Lira is entering the fourth grade – can that be right? – and this was the first time I had no trouble selecting her 4th grade homeschool curriculum.
4th Grade Homeschool Language Arts Curriculum
This year, I am taking a different approach to Lira’s language arts studies. I do not think she has been reading enough and she definitely is struggling with creative writing. So we are going to spend more time in the books and working through unit studies based on that literature. I am excited about bring the literature to life with recipes, art, projects, and lapbooks.
I have included the book list under each resource we will be using. These are my Amazon affiliate links, but books that are available FREE for Kindle apps are marked.
Literature Unit Studies
Classic Literature Unit Studies from Confessions of a Homeschooler
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
 (free)
- Black Beauty (free)
- Charlotte’s Web
- The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle
 (free)
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- Little House in the Big Woods (Little House, No 1)
- Mr. Popper’s Penguins
- Stuart Little
- Treasure Island: Literary Touchstone Edition
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
World of Learning Unit Studies from CurrClick
- Mary Poppins
- The Secret Garden (free)
- Peter Pan
- A Journey to the Centre of the Earth
 (free)
- Around the World in 80 Days
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
- Pinocchio The Tale of a Puppet (free)
- The Swiss Family Robinson or, Adventures on a Desert Island
 (free)
- The Jungle Book (free)
Additional 4th grade unit study resources at GHTeachers
- Because of Winn-Dixie
- Lewis and Clark and Me: A Dog’s Tale
- Coyote School News
- Marven of the Great North Woods
- So You Want to Be President?
- Encantado: Pink Dolphin of the Amazon
- Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs
- Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective
- Lost City: The Discovery of Machu Picchu
- Amelia And Eleanor Go For A Ride
- Moonwalk: The First Trip to the Moon
- The Indian in the Cupboard
- The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963
- A Year Down Yonder
To help strengthen Lira’s ability to put her thoughts onto paper, I invested in a creative writing curriculum, WriteShop Primary Book C and then WriteShop Activity Set Worksheet Pack, Book C.
And, just in case Lira proves to be more advanced in creative writing than I think, I am also prepared with Write Shop Junior Teacher’s Guide, Book D and the Write Shop Junior Activity Pack w/Fold-N-Go Grammar, Book D.
Fundanoodle I Can Write Cursive Writing Tablet
Lira enjoys learning to write cursive and since her handwriting has always been a problem, I will be encouraging her to use the Fundanoodle I Can Write Cursive Writing Tablet
4th Grade Math Homeschool Curriculum
We are sticking with Teaching Textbooks for two reasons:
- Lira can learn at a self-directed pace and does not need me standing over her for every problem. This gives me the confidence that she is learning and the flexibility to teach multiple children at one time.
- Lira still struggles with some concepts presented through Teaching Textbooks (such as word problems with real-life application and true/false) but she is improving. Since other math curriculum does not have these two elements, I wanted to stay with Teaching Textbooks.
4th Grade History & Science Curriculum
We just started Mystery of History and plan to continue through the book. I love the “open and go” aspect as well as the hands-on applications. To help supplement the book, I will also be using the [sc:BIP ] Volume 1 – Coloring Pages (Download) and the The Mystery of History Volume 1 Second Edition, Audio Book Set (10 Audio CDs)
Christian Kids Explore Earth & Space
I recently reviewed this science curriculum from Bright Ideas Press and love that Christian Kids Explore is easy to use (like Mystery of History) and does not require a tremendous amount of planning.
4th Grade Homeschool Electives
Not only will we be meeting for additional studies at our homeschool co-op each week, but we will also be working through the following studies:
Have you seen Math-U-See? I feel it also allows my children to work at their own pace (My 6 yr old son is over half way thru the third book, which corresponds with second grade!), and has several word problems every day. It provides a unique hands on approach with the manipulatives. Just the owing another option out there… Thanks for sharing! I love seeing what others are using as it gives me ideas for my up and comings.
Great list of literature based unit studies. Have a great year.
Blessings, Dawn
I LOVE all the books you’re planning on reading! Just seeing the list makes even more excited to get started. 🙂 Happy NOT Back to School and good luck with this upcoming school year!
I LOVE all the books you’re planning on reading! Just seeing the list makes even more excited to get started. 🙂 Happy NOT Back to School and good luck with this upcoming school year!
Hopping over from NB2S Blog Hop. We are doing some similar studies, using WriteShop Primary and Grapevine Old Testament. I love Confessions of a Homeschooler’s resources. We are using her Road Trip USA this year. That literature study looks great, too! Have a great year!
Great Stuff! I’m especially intrigued by the literature unit studies. I have downloaded a couple of hers, and am very impressed. Enjoy your year of learning!
During student life, we are accompanied by many academic tasks. When it came to writing a review of the literature, I began to panic. How many skills does it take to do it well? I find it easier to hire an expert to do it brilliantly for me.
Do you think I could use MOH with a 1st grader & 4th grader together? I’ve read so many reviews that say it is geared more for middle school. I was looking at that and also Veritas Press history flash cards with the books that go with it. Have you heard of anyone who uses VP? ….right now we are using heart of Dakota, but I thought it would be fun to use something they could learn together..
I have a 1st and 4th grader and we use it with no problems. They listen to the audio and I have a discussion about what we heard to see if they were listening. We use the internet and library books to expand on what they learned and we do a hands-on project. They love it.