Review of MasterBooks Homeschool Curriculum: Fourth Grade

If you have been following our journey, then, you know we have been a homeschooling family for about four years. Yes, COVID-19 propelled us towards homeschooling, like most families, but we always desired to homeschool. We didn't know how especially when bills and life seemed to catch us off guard at every turn. We owned a house and the fear of losing the house from going down to only one income was overwhelming. But, we knew that the way public schools and even private schools were and are going, they would not be attending any of those schools for their entire school career.

COVID-19 showed us that it was possible! Things slowed down just enough for us to attempt what had seemed like the unattemptable. Once we started, that was all she wrote! My husband and I were hooked and most importantly, so were our children. We enjoyed the one-on-one experience, but due to other life issues things were a bit stressful, and finding our groove took some time. The one motivation was the other homeschooling mothers who told me things like, "It'll get better" and "There is no such thing as your children being behind, just pick up where you are and keep going."

Our family on the first day of homeschool (The Inspired Sprouts Academy) for the 2024-2025 School Year

I loved the flexibility and I still do. I must admit, this has been tricky at times because both my husband and I are full-time teachers. But the beautiful thing is, with my higher education schedule, I can teach in-person classes on Tuesday and Thursday and online on Monday evenings. This allows me to focus my attention on homeschooling on Monday and Wednesday. The other beautiful thing is all the families we've met on this journey. In fact, we've become quite close with those families, and our children have been going over for homeschool lessons and activities on Tuesdays and Thursdays while I am at work. It has been a wonderful addition to our homeschooling schedule.

Masterbooks Curriculum for Fourth Grade

Now, when it came to curriculum, we struggled to find the right one. Homeschool curriculum is often one of the hardest things to figure out. I listened to so many YouTube videos and conducted so much research regarding the best curriculum out there. We tried online curriculums, workbooks, and textbooks and by golly, I think we found one that seems to work well for our fifth and second graders, but that process to vet the curriculum started the second half of fourth grade for our oldest last year.

Now, after a year of using the MasterBook curriculum, I have had the opportunity to gain a good understanding of how things work and was able to evaluate the pedagogy for at least the fourth-grade curriculum. We are currently using the fifth and second-grade curriculum, so an extensive review of those grades will be released at the end of the school year.

Masterbook Fourth Grade Curriculum

Masterbook has been a positive experience. MasterBooks provides a Christian-based education that integrates biblical principles into each subject, which aligns with our family's values. Here's what I have found to be the strengths and areas for improvement in this curriculum:

Strengths:

1. Ease of Use: MasterBooks is very user-friendly, making it a great choice for parents new to homeschooling. The daily lesson plans are straightforward to follow, which helps keep our school days organized and efficient. They take the guesswork out of each day and week so the parent can focus on things like refreshing themselves about concepts at the beginning of the week just in case their child needs help.

   
   

2. Engaging Content: My kids enjoy the colorful illustrations, hands-on activities, and interactive lessons. The curriculum does a great job of making learning fun and engaging, especially in subjects like science. My child thoroughly enjoyed being able to complete science experiments weekly and read about the characters that essentially lead the student through the book. The stories throughout each book helped our son see things from a real-life perspective. Additionally, I enjoyed that each week there was something that tied the lesson to biblical study. For example, in Language Arts, Day 4 was typically a bible story and journal.

   
   

3. Flexible Learning Pace: One of the standout features of MasterBooks is the flexibility its curriculum offers. We can adjust the pace of learning to fit our schedule, which is particularly helpful for accommodating different learning styles and needs. As mentioned earlier, we predominately work on homeschooling on Monday and Wednesday. The majority of our learning happens on those days, and Tuesdays and Thursdays are reserved for review and continuation of work. To accommodate our schedule, we make a few modifications to the weekly assignment schedule. There is even alternative scheduling in the book as well.

   
   

4. Strong Emphasis on Reading and Critical Thinking: Both my fourth and second graders have shown significant improvement in reading comprehension and critical thinking skills. The curriculum encourages them to think deeply about what they learn and ask questions, which I appreciate. During our child's fourth-grade year, he completed a few chapter books including "Wonder" by R.J. Palacio. He looked at this book and wrote his first book report!

   
   

5. Biblical Integration: For families looking for a curriculum that integrates Christian teachings throughout all subjects, MasterBooks excels. It's comforting to know that my children are learning from a biblical worldview that supports our faith. There are complete days where the lesson literally teaches them how to study the bible.

Areas for Improvement:

1. Pointless Stories: At the beginning of each chapter there are stories that you would assume give students a preview into what will be discussed. Although some do, most do not. Yes, you get an opportunity to learn more about the fictional characters that move your child along throughout the book, the connection is quite trivial and most weeks we bypass those stories altogether.

   
   

2. Limited Review Material: There is limited review material in some subjects, which can make it harder for students to retain information over the long term. Incorporating additional review exercises or quizzes would enhance the curriculum’s effectiveness.

   
   

3. Lessons move quickly: For some families, the pace may be fine. But ours, my children preferred staying on new concepts longer than one week. Often, I had to find supplemental resources to encourage my child to practice the new concepts until they felt comfortable enough to move on.

Conclusion:

Despite the areas of improvement, my family enjoyed the curriculum, overall. I believe my children excelled more than they had in the past and it allowed us to create and maintain the structure we so desperately tried to create for years.

Overall, the MasterBooks homeschool curriculum has been a great fit for our family. It provides a solid academic foundation while also nurturing our children's faith. With a few adjustments and additional resources, it can effectively meet the educational needs of your child, at least for fourth graders. Based on my experience with it last year and our experience thus far, this year for all three of our children, I would recommend it to other homeschooling families looking for a Messiah-centered, bible-based curriculum that is easy to use and flexible.