Homeschool 4th Grade Curriculum Questions...

[Daithi]

I really can't help much at all with curriculum recommendations, but my sister is a teacher and I can tell you one of the things she does with her kids. They must read a minimum of a half hour every day. Her older two kids were adopted when one was in third grade and the other was in fifth grade. They had both been in foster-care throughout their lives, living in a new home every year in tough neighborhoods, and they were both way behind in school. The fifth grader even had to repeat fifth grade. However, her 3rd grader is now in 6th grade, and the 5th grader is now in 7th. Both of them are now way ahead of their peers in reading. Just reading every day for a 1/2 hour was all it took. Some days they go over the limit because they like the book they are reading, but they still have to read at least a 1/2 hour the next day anyway. The better they get at reading the more they like reading as well. They complained a lot when they first had to do this, but now it is just part of their expected day. My niece who had to repeat 5th grade now reads books like Anne Frank's Diary and the Hunger Games series. Her mom wouldn't let her read the Twilight series this year. Another thing they have to do is pick books at their age level. The two sites below aren't perfect but they provide the reading levels for most books--

Teacher Resources, Children's Books, Student Activities for Teachers | Scholastic.com (click Book Wizard)
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Basic math is just as important as basic reading. The difference is that most schools make kids do math everyday, but don't make them read novels every day. One of the the things the school district where my sister teaches does is to really drill basic math concepts. Forty years ago I went to the same school district, and I still remember having to stay inside during recess to practice my times tables because I couldn't answer 100 basic multiplication problems in under 3 minutes (I sucked at memorizing). Forty years later and they are still drilling kids with the same timed math sheets of 100 problems, although I don't think the kids lose their recess.

My nieces and nephews are now in a permanent loving home and all are happy and doing well. They are also all thriving in school. My niece, who had to repeat 5th grade, now gets straight As. She reads better than most of her classmates, and she is taking pre-algebra this year. I say this not to brag on my nieces and nephews (ok, maybe a little), but because IMHO the most important thing is not curriculum. The most important thing is basic reading, writing, and math. Reading is simple once your son can read --- just do it every day. Basic math isn't hard either. Give them a solid foundation of knowing how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide and the rest is a lot easier. Teaching how to write well is a little harder, but being able to read well also makes this easier.