We're Homeschooling - Year 4! Our Curriculum 4th Grade

We’re ready for another year of homeschooling! In fact, it’s our fourth year of homeschooling and we’ve found our groove. We’re continuing with most of the curriculum choices from last year, just changing the level. This year Arthur will be in 4th grade and Quentin will be in 1st grade. My big challenge this year is to make less work for me while giving each child individual time.

As a reminder, we are a pretty eclectic household with a strong literature base. My criteria when looking for curriculum:

• secular
• rigorous
• wide world perspective
• not necessarily all-in-one
• at least some physical items, not all online
• cheap (not necessarily the cheapest, but not expensive)

Let’s take a look at what I have for curriculum for next year!

Math

We will be continuing with Singapore Math Common Core Edition as our base curriculum. Arthur will be starting with 5A and push through 5B. Beyond the basic text, we will be supplementing with lots of math games, random workbooks, and packets. New this year, we’re continuing with some Financial Literacy using the Evan Moor workbooks and a money management workbook. We will also be continuing with our logic puzzles.

• Evan Moor Financial Literacy Grade 4
• Orbiting with Logic
• Singapore 5A and 5B
• Math Skills Grade 5
• Scholastic Math Tests Grade 5
• Managing My Money
• Bedtime Math: The Truth Comes Out

Language Arts

This is Arthur’s grammar workbook selections for this year. We don’t do every page and question, but bounce around between some of them. We’re going to try and focus on writing this year.

• BrainQuest Grade 4
• Grade 4 Workbook
• 21st Century Communication
• Reading Comprehension Grade 3 (from Five Below)
• Evan Moor Grammar and Punctuation Grade 4
• Sylvan Super Reading Success Grade 4 (similar title)
• Writing Skills Grade 4
• Evan Moor Daily Fundamentals Grade 4
• Evan Moor Poetry Patterns
• The Highlights Book of Things to Write
• Writing Down the Days by Lorraine Dahlstrom
• Evan Moor Read World Writing
• Pathways

Arthur’s readers will be a mix of Blossom and Root’s Grade 4 Language Arts, Build Your Library 6, and our home library selections.

• Tales from Shakespeare by Marcia Williams
• More Tales from Shakespeare by Marcia Williams
• A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories by Angela McAllister
• Coming Home from the Life of Langston Hughes by Floyd Cooper
• Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes
• Poetry for Young People: Edgar Allan Poe (not pictured)
• Redwall by Brian Jacques
• Tristan Strong Destroys the World by Kwame Mbalia
• Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
• The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
• Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert O’Brien
• Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
• The Water Horse by Dick King-Smith
• From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
• Amari and the Night Brothers by BB Alston

Social Studies

As our history base, Arthur is using Build Your Library Level 6 (U.S. History) combined with History Quest’s new U.S. History release. We are actually covering the second half of US History starting at the Civil War.

• DK American History
• DK History
• DK Timeline of Everything
• We Were There Too by Phillip Hoose
• Two Miserable Presidents by Steve Sheinkin
• Which Way to the Wild West by Steve Sheinkin
• A Different Mirror for Young People by Ronald Takaki
• The First Ladies
• Words that Build a Nation by Marilyn Miller
• Cricket: Cobblestone magazine

We always have a bit of geography going for each level of history.

• The 50 States by Gabrielle Balkin
• The 50 States Workbook by Gabrielle Balkin
• License Plates Across the America
• My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States
• Nat Geo Kids U.S. Road Trip Atlas
• Target US Workbook
• The Geography Book by Caroline Arnold
• Nat Geo Kids United States Atlas
• Evan Moor Geography Skill Sharpeners Grade 5
• Scholastic Map Skills for Today Grade 4
• Scholastic Map Skills for Today Grade 5

Our history curriculum has a ton of extra readers. I’m very excited to get to all of these.

• A is for Abigail by Lynne Cheney
• Remember the Ladies by Cheryl Harness
• National Parks of the USA Activity Book by Kate Siber
• DK Timelines of Everyone
• Don’t Know Much About the Presidents by Kenneth Davis
• US President Workbook
• Immigrant Kids by Russell Freedman
• Heart and Soul by Kadir Nelson
• A Kid’s Guide to African American History by Nancy I. Sanders
• An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
• Bomb by Steve Sheinkin
• A Kid’s Guide to Native American History by Yvonne Wakim Dennis

Science

Our science is going to be a combination of Build Your Library Level 8 (history of science), Level 3 (Chemistry), and RSO Chemistry. Lots of interesting combinations. We will actually be doing the chemistry experiments with some of the other families in coop.

• Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia
• DK Science Year by Year
• DK Elements
• The Story of Science Volume 2 by Joy Hakim
• Cricket: Muse magazine
• Notable Notebooks by Jessica Fries-Gaither
• How to Think Like a Scientist by Stephen P. Kramer
• The Book of Ingeniously Daring Chemistry by Sean Connolly
• Six Easy Pieces by Richard Feynman
• Hidden Figures: Young Readers’ Edition by Margot Lee Shetterly
• Nick and Tesla’s High-Voltage Danger Lab by Steve Hockensmith
• What’s Smaller Than a Pygmy Shrew? by Robert E. Wells

Here’s just a smattering of our random science texts that we pull little items from:

• In Space
• Map Your Way
• Science Art + Drawing Games for Kids by Karyn Tripp
• Math Art + Drawing Games for Kids by Karyn Tripp
• Geek Dad by Ken Denmead
• Geek Dad: Mad Scientists by Ken Denmead
• Awesome Science Experiments for Kids
• Awesome Engineering Activities for Kids
• Awesome Physics Experiments for Kids

And even more random science resources…

• United Tastes of America
• Cooking Class: Global Feast
• Measure and Cook Workbook
• America’s Test Kitchen: The Complete Baking Book for Young Chefs
• Eat Your Way Around the World by Jamie Aramini
• STEMQuest Atonishing Atoms and Matter Mayhem
• STEMQuest Fantastic Forces and Incredible Machines
• STEMQuest Fabulous Figures and Cool Calculators
• STEMQuest Tools, Robotics, and Gadgets Galore

Art

This is actually all the art books for Quentin and Arthur. I took just one picture. Each one of their Build Your Library levels has a related art book to dip in and out of. We are just going to pick a variety of composers and artists to study over the course of the year.

• Why is Art Full of Naked People? by Susie Hodge
• Great American Artists for Kids by MaryAnn F. Kohl
• The Story of Paintings by Mick Manning
• 13 Art Movements Children Should Know
• 13 Art Techniques Children Should Know
• The Art Lesson by Tomie dePaola
• Frida Kahlo: The Artist Painted Herself by Margaret Frith
• DK The Arts
• 13 Art Materials Children Should Know
• 13 Artists Children Should Know