Individualized Home Instruction Plan, Grade 4

This is the document that I filed with my local school district at the beginning of the academic year.

Name: Alex

Age: 10

Grade Level: Fourth Grade

Dates for submittal of Quarterly Reports:

• September 30, 2009
• December 30, 2009
• March 31, 2010
• June 30, 2010

Individual providing instruction: Sandra Foyt

Introduction: We are creating an integrated, interest-based curriculum that evolves to reflect Alex’s interests and academic needs. This IHIP is just a snapshot of the material that we are using currently, as we are constantly adding to and revising the curriculum.

General Resources:

• New York State Education Department Curriculum and Instructional Support
• The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home. (Wise Bauer, Susan and Jessie Wise. W.W. Norton & Co., NY, 2004)

Arithmetic: We are using Singapore Math Primary Mathematics 4A & 4B to cover the math standards. Concurrently, Alex is working on developing speed and mastery of the math facts with daily math drills. Additionally, we are adding math-based literature connections and engaging math challenges. He will also participate in a weekly Math Counts program.

Reading: Alex will continue to read a wide variety of material for recreation, information, and discussion. Moreover, he reviews books on his blog, and with friends in a book club. We will also use the Great Source Daybook of Critical Reading and Writing to develop reading skills, and How To Report On Books to develop stronger book reviews.

Writing: Alex is developing writing skills through a wide variety of writing assignments. In November, he will take on the NaNoWriMo Young Author’s Challenge for the third time. Additionally, he is taking a Historical Fiction Writing Course this semester, and will most likely sign up for other classes when this session in finished. We will also begin to use Write Source: A Book for Writing, Thinking, and Learning.

Spelling: We are using Spelling Power, 4^th Edition.

English Language:

• Handwriting: Harcourt Family Learning Cursive Writing
• Grammar: Harcourt Language
• Word Usage: Ridgewood Analogies
• Vocabulary: English from the Roots Up

Foreign Language: We are introducing Latin with Minimus: Starting Out In Latin.

Social Studies: We’re digging deeper into the Middle Ages with The Story of the World, Volume 2: The Middle Ages. (Wise Bauer, Susan. Peace Hill Press, 2003) We’re also introducing New York History, Geography, and Resources through field trips and readings. And, we are covering Citizenship through the Cub Scouts Webolo Program.

Science: Our focus this year is on Earth Science, but also on building science process skills. We’re using Houghton Mifflin Science Discovery Works to cover science process skills, and a variety of resources to explore Earth Science. Additionally, we’ll cover other subjects in Science as student interest will drive much of this instruction, as well as cross-curricular connections:

· Lego League Research Project

· Digital Sound

· Leonardo da Vinci: Scientist & Artist

· Science, Art & Technology

Music: We are exploring music history and a variety of musical genres. We also plan to resume piano lessons.

Visual Arts: We’ll continue to explore art history and a variety of art mediums.

Health Education: Mostly, we will cover these through day-to-day activities and discussion. Also, health education occurs through participation in Cub Scouts, the Tamakoce Wilderness Program, and First Lego League.

Physical Education: Daily outdoor play, dog walks, seasonal activities (Tennis, Swimming, Hiking, Biking, Skiing, Ice Skating, Snow shoeing), and weekly Horse Back Riding and Fencing lessons.

Technology: The National Educational Technology Standards for Students in Grades 3-5, suggests a list of activities that relate to the following indicators: Creativity and Innovation; Communication and Collaboration; Research and Information Fluency; Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making; Digital Citizenship; and Technology Operations and Concepts.

We’ll be generating a variety of projects throughout the year, but we’ve already determined that, at a minimum, we’ll do the following:

• Blogging – Book and Game Reviews, Stories, Poems, Advocacy
• Digital Sound – We’ll introduce a variety of tools to work with digital sound.
• Digital Photography – We’ll continue to explore digital photography and photo editing.
• Digital Microscope – We will explore the possibilities with our new digital microscope.

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Tagged as: IHIP, Individualized Instruction Plan Grade 4, NY Homeschool Lesson Plans