Our Charlotte Mason Homeschool Fourth Grade Recap (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 a fantastic 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)
See our plans for this year here.
C’s first year of Form II went well, and it was nice to be able to hand off more books for her to read on her own so I could divide my time between her and her brother more evenly. As with her brother, it has been neat to see her interests come out more and more and to be able to cater to those interests in her education. I love the flexibility of homeschooling, which allows us to do that. Again, I am so thankful for this Charlotte Mason education for all of us!
Morning Time
The Lay of the Land
Book of Virtues
The Ology
Stories of the Saints
Saints and Heroes
Morning Time Resources
The Morning Time routine we settled into last year continued to be a success this year, and the only change I made was replacing the Lord’s Prayer with the weekly Collect from the BCP (and I moved the Lord’s Prayer to after our Bible lesson). We did finish The Ology about halfway through the year, but I didn’t replace that with anything, and I think that was a good choice for us right now. It’s so refreshing to have found a routine that works so well for us and allows us to include all of the “extra” things that are just as important as the regular subjects.
- Prayer
- Doxology
- Spanish Dailies (we go over the date and weather in Spanish)
- Stories of the Saints/Saints and Heroes
- 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: ten 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)
- Collect of the Week
- Benediction
Bible
Bible Reading Schedule Here
SPCK Bible Atlas
Bible Resources
I did end up making changes to our Bible reading schedule. At the beginning of the year, I decided to have both kids do Bible lessons together, but I wasn’t sure what schedule or reading plan to follow. I decided to go with the BCP reading schedule and stick to a more liturgical cycle, which I had always wanted us to do together. I really liked this at first, but as we didn’t read the passages together on the weekends or on days that we didn’t have school, I realized that we would be missing parts of the various stories we were reading. So, about halfway through the year, I decided to go back to AO’s schedules and started the new Year 7 reading schedule. My son did this last year with the old Year 6 schedule, but repeating it was fine, and now they’re both on the same schedule, which I can continue for the next five years. I really, really liked the three of us doing Bible lessons together rather than doing them separately with each kid, so this was a good change to make.
History & Biography
History Book List Here
Biography Book List Here
History Resources
Book of Centuries
Additional History Free Reads
The Trailblazing Life of Daniel Boone
A Spy Called James: The True Story of James Lafayette, Revolutionary War Double Agent
Brick by Brick
Mumbet’s Declaration of Independence
Shh! We’re Writing the Constitution!
The Village that Vanished
C learned about the period of history from the late 1600s to the American Revolution (and shortly after). I read 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).
I was a little wary of George Washington’s World, as I remember it being a LOT of reading when I was in 4th grade with her brother. It was still a lot of reading the second time around, so we didn’t make it through the book. Still, I really do appreciate how the Genevieve Foster books don’t just focus on American history, but tell multiple stories at once of things happening around the world, so I wouldn’t have wanted to drop this book anyway. We’ll finish it through the summer. This Country of Ours was less popular with her, but we’ll continue on with it through Year 5.
I remember my son struggling with Benjamin Franklin when he was in Year 4, but thankfully, my daughter didn’t have the same problem. She enjoyed that biography as well as Abigail Adams.
Literature
Literature Book List Here
Shakespeare Schedule Here
She liked most of the literature selections, especially Robinson Crusoe, Kidnapped, and The Incredible Journey. Both kids watched the 1963 film version of The Incredible Journey after my son read it a few years ago, so she had an idea of the story, but she liked that there was more in the book. We didn’t get to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow or Rip van Winkle (she read Paul Revere’s Ride on her own), so we’ll also read those this summer (with no narrations).
This was her first year of Bulfinch’s Age of Fable, and it wasn’t a huge hit, though she did narrate well. This was also her first year of “real” Shakespeare (vs. Nesbitt or Lambs Shakespeare before this), which she loved and was very eager to narrate when we listened to the plays, but after two tragedies in a row, she has requested that we not do any tragedies next year. 🙂 We followed the AO Shakespeare schedule except for Term 3 because of the footnote included with Measure for Measure and because it was her first year joining us.
Poetry
Her favorite poet from this year was Emily Dickinson, which wasn’t surprising as she has been exposed to Dickinson’s poetry throughout her life.
Language Arts
Copywork
Getty-Dubay Handwriting Series
Copywork Resources
She finished the Getty-Dubay books about halfway through the year and started doing regular copywork. I am so glad we did this series, as her handwriting, when she’s careful, has improved so much. I’m not sure how to help her be a little less sloppy when she’s writing quickly, but I’m hoping that comes with time. When she finished the formal handwriting instruction books, I had her do ten minutes of copywork daily. She started with her recitation selections and then moved on to the copywork suggestion files from the old AO Yahoo Group.
Dictation/Spelling
Spelling Wisdom Book 1
Post-it Page Markers
Spelling Resources
She was excited to start spelling this year and did very well. Usually, she did two lessons per week, as the ones at the beginning of the book are very short. I love these books and am so thankful for this resource and the Charlotte Mason approach to spelling, as both kids have excelled in this subject.
English Grammar and Composition
Junior Analytical Grammar (JAG – we use the old version)
Grammar Resources
While she wasn’t crazy about grammar, she also did very well, given that this was her first year doing it. We did about one lesson per week, which I think was a good pace.
Recitation/Repetition
Ruminating on Recitation Article (read this first!)
Recitation Guidelines and Student Log (updated in 2021)
Recitation Resources
AO Recitation Recommendations for Year 4
For recitation/repetition, we continued with our schedule of Old Testament on Mondays, New Testament on Tuesdays, a Psalm on Wednesdays, and poetry on Thursdays, and I am so glad this is part of our days! Here is what she learned this year:
- Term 1:
- Joshua 1:1-11 & 6:8-19
- Mark 1:16-27 & 3:1-12
- Psalm 29
- “Will” & “The Eagle” (both by Alfred, Lord Tennyson)
- Term 2
- Genesis 28:10-22 & Judges 2:1-12
- Luke 19:28-40 & Mark 16:1-13
- Psalm 4
- “A Book” & “Autumn” (both by Emily Dickinson)
- Term 3
- Job 22:21-30 & Exodus 6:1-13
- Luke 10:25-37 & 22:24-30
- Psalm 24
- “Pink, Small, and Punctual” (by Emily Dickinson) & “The Kitten at Play” (by William Wordsworth)
Foreign Language (Spanish)
28 Bilingual English-Spanish Fairy Tales & Fables
Under the Manzano
Simple Spanish Year 1
Our Spanish lesson plans were a little all over the place this school year, but we still made progress, so I call it a success. We started the year with Term 3 of Tierra from Under the Manzano, and as with last year, that worked so well for us. The creator took a break from developing it and will be offering more à la carte resources in the future (which I definitely plan to use when they’re available!), so we explored other options in Terms 2 and 3.
In Term 2, I used 28 Bilingual English-Spanish Fairy Tales & Fables, and we went through one story each week. This was an interesting change, but neither kid retained much from this Term, which was reflected in their exams. For Term 3, I decided I needed to do something more structured, so I pulled out the Simple Spanish lessons I purchased in 2022. Her scheduling structure is somewhat confusing to me (she has made updates to the curriculum since I bought it, so I am interested to see the changes), so I came up with my own schedule using her suggestions for formal and informal lessons as well as what I learned while we were using Tierra. I used the Gouin series, book readings (I found the book on YouTube, which was so helpful!), Bible verses, and poems to make a version that worked for us. This was our schedule:
- Monday – Hymn (we just sang this together. My daughter suggested that in the future, she’d like our Spanish hymn to match our English hymn, and I think this is a great idea, so we’ll be doing that next year); Series
- Tuesday – Bible Verse (again, I will be matching this to whatever we’re learning in English at the time); Book page
- Wednesday – Folksong (I’m going to try to match this to our English folksong if possible); Series (also review old series)
- Thursday – Poem; Book page
I also tried to include the weekly challenges by going over them at the beginning of the week and printing them out to put on the fridge, but I found that most of them didn’t really apply to us, and we usually forgot to use them.
This schedule worked so well for us. Even though we haven’t done exams yet, I know both kids learned a good amount of vocabulary and grammar in Term 3. We’ll continue this schedule next year.
Geography
Geography Book List Here and Here
Beautiful Feet Books Minn of the Mississippi Map
AO Forum Year 4 Map Resources
Geography Resources
She really liked the story of Minn and filling in the Beautiful Feet Books map (her last one of the series! ????), but I feel like I could’ve done this book better. Even though it’s only three pages, there is so much in each chapter with all of the things in the sidebars as well as adding things to the map. I feel like this probably could’ve taken up two 20-minute reading sessions easily. She did learn more about the geography of the United States, especially those states along the Mississippi River; however, I think I could’ve done more with this.
She did not enjoy either Long’s or Charlotte Mason’s geography books as they were a lot of review for her, but I think it was still good for us to go through them as it solidified those concepts in her mind and introduced her to a few new ones.
Scouting
We did one section of scouting (basic hiking skills) with our micro co-op at the beginning of the year, but the co-op didn’t continue into Terms 2 and 3, so it fell by the wayside. I am hoping to pick it up again next year.
Citizenship
Peeps at Many Lands: Ancient Greece
Peeps at Many Lands: Ancient Rome
Stories from the History of Rome
Plutarch Resources
We did not start Plutarch this year per the AO schedule but did the books linked above instead. I am glad we were able to get both Peeps books and Stories from the History of Rome in, and she did enjoy many of the stories, but it was a faster pace. In hindsight, I probably could’ve dropped the Peeps Rome book and just done the other two over the course of the year.
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
We did not follow the AO schedule for science. This was her first year doing science other than nature study, and it was fun to go through the SBH books with her, just as I did with her brother. She enjoyed the readings and did many of the science experiments independently, which was neat to see, as I did most of them with her brother when he was going through the same books.
I also modified her Storybook of Science schedule, and she will continue reading it over the next two years per the SMH schedule. She liked the readings from this book, though was very sad for the poor caterpillars when she learned how silk is made.
She also read Gregor Mendel and The Ocean of Truth on her own. She enjoyed Mendel but wasn’t as enthusiastic about The Ocean of Truth, which is about how I feel about them as well.
Nature Study
Nature Study Book List and Recommendations Here
Ambling Together Nature Study GuidesNature Study Resources
Additional Nature Study Free Reads
Trees
The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever
Strange Trees
Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees
The Boy Who Grew a Forest: The True Story of Jadav Payeng
Fearless World Traveler
Night Sky
Look Up!: Henrietta Leavitt, Pioneering Woman Astronomer
Our Solar System
Nicolaus Copernicus: the Earth Is a Planet
We used Ambling Together’s nature study guides in Terms 1 and 2, and I was so thankful I had these as they not only helped us through those terms, but I was able to use them as a model for Term 3 when she moved away from the AO schedule to do weather. Both kids had a term of weather in their science curricula, so I stuck with the AO schedule in Term 3, and we learned about amphibians. This worked out perfectly as we rescued/adopted two tiger salamanders from our window well/yard last fall, just before snowstorms that have become permanent pets. Because of this, when I planned out the Term, I chose Moon of the Salamanders as our nature lore book, and we spent four weeks learning about them since we could observe them. Here are all of the resources we read together for our amphibian nature study time:
Moon of the Salamanders
The Guide to Colorado Reptiles and Amphibians
Frogs and Toads
Spotted Salamander
Math
RightStart Level D
RightStart Level E
Math Resources
She finished RightStart Level D, and we moved on to Level E about halfway through the year. We also switched from 20-minute math lessons to 30-minute math lessons, and she is doing extremely well in this subject. I’m so thankful for RightStart as I feel that it teaches math concepts in a living way. As I mentioned in my planning post, I’m so thankful she does not have the same math challenges I had when I was in school!
Art
Picture Study
Term 1: Tintoretto
Term 2: José María Velasco
Term 3: Georges Seurat
We followed the AO picture study schedule in Terms 1 and 3, but because we did Claude Monet a few years ago with our co-op, I opted to go with the 19th-century Mexican artist José María Velasco in Term 2. I hope to release a Picture Study Aid covering his art soon as it’s beautiful, and we all enjoyed learning more about his work.
Drawing
Lily and Thistle Nature’s Art Club
I was not good at getting in drawing time every week (another thing I hope to work on next year). When we did get it in, this was a highlight of our week, and I saw significant improvement in each kid’s drawing skills. Hannah’s lessons are so enjoyable, and we will continue these into next year.
Music
Composer Study
Term 1: Palestrina
Term 2: Dvorak
Term 3: Rossini
We followed the same time period for the composers scheduled in the AO composer study rotation, but I went with different composers because I used the Tillberry Table guides. I would have to say Rossini was our favorite. ????
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 kept even after the co-op ended. We continued to mostly use the Hymns and Folksongs YouTube channel to sing along and learn these.
Piano
Hoffman Academy (use code LEARN to get 10% off a new membership!)
C is flying through her Hoffman Academy Lessons and making excellent progress in her piano-playing skills. Throughout the day, even when she isn’t doing her lesson, she likes to sit at the piano and play all of the songs she has learned, which is so neat to hear. In January, she will have reached the 2-year mark for piano lessons, which is when I let her brother choose if he wanted to continue, and I’m really hoping she decides to keep going!
Health and Physical Education
We finally managed to schedule an archery class over the winter! All four of us spent six weeks learning the basics of archery and used both recurve and compound bows, which gave us a good taste for each. B has decided that he wants a compound bow, and C and I prefer recurves, so we’ll work on getting those over the summer so we can start using some of the local ranges whenever we’d like.
In addition, we continued our regular hikes and meetings with our nature group, and the kids occasionally join me for my morning walks.
Handicrafts
Handicrafts continue to be a challenge to fit in each week. We got a little more reading done in Survivor Kid in Term 1 but did not get all the way through it before we started Sewing School 2 in Term 2, so we’ll probably finish that in the summer. We made progress in Sewing School 2 but haven’t gotten to projects yet. My daughter has specifically requested that we keep working through that this summer, so that’s another goal. Both books worked really well for us, and I am thankful for what they taught the kids AND me!
Free Reading
Just like her brother, C is a voracious reader and I can’t keep up pre-reading enough to keep her satisfied. I have a feeling I’m really going to need to relax more on this in the future. She got through these free reads (among other books not on this list):
Black Beauty
Pollyanna
The Secret Garden
The Railway Children
The Borrowers
Gone Away Lake
Thimble Summer
Return to Gone Away
By the Shores of Silver Lake
The Sign of the Beaver
Johnny Tremain
Amos Fortune, Free Man
Justin Morgan had a Horse
The Chronicles of Narnia
I have a giant spreadsheet of all the AO free reads for each grade level, and I will keep pulling from that until we’ve read at least the majority of them.
Exams
A Delectable Education Exam Planner
The New Mason Jar Podcast: Exams in the Charlotte Mason Homeschool with Celeste Cruz
I decided I needed to revamp our exams as they haven’t been going well in the last few years, and all three of us have gotten to the point that we kind of dread them. I bought the A Delectable Education Exam Planner and also listened to The New Mason Jar episode about exams with Celeste Cruz. Based on these, I made some changes to how we do exams and the kinds of questions asked, and I feel like these will make exams much better. We’ll see how it goes.
Now to dive deeper into planning Year 5!
