicit-instruction · concrete-to-abstract · retrieval-practice · mastery-before-moving-on

History, government, and economics

1. 1Constitutional structure and the arguments that produced it
2. 2The answering voices — Douglass, Seneca Falls, Anthony, Banneker
3. 3Landmark cases and what each actually decided
4. 4Political economy: taxation, spending, debt, and trade-offs
5. 5Comparative systems: how other democracies solve the same problems

The Founders' Library already holds these texts, dissent-floored in code. The curriculum sequences them; it does not re-host them.

Methods: knowledge-building · explicit-instruction · interleaving · retrieval-practice

Already shipped: adult-structure-01 · adult-rights-01 · adult-money-01

Civic practice

1. 1Filing a FOIA or state public-records request, start to finish
2. 2Reading a budget document and finding the real numbers
3. 3Tracing money: USAspending, campaign finance, lobbying disclosure
4. 4Public comment on a proposed rule — the lever almost nobody uses
5. 5Speaking at a meeting: two minutes, one specific ask

This subject does not exist in most schools and is the reason Outpost exists. Every item is a thing a seventeen-year-old can actually do this month.

Methods: explicit-instruction · concrete-to-abstract · formative-feedback

Adult life

1. 1A job offer, line by line: gross, net, benefits, and what is not said
2. 2A lease and a loan, and the total cost of each
3. 3Health, sleep, and the boring fundamentals that win
4. 4Choosing a partner and building a household
5. 5Habit and practice: how getting good at anything actually works

Methods: concrete-to-abstract · knowledge-building · explicit-instruction · retrieval-practice

Already shipped: adult-combined-01 · adult-success-02 · adult-success-05