4th Grade II 2024-2025 Homeschool Curriculum Selections II Saxon, The Good & Beautiful, Sonlight D

[@leahkuqo]

This last year my son did TGTB level 4 as well as used the readers for Sonlight level D. If I had to do things over, I would use the biographies book from TGTB and let him choose the books from Sonlight that he wanted to read. He thoroughly enjoyed the biographies book as well as the readers but a lot of the readers are heavy. I think picking some, and breaking them up with the biographies book would have been very helpful.

[@sciencemama]

Thank you, that is really helpful!!

[@melissacapps8453]

TGTB 3 is my absolute fav!! The last 2 books are amazing!!

[@ashgarstin4307]

My daughter is going to be a young fourth frader and she sounds a lot like your daughter. We went back to All About Spelling level 1 this year towarss rhe ens and it really helped her a lot. I did get the new version, because it offers a lot of cute pictures and word searches which helped her alot. She is also a pover of things being beautiful. I also wanted to say that i picked up the Princess in Black series after your recommendation from your duaghter's readers and she loved them. I feel like it was the set of books that finally popped her into reading independently and for pleasure so thanks!

[@sciencemama]

Ahh, I'm so glad she loves Princess in Black!

[@ashgarstin4307]

@@sciencemama thank for the recommendation. It was a great fit for her.

[@GardenMinistry.]

Im not using these curriculums but I love your approach! You have honed in on how your kids learn and they will do fantastic!

[@sciencemama]

Thank you!

[@elisabethchen5243]

We’re doing Sonlight HBL D next year, too, and I discovered that several of the readers are available as audio books through our library (on Libby or Hoopla). I have them marked in case we need to sub in some fun fiction and want to convert them to read-aloud or read-along books.

[@sciencemama]

I still need to check audiobook availability, thanks for the reminder!

[@Ravenclaw1717]

I absolutely loved Blood on the River! I hope your daughter does as well!

[@Brigsgirl22]

We are almost done with the level 4 TGATB. My kids didn't complain about the readers at all and told me exciting things they learned, so at least with my kids there wasn't a negative with the reading. We are also doing HBL D and they really have enjoyed the readers from that as well! We did switch out the spring for IEW'S phonetic Zoo. We are going to slowly start some IEW Structure and Style as well

[@sciencemama]

I love hearing that!

[@aperezjordan]

I will have a 4th grader who is still working on reading fluency, we completed AAS 1 and 2 last year, and will continue to focus on spelling. I have IEW and Fix It which I may use if written narrations go well. We are also starting Saxon 5/4.

[@sciencemama]

We have so many programs in common!

[@tori.homeschoolingmom]

My son was the same in 3rd grade regarding spelling, it just wasn’t being retained. I think it may partly be an age/development stage… but we switched to Spelling You See for 4th grade and he has really enjoyed it and retained the spelling when writing in other subjects. He’s a very creative, imaginative, thinks-in-pictures kiddo, so I think the color chunking of SYS works well for him. Just wanted to share another perspective in case the rules-based options of AAS or LOE are hard for her personality. 🙂

[@sciencemama]

Thank you!

[@countrywisheshomeschool]

We loved Naya Nuki and Om-Kas-Toe!!

[@VickiCoburnImpact]

Neither of my grandchildren liked the 4th grade readers from TGATB. We purchased Sonlight based on your recommendations.

[@sciencemama]

Yeah, I'm glad I am already planning on using Sonlights readers - I just hope dropping TGTB books won't affect things too much!

[@Alexandria-tc1zd]

We started level four and I had to switch most of language arts out for other things. We both really disliked the stories and I thought the writing workshops were lacking very much!

[@sciencemama]

Yeah, I'm not loving level 4 ... see my upcoming update for how I am adjusting things!! I really wanted it to work!!

[@Grace_Filled_Homeschool]

My two favorite levels are D and E. My 3rd grader will be using B this year and C in fourth grade.

[@nataliemiller7718]

I am trying to decide where to start on the Logic of English. Did you start with Essentials or Foundations? Do you think there were/would be any gaps if you started with Essentials?

[@sciencemama]

We tried LOE foundations early on but it didn't work for my son - but we came back to Essentials 2-3 years later and really like it. As long as your kiddo is reading pretty well, you can easily transition into Essentials!

[@countrywisheshomeschool]

My daughter didn't like TGTB reader for level 4 but the biographies were a little more interesting.

[@sciencemama]

Oh no, thank you for letting me know!

[@EverydayArmyWife]

Do you plan on having her use Fix it Grammar and S&S 1A this year alongside her brother or is she not using that curriculum and you sticking with TGATB?

[@sciencemama]

Haha, yes ... I have made a last minute change to add her in with my son for IEW. I'm not using Fix it for either kiddo. My oldest will be breaking a bit from grammar this year and just reviewing with the Sonlight LA. My daughter will be using the grammar and punctuation sections of TGTB. Fingers-crossed she is ready for IEW - if not I will just pull her back into TGTB!

[@amandab.6815]

I have never used TGTB language arts, but I heard from another homeschool mom that the level 4 books were very bland. Seems to be a trend with some of the literature authored by TGTB.

[@sciencemama]

That is what I am hearing as well!

[@caroblue7988]

I have an upcoming 4th grader who reads at a 5th grade level and possibly higher, I haven't checked besides just giving her books to read that I've read and asking her what she understood from them. I saw your video for 5rh grade, and the readers for 5th grade look really cool and interesting, some of these 4th grade ones I think might interest her. Would there be a way to pick and choose the books from sonlight? Or would it be easier to just find them individually? I can say that all the 5th grade readers you showed in the last video I would probably get them all. 😅

[@sciencemama]

You could easily pick up the whole set from Sonlight ... both my 4th and 5th graders are reading the Level D readers!

[@CozyCruiserr]

Why did you not chose Saxon intermediate 4 over 5/4 homeschool? Have you tried writeshop? And traditional spelling?

[@sciencemama]

I'm not sure but I thought Saxon intermediate was written for public school, but I don't really know! I haven't tried either writeshop or traditional spelling.

[@CozyCruiserr]

Nobody reviews Saxon intermediate lol im currently on Saxon 3. So I have to choose intermediate 4 or 5/4 by fall! Ah! But I think I’m leaning intermediate. Spelling by Memoria Press is really good. At teaching spelling rules and phonics. I used this past year and I’m going to use it again. And I don’t know about WriteShop. I’m trying it out this year but it looks promising! 😂

[@sheridanwibeto1813]

The readers for TGTB were too bland for us too so we switched to another literature curriculum.

[@sciencemama]

That is my fear ... at least I have the Sonlight readers!

[@kristinsmith4827]

The biographies in level 4 are okay, but the reader is a snooze fest. My 5th grader just went through it, and my son is going to go thru it this upcoming year. We plan to use memoria presses literature studies in replace of them! 😊

[@sciencemama]

Thanks for letting me know!

[@Homeschooling.with.Ginger]

The readers in TGTB 4 are quite boring, but you have to skip a lot of assignments if you don’t use them. The geography also matches the stories. I think you will get aggravated with skipping the spelling and all the other assignments here and there. I dropped the readers after the second story and then kind of regretted it. I did like their approach to writing, but the continuing to work on summarizing comes from those readers.

[@sciencemama]

Oh man, I've heard nothing but bad things about the readers ... I was thinking the same thing, if we drop the readers we won't have much left!

[@MB-oc6rb]

Aesthetically pleasing means nothing when it comes to learning.