. I don't care for Saxon in the grades below 4th grade because I find it too easy and excessively repetitive of already mastered concepts. However, I LOVE it for fourth grade and above. It is easy to teach because it tells you everything you as the teacher need to say.My children have flourished on this. *Helpful hint: when preparing for Saxon tests, use the day before the test to redo the lesson practices for the 5 chapters previously studied. What a difference that makes! One more HUGE plus to Saxon are the video tutors that can be ordered through Dive into Math. If you ever find you have reached a grade that is just too difficult to teach yourself, you can order the DVD and let them do the hard work! Just a reminder, Saxon has an free online test placement to help you decide where your child needs to begin. Gotta love free help!
. It is a four volume - four year course that will take you through all the time periods. At this point, had you started in first grade, you would be in the last book. Keep in mind, you can begin anywhere within the set. It is very easy to tailor each time period to the year you are teaching. I love the workbook The Story of the World Activity Book Four: The Modern Age: From Victoria's Empire to the End of the USSR
and it is an awesome side kick to the text book! It's a very full history program that you can easily scale down or bump up if you feel you need less or more. *Helpful hint- After your children have finished the four book series and are now in fifth grade, I use those texts as readers. My children read them through on their own.Science- This year we have done God's Design. There are three books for each year. God's Design for the Physical World: Machines and Motion (God's Design Series)
, God's Design for the Physical World: Inventions and Technology (God's Design Series)
,and the last one is God's Design for the Physical World: Heat and Energy (God's Design Series)
. It is not cheap, but it is very good. It comes with a CD to print off worksheets, but that is definitely not my favorite thing to do. I am not going to use this in the future. I will try Apologia next year. If I like it, then my boys will use that for fourth grade in the future. Don't get me wrong; the science was fun, thorough, and interesting. This was a "ME" problem. You will probably love it if you can be organized enough to have everything printed off in time.
. You will need to order the workbook and a test booklet as well if it doesn't come with it. I can't rave enough about this grammar. It is super thorough. Your child will be a diagramming master by the end of their grammar set. We start this publisher in third grade and use it through 7th grade. Plus, it covers manners and etiquette every year.Reading-We choose books based on The Story of the World Workbook literature section. I order them from the library ahead of time. They also read from the various science encyclopedias we have here. We do lots of fun reading with books of their choosing as well.
Writing-Writing comes through various sources. They have to write everything (with few exceptions) in cursive for fourth grade. They write compositions on scientists, figures of history, books they have read, or comprehension exercises from the history or science lessons. Grammar includes writing many writing exercises as well.
Latin-We are still using the Rosetta Stone Homeschooling edition of Latin for fourth grade. It comes as a two year course and we start in 3rd grade.
Spelling- We like the Spelling Workout Series. By fourth grade you should be working on book D SPELLING WORKOUT LEVEL D PUPIL EDITION and E SPELLING WORKOUT LEVEL E PUPIL EDITION
. The goal is to be done with F when you end out fifth grade.Bible- I have used formal Bible curriculum before, but wasn't impressed. Of course, I haven't tried too many. Here is what I like to do. I have several children's bible books around the house and some character building curriculum that I combine. I also have a computer program. So, I just use what I have. They always have some sort of bible story or lesson from the bible. We share prayer requests and then spend some time in prayer before we begin each school day. Sometimes, I teach out of a book I am reading if they contain some simple lessons that can be adapted to children. This is a great time for children to learn how to pray, how to study the word of God and how to memorize it. We like to do worship as well and I like to use Lyrics.com. I have put together a play list that you can use too! You can make yourself a play list and add songs that I have already chosen and view the lyrics with it.
Memory- We choose bible passages to learn, review our multiplication tables, memorize division facts and historical dates or people that the The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia
lists in the back.Music -Ideally, I like my children to be in piano lessons for fourth grade.
Looks like great year planned!
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing and adding your comments!I am in the process of getting all of our material for next year. I too love Saxon for the older child. I use Horizon through 3rd grade. I have been debating if I wanted to use Story of the World next year. My oldest, going into 7th, loves History. We have been using BJ. Does Story of the World have a student book with it? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYes, SOTW has an activity book if that is what you mean. It includes comprehension questions, map work, project ideas, and a great book list each chapter for further reading. There is also a test booklet. The texts themselves are great just to have as extra reading to supplement whatever you are already doing.
ReplyDeleteI have a fourth grader, so your list is helpful to me! We are bug advocates of SOTW as well.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to following your blog!