Homeschool 4th Grade Curriculum Questions...

[cookderosa]

So we're pulling our son out of public school after he finishes 3rd grade, and are putting our plans together to be off and running with a much happier and healthier academic environment for him. We already found a bunch of local groups to get him some daytime field trips and other outings with similar-aged peers, but have run into a minor snag with curriculum choices.

For arithmetic and history, we are using A Beka. I bought both after reading all the reviews I could find, and after receiving and digging through it, believe they are paced perfectly for his learning style (or at least his current learning style, which I imagine will change once we break him out of the traditional classroom setting). For science, we are using R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey and are very excited to get started; it is all hands on, direct application, which is how he learns best.

Language Arts... This is the issue. I bought the full LA curriculum from A Beka, but...it is not going to work. Not for him and his circumstances; we are working on getting him to a point where a system like that would not confuse him, but at least right now, he is not at a point where it would make any sense to him. We are going to return it and are hoping to find a secular (or less scripture-filled) LA curriculum. Does anyone have suggestions? We stumbled across Houghton Miflin who are just coming out with a 4th grade LA homeschool curriculum - they've done 5th through 8th previously - but this is the first release of 4th grade and will come out in April, so there are no reviews. Are there any that are tried and tested?

P.S. - We are hoping for an "out of the box" type of curriculum if possible. Maybe in a year or two when we have a better comfort level ourselves, we'll be better able to just grab random books and put something together ourselves, but to get started, we'd like something that walks us through it a bit more directly. (i.e., do this lesson here, give this test now, etc.) We'll still both be working full-time, so having it planned for us is a definite selling point until we know what we're doing.

Wow you decided to do it then!? Good job on standing up for your child. Don't get mad at my comment, but curriculum doesn't mean squat. Just get something that meets your legal requirements and that you can afford, and that looks interesting. I'll bet you ten cents you change next year anyway. A show of hands of all homeschoolers using the same curriculum more than a few years in a row? Anyone? Anyone? Nope. Why? Because even if you found a perfect curriculum, your child changes and so does the dynamic. Don't hold your breath looking for the best, just look for good, and then have you or grandma do it every day. Consistency is more important. Also, if it's awful, you have my permission to toss it in the trash I promise you, your son's future does NOT rest on the curriculum you choose. I hope others can chime in on this one, because it took me about 10 years before I realized that was true. I wish I'd known 18 years ago!!!