Can’t believe this is the fifth time we’ve homeschooled fourth grade! While some things have remained the same, some things have changed as we’ve found better curriculum and resources for 4th grade homeschool. So, if you’re curious as to how to piece together an eclectic 4th grade homeschool curriculum, we’ll show you all our top picks! Plus, we’ll talk about how to plan a 4th grade homeschool schedule.
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What do you teach in 4th grade homeschool?
You’re probably asking yourself: “What should my 4th grader learn?” The best answer is that they should always be moving forward, always progressing, but at their own pace!
If you’re really concerned, you can purchase a “What Every 4th Grader Needs to Know” book off of Amazon, but you really should take their advance with a grain of salt. Your fourth grade might be far advanced in some areas, or needing extra practice in other areas that would be considered “below grade level” by the system. Remember, your child is never behind when you’re homeschooling.
Fourth grade is a wonderful time to challenge, yet strengthen foundational learning. It’s a great age to include lots of hands-on activities, tons of reading, and generally encourage a love of learning that will grow with them through the years.
If you choose resources like we did, the “scope and sequence” or “what should they be learning” will be figured out for you. All you need to do is do the next lesson each day.
How long should a 4th grade homeschool day last?
So here’s where you’re likely curious about how long a 4th grade homeschool day should last. I would say your homeschool day is done when the work is done. But that will look different for everyone!
I believe in short lessons, especially in the elementary years. But if your child is intrigued with their science topic, or their history studies, then don’t stop them from continuing on in their learning tasks.
So, your child might do short lessons with every subject and be finished on a daily basis within a few hours. Or, your child might love to read for an hour and a half each day – let them! Maybe your art-loving kid spends all morning doing art. Encourage it. So in short, there’s no set-in-stone answer for how long a 4th grade homeschool day should last.
If you’re teaching your 4th grader with a few other siblings of other ages, then you can plan to teach almost every subject together from K-8, and that might take a couple of hours. Then, you can finish off with individual math and language arts work, some of which can definitely be done independently by your child.
One of the most important questions to answer when setting up your homeschool day is – “do my kids know what to do next?”
If you don’t want to be stuck with everyone calling out for you, then set up some sort of accountability system for their day. Fourth graders might love to use Trello to keep track of daily tasks, especially if older siblings are using it. Or, many kids in fourth grade will do well with a workbox system because it’s a visual tool that keeps them on track. Check out our workbox video if you’re not familiar with how it works.
How do you plan a homeschool schedule?
When you’re wondering about a 4th grade homeschool schedule, let’s simplify the discussion by differentiating between schedules and routines.
Schedules usually refer to strict timelines, like math at 9AM and spelling at 10AM. Most homeschool families would rather die a thousand deaths than stick to a strict schedule! Because life happens. Someone gets sick, or the toddler dumps out the Cheerios all over the floor. You get a phone call that interrupts your day, or you can’t find someone’s math paper.
That’s why routines work better.
A routine is more of a flow. It answers the question, what should I do next? And your child should always know what to do next in their day. This will keep your homeschool flowing peacefully and smoothly, especially is you have multiple kids to homeschool.
So, once again, the answer to a 4th grade homeschool schedule lies in mapping out a big plan first. What subjects will you cover and with what materials? Then, figure out what needs done daily and what might be taught with multiple ages together or during a morning time. Then, organize your daily flow so that your child can follow it, using Trello or workboxes, a chart, or a checklist.
Our eclectic 4th grade homeschool curriculum
Now, this is the first time that I’ll be homeschooling a 4th grader by herself. With my other kids, there was always a sibling or two in a nearby grade that could learn subjects together. But now that my other kids are in high school and college, my 4th grader will be homeschooling sort of like an only child.
But, you could still use our curriculum picks with multiple kids together. That’s the beauty of homeschooling. From about K-8, you only really need to teach math or language arts on individual levels. All the other subjects can be done together.
Our style is very eclectic. We like aspects of Charlotte Mason, classical homeschooling, and we are homeschooling from a Christian worldview perspective. But we also use a traditional textbook approach to subjects like math, as you’ll see below.
If you’re not familiar with the different methods and philosophies of homeschooling, please download your FREE Essential Guide to Homeschool Methods to learn more and see which curriculum companies line up with each style.
Our Top Picks for the Best 4th Grade Homeschool Curriculum
Yes, we’ve made changes to 4th grade through the years! This is our fifth time homeschooling fourth grade. Some things have stayed the same, and some things have changed.
4th Grade Math
Our math curriculum choice is one thing that has remained constant in all our years of homeschooling since we started in 2008. We love BJU Press Math because it’s easy to use, you can just purchase the worktext, and you know your child is getting a solid math education.
Here’s an inside peek into the 4th grade BJU Press math worktext:
Homeschool Planet offers made-for-you lesson plans for tons of curriculum options. Check out their BJU Press Math lesson plans by clicking the button below.
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Language Arts
Language Arts includes many smaller topics, like spelling, grammar, writing, and reading. Here are the resources we’ll be using for language arts this year.
All About Spelling – We found AAS after trying several other spelling programs that just didn’t work for us! We couldn’t handle a “traditional” spelling program that gave our kids 20 new words to cram into their heads each week. They needed to be able to understand the spelling and phonics rules and engage with the curriculum better.
Plus, AAS is a mastery-based approach. Your child moves at the speed that is right for them. Finally, it’s based on the Orton-Gillingham method, which is fabulous for dyslexics, but works for all kids!
Learn why we ditched the spelling lists many years ago to use All About Spelling.
You can find All About Spelling lesson plans by clicking the button below.
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Fix It! Grammar – Institute for Excellence in Writing, or IEW, has produced one of the easiest to use, yet highly successful grammar programs on the market. Again, we used some other resources early on that just didn’t work well. Now that we’ve landed on IEW resources, they will be our go-to curriculum for grammar and elementary level writing. You can read about our experience with The Nose Tree Fix It! Grammar curriculum for the last several years.
Read & Think Skill Sheets – I’m using these reading comprehension sheets because I had them in my stash from a friend who was decluttering homeschool resources years ago. I might consider buying them on eBay if I didn’t have them. I don’t usually use aBeka curriculum or products because I don’t think they’re the best choice out there (my opinion!). But, these do the job and we’re going to use them up. We do one per week, and it’s a good tool for getting used to reading comprehension passages.
As far as finding wonderful books for your 4th grade reader, one great strategy is to check out all the popular homeschool curriculum publishers and create a list of what they’re recommending for their fourth grade literature package. Then, you can buy them secondhand or borrow from the library.
Another great source for classical literature that lets you narrow down by reading level, genre, and grade is Classical Reader. We stopped using a formal literature program years ago and decided to read for pleasure. That has worked well in our homeschool.
Writing – We won’t use a formal writing program in 4th grade, but if you wanted to add one to your 4th grade plan, my recommendation would be from IEW. Our writing strategy will include notebooking for science and history.
You can find made-for-you lesson plans to use with IEW theme-based writing curriculum by clicking the button below.
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Science
If you’re teaching multiple ages together, plan to teach science to all your K-8 together. This will streamline your homeschool so much.
We previously used some other science curriculum in the elementary years (God’s Design for Science), but now we’ve landed on Apologia as our favorite resource in addition to unit studies.
We’ll be using their Anatomy & Physiology student text and creating our own notebooking journal to keep track of what we’re learning. I also ordered this Squishy Human Body Model from Amazon.
If you want an inside peek into how Apologia works at the elementary level, then here’s our experience using their elementary Botany curriculum and student notebooking journal.
You can check out Homeschool Planet’s Apologia elementary science lesson plans by clicking the button below.
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Social Studies
Social studies could include geography, economics, civics, history, and government. Any one of those could fill your whole year. Or, you could include unit studies that touch on each one. In the elementary years, using unit studies geared around holidays is a great way to include social studies.
We’ll be finishing up the book Geography from A to Z and notebooking our way through it.
Then, we’ll also be finishing up Volume 1 of the Mystery of History and our giant timeline. MOH is another one of those resources that we’ve used for well over a decade in our homeschool and through all five kids. It’s a keeper!
Here are The Mystery of History lesson plans from Homeschool Planet:
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To save my voice, I’ll have my 4th grader listen to the mp3 recordings of each lesson while following along in the book, and then we’ll add events and people to our giant timeline! We can always deep dive into interesting people or events with additional reading and library books or some Jim Hodges Audiobooks. We might also add in some notebooking or just keep it to simple narration.
Bible
Little Fishes Inductive Bible Studies provide a gentle introduction to the inductive method for your kids in grades K-4. As long as your child is reading, they can use this study.
While we always start out with our favorite Bible story books, once your kids have a general idea of the chronological flow of Scripture, it’s main topics, the main characters, and so on, they’re ready to start learning how to read the Bible.
Now, my daughter will still get regular “Bible story” lessons in her children’s program at church where we use The Gospel Project. But at home, we’re branching out with inductive Bible study.
We’ll also probably use More Than a Story by Sally Michael. These resources come in hardcover volumes, one for the Old Testament and one for the New. I forgot to include them in our video roundup! But you will love these books if you’re looking for a “meatier” Bible book for your elementary kids who have outgrown the younger options, like the Jesus Storybook Bible.
Listen to my conversation with Sally Michael on episode 143 of the HWM Podcast where we chat about Gospel Centered Bible resources.
Fine Arts
We include fine arts throughout the year through music lessons, art projects, and more. Here are our favorite resources.
Homeschool Art Ideas for Non-Artsy Moms
Adding Music to Your Homeschool using SQUILT
The Music Podcast for kids with Bill Henry
Final Thoughts About 4th Grade Homeschool
Do what fits your family best in this season. Yes, things might change next year or next time through 4th grade.
Teach multiple ages together when you can. If I had multiple kids in elementary ages, I would definitely be teaching everything together except for math and language arts! But my rising 4th grader is the youngest, with all her brothers in high school and college now, so she’s homeschooling like an only child.
You can find additional homeschool curriculum reviews to help you choose the best options for your family.
And if you find yourself asking, “what should I be doing right now in the homeschool year to keep ourselves on track?” then you need to join the Homeschool Mom Collective! We’ll give you a simple plan and the resources you need each month to keep an organized, productive, peaceful, and flexible homeschool.
