Oak Meadow 4th Grade Curriculum Review

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Right now, with us preparing for the arrival of our 5th child, I don’t have the time available for planning that I normally have. We are still busy renovating our home, working on the blog, and I… am nesting – Big Time! (Have you ever tried nesting in a home you are still renovating? It is an uphill battle.)

Ordinarily, I am not a “box curriculum” person.  I strive for a balance between structure, fun, and observatory learning.  I never thought a packaged curriculum would share the same idea. I always thought that was something that could only be achieved…outside of the box.  That was, until I received Oak Meadow.

Forth Grade Syllabus:

This is where it all happens.  Almost all of the instruction provided will come from this one book (excl. math).  Simplicity at it’s best. Can you imagine the space on your shelves?  Social Studies, Science, Language Arts, and Art – all in one book!

My first observation was that the Introduction wasn’t speaking to me! It was speaking to my 4th grader instead!

We hope over the course of the year, you and your parent will work together to help you become a more independent learner…

My second observation was they teach with a mother’s heart. The lessons are gentle in tone. When reading the Syllabus to your child, you don’t feel as though you are reading from a text, but instead, it is like the book has you reading from your heart- with words you would use.  When your child hears you reading the instructions, they already hear you [the parent]. Sometimes when you are reading lesson instructions to your child it doesn’t feel natural. You have to take those words in and regenerate them in a way that your child finds pleasing. With this, you don’t have to do that.  It is already on the page in a way you would say it.

My little quirky love… it is a spiral book.  This means there will be no funky folded pages half-way through the year!

The Lessons:

As previously stated, I love the approach. Social Studies and Science for this level are right up our alley!  In the first lesson, they ask the student to pick a tree native to their area, draw it, and list everything they believe that tree has seen in it’s lifetime.  This tree will be known as “their tree” for the duration of their studies.

I love that they ask the children to think about the tree, more than just some tree they see all the time.  But to imagine what that tree has been through.  What has it survived? What history has it seen?  …this is learning, thinking, and awareness of the world around them.

Another portion of this lesson was to guess the age of a tree based upon the rings. We happen to have a very old tree on our property that was cut down before we purchased the home. The rings were so close together the kids had trouble determining just how old it was!

This curriculum couldn’t be more perfect for us.  We live on a five acre, old farm, in an area rich in history. My children are going to learn so much about their home throughout the year. How can someone not appreciate something they know everything about?

Don’t live on a farm?  That’s ok.

The material you will study will vary depending on where you live.  Students who live in cities will gather different information than students who live in rural areas.  Students who live in the Eastern United States will learn a different history than those who live in the West.  Taking an individual approach to learning…

Download Free Curriculum Samples

Teacher Manual:

This may not be included in every package automatically.  I like the manual because it provides you with a brief overview of what your child will be learning in each lesson, suggestions on additional research that may need to be conducted, quick tips, and reflection questions at the end of each semester.  I think it is worth the extra fee if it isn’t included in your package.

4th Grade Math:

Book Setup: Lessons are broken into a week time period, not a single day.  The book consists of 36 Lessons, plus an Appendix with Extra Practice Sheets for when your child needs just a little bit more.

I don’t know that I like the Answer Key being in the back of the book. I know a child like my oldest would find this and be tempted to cheat; even if he already knew the answers.  You may need to have a backup plan if you have a sneaky little one. Maybe carefully cutting it out and placing it inside of your Teacher’s Manual.  Meanwhile, you could use the answer key to your advantage by allowing them to check their own work. This may take the temptation out of it because they know they will get to look at it anyway.

Big Plus: The practice pages have large print, I think this is great because it doesn’t leave the child feeling overwhelmed with a ton of problems on a single page.Why should a child spend an hour completing a math practice worksheet with over fifty problems on it?  They shouldn’t – and Oak Meadow agrees!

My oldest daughter has severe math anxiety, I asked her to preview the book and provide me with her opinion.  She said she likes the large print on the problems; nothing looks difficult to her until Lesson 7 (Roman Numerals). She didn’t know what those were but thought they were “neat”.

I love the games they recommend within the lessons.  As a child I enjoyed Pyramid Solitaire, it never dawned on me to teach my children how to play it as part of a math lesson (Lesson 1, Pg  15).  You will definitely need to purchase a deck or two of standard playing cards as there are a variety of other games offered throughout the book that require them.

I also like that once a skill is taught it is integrated into the next couple of lessons and built upon. This is great for complete comprehension and retention.

Recorder Duets:

Also included is Recorder Duets.  This book is to be used with a child who has already completed basic and intermediate recorder in prior grade levels.  My children, however, are new to Oak Meadow and although we have a soprano recorder, they have never been introduced to it.  If this the case for you as well, you may need to order the Beginning and Intermediate Recorder Books before beginning Recorder Duets.

I was interested if a child with previous instrument instruction can play directly from this book without the need to backtrack. My oldest daughter has been playing the violin for three years.  She has an understanding of music theory, and is accustomed to the notes on the treble clef. Challenge: I gave her a quick lesson on finger placement, provided her with Recorder Duets, and asked her to play the second song in the book “Twinkle Twinkle”. After she practiced for an afternoon she was able to do the following:

Again, this was after a single afternoon, first time ever truly using the instrument (other than blowing as hard and loudly as possible whenever she could pull it down from the top of her closet). I am impressed.  Therefore, I do not see the need to purchase the prior two books at this time.  If your child is struggling to understand the instrument, you might want to invest in Beginning Recorder. Not all children will take to it easily.

Supplemental Materials:

I received their complete 4th Grade Package, including supplemental materials, to review with my family.  As with Mindy’s kids, my children went nuts for the supplementals.  They couldn’t wait to read the literature books.  I myself, was in awe over them – Treasury for Children is full of great story-time reads for our little ones. (My husband discovered the Indian Legends book yesterday and took off with it – to read to the kids of course.)

Our package came with the following literature supplements:

If you run through the above materials, you can find more Supplemental Book Ideas in the Appendix of the Syllabus (Pg 283-286)

Challenges:

I can imagine if I had all of my children involved in different levels of Oak Meadow’s Curriculum, it may become a little overwhelming.  For me, it would be easier to concentrate on one set at a time and use the grade specific resources for each individual child (purchasing recorder and math for each level separately).  For example: The theme for 4th Grade is Nature and Native Americans, but the theme for another grade level is early American history.  Each are in depth studies and if you don’t have independent learners.. you could be pulling yourself and your family in many different directions at once.  What I love most about Oak Meadow (all subjects are tied together for one great learning experience), could also be the one thing I don’t like. Then again “how could you customize the package to allow for multiple grades to study the same theme?”  I don’t know that it would be possible without compromising their purpose.

Recommendations:

  • Set aside time once per week to read your teacher’s manual while having your child read through their syllabus.
  • Have your child prepare a supply list for you (weekly or bi-weekly). There is nothing worse for a child than to get excited about a project only to find out that you don’t have the supplies they need to do it!  (Make sure to have them check the Crafts Appendix in the back of the Syllabus. Pages 287-300)
  • Consider Block Scheduling. Many of the lesson’s activities are in-depth and impossible to complete within an hour’s time. If your child’s interest is being sparked, sit back and enjoy it, allow them to finish.

Quick Links:

*Disclaimer: I was given a complimentary 4th Grade Curriculum Package from Oak Meadow for the purpose of facilitating my review. No monetary compensation was given. All opinions expressed herein are unbiased and not influenced by the developing company or its affiliates in any way.*

180 thoughts on “Oak Meadow 4th Grade Curriculum Review”

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  9. Would love the opportunity to win this curriculum. I have used the kindergarten curriculum and love Oak Meadow!!

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  10. Just getting started with school/homeschool options. So great to be able read all this amazing info about homeschool options and voiced. Thank you!

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  16. This will be my first year venturing into the joys of formally homeschooling more than one grade level at a time, and I’ve been back and forth about a hundred times about whether I want to make it easier on myself and go for a bundled curriculum or continue to do everything (mostly) from scratch myself. Oak Meadow has been on my short list of possibilities for awhile. I love, love, love their sample downloads. Everything seems right in step with what I would be gathering to teach my children this year, right down to the recorder. :)

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  17. So cool, we’ve used Oak Meadow in the past and loved it for 5th and 6th grade. Now with our 2nd kiddo we need it for 4th grade so that’s what I’d pick if I win :) Thanks for the chance to win :)

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  20. My favorite article from Oak Meadow was “Beyond the Classroom: Learning in Action” – I liked all the ideas about what to do and how to connect with my child. :-)

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  21. My favourite Oak Meadow Newsletter article was Beyond the Classroom: Learning in Action, I love the connection between knowledge and doing coming full circle, what good is knowledge if it doesn’t make a connection or serve a purpose in our lives.

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  22. Thanks for the review. Especially the tip on having the kids do the supply list. We used OM for my oldest several years ago and are planning on using the 1st grade for my youngest this year. I think it is right up her alley.

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  23. Of Oak Meadow’s free curriculum samples, I only looked at Preschool because that is where I am at with my daughter and I really liked their lesson on walking in nature. It never occurred to me to try to use all my senses and NOT speak about the day… hahahaha

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  24. Thanks for the chance to win, I’ve been researching oak meadow and I think it would’ve a great fit for my nature lovers

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  27. I hope this is the right area to comment. My favorite article in Oak Meadow’s newsletter was, “Kindness Makes a World of Difference”. I agree with it so much. The kindness must start at home with our own children and family!

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  33. Looking over the samples, I am really impressed with the 4th grades Language Arts…I love the literature questions asked and HOW they are asked. This is the gentle and comprehensive curriculum Emma would thrive on.

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  39. Thanks for the insight. We start Kindergarten (Oak Meadow) in a few weeks and are really excited!! I will remember your words when we have the second son start in 2 years. I have often thought that two in Oak Meadow may be challenging, but we will see!! Thank again!

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  42. I have four kids, aged 2, 4, almost 6 and 7. The 7 year old is enrolled in the grundschule (German grade school) in our village and starts second grade on Monday. The almost 6 year old won’t be able to start this year because he just misses the cutoff, and since we’re leaving Germany in just a handful of months, I’ve decided to go ahead and start him in first grade this year. I would LOVE to supplement my eldest’s German education with OM 2nd grade, but can’t justify purchasing a second curriculum when her education is already so wonderful. So I had a lot of fun exploring the 2nd grade sample lesson again this evening, and imagining how awesome it would be if I were to win!

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  49. Starting this year with the second grade curriculum so that’s the one i read. I’m even more excited about starting with Oak Meadow!

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  51. Thanks for the review, it is so hard to decide which way to go with homeschool material, but your review was helpful to me.

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  56. After a death in the family, my husband and I are now parenting a third grader. He has struggled a lot (and seems to have just “gotten lost”) in the public school system, so we have decided to give homeschooling a go. When I started doing my research, I instantly fell in love with Waldorf and Oak Meadow (luckily, so has Benjamin!). We loved looking over the sample lesson plans and daydreaming about what our schooldays will look like! We can’t wait to start and winning this would be a great way to start our homeschooling journey!

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  68. The article ‘Kindness Makes a World of Difference’ was a good reminder to be mindful of my words. I like Erma Bombeck’s take on kindness towards our children, very hilarious!

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  70. I’m just finding out more about Oak Meadow and so far LOVE what I see and think it would work so well in our home!!

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  73. In the Free Curriculum Samples… I liked best the intro for the preschool curriculum where it stated “Within the framework of Oak Meadow’s integrated curriculum, you, as the Home Teacher, will be in a position to help your child
    make personal connections to the curriculum. Finding relevance
    and inter-relatedness between the material and daily living is one
    of the true joys of homeschooling. The Oak Meadow curriculum
    is designed to be used in the home environment and encourages
    meaningful connections and relationships with the whole family,
    the local geography, and the wider community.” This is one of my ultimate goals with homeschooling in general.

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  74. You hit the nail on the head when you said they teach through a mother’s heart… Either parent really… Oak Meadow is a very heart/soul/mind nurturing method.. or so I’ve found thus far..

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  76. I’ve been using OM since we started homeschooling half way through 1st grade and we are about to start 5th grade. We have loved it and plan to use it as long as we homeschool. For me it’s super convenient and practical while meeting all the educational requirements.

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  77. I really enjoyed Beyond the classroom, I value the way kids and adults grasp so much more when the are experiencing life and learning innately as well as the character it builds.

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  80. I have always loved Oak Meadow Preschool and Kindergarten, and looking at the samples, they continue to be my favorites-I wish I would have continued with Oak Meadow all the way through.

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  83. I enjoyed the article Thoughts on Teaching Writing Prek-8. It gave me a lot of insigh regarding expectations for writing forms and reading expectations.

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  84. The article “Kindness makes a world of difference” really stood out to me. What a great reminder of the impact of putting yourself aside and sharing compassion with others in the world – starting with your family.

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  88. I like how Oak Meadow’s curriculum is structured enough so I’ll know what to do, but loose enough that I could improvise and add in things my kids are interested in.

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  103. This is a great review of Oak Meadow – I’ve just recently discovered their website and appreciated the extra insight you gave to their products. This is a great opportunity to win what sounds like great curriculum!

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  110. The curriculum sample I read (grade 1) was extremely gentle and felt unhurried (one afternoon this week sort socks or cut a pie into equal divisions…). The natural world was integrated throughout and crafts were given equal weight. I really liked it.

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  112. I have a hard time choosing which curriculum sample I like because I like them all :) I love the gentle child-centered approach to Oak Meadow. My favorite has to be 4th grade if I had to choose. I love how it becomes her schooling and not just me to get everything accomplished. My daughter did part of 4th grade last year. We were testing it out, and she loved exploring her state history and climate here. The natural approach and getting outside to learn is by far my favorite aspect of this curriculum.

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  114. I would love to try an all in one curriculum after having used a hodge podge over the past few years. Oak Meadow has always been high on my list, but a little out of reach financially. I like the gentle, and thorough, 4th grade Oak Meadow curriculum and love that children are taught to respect nature and each other. I also like that children are taught to be creative and to solve problems creatively, instead of just memorizing facts.

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  117. I liked the article Kindness Makes a World of Difference. I have really been working to model kindness for my children and treat them with kindness as I interact with them. They are 2 & 3 and sometimes patience and kindness are not the easiest things to model.

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  124. I explored the Preschool curriculum. I love how it put the “Evening Meal Ritual” into the schedule.
    Jan Messali

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  125. Discovering Your Child’s Learning Style was informative. I believe it was a different take on learning styles, but something I can take from when dealing with my daughter.

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  139. What I liked best about Oak Meadow’s Curriculum is the imagery. The stories told in math is very descriptive and it’s a fairy tale. It’s not cut & dry like public school.

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  145. This review was really helpful for me. I am just starting out with my homeschooling adventures with my five year old, and have been searching for a curriculum that is right for both of us. Oak Meadow seems the happy combination of all the educational techniques that have inspired me. The news letter is just a bonus and gave me even more insight into the love and spirit backing up the OM philosophy.

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  147. The Grade 6 curriculum incorporates arts & crafts in the lessons. Social Studies includes English writing concepts which is extra practice.

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  149. I enjoyed reading about Cross Cultural Solutions. Our family has been wanting to travel, but we are just not sure what that will look like yet.

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  150. Always love reading about how to make “book learning” real and applicable! I think that article was called “Learning in action.” Thanks!

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  152. we could really use a wonderful curriculum to save mommy the stress of free handing lessons left and right while holding baby three and chasing toddler two! thanks so much for the chance to win one!

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  156. This is the curriculum I definitely want! Its teaching philosophies and styles are well along the same lines as my own. This year we just started so, I was planning on beginning with Oak Meadow next year. Hoping to go to their open house in Oct. as well. :D

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  157. I’ve been researching this curriculum and am very interested in purchasing it for the upcoming school year. Thanks for your review!

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  168. I tried the link to subscribe to Denschool, but it didn’t work. I found a place directly on the website to sign up for homeschool planner and did that, but couldn’t find a place to subscribe to Denschool itself on the site.

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