Our Charlotte Mason Homeschool 4th Grade Plans (take 2!)

(Please note that I have linked to the book lists on the AO website to respect their licensing terms and the hard work they’ve put into such an amazing curriculum that they offer for free. Books that use affiliate links here are not listed on the AO website.)

It is much to be wished that thoughtful mothers would more often keep account of the methods they employ with their children, with some definite note of the success of this or that plan.

CHARLOTTE MASON (HOME EDUCATION)

I mentioned in my Year 7 planning post that this school year (which we started last Monday) marks a few firsts, including the first year I have a Form 3 student, the first year I have a junior higher, the first year I have a teenager, and the first year I don’t have any students in Form 1. This is also a first for C in that she has moved up to Form 2, which can be a big jump in and of itself.

Up to this point, I have done the majority of the reading for her with only a few books here and there (Understood Betsy and The Princess and the Goblin – both books she listened to when I read them to her brother when he was in those grades) that she read on her own and narrated to me. Beginning this year, she will now be reading a few books on her own and narrating them to me on a regular basis. Year 4 is also when some parents begin written narrations, but I didn’t start her brother on that until Year 5, and I will probably follow the same path for her.

She will also begin to fill in her Book of Centuries and have grammar and spelling lessons. I remember being extremely nervous about starting Year 4 with her brother and wondering if he was ready, but then being so glad when he surprised me with how ready he was. I am hoping the same is true of C.

As I did with her brother, I will use the booklist for AmblesideOnline Year 4 with a few modifications here and there, as outlined below. I’m looking forward to seeing how she grows!

Morning Time

The Lay of the Land
Book of Virtues
Morning Time Resources

Our Morning Time rotation worked extremely well for us last year, so we’re going to continue with mostly the same layout this year:

• Prayer
• Doxology
• Spanish Dailies (we go over the date and weather in Spanish)
• The Ology/Stories of the Saints
• Music
  • Monday/Wednesday: hymn
  • Tuesday/Thursday: folksong
• Reading/Riches
  • Monday: a single reading from The Book of Virtues (we’re still making our way through the section on courage)
  • Tuesday: Picture Study (see below for more details)
  • Wednesday: five minutes from The Lay of the Land until it’s finished, then we’ll go back to the seasonal Dallas Lore Sharp books
  • Thursday: Composer Study (see below for more details)
• Lord’s Prayer
• Benediction

This usually only takes about 20 minutes, which I have found to be just the right length for Morning Time. I did add The Ology, which we’ve started in the past, but I finally felt like the ideas could sink in this past summer, and we’ll continue that into the school year. When we finish that, we’ll switch to Stories of the Saints.

Bible

Reading Schedule for the Book of Common Prayer (BCP)
SPCK Bible Atlas
Bible Resources

For Bible reading, I decided to combine all of us this year, so we’re doing this part of our day together. Before this, I read the BCP schedule early in the morning, and each kid had their own reading schedule during our lesson time. When I started planning our lessons for this year, I was concerned about how long our day would end up being, and a suggestion on the AO Bible page suddenly popped into my head: “Feel free to substitute; some may prefer to follow along with their church’s reading plan…” As much as I pride myself in being able to pick and choose books and subjects for our homeschool, I haven’t considered doing a different Bible reading schedule since my son was in Year 1, and it did not work well for us. Now that both kids are older, however, I feel like the readings from the BCP are going to be just about perfect for us. I’ve always wanted to have us observe the liturgical year together somehow, and this feels just right. We’ll at least give it a try!

History & Biography

History Book List Here
Biography Book List Here
History Resources
Book of Centuries

C will be learning about the period of history from the late 1600s to the American and French Revolutions. I will be reading all of the books from the AO list as scheduled to her except for a few ommissions from Trial and Triumph (Richard, Lion of Covenant; Solway Martyrs; Jonathan Edwards; George Whitefield; and David Brainerd).

B did not care much for the history books in Year 4 when I read them with him, but C tends to enjoy history more, so I’m interested to see how she likes them. This is especially true of Abigail Adams and even more of George Washington’s World, as we’ll be reading Genevieve Foster’s books for the next three years.

I will also add free reads from the various sites mentioned in this post. Our town’s library was torn down this summer, and a new one was built, so we haven’t had access to all of the books in our library system (or a library closer than 20 minutes away or interlibrary loan ?) since May and didn’t get access again until this past Saturday. Because of this, I wasn’t able to check out any supplemental books over the summer for this year other than e-books that the library happens to offer or those on Archive, which was frustrating. I kept a list in the spreadsheet I use to plan each of our terms of potential books, so I loaded up on them as soon as it re-opened and will share the ones we use in my year-end recap post!

As I mentioned above, she will also be starting her Book of Centuries this year! I have really come to love this practice in our weeks.

Literature

Literature Book List Here
Shakespeare Schedule Here

We will follow the AO schedule except for Term 3 for our Shakespeare readings. Because of the footnote included with Measure for Measure and because C is joining us for Shakespeare this year, I opted to skip that one. I also used Nancy Kelly’s helpful Shakespeare post as a guide for what would’ve been used in Form II in the PNEU Programmes and decided on Julius Caesar instead.

We will be reading all of the other literature selections as scheduled. I will read Age of Fable, Robinson Crusoe, and Kidnapped to her and then have her read The Incredible Journey on her own (with narrations to me) as I’ll also be reading the shorter Irving and Longfellow selections to her in Term 3.

Poetry

Poetry Selections Here

We will also follow the AO schedule for poetry. I am especially excited about introducing her to Emily Dickinson as she has already memorized a few of her poems. She is one of my favorite poets, and I think she’ll like her!

Language Arts

Copywork

Getty-Dubay Handwriting Series
Copywork Resources

She is on book F of the Getty-Dubay handwriting series and will most likely finish those this year. After that, I will switch her to regular copywork (which she is excited to pick!). When she’s careful about it and doesn’t just scribble (which will be a habit she needs to work on), her handwriting has improved so much since she started those books, so I am glad I made that switch in Year 2.

Dictation/Spelling

Spelling Wisdom Book 1
Post-it Page Markers
Spelling Resources

She will also begin dictation (or spelling lessons) this year, and I’ll use Spelling Wisdom Book 1 as I did with her brother. When I first started it with B, I did two lessons per week, but because I have two students doing dictation now, I am switching him to once per week, and she will also do it once per week. This means she’ll move through the book more slowly, so I’ll need to assess her progress and see if we need to do it more often.

Grammar and Composition

Junior Analytical Grammar  (JAG – we use the old version)
Grammar Resources

As we were starting our first week of school last week, I discovered that the version of Junior Analytical Grammar I’ve been using for the last three years is no longer made. I did not want to buy an entirely new grammar curriculum, so I was scrambling at the last minute to find a copy somewhere for C to use and finally found a small homeschool shop in Florida that had that and the mechanics book and could ship them to me. Whew! I have been more than happy with these books and wish I could keep recommending them!

This is another subject that I did twice per week with B initially, but I will only do once per week with C (and reduce his to once per week also). I am very comfortable with this as AO doesn’t schedule a grammar book until Year 7, and when I looked through the one they chose when I was planning that year for B, he already knows most if not all of the concepts, so I feel that I have time to take it more slowly with C.

Recitation/Repetition

Recitation

Ruminating on Recitation Article (read this first!)
Recitation Guidelines and Student Log (updated in 2021)
Recitation Resources
AO Recitation Recommendations for Year 4

AO began offering recitation recommendations last year, which is very helpful! I will also allow her to pick her own (which she usually only does for her poems), or I will pick them for her. We will continue our practice of her reading aloud her recitation pieces to me with Old Testament on Mondays, New Testament on Tuesdays, Psalm on Wednesdays, and poem on Thursdays.

Foreign Language (Spanish)

Tierra Tema 3

We started using Tierra last year in Term 2, and it worked so well for us that we’ll continue it this year. I am fortunate that the creator, Kathryn, has asked us to test it for her, so we will be using Tema 3 in Term 1 and then continuing with any more she makes for the rest of the year. If you haven’t tried this curriculum, I highly recommend Tema 1! We enjoyed it so much and learned a lot!

Geography

Geography Book List Here and Here
Beautiful Feet Books Minn of the Mississippi Map
AO Forum Year 4 Map Resources
Geography Resources

We are both excited to be doing Minn! This also marks the last year I will have a student using the Beautiful Feet Books Holling geography maps. Sigh. I’m glad it’ll take us the whole year, though. I’ll have her color and label the map as we make our way down the Mississippi with Minn. I will also do map drills related to her other readings (primarily history) with the maps linked on the AO Forums.

We’ll also continue with the Long’s and Charlotte Mason’s geography books with the topics assigned for this year in the additional concepts section.

And, over the last few years, I eventually bought Material World and What the World Eats, and she likes to peruse those every so often, so I’ll keep those in our free reads basket.

Scouting

Scouting for Wild Ones

We started this book last year but didn’t make it through as many sections as I had hoped. We’re actually going to be doing this one in our micro co-op and trading off topics as we go through the year, and I’m excited for my kids to have other kids with whom to do the activities! I’ll share a list in our year-end post of the badges we end up doing.

Citizenship

Peeps at Many Lands: Ancient Greece
Peeps at Many Lands: Ancient Rome
Stories from the History of Rome
Plutarch Resources

I am straying entirely from the AO schedule in this subject and waiting until Year 5 to begin Plutarch, which is when PNEU Programme 94 schedules it as well. In terms 1 and 2, I will read two books from a series a friend recommended to me when B was in Year 5 called Peeps at Many Lands, which introduce the students to the Ancient Greeks and Ancient Romans. Then, in term 3, we’ll switch to the PNEU Programme 94 suggestion of Stories from the History of Rome. This feels like a lot, but I loved the Peeps books and we learned so much about those societies that we otherwise would not have known, which has made Plutarch easier to understand. I’ll share an update at the end of the year if this works for us.

Science

Science Book List Here
Term 1: Sabbath Mood Homeschool Form 2 Astronomy Living Science Guide
Term 2: Sabbath Mood Homeschool Form 2 Weather Living Science Guide
Term 3: Sabbath Mood Homeschool Form 2 Physics – Magnets Living Science Guide
Various books from the Sabbath Mood Homeschool living science books lists
Science Resources

This is another subject where I am straying from the AO schedule. When I began Year 4 with B, Madam How and Lady Why did not work well for us. Friends had mentioned to me that this was a book they ended up dropping, but I wanted to give it at least a try, which we did for half the term. When there were tears and a lot of frustration during our Madam How readings, I decided to switch to the Sabbath Mood Homeschool (SMH) Living Science Guides in term 2, and I’ve been using those as B’s primary science curriculum ever since. Since I have all of them and they have worked so well for B, I decided to go ahead and use them with C from the beginning. I am excited to be going through them again with her! I will leave Madam How and Lady Why in the free reads crate, so we’ll see if she picks it up.

We will be reading The Storybook of Science, but instead of reading it all in one year per the AO schedule, we will spread it out over the next three years per the SMH schedule.

C will read Gregor Mendel and Ocean of Truth on her own and then narrate to me.

Nature Study

Nature Study Book List and Recommendations Here
Ambling Together Nature Study Guides
Nature Study Resources

We will be following the AO nature study schedule this year. I was excited to find the Ambling Together nature study guides earlier in the year and plan to use those for our nature study time. I haven’t decided yet if we will do the nature lore book she recommends or pick one that is either more local to us or that I already have. I am considering using Arabella Buckley’s Trees and Shrubs since I just got it in a bundle sale, but the book recommended in the nature study guide also looks very good.

Math

RightStart Level D
RightStart Level E
Math Resources

I am so thankful that C doesn’t have the same struggles in math that I did and is progressing very nicely through her math program. We will switch from 20-minute math lessons to 30-minute math lessons per Nicole Williams’ matrix based on the Parents’ Union Schools, and I will do these with her. I love that RightStart is scripted, so there is very little work for me to do other than guiding her through the lesson, especially as it is not a strong subject for me! (Fortunately, her dad majored in chemical engineering in college, so on the very rare occasions we’ve had a question about a lesson, he has saved the day.)

Art

Picture Study

Term 1: Tintoretto
Term 2: José María Velasco?
Term 3: Georges Seurat

Picture study is another subject we’ll be doing with friends in our micro-coop, and we will be following the AO artist study rotation except in Term 2. We studied Monet a few years ago in our old co-op, so I will pick someone else for that term. I’m leaning toward Mexican artist José María Velasco, who made beautiful landscape paintings and lived in the same time period as Monet.

Drawing

Lily and Thistle Nature’s Art Club

I got three months of free membership to Lily and Thistle’s Nature’s Art Club through a bundle sale. This course teaches black-and-white drawing, colored pencil drawing, and watercoloring, so we will try that in Term 1. Admittedly, drawing/painting/art creation has been something we’ve struggled with getting into our schedule in the past, but I’m hoping to be more disciplined about it this year as these lessons are not long at all.

Music

Composer Study

Term 1: Palestrina
Term 2: Ravel?
Term 3: Opera Selections?

We will loosely follow the AO schedule for composers but use the Tillberry Table guides where we can. Palestrina was a Renaissance composer, which matches the timeframe for the AO schedule, and the others will follow that pattern. Heather typically releases them throughout the year, so I hope she offers one for Ravel and an appropriate opera option later this year.

Hymn/Folksong

Hymns
Term 1: The Rock That is Higher Than I & For the Beauty of the Earth
Term 2: Anywhere with Jesus & This is My Father’s World
Term 3: Count Your Blessings & All Creatures of Our God and King

Folksongs
Term 1: Aiken Drum & The Ash Grove
Term 2: The Lion Sleeps Tonight & The Water is Wide
Term 3: A Man’s a Man for A’ That & Simple Gifts
Music Resources

We got into the habit in our former homeschool co-op to only do two hymns and folksongs per term rather than a new one each month, and it’s a practice I’ve continued even after the co-op ended. We’ll continue using the Hymns and Folksongs YouTube channel to sing along and learn these, as that has worked so, so well for us in the last few years. I’m also a Patron, which gives me access to MP3s of the songs (which we had to our school year playlist in Plex) and printables with the lyrics, which gives me one less thing to do.

Piano

Hoffman Academy (use code LEARN to get 10% off a new membership!

C began online piano lessons through Hoffman Academy in January and has been doing so well. I used this program for two years with her brother, and he also did well, but I feel like she is more musically inclined, so it’s been neat to watch as she progresses. We’ll continue this at least through January of 2025 and see if she is interested in continuing at that point.

Health and Physical Education

We finally got around to taking an archery intro class together as a family this summer, and we really enjoyed it, so we’ll be doing a series of classes together later this fall when the next round at a local archery shop begins. When we finish that, we plan to get our own gear and visit a range at least twice per month.

We’ll also meet with our homeschool nature group twice per month and aim for at least one hike.

Handicrafts

Survivor Kid
Sewing School 2

We did not finish Survivor Kid last year, so we’ll keep reading that this year until we finish. In our micro co-op, the other mom is much more skilled in the sewing machine than I am, so she will be helping us make things with that. We won’t necessarily be using Sewing School 2 for that, but I plan to get it so the kids can work on any other projects that might interest them with their new machine sewing skills.

Free Reading

Free Reads Book List Here

She has already read quite a few of these books as she speeds through books, and I can’t keep up with my slow pre-reading! I will be getting at least a few of the ones she hasn’t read from the library, and I’ll share a list of what we read at the end of the year.

We’re ready for year 4, take 2!