In the summer of 2022, my husband and I had a good chat about all the things we felt were important for our children to learn as part of their homeschool experience. We found that these things could be grouped into five different areas and these became the pillars of our homeschool. I now spend less time researching all possible homeschool curriculum and instead focus very specifically on our goals as a family. I mention this before sharing our homeschool curriculum choices because it’s likely that our goals will be very different! If you’d like to read about our homeschool pillars, you can do that here.

That being said, this is the curriculum that I used with my daughter for Year Five (Fourth Grade) …

Homeschool Curriculum Choices For Core Academics

Math

So far, we have worked through Math-U-See Alpha (Addition), Beta (Subtraction) and Gamma (Multiplication). We have found the mastery approach, which this curriculum uses, to be thorough and effective. This year we’ve chosen to continue with Math-U-See Delta by Demme Learning, which covers division. We like the brief video lessons that are provided with this curriculum, and the otherwise traditional paper-and-pen approach to math.

Language Arts

This year, we will begin formerly working on our grammar. We will be using Learning Language Arts through Literature Orange Level by Common Sense Press. This homeschool curriculum teaches grammar within the context of four books which we are reading alongside the curriculum. It also includes lessons on topics such as poetry, newspapers and journal writing. We will accompany this with IEW Fix It Grammar Level Two.

We will finish this curriculum by Easter, so we will accompany this with Wordly Wise 3000 Level Four. This workbook is designed to build vocabulary while strengthening critical thinking skills. It is something my daughter can do independently and will help with spelling also.

Alongside our curriculum, we will be memorising two poems each month, these tend to be fun ones I have chosen myself. Aside from the books my daughter chooses to read herself, I require her to read two specific titles each month and review those. Language Arts is something that we really invest in because it is an area where my daughter’s strengths and interests lie.

Science

This year, we will be doing science every day. Once a week we’ll be watching, and recording our learning, from a 30-minute Nature Documentary, such as Wild Babies. Two days a week we will be studying the life of a scientist, using Genius: Great Inventors and Their Creations as a spine. And two days a week we will be using the Sassafras Science Adventures by Elemental Science. We will be doing Human Anatomy for six months and Earth Science for six months. Sassafras teaches science through a fictional narrative. My daughter listens to the audiobook on her Yoto player, and then we do the STEM demonstrations with my littlest aswell.

History

Last year, my daughter worked through The Mystery of History Volume One which teaches ancient world history through a biblical lens. I was working three days a week so we didn’t manage to add in many practical activities or trips. This year, I am working less so we are going to do a little recap of Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome so that we can bring last years topics to life a bit more! I am pulling this together myself using books from our library, and trips to museums and local attractions like the Roman Baths. Then we will likely more on to The Mystery of History Volume Two which covers The Early Church and The Middle Ages.

Geography

This year, we are focussing on mapwork. I print maps from a website called Seterra’s Free Printables and we will be learning to locate all the countries in Asia and in Europe. We will also do a term of geography studies at our Co Op wit friends but that topic hasn’t been decided yet.

Faith and Church

Independent Bible Reading

My nine-year old wants to be more independent in her bible reading and study. At the moment she is doing a True Girl Bible Study in her own time. For school, I am still going to ask her to read through one of the Kaleidoscope Books each month. These are books of the bible that have been brightly illustrated and re-written as children’s chapter books. We have read several of these books already and would highly recommend Kaleidoscope Books to anyone wanting to share the bible with their children.

Character Formation

We are going to be using books from the Trailblazer Series to study character this year. It is important to me, that our children know there are many different ways to serve the Lord, using the gifts He has given us. There are many books in the Trailblazer Series so I am choosing stories that I think my daughter will best connect with.

Life Skills

Spanish

This year we will be using Rosetta Stone for Spanish. I don’t yet speak Spanish so I need to outsource this and Rosetta Stone seems a good option for picking up a range of different skills. I like that there are no adverts and that the programme can be downloaded and completed offline. My daughter does thirty minutes of Spanish each day.

Swimming

This year, we will continue small group lessons locally. This is one of two clubs that my daughter attends, the other is Girls’ Brigade.

Creative Interests

Most of our Creative Interests are child-led so I don’t plan much in advance, or use a homeschool curriculum as such. Instead, I leave room in our schedule and note down what interests we pursue. Last year, we did embroidery and knitting.

Art

Last year, we did some online Watercolour Classes, with Emily Lex and Brighter Day Press. This year my daughter is really enjoying learning to draw with Art for Kids Hub. This year we will be learning about a British Artist, whose work we saw in the National Gallery in London this summer. We will be using, for the Autumn Term, the Turner Picture Study by Simply Charlotte Mason. We are also studying Georges Seurat and Pieter Bruegel with free resources from A Humble Place.

Thriving Outdoors

Under this educational pillar, I try to plan one fun event each month for us to go to, such as a Pick Your Own farm event, or a workshop of some kind. I choose these depending on what events are available in our area. I also focus more on this pillar of our homeschool in the summer term, with a project such as foraging. Last year, my daughter and I did a day of sailing together and both really enjoyed it, so we’d like to do more of that this year. I will plan this more thoroughly in the spring.

A thought to leave you with

I hope reading through our homeschool curriculum choices may be helpful if you are looking for ideas and inspiration. Whilst I’ve tried to be open about curriculum that I’ve mentioned here, that is new to us, and curriculum that is tried-and-tested, I will say that these plans are subject to change! I’ll update you on how we get on!

 If you have a little one, and it’s of interest, you can find our preschool curriculum choices here.