I teach kindergarten at Thomas A. Edison Charter School, and I’ve been in education for 21 years, with 15 of those years teaching Kindergarten. When I first learned that our school was adopting a new ELA curriculum—Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA)—I was genuinely excited. I was eager to explore what it offered and how it could support our young learners. Our previous curriculum included a wide variety of literature, and the students enjoyed many of the stories we read together. While it did touch on key components of reading, the new curriculum gave us an opportunity to move at a pace our students needed.

Compared to what we used before, the prep for CKLA is quite different. Last year’s focus was more materials-based prep. This year, it’s more about deeply understanding the units and lessons—internalizing them. It’s time-consuming, but it also helps me understand the purpose behind each lesson design and how to deliver it well. While there’s still some material prep, it’s minimal.

CKLA has a learning curve, for sure. During my first year of implementation, I was able to instruct some components with ease, while others took more effort to figure out. There were times when I purposefully made mistakes in front of my students—just to model how to handle them and learn from them. Other times, mistakes just happened! I leaned into those moments, and my students would jump in to help, using the same strategies and language I’d been modeling.

For example, when I teach the sound for the letter “e,” I have to take my time and think through the correct sound due to my Pittsburgh accent. Even though I practice beforehand, I still make sure to model my thinking during the lesson: I use the gesture from the curriculum, say the word the sound appears in, and break the word into parts so we can focus on the “e” sound. My students love helping me get it right—it gives them confidence and shows them that even teachers are learners. They love to know that they are helping the teacher, and it empowers them to feel comfortable making a mistake.

I think it’s important for students to see their teachers embracing challenges and learning from mistakes. We ask them to take risks every day, so they need to know that learning is a process for everyone—even teachers. When we’re open about our own learning, it normalizes struggle and makes the classroom feel safe for exploration and growth.

As I mentioned earlier, CKLA has been a big shift. It’s rigorous and very intentional in how it builds literacy skills. My team has worked hard to implement it with fidelity, and the results speak for themselves. Last year, we saw our students reading and writing earlier than ever before. Some of them are now being tested using first-grade material! The curriculum’s design, paired with our team’s commitment to learning and growth, has led to real and lasting gains in kindergarten—and we’re excited to keep building on that success.