The Cornerstone School · grades K–5
Elementary Social Studies
Maps, neighborhoods, and the country's long story — how people live together, here and elsewhere, now and then.
Symbols, scale, and the compass rose — reading the picture of a place from above.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~10 hours
Unit I — What a Map Is
A picture of a place from above · Symbols and the key that explains them · Scale: the whole town on one page
Unit II — Directions and Grids
North, south, east, west · Using a compass rose · Finding a square on a grid map
Unit III — Globes and the World
Continents and oceans · The equator and the poles · Flat maps of a round world, and what they distort
Who fixes the roads, who agreed to the rules, and where the water comes from — a town, taken apart kindly.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~8 hours
Unit I — People Who Help
Jobs that keep a town running · Where food, water, and mail come from · Paying for shared things: a first look at taxes
Unit II — Rules We Agree On
Why classrooms and towns have rules · Fair rules and unfair rules · Who makes the rules here
Unit III — Your Place on the Map
Home, street, town, state · Drawing a map of your neighborhood · How your town has changed over time
Native nations, colonies, a revolution, and the long work since — the country's history told plainly.
Syllabus · 4 units · ~16 hours
Unit I — First Peoples
Native nations before 1492 · Different lands, different ways of living · Trade, stories, and travel across the continent
Unit II — Colonies and a Revolution
Newcomers and why they came · Thirteen colonies, one argument with a king · Independence declared and won
Unit III — A Growing Country
A constitution: rules for the rule-makers · Moving west, and who paid the price · A war between the states and what it settled
Unit IV — The Last Hundred Years
Inventions that changed daily life · The long work of equal rights · Fifty states, one flag, many stories
How a community decides — laws, the three jobs of government, and what a citizen does between elections.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~10 hours
Unit I — Rules and Laws
The difference between a rule and a law · Who enforces laws and why · When a law seems unfair: how laws change
Unit II — Government in Three Parts
Making laws, carrying them out, judging disputes · Local, state, and national · Leaders work for the people, not the reverse
Unit III — Your Part
Voting: how a community decides · Speaking up: petitions and letters · Being a citizen between elections
Food, festivals, languages, and games — what every culture does, and the different ways of doing it.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~12 hours
Unit I — What Culture Is
Food, language, clothing, celebration · Culture is learned, not born · Alike underneath: what every culture does
Unit II — A Tour of Traditions
New year celebrations around the world · Bread, rice, and corn: staple foods and their tables · Games children play everywhere
Unit III — Living Together
When cultures meet: borrowing and sharing · Respecting a custom you do not keep · Your own culture, seen from outside