Fourth Grade Spring Changes, Mostly in Math

I started my daughter's fourth grade year with a gradual increase in work. She started with enthusiasm. Then, we hit a brick wall. Math was not happening. Not without hours of whining & glares & foot stomping. By the end of the day we were both exhausted and miserable. It bled into other subjects and she finally just would not do school work at all, not without a fight. My husband, an outside observer, made a suggestion based on sound logic: it's time for Winter Break and it should probably be at least a month. His logic? She started school in August, a month before public schools started, and she was probably tired and worn out. So was I. Here we are a month later, all of us much more relaxed and happy again. In this breathing space I have been trying to figure out what went wrong and how to adjust to prevent the same issues.
 

My daughter is very creative. She looks at the world in the wide view- she sees everything at once. Math requires step by step organization and order. A conversation with my daughter's specialist helped clarify that my daughter, very right-brained, has numerous indications that left-brain focusing is not her strong point. So how do I build on her strengths and let her strengths improve the areas she struggles?
 

When our homeschool adventure started, I used verbal and physical math as lessons- taking her scooter and riding out geometric shapes while verbally stating measurements and learning how to calculate perimeter, for example. Or playing games that require using math for scorekeeping or as part of game strategy. Or verbalizing our grocery budget and doing the math involved in shopping: telling the difference in cost between similar items, staying within the budget, and using actual money during transactions. She excelled at this, and still handles real life math wonderfully. But without written records, her dad and the county reviewers were less confident that she was actually learning math. So, I started a more intensive written math component for fourth grade. And it blew up in my face.
 

A cousin of mine reminded me that my grandfather did even high level mathematics in his head. This is a point in time I wish my dad was still alive. He was a mathematician and a very good teacher. He did not agree with the way math has become to be taught in lower education (he had a lot of concerns for how unprepared his students at the University were for real math, or any college level work, actually.) I had briefly done some research into old methods of teaching math. I am now delving into more detailed research as I need more ideas. I am going to try to figure out a tutor, but the cost is prohibitive at this point. I do feel she needs to approach math in a way that makes sense to her.

So, I am going to go back to focusing on creative math, but, for record-keeping sake, devote one day per week on some kind of written or otherwise provable math. Hopefully, that can keep her progressing while reducing the struggle that was impairing all her other lessons.
 

I have started my daughter on the Junior Ranger passport book. While we likely won't get a chance to visit most of the National Parks, she can do the research online and I can have her learn geography, history, and any other area that can be covered, like science or art or music or even math. Mini- unit studies per National Park!
 

This is what I love about homeschooling- really participating in my child's education, learning on the go myself, and the flexibility to really adjust with our family's needs.

4th Grade Planning

I have spent several months looking over different ideas for my daughter's upcoming Fourth Grade year. I like a lot of what I used for Third Grade, but not all, so I had to make some new choices. I finally have the majority of the texts and workbooks I decided to use.

For Grammar & Writing, I will continue with Climbing to Good English (pictured), and add in Handwriting Without Tears (not pictured). For Reaeding & Comprehension, I will start with Mary Poppins and a comprehension workbook (pictured), followed by Reading Comprehension (Jane Ervin; not pictured). Besides using vocabulary from her various subjects, I will use a Greek & Latin Roots workbook (pictured).

For Mathematics, I will be using Aha!Math (not pictured), in part because I can print a record of what subject areas she has covered, and the program offers assessments. This is an online curriculum. For a workbook supplement, we both went over several different workbooks, and she picked this 4th Grade Math workbook (pictured). I will keep Sylvan in mind if she seems to be struggling doing written math, but this workbook is formatted in a similar way and did not intimidate her.

For Science, I chose a ScienceSaurus book (not pictured) and combining it with the Basic Not Boring Science for 4th to 5th grades workbooks (pictured).

For History, we are moving into Book 2 of Story of the World (pictured). For Geography, I chose the Geography Coloring Book (pictured). I will only be using certain sections of the coloring book, that are simple enough for my daughter and emphasize what she is learning. Other topics, like Government, may use other materials.

For Health, we will be covering different topics, and I do not have everything, yet. The Basic Not Boring series has a Human Body & Health workbook. I will continue to use ideas from our Hopscotch book (pictured) for P.E.

Art will have a variety of projects from other subject areas (like History). For Music she will continue her voice and instrument lessons.

This year I will be picking different famous people to do a brief look at their lives and how they contributed to the world. I will be choosing according to the topics she is studying, if possible. I also have some games, and am looking at others, that emphasize different subject areas. Abalone (pictured) & Treasure Trove are the newest, but we also have Around the World, Scrabble, Boggle, Bananagrams, and others.

"End" of the school year

Tomorrow I will be marking down my daughter's 180th official day of school. Maryland homeschool laws [PDF] do not specify a certain number of days of instruction, but they do mention that public schools have a 180 day minimum and that homeschool should be "of sufficient duration" for a child to be taught. I use my county for reviews, and my daughter's father also needs a way to be aware of what I am doing with her. I use an attendance chart to demonstrate "sufficient duration" throughout the year. What I count as a "day of instruction" is any day on my calander where I cover three or more subject areas with my daughter, or we have a field trip, even if that field trip covers only one subject area.

Realistically, most homeschoolers teach- in some way- daily. I do not always mark down teaching moments or I would be spending more hours doing paperwork than would be viable. My plan, actually, includes many more school days than the 180 days. Third Grade math is unlikely to be completed before August, and my daughter loves her history text, so has asked to keep working on that through the summer. Swimming, water safety, reading, writing letters, and more. Learning doesn't have to stop! I just don't plan on tracking attendance again until September.

My Curriculum

(Note: I will be adding more links, once I can get my connection to to stay connected :-)

I often get asked if I use a curriculum that someone else sends me. A "boxed curriculum" is one of the options available to homeschoolers, but it is not a good fit for my daughter. An advantage of learning from home is the ability to customize learning based on the individual child, and on the family. A lot of new homeschoolers will picked a boxed curriculum because the format is easy and automatic, with lessons outlined and explained for both teacher and student. Other homeschoolers might follow a specific philosophy, but not a preformed curriculum. Some might "unschool" (self-learning). Still others, like myself, will choose an "eclectic" approach.

I chose an eclectic curriculum for a variety of reasons, not the least that our family life is fairly eclectic in and of itself, with many interests and a lot of creativity. My daughter, herself, is a very creative individal- often outside of the box. She also has some issues that can make learning difficult, one of which is ADHD (and here.) Since I work, I also had to choose a way to teach that allowed flexibility with scheduling. So my pick-and-choose system started and has grown.

For grammar and writing, I tried "Climbing to Good English" this year. I quite like this text and workbook, and plan to continue with the fourth grade level. I have had to explain some of the more old-fashioned words used, which my daughter was unfamiliar with- pupil, rather than student, for example- but I personally love the focus on proper English and good writing, something I grew up with, but that I found lacking in the public school education my daughter was receiving. For Literature, I use a large variety of classics as well as some more modern child-friendly authors. My daughter has a high reading level, but does not love reading, so I have learned to find samples of good writing that I can use to pique her interest while still exposing her to rich language. She has outright objected to Dickens!

For math, I spent a long while on "real life" math- math that could be done during daily life. Her public school experience left her very anxious about worksheets and formal math- she would literally start hyperventilating. So, while out at the playground, I would have her trace shapes with her scooter and we would add up the "perimeter" with imaginary numbers; I taught her how to use a shopping budget and placed her in charge of makign sure we "stick to our budget" when grocery shopping. We did measuring and fractions while cooking recipes. She learned to do bank transactions, her own shopping transactions, and how to decide what to spend or not spend with her allowance. And we played lots of games that used numbers and logic. We still do those real-life experiences, and more. After several stop-start attempts to go back to worksheets (so I would have something physical to demonstrate her learning) I finally discovered Sylvan workbooks. The Sylvan format seems much less frightening for her, and we are both thrilled when she completes her assignments and gives herself a fist-pump! She is finally reaching her grade-level for math, and has fewer anxiety attacks when worksheets.

Science is very free-form. I have two large "worksheet" books that I use. I also have her explore online learning videos, look up information on specific topics, and we do hands-on experiments. I do pick the main topic, but there is enough leeway to take a side-trip or two. I combine a lot of science topics with the history lessons, which reinforces the history topic and also demonstrates how science is present and usable in daily lives, even from ancient days. She also deals with math while exploring science.

Social Studies takes several directions in our hoemschool. My main text is "Story of the World." We are nearly done with the first book, and this classical curriculum has, by far, been my daughter's favorite. "Story of the World" is mostly chronological, and can be expanded with many other resources- I use the Internet as well as other books and museums. The lessons also fit in with other subject areas- science, as I mentioned above, as well as literature, math, government, religion, art and music. I use the ancient maps to compare with modern maps, and open up discussion sometimes on how the ancient civilizations she is learning play a part in our modern world. I also take side trips into American history and government.

Art and Music are frequent. My daughter loves exploring her creativity. She has always loved music, so she is a member of a vocal and an instrument choir, as well as taking private voice lessons. Planned or unplanned, art projects often end up part of other lessons- a collage or sketch or painting, making a sculpture or bead necklace to learn more about a culture, and so on.

Health may incorporate information on our bodies- a topic, with my background, I regard as science, but the reviewer marked as health. I also cover various safety topics- danger signs, what to do in an emergency, okay versus not okay contact with other people, fire drills, handling peer relationships. Physical education sometimes incorporates health- taking care of your body- but also includes a variety of outdoor and indoor games, sports, dance, and learning about famous events and participants.

I do cover religious education, though that is not a required subject for reviews. Faith is a big part of our lives. We have a terrific Church network, and my daughter attends children's classes. At home, we discuss the Bible and faith practice, and what she learned at Church. We explore how faith works daily in our lives. I do discuss different religions and belief systems, so I classify this as "Religion" and not "Bible study".

Finally, I keep track of her social life. Having been asked often enough "but how does your daughter learn to get along with others?" and other less well-put questions, I feel it is easier to simply glance at her calendar and go "oh, well, this week she's had Church, two classes with other kids, several hours at the PAL center..." For those who believe homeschooling isolates a child, I have learned that my daughter's social circle is massive now compared to the social circle she had while in public school. She interacts with people of all ages, is comfortable knowing who to talk to when in a public situation- bank, store, museum. She has friends who are homeschooled, private schooled, and public schooled (and, yes, she has commented on the differences she sees in how those kids all relate with themselves and adults). She knows several adults she considers safe people- in abuse prevention, it is important for a child to be aware of who they can go talk to if they feel unsafe in a situation or with another person, and while a parent should always be a good choice, a parent may not be the most comfortable initial choice for a child- and has some encouraging adult mentors.

In short, I use a varied approach to homeschooling lessons, and allow flexibility for self-interest. I have leaned toward a more classical approach, with some "unschooling" influences, and some more traditional and "standard" ideas. I try to encourage my daughter's strengths while helping her grow in the areas she has less interest or comprehension. We have found a system that works, for now, and I leave room for adjustments. And so, our adventure continues!