Choosing a Fourth Grade Curriculum

After thorough research and lots of praying, I have finally chosen Laura's curriculum for next year. For History and Science (And possibly reading) she is going to be using Heart Of Dakota's Preparing Hearts for His Glory.

In Preparing Hearts, Laura is going to get a year on World History using A Child's History of the World and other texts. I am very impressed with this program from my research. It is very bible-based, which is what I want for Laura right now. So much of the planning is done for me that, with my college classes and other children, I won't be stressing if I have covered enough or planned well. It uses Living Books and short lessons. There is exposure to poetry, art, music, and nature.

I began by ordering a couple books from the program off e-bay to see if I would like them or not. Every single book I have received has impressed me. There is such a variety of books. I am looking into Drawn Into The Heart of Reading for Laura's reading program also, because the variety and quality of the books are so good.

As for the Science, I decided to try it first. The Bigger Hearts and Preparing Hearts both use One Small Square Books for part of their science. I picked up a couple from the Bigger Hearts list for us to try this year. Laura has been working on 'Woods' for over a week. I'll be honest, she's only about 15 pages into it. The book looks small until you open it. Every page is jam-packed with information. There's notebooking activities and activities. And, for the first time all year, she loves science. Oh, she tolerated the Ace Paces. She was interested in some of the things I set for her to study on my own or through the Learn At Home book. She really seems to be getting a lot out of what she is learning with this book.

One thing I did notice, after comparing lots of programs, was the Heart of Dakota's book selections and Sonlight's book selections are often the same or similar. The books are just used at different levels in each program. The only other programs I seriously was drawn to was Sonlight and Weaver. Weaver held my attention for awhile, but after prayer and research I just didn't think it was for me. As for Sonlight, I am still drawn to that amazing program. For now, however, I am planning to wait. I have been completely drawn to Heart of Dakota. There philosophy matches mine more than any other program I have researched.

I also think there is a lot of freedom with Heart of Dakota. The program only takes about four hours per day. Plus, it plans for four days a week, so I will have plenty of time to plan other things on the fifth day if I want.

I am ordering things a little at a time to ease the hit to my tight budget. I believe it is totally worth it to buy quality curriculum. I've spent time seeing if I can save by finding any of the books at my local library. Sometimes that doesn't work, however. I checked out Charlotte's Web from the library, but ended up buying it because Laura loved it so much. That seems to happen with books on the Heart of Dakota or Sonlight reading lists. You may check it out to save money, but some you just end up buying anyway because it is loved so much.