Share our plans for our fourth grade homeschool courses! Remember, I’m not a professional. We are figuring out that this is the first year home school after most home school attendees last year. More about why we decided to go to school in this post. If you need expert advice, check out my friend Brittany’s blog!
Hi, friends! Are you OK? Hope you have had a great day so far. We are officially in return for school here. LIV started last week (8th grade! I don’t even believe it) and we are returning to homeschool today.
For today’s post, I want to share more information about our plans for this year, and if you’re curious about homeschool learning, the courses we’re doing.
I think it’s worth mentioning here Homeschooling is not as difficult as I thought. Especially when we first thought about it. We all want to provide our kids with absolute best shape and I am really worried about letting her fail. Now we are in the homeschool world, I can tell you that she is thriving. She has a lot of learning and we can customize her plans based on her interests and level. We were also able to improve faster, which interested her.
Our fourth grade homeschool courses
This is something we intend to do this year, but can always be changed or adjusted as needed.
Mathematics (30 minutes)
We continued to use Saxon Math and Math Lady Nicole, because P loved her and she did an incredible job in teaching Saxons. Her software also takes care of the ratings, so P will only enter her answers into the platform and get results for each task. It’s fascinating and concise – we love it.
Read (30 minutes)
I wanted to keep reading with a pleasant reading, so she chose a book and we will read together and discuss we will keep moving forward. Let’s start Lion, witch and wardrobe.
Writing + Grammar (30 minutes)
For grammar, we are still using Masterbooks, a faith-based course. It includes picture research, memory, punctuation, spelling, vocabulary, observation, poetry, psalm, letters, letters and practical applications through creative writing.
For writing, we are doing fables, myths and fairy tales, writing courses from IEW. It focuses on their structure and style approach. Currently, she is working hard to read allegoricals, do key contours and narratives (being able to retell stories with her notes).
I ordered the fourth grade books from last semester and when she finished them we will be entering the fifth grade books.
We also study a research paper quarterly based on interest. Her first one will be about bullfighting after we head to Seville’s Bullfighting Museum.
Social Studies (30 minutes)
I ordered a few history books, as well as a circle book on how to draw America. She was happy to start marking each state first, capital, rivers, etc.
Science (Friday only)
I’m still working on scientific programs. Last year, things happened suddenly at homeschool, so we do a science project every Friday. I might be on Friday as a Science Day but am considering ordering some monthly kits. If you have any science suite subscription to Recs, please send them to me!
Last year, we did things like dissecting owl particles, dropping eggs and building roller coasters.
Arts/Entertainment/PE/Extra (how many times a week)
This year we have a few extra fun stuff including the farm school, which is one day a week. With only two hours, she will be able to ride horses, help animals and create art on the farm. She also held a homeschool parkour class. Between these two things and her club basketball practice, she still has the opportunity to be with the other kids and play weekly, and I’m grateful for that.
Homework:
After a few good friends recommended it, we started using Khan Academy and have been impressed so far. When you’re homework, you don’t actually need to do your homework, but I want P to stay in a groove for *small* homework, because the program ends up getting her back to the in-person school. (I also find this very meaningful because Liv has homework every day.)
For homework, she performed 20 minutes of Khan Academy math, then performed 15-20 minutes of reading, grammar or coding.
Some homeschool FAQs
How did you find a homeschool course?
Brittany is very friendly and can spend a long time on the phone. She asked P about her interests and thoughts on sharing. She makes homeschool feel less intimidating and I am very grateful for her advice. Her whole life also went to school for the kids, which made me hopeful in case P returned to in-person school next week.
How long does it take to be homeschool?
The most beautiful thing about homeschooling is that it is 1:1 concentration, so you don’t need much time. So most of the in-person schools are spent pestering children and trying to get them to listen and pay attention.
We were able to do everything we needed to do in about two hours a day, which made the rest of the day open. She could use this time to convince herself of something interesting (such as art, crochet or piano practice), or we could enjoy some outdoor trips or outings.
How do you work from home and homeschool?
This is the part I’m still trying to navigate. Most of my content on the weekends are batched so that I can focus as much on my kids and houses as much as possible during the week. I also started to schedule client phone calls and podcast interviews when the pilot came home because when he wasn’t traveling, he was a teacher dad who could take over home school duties.
I just felt like I was moving at 1000 mph because parenting in solo requires full attention/attention/energy/energy, and then when he got home I smashed myself into my work trying to catch up with everything. Just have to master this schedule and find my groove.
Good friend: What is your child this year? Homeschool Mom: Any advice we have for the first year?
Hope you have a wonderful day and I will see you soon!
XO
Gina
