Fourth grade is a time for exciting growth and increased responsibility in your student’s school work and personal development. The curriculum is designed as a wonderful combination of Individual student lessons, done one-on-one with the teacher, and Family lessons, done with all of your students together.

Sample Schedule

With the Family lessons and the Individual student lessons, each day’s work should take about two and a half hours to complete. In a Charlotte Mason education, much can be accomplished in a short amount of time because the student is being trained in the habit of full attention and the lessons are not tedious.

Day One	Day Two	Day Three	Day Four	Day Five
Family Lessons (90 min)	Family Lessons (90 min)	Family Lessons (90 min)	Family Lessons (90 min)	Family Lessons (90 min)
Math (30 min)	Math (30 min)	Math (30 min)	Math (30 min)	Math (30 min)
Grammar & Spelling (15 min)	Science (20 min)	Grammar & Spelling (15 min)	Science (20 min)	Typing (10 min)
	Typing (10 min)

Individual Student Lessons

Individual student lessons in fourth grade are focused on the subjects of language arts, typing, math, and science. These are the subjects that should be taught one-on-one at your child’s pace.

Language Arts

Language Arts for your fourth-grade student include reading, handwriting, English grammar and spelling, and narration.

Reading

When your student can read at a fourth-grade level, she begins to read some of her school books independently in history and other subjects. As always, this skill is adjusted to fit each student’s progress, with the teacher doing some (or most) of the reading aloud and the student reading the rest for herself.

Handwriting

Transcription continues to be practiced in a personal Book of Mottoes, or commonplace book, as your student begins a collection of meaningful quotations culled from her reading.

English Grammar and Spelling

English usage lessons are continued, along with an introduction to English grammar. Spelling is practiced with the method of prepared dictation using good literature passages—the same passages that are used for the English lessons—as the second half of Using Language Well, Book 1, and Spelling Wisdom, Book 1 are completed. (The first half of each book was completed in grade 3.)

Narration

Your student begins the transition from oral narration to written narration by composing one written narration per week. Oral narration is still practiced regularly throughout the school subjects in order to continue to sharpen the mental aspect of composition.

Typing

Helpful form and efficient typing skills are introduced through the typing program of your choice.

Math

Your student continues to advance in the four operations through 1,000,000; continues work in fractions; begins work with decimals; and explores area, cubic, and metric measures using The Charlotte Mason Elementary Series, Book 4.

Science

A thorough and interesting study of birds is enjoyed using The Burgess Bird Book for Children, as scheduled in Learning About Birds. (This course could be used with all students in grades 2–4 if desired.)

Family Lessons

Shakespeare and Plutarch are added to the feast of great subjects that encourage your student to develop relations with music, art, handicrafts, singing, foreign language, history, nature, poetry, geography, Bible, literature, Scripture memory, and more. Select your choice of History, Geography, and Bible guide and Enrichment Studies. If you are teaching only one student, the Family lessons can easily be done one-on-one.

Shopping List

For a complete Charlotte Mason curriculum, add the history time period and Enrichment Studies of your choice. You can combine all your students for these Family lessons.