The Peacemaker Grade 4

He is doing quite well this year. He needs to work on his confidence a bit. He is finally reading chapter books and I think that will help a lot this upcoming work. I really need him to be more independent.

History

He will be working through Story of the World 3 (1600-1850). He will do written narrations, mapwork, and notebook pages for each chapter.

He will keep track of important dates and people in his Book of Centuries.

Supplemental library materials (i.e. books and DVDs) will be available. He will keep track of these on his 6 week planner sheet and Goodreads.

Suggested memory work for the period are Declaration of Independence, First 12 Presidents of the United States, and Major Wars for the time period.

I will do my best to create some kind of notebook ahead of time for at least the first term.

Science

I'm really considering having him do Life Science with his younger brother. The two of them really need to do more together. I think it could be a fun bonding experience for the two of them. They are both hands on learners. I just need to come up with something fun. I'm not sure how fun option 1 would be. This is another thing I'm waiting on budgeting to resolve. Bigger budget means more pre-packed experiments.

Option 1: The Well Trained Mind suggestions for Life Science. DK First Animal Encyclopedia, Kingfisher First Human Body Encyclopedia, and Laurie Carlson's Green Thumbs. Use these with the notebooking method suggested in TWTM.

Option 2: Real Science-4-kids

Option 3: Homemade Lessons using some KONOS units and library supplements.

Language Arts

I like the methods outlined in The Well Trained Mind, but they seem to work at a slower Charlotte Mason approach with my boys. I'm using the the scope and sequence at Ambleside Online for most of our Language Arts planning. As budget permits, I will add in suggestions from The Well Trained Mind, although at lower grade levels.

Writing

He will continue with Italics Handwriting. I would like to see him to start some cursive this year.

He will do copywork from his literature selections. Once he is comfortable with copywork, he will move onto studied dictation.

Budget permitting, I might purchase Writing with Ease level 2. If so, I will nix the previous copywork plans. They are included in WWE.

Reading

Assigned reading list will come from The Well Trained Mind for the time period 1600-1850 page 79. He will have free reading time, as well.

He will probably have some type of memory work for each month. Poetry or speeches from the time period are suggested in TWTM.

He will do a short period of oral reading for a parent. We need to keep up with him and make sure he is doing well.

Grammar

I'm not sure if he is ready to study Grammar yet. At least the diagramming part. It might be too much work for him. If budget permits I might try First Language Lessons 3.

I do have First Language Lessons 1 & 2. I could pick and choose some basic lessons to give him a start on Grammar. Then allow him to perfect the skills of narration, copywork, and dictation.

Spelling

I would prefer he use Spelling Workout B. I would like some workbooks this upcoming year. If the budget does not permit than spelling will be picked up as part of copywork, narrations, and dictations.

He will keep a list of trouble words. These he will go over at the beginning of each Spelling lesson.

Like his older brother, he will be using Spelling Power at his own level. I'm excited to find a curriculum that can be used by all children. It makes my life easier and it will last more than a year.

Math

He will be moving on to the next level of Math U See. He may need to finish up two levels this year. It depends on what he accomplishes this summer.

Optional Resources

Field Trips
YMCA
Critical thinking press Mind Benders: Warm Ups A1, A2, A3, A4
Typing Program