When I first started homeschooling, I thought that I needed every single resource for every single grade level I’d ever conceivably teach. Nine years and four children later, I know better.
I was so intent on being “prepared” to give my kids the best education I could that I overwhelmed myself by buying ALL the curriculum I could. Most of it ended up in the hallway closet, buried for years. Just opening the closet door sent me into panic mode.
Now I’m homeschooling as a minimalist, which means using the least amount of resources possible to give my kids a good education. And thanks to the Internet, it really is possible to teach your children at home *well* without turning your house into Harvard.
Here’s a look at the minimalist fourth grade homeschool curriculum we’re using this year to teach my rising fourth-grader!
Image c/o: seregam / depositphotos
Our Minimalist Fourth Grade Homeschool Curriculum
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Before you look at the resources below, keep in mind that this is a truly minimalist homeschool curriculum plan. So there are a grand total of eight, count ’em, EIGHT items listed.
Of course, we’ll be watching educational videos and reading tons of books together this year, but the items listed below make up our core curriculum. And, since my son has ADHD, these are good resources that allow us to take frequent brain breaks and time off as needed.
All-in-One Program: Our comprehensive homeschool program this year is IXL. It’s an online program that includes practice exercises in ELA, Math, Social Studies, and Science for kids K-12. I love it because I can see all the skills for his grade level at a glance and then proceed in the order that works best for us.
To supplement his IXL lessons, we’ll be using the following individual subject resources:
ELA: For more specialized lessons in English Language Arts, we’ll be adding selected videos from Khan Academy Grammar. We’ll be using the workbook 180 Days of Language for Fourth Grade, which includes practice in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, parts of speech, and the writing process, as the supplement to our grammar videos.
Science: Mystery Science will be our supplemental science program. You can sign up for a free account and get access to some of the units to see how they work. This is an extremely well-crafted science program for elementary students. There are hands-on experiments, lesson plans, and activities that correspond to earth science, biology, space, and more.
Math: I am a huge supporter of online math programs. They’re typically short, interactive, and clear. But I also value traditional math education, so we’re using EnVision Math Grade 4 as our math textbook. Rather than focusing on covering the entire book this year, however, I’ll be assigning exercises that correspond to the lessons he covers in IXL. For math warm-up activities each day, we’re using Smartick Math to get some quick practice in the morning.
Social Studies: I really want him to learn more about the countries of the world this year. IXL covers the geographic aspect of these places, but to get a look at the culture and people of other countries, we’ll be using the beautiful book Children Just Like Me to see how children all over the world live.
Health: For health, we’ll be reading the book Eye Wonder: Human Body by DK Publishing and discussing the importance of nutrition for our body systems.
Art: We got to review the program Sparketh earlier this year and we’ll be using that for our year-long art program. The videos are easy to follow and the projects are actually interesting, even to a very active eight-year-old boy!
And that’s what we’re using for our minimalist fourth grade homeschool curriculum this year! What are you using for fourth grade? Share your picks in the comments!
For more homeschool planning ideas, check out these posts!
And get a look at lots of curriculum resources on my Homeschool Curriculum Choices board on Pinterest!
This post is part of the Back to Homeschool linkup from iHomeschool Network! Click over to read more curriculum choices from our fellow bloggers!
