Language Arts: Elements of grammar; parts of speech; continuing cursive; punctuation; writing well structured paragraphs; book reports; expository writing, creative writing, narratives; class play; building fluency through regular reading practice; sight word recognition, high frequency words; prefixes & suffixes; spelling and vocabulary development; Norse mythology

Science: Zoology; continuation of garden and nature studies

History & Social Studies: California and local history

Geography: California and local geography and map making

Handwork: Cross-stitch, mirror image/symmetry

Foreign Language: Continuing Spanish with workbooks, writing/recording orally learned material, basic grammatical principles, tongue twisters

Visual & Performing Arts: Form drawing; painting; singing; drama; recorder; violin; introduction to reading and writing music

Movement/Physical Education/Games: Field games, balance, games involving trickery and strategy; games exploring movement of animals

The fourth grade curriculum addresses a child in possession of greater certainty and confidence. Now that the ninth year change has occurred, the child is more assured of his/her own place in the world and is able to assert more individual needs and wants. The curriculum correspondingly evolves away from the unified approach of early childhood into the teaching of more specific subjects.

The focus of the fourth grade language arts curriculum is the myths and legends of the Norse people. The vivid images evoked in their telling provide ample inspiration for the expanded creative and expository writing skills required of the child at this grade; the strong alliterations of their verses strengthen the fourth grade child's clarity and dexterity of speech, and reinforce his/her developing confidence.

In the realm of mathematics, the fourth grade child begins the year with a firm foundation in working with whole numbers using the four processes. This year marks the appropriate time to introduce fractions, as the practice of breaking apart the whole into its constituent parts mirrors the child's own experience of the fracturing of his/her world. Concepts are first introduced through manipulatives consisting of everyday objects, providing the child with an initial concrete experience of fractions before proceeding to more abstract representations.

History and geography become formal main lesson subjects in the fourth grade. The child's growing ability to regard with objectivity her/his environment is developed through the study of local geography. S/he learns how to find the four points of the compass by observing sun and stars. The child studies and makes maps of the classroom, the school, the neighborhood, the city, and the state of California. The goal of the geography curriculum is to engender an understanding of the interrelatedness of human activity and the local physical conditions of the earth.

The fourth grade history curriculum examines the historical development and diversity of human society in the state of California and its localized neighborhoods. The child is given a sense for the world of the indigenous Californians, the Spanish explorers, the first missions, and the period of the Gold Rush. The biographies of men and women who played a part in creating our culture reiterate one of the predominant themes of fourth grade, which is the importance of human deeds.

The transformation from imagination to objectivity is manifest again in the study of nature that forms the human and animal main lesson block. Animal study is introduced, growing out of an artistic and respectful study of the human being. The child develops an understanding and appreciation of the animal kingdom as it reflects the environment to which each species has adapted. The detailed study offers opportunities for the child to develop his/her artistic, dramatic, and observational skills, and it provides additional material for language arts activities.

In music, the fourth grade signals the introduction of the violin, in addition to continuing the recorder. Foreign language instruction continues, as the child begins to write down poems, stories, and dialogues acquired in the earlier grades. Handwork focuses on cross-stitch, embroidery, and braiding.