The above is the package for Christopherus 4th grade. Here are the separate components:

The Christopherus Fourth Grade Curriculum

The Christopherus Fourth Grade Curriculum is an exciting and far-ranging year of mythology, story, math, geography, science, practical and artistic work and much more. As the 10 year old child finds her place in the world and her awakening sense of independence, she seeks guidance in relating to questions of good and evil, both in the world and in herself. The lively stories of the Norse myths and the moral ambiguity of the Old Testament stories following the death of Moses speak deeply to this need.

Fourth grade is a time when children become more consciously aware of their surroundings – first lessons in geography speak to this. The human being's relation to the animal kingdom also helps the child deepen his understanding of the world.

Our math curriculum picks up on the experiential and hands-on practical math (mainly measurement) from last year and formalizes this. Other math topics include area and perimeter, factorization, prime numbers and fractions.

Unique to Christopherus, our Four Elements main lesson is a first basic exploration into physical science, focusing on earth, fire (heat), air and water in nature. Based on Walter Kraul's excellent little book, Earth, Water, Fire and Air, this is a main lesson that gets you out of the house and creating toys and gadgets which harness the power of the elements.

This year's schedule consists of 15 weeks in the first semester and 19 in the second. We now assume a five-day week and help parents create an "independent Day Five", when their child is mainly working alone on work from the rest of the week.

Here is an outline of our Fourth Grade Curriculum:

Main Lessons:

• Man and Animal – See a full description of this here.

• Norse Myths – Five weeks of exciting and colorful stories based on D'Aulaire's Book of Norse Myths. (See sample pages from our Syllabus: page 213, page 217, page 235)

• Geography – Two main lessons: the first on local geography, the second on your country. Easily adaptable to any country in the world. (Sample pages: page 191, page 199, page 202

• Math – See a description of the main lessons and practice lessons.

• Old Testament Stories – Why Old Testament stories again in 4th grade? (Sample page: page 260;  From the Drawing section: page 418)

• Four Elements – A playful exploration of water, air, earth and fire mainly based outdoors, using Walter Kraul's book Earth, Water, Fire and Air. See here for a full overview of the Christopherus science curriculum. (Sample page: page 356)

Subject Lessons:

In our carefully constructed schedule we give time for a year's worth of lessons in the following subjects:

• Language Arts – Grammar, reading, handwriting (page 109), writing (page 132), composition, spelling; how to teach; full sequence of lessons; the slower and quicker student; books to read aloud; and much more.

• Math – Refer to our Fourth Grade Mathematics.

• Music – General guidance (page 380); rhythm and percussion (page 383); playing and singing music; music notation; and a selection of songs.

• Form Drawing – Picks up where our form drawing book leaves off (which you will need if you are new to Waldorf education and have not previously done form drawing with your child). This year's form drawing curriculum features Celtic and Norse knot forms (page 367) as well as geometric forms. Complete step-by-step instructions (page 375).

• Handwork and Crafts – A full year of crocheting (page 442), knitting, quilting, needle felting, paper crafts, whittling, macramé (page 468) and other projects. Much of this curriculum was developed by our colleague Lisa Marshall and is sure to delight.

• Drawing, Painting and Modeling – Step-by-step painting and drawing advice (page 417). All modeling instructions contained in Learning About the World Through Modeling (an integral part of the Fourth Grade Curriculum). (See also page 428)

We also guidance and advice on a range of other lessons, including Health & Safety, Cooking, Gardening, Foreign Language and Games/Movement/Sports.

As always, our curriculum is designed to give step-by-step instructions with a clear progression of the year's lessons, while also remaining flexible and open to meeting the needs of widely different children and family circumstances.

Our curriculum is packed with realistic advice – so you can make 4th grade work for you. Our Practical Considerations section includes a full schedule, broken down by block and describing not only the sequence of main lessons, but of subject lessons as well. We give ample teaching advice; explain the relevance of the curriculum to the needs of the ten-year-old child; discuss legal requirements; and help you plan to meet your family and child's unique needs.

Although we lay out the year and the progression of lessons, we also encourage (and seek to enable) you to change things as you see fit. Our materials are used across the globe and, because we help parents understand the hows and whys of the curriculum, it can be made to work for just about anyone's situation.

We hope you are as excited about our fourth grade curriculum as we are!

Customers who wish to mail their order to us should send a check or money order in US$ made out to Christopherus Homeschool Resources to the following address:

Christopherus Homeschool Resources
P.O. Box 231
Viroqua, WI 54665

Wisconsin residents should add 5.5% sales tax to the cost of their books.