What are your goals for your 4th grader

[jayb842]

I'm setting goals for my 4th grader next year. My end goal is to have a student who can go any college he wants. We want well rounded child. What are your educational, life skills and extra curriculum goals for your 4th grader?

[TheApprentice]

The goals for my upcoming 4th grader are still the 3 R's. I will be purchasing a writing program for him (ie. WWW, Writing Strands, Writing Tales). For the first time, I'll purchase a couple of literature guides from Blackbird and company to work on lit analysis. But I'll keep it to just 2 and the rest we'll just keep reading great children's literature. History will include more writing next year as well. And then we'll continue with MM4. The other elements will probably be logic and Latin.

[Chrysalis Academy]

My primary goals for my (current) 4th grader are:

 

1) To learn mathematics at both the conceptual and the computational level; to learn and practice persistence and problem-solving skills; to think of herself as a mathematically skilled person, and to enjoy math

 

2) To read for learning and pleasure; to have the vocabulary and world knowledge to enjoy a range of books, including classic literature; to know that knowledge on any topic is accessible through books (and other sources)

 

3) To organize and communicate her thoughts effectively, both orally and in writing; to be an excellent writer, writing with wit and beauty.

 

My goal as her teacher is to a) figure out how to best facilitate the learning goals above, and b) make sure that she is covering the coursework she needs to keep all potential fields open to her (i.e. following a math sequence that will ensure that she can, if she chooses, pursue higher math/science at the hs & college level)

[sagira]

My primary goals for my (current) 4th grader are:

 

1) To learn mathematics at both the conceptual and the computational level; to learn and practice persistence and problem-solving skills; to think of herself as a mathematically skilled person, and to enjoy math

 

2) To read for learning and pleasure; to have the vocabulary and world knowledge to enjoy a range of books, including classic literature; to know that knowledge on any topic is accessible through books (and other sources)

 

3) To organize and communicate her thoughts effectively, both orally and in writing; to be an excellent writer, writing with wit and beauty.

 

My goal as her teacher is to a) figure out how to best facilitate the learning goals above, and b) make sure that she is covering the coursework she needs to keep all potential fields open to her (i.e. following a math sequence that will ensure that she can, if she chooses, pursue higher math/science at the hs & college level)

 

:iagree: My end goal is also the same as the OP's. Any college he wants, well rounded person.

 

Our core materials for next year (4th grade):

ILL

WWE 3 (Complete Writer, across the curriculum)

GP Junior English Book 2

MM 4

BFSU 3-5

Singapore Science MPH 3/4

HO Early Modern, Level 1

Edited February 4, 2012 by sagira

[Mandy in TN]

Short term-

In 4th grade I would be thrilled to see him become as excited over anything educational as he becomes fairly frequently while playing MMOs, because this year has been a dead zone as far as educational joy.:glare:

 

Long term-

I want my child to be firm in his knowledge of appropriate conduct. I want him to learn the difference between what he wants to do right now and having a strong enough will to do what is appropriate/ right. He must also be taught to be careful not to rationalize something to be right simply because he wants it to be so. Along these lines, there can be no true happiness without first taking care of responsibilities. “…the chief responsibility which rests on them as persons is the acceptance or rejection of ideas. To help them in this choice we give them principles of conduct, and a wide range of the knowledge fitted to them.â€

 

"I am, I can, I ought, I will." is the place from which I instruct, because we achieve through diligence not through intelligence or imagination. I use habit training as a road to success, because I want him to be a responsible, decent, moral person who possesses positive and productive physical and mental habits. I want him to learn to apply these habits to whatever he chooses to do in life whether that is a tinker, a tailor, a soldier, or a sailor.

 

I exercise habit training alongside the idea that “perhaps the business of teachers is to open as many doors as possible.†I respect that he is born whole and that his mind is naturally designed to learn. I can provide the nourishment of education for his mind to grow healthy through a learning lifestyle where he is trained to be disciplined not in subject matter but in life for "education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life."

 

However, my child is not a blank slate, but is a whole person complete with his own personality and capacity for good and evil. Neither my self worth nor his hinges upon his going to college. I will for my part try to open doors and windows and widen chinks in the walls, but ultimately he will choose his own path. I hope that he chooses one that is fulfilling.

Mandy, with quotes from Charlotte Mason