Everything you need to know about Fourth Grade Math with Confidence. Includes an overview of what your child will learn, a downloadable sample, answers to frequently asked questions, and buying information.
In this article, you’ll find all the information specific to Fourth Grade Math with Confidence:
- How the program and lessons are organized
- What your child will learn
- What you’ll need
- Placement advice
- Where to buy the books
For information about the series as a whole (or information on other grade levels), please see this article: Overview of Math with Confidence Homeschool Math Curriculum.
Wishing you all the best in your teaching! Happy Fourth Grade Math!
What’s the program’s format?
Fourth Grade Math with Confidence is a complete fourth-grade math program with three volumes: an Instructor Guide and two Student Workbooks.
- The Instructor Guide is the core of the program, with conversational and hands-on activities and games that teach the key skills and concepts.
- The two Student Workbooks (Part A and Part B ) provide lesson activities, practice, and review. Workbook Part A covers Units 1-8, and Workbook Part B covers Units 9-16.
Fourth Grade Math with Confidence has 16 units in all. Units vary in length from 6 to 12 lessons, and there are a total of 144 lessons. 128 are regular lessons, and 16 are optional enrichment lessons.
You’re welcome to adjust the number of lessons you teach per week to best fit your family’s schedule. Some families prefer to teach math 5 days per week, while others prefer to teach math 4 days per week and leave one day open for co-ops, errands, or field trips. If you teach 4 lessons per week and teach all the enrichment lessons, the program will take you 36 weeks. If you teach 4 lessons per week and skip the enrichment lessons, the program will take you 32 weeks.
If you used Third Grade Math with Confidence, you’ll find the format for Fourth Grade very familiar. It has the same overall flow to the lessons, with three workbook pages per lesson and a unit wrap-up at the end of each unit.
What does a typical lesson look like?
Most pilot families spent an average of 25-35 minutes on each lesson, with 10-15 minutes of parent-led instruction and 15-20 minutes of independent work. However, this will vary depending on your teaching style and your child’s learning style—and whether you have any toddlers interrupting you!
Each lesson includes 3 parts:
- Memory Work and Warm-up. Each lesson begins with a few memory work review questions and a quick warm-up activity. The warm-up activity eases your child into math time and helps start the lesson on a confident and positive note.
- Lesson Activities with Parent. Next, you’ll use the scripted lesson plan and Lesson Activities page in the workbook to teach your child new concepts and skills. For example, you might roll dice to play an angle identification game, use pattern blocks to add mixed numbers, or use a timer (or timer app) to explore hundredths of a second.
- Independent Practice. Last, your child will complete the Practice and Review workbook pages. On the Practice page, he’ll practice the new concept or skill you taught him. On the Review page, he’ll review previously-learned skills so that he retains them well.
For example, in lesson 5.5, you’ll use the scripted lesson in the Instructor Guide and this Lesson Activities page to introduce mental division. You’ll use play money to model the problems, and then your child will spin the wheel at the the “mental math arcade” to apply his new skills in a real-life context.
Then, your child will then independently practice mental division on the Practice page and review skills like multiplying fractions, place value, multi-digit addition and subtraction, and the distributive property on the Review page.
Can I download a sample?
Yes indeed! You’ll find the full introduction, scope and sequence, and materials list, plus a variety of lessons from across the year so that you get a good sense of the program as a whole. Make sure to download both files so that you can see how the Instructor Guide complements the Student Workbook.
What will my child learn?
Fourth Grade Math with Confidence is a full-year, comprehensive curriculum that covers everything your child needs to learn in fourth grade. She’ll learn how to:
- Understand place value in numbers to the millions-place
- Identify factors or multiples of numbers and tell whether numbers are prime or composite
- Solve multiplication problems (up to four-digit times one-digit and two-digit times two-digit)
- Use long division to solve division problems (up to four-digit divided by one-digit)
- Convert improper fractions to mixed numbers and vice versa
- Add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers with like denominators
- Multiply fractions by whole numbers
- Multiply to create equivalent fractions
- Read, write, compare, and order decimals to the hundredths place
- Solve measurement problems and convert measurements within a system of measurement (for example, inches to feet, or kilograms to grams)
- Measure, draw, compare, and reason about angles
- Identify and categorize triangles and quadrilaterals
- Create and interpret line plots
- Find averages
What materials will I need?
I’ve kept the materials list as simple and budget-friendly as possible, just like in the earlier levels of Math with Confidence: counters, play money, pattern blocks, base-ten blocks, a ruler, a protractor, 2 packs of playing cards, 2 dice, blank paper, and pencils. (Note that you’ll use base-ten blocks only occasionally. If you don’t already own them, you may want to copy and cut out the paper blocks in the back of the book rather than buying them.)
Is my child ready to start Fourth Grade Math with Confidence?
Your child is ready to start Fourth Grade Math with Confidence if she can:
- Read, write, compare, and understand place value in numbers to 10,000
- Use the traditional process to add and subtract 4-digit numbers written vertically. (You might know these problems as “stack math” or “borrowing and carrying.”)
- Name answers to the multiplication and division facts (up to 10×10 and 100÷10). She should be able to recall the answers to most within 3 seconds or so. It’s okay if she’s still developing fluency with the tricky 7s, 8s, and 9s.
- Use addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to solve word problems, including two-step word problems.
- Find the area and perimeter of rectangles.
- Read, write, and compare simple fractions.
(Note that this is the bare minimum list of skills your child should know before starting Fourth Grade Math with Confidence. It is not a full list of everything covered in Third Grade Math with Confidence.)
If your child is not fluent with the multiplication and division facts but knows the rest of the skills listed above,
he is probably ready to begin Fourth Grade Math with Confidence. Make sure to add 5 minutes of daily multiplication fact or division fact practice to each lesson until your child becomes more fluent with the facts.
If you have more questions about placement, check out this article for more advice and answers to frequently asked questions:
How are enrichment activities and picture books incorporated?
Each unit also includes an enrichment lesson with a picture book and real-life math application activity. These are completely optional, and you can include as many or as few as you want over the course of the year. Many of them are also available as read-alouds on Youtube.
Will there be other grades? Is Math with Confidence a full series?
Yes! Math with Confidence will be a comprehensive kindergarten through sixth grade math curriculum once it’s complete. See this article for the release dates and more information on other grades.
Where can I buy Fourth Grade Math with Confidence?
Digital copies (PDFs) and print copies are now available from Well-Trained Mind Press.
The official publication day is June 11, 2024. Print copies will be available after that at Amazon and other homeschool booksellers.
Can you tell me how MWC compares to Right Start? My daughter is finishing level D and has a rough time with her attitude towards math. We tried Singapore a short bit and went back to right start. I’m trying to figure out if it would be a difficult transition from RS to MWC. I’m thinking the student workbook would really help my rising 4th grader out but I don’t want to rock the boat by switch curriculum again.
Hi Sarah,
A lot of families end up making the switch to MWC from RightStart. They generally say that they appreciate how much more straightforward the games are in MWC, how the script is easier to follow, and that the review page helps their child retain the concepts better. I’d also recommend joining the MWC Facebook community and searching for posts about RightStart (or posting a question) to read about people’s real-life experiences with switching.
Happy Math!
Kate
Thank you!
Can you tell me when the PDFs will be available to purchase? Thanks!
Very soon! Well-Trained Mind will soft-launch them on their website as soon as they’re ready, probably in the next two weeks.
Happy Math!
Kate
Hi, I have a daughter who went to public school. She is going into 5th grade but when I tried to give the placement test for singapore grade 5, she didn’t know any of the fractions or division. She is able to multiply large numbers, and divide things such as 80 divided by 4 in her head. Could I start with 4B with her for review and understanding the concepts? Or do you recommend going to 4A ?
Does grade 4 have assessments like grade 3 has?
Yes, there is a unit wrap-up at the end of each unit that you can use as either a review or assessment. Fifth and Sixth Grade will also have them.
Happy Math!
Kate
I am a Rod & Staff user with Memoria Press. I am frustrated by the formatting of the teaching portion of the lesson. They have a more drill and black and white mindset to promote learning. I believe in their stance though I am drawn to colors and manipulatives! One of my daughter’s is just a little ahead of the production of your grade levels, but my other 3 can switch to MWC! Do you recommend anything for the oldest for 6th?
You can read all my curriculum reviews here (just scroll halfway down the page for all the links). Another one to consider might be Apologia.
Happy Math!
Kate
What level of Singapore Math is comparable to MWC Grade 4? My son just completed Singapore 3A US Edition and he isn’t loving it. My younger son is using MWC Grade 3 and it’s going great, so I wondered if my older son could switch also. But I’m afraid that what he may need would be MWC grade 5, so just out of reach of jumping into the curriculum.
Hi Kate, the Singapore and MWC grade levels are roughly equivalent. I’d suggest starting with the Third Grade MWC Student Workbook B and skipping the units that he’s already covered in Singapore. It covers many the measurement and geometry topics that Singapore covers in 3B, so there will definitely be some new concepts. Then, move straight into the fourth grade book. There will be lots that is new to him there, especially fractions, decimals, angles, and two-digit multiplication.
Happy Math!
Kate
Thank you!
What math curriculum would you recommend for a 5th grader that can’t wait until your 5th grade course is released next summer? The 4th grade MWC curriculum would just be a review, and we are struggling to find a curriculum that is a good fit for a child with severe ADHD and dislikes math.
Hi, what math curriculum do you recommend following your grade 6 math curriculum? Thank you.
I’ll have an in-depth post about this later in the year, but I’m afraid I don’t have time for a deep dive right now. Look for it in spring or summer 2025.
Happy Math!
Kate
Looking forward to your recommendation for after level 6!
Hello, I wondered how Math with Confidence would compare to Saxon 54? I tried to find a scope and sequence on your website, so I could compare, but I am having difficulty seeing it. Thank you!
Correction…I meant to ask how MWC Level 4 would compare to Saxon 54 🙂 Thanks!
Hi H.H.,
If you download the Instructor Guide sample (link about halfway through this page), you’ll find the detailed scope and sequence on pages 41-42 of the sample. Based on a quick look, they look roughly comparable. But I don’t know Saxon 54 well, so definitely take that with a grain of salt!
Happy Math!
Kate
I might be teaching primary math this school year and have been looking for curriculums to use. MWC seems like the best all around one for my needs. If I want to maximize the amount of fun games and activities, what other resources would you recommend I check out? Websites? Books? Other curriculums that might be more fun focused vs conceptual? Thanks
We’ve been using Math with Confidence fourth grade this year, and we love it. But could you tell us what the stars that are placed in the student practice pages indicate?
Thanks!
Those problems provide just a little extra challenge. They often take the new concept or skill just one step further than was explained in the lesson.
Happy Math!
Kate