The Parent's Guide to Fourth Grade

By fourth grade, academics kick into high gear. From what to expect in the classroom, to your fourth grader's changing social life, bullying to development, this is a banner year. Don't forget to have some fun, too! Check out our fourth grade activities for some inspiration.

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Our Essential Fourth Grade Gift Guide

We've looked high and low for the best toys, books, games, and gadgets to make gift-giving easy. Check out our gift guide for top picks that combine learning value, staying power, and major kid-appeal!

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This beach house packs everything we love about those little plastic bricks into an incredibly appealing package. The set has three cool projects stuffed into one box-- a beach bungalow, a cozy cafe, and a chic little apartment building.

This year, along with all the wrapped gifts you slip under the tree, consider gifting your child an experience that will shape the person she becomes. The Sierra Club offers outings that teach kids about environmental protection, ecology, and history in a fun, playful environment.

Fourth graders are pros when it comes to downloading songs for an iPod. This year, give your child something a little different to tickle his ears, and his brain! Audible, a popular service for adults, recently introduced a special site just for kids, jam-packed with amazing titles.

Wondering how to assemble a 3D globe out of 240 pieces? It's a puzzler, all right. But this puzzleball has all the components needed to make a spherical globe, including a display stand to show off your child's prize once it's been pieced together. A fun and educational activity for all seasons.

Based on the popular vocabulary-building game for older children, this is a quick-moving game in which players have just 45 seconds to solve a given set of clues, all of which pertain to a specific "buzzword." Sharpens young minds like an interactive crossword puzzle. Get your buzz on!

Want to give your daughter something special in the mail? Sign her up for a subscription to this magazine for creative girls. This isn't another glossy fashion mag showing airbrushed bodies; instead, it teaches girls how to nurture their own sense of style, rather than follow the pack.

Want to raise a musician? This simple, hand-held African instrument is made of high quality wood and metal. Also known as the thumb piano, it produces a smooth, soothing sound. A great intro to the world of music!

This game looks really easy when you see the box, but looks can be deceiving! Shake up the little canister and you'll get a random pattern of colored blocks, which players then race to duplicate on a flat tray of tiles. It's a boon for math and science, and can become addictive.

This miniature soccer set will turn a snowy day or rainy afternoon into a chance to work those gross motor and team building skills. Ask your kid to invite a few friends over, or play as a family, and let the games begin!

This game is a blast! Using strategy and more than a little blind luck, players take turns trying to maneuver their given set of "tikis" to the top of the heap. This fast-paced strategy game takes a mere 20 minutes or so to complete, and keeps kids mesmerized as they play Polynesian!

This letter game works like a movable crossword puzzle, with players all scouting for letters to join together into words. The tiles are in a "face-up" pool for all to see. When a player spots a word sitting in the pool, he scoops its letters out and lines them up.

Remember the Spirograph of yesteryear? This is a great portable scaled-down version of the creative game many of us remember fondly from childhood. It makes for a fantastic on-the-go diversion, as each component, from the small pens to the multi-shaped gears, is housed in the mini-drawing board.

The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones

by Rick Riordan

Meet orphans Amy and Dan Cahill, two kids competing against other members of the powerful Cahill clan to discover the first of 39 clues. Why so interested? No biggie-- the clues just lead to a secret that will make them the most powerful people on the planet.

Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris

by R.L. LaFevers

Is she like Nancy Drew? A pint-sized version of Indiana Jones? A female Harry Potter? When the first book in this series hit the shelves earlier this year, critics couldn't decide. But they did agree on one thing...they loved her! This winter, Theodosia is back, and she's just as clever as ever.

Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara

by James Gurney

Follow the exploits of 19th century explorer, Arthur Denison, and his son Will, who survive a shipwreck only to find themselves stranded on an island teeming with dinosaurs! An adventure packed with amazing encounters, like a woolly mammoth and a giant dinosaur that resembles a knife-clawed chicken!

School and Academics

Your 4th Grader's Social Life

For most kids, the transition to fourth grade is like merging into a social fast lane. Gone are the comforts of early elementary social stability: here to stay (for a while!) are gossiping, teasing, and unblinking peer scrutiny.

4th Grade Writing: What Happens

In fourth grade, writing becomes even more important. Your child will be expressing his or her thoughts and ideas, as well as what has been learned, in book reports, research papers, essays, and poetry. What else can you expect? Read on.

What to Expect in 4th Grade

Remember back when your child was a toddler, and fourth graders looked so big? Well, as they move through school, only a year away from middle school, they’re starting to feel that way too. Early big leaps, like reading first books or mastering addition, are giving way to steady strides. ...

4th Grade Social Studies: What Happens

These checklists will help you know where your child should be at the beginning and end of fourth grade social studies.

4th Grade Science: What Happens

4th Grade Reading: What Happens

According to the School Psychologist: 4th Grade

Fourth Grade Summer Reading

Gender Differences: 4th Grade

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Social and Emotional

Physical Development Milestones: 4th Grade

Readiness for serious cooperative and competitive games mixed with a thirst for self-challenge mark the fourth grade school year. You'll begin to notice some of these new movement milestones in your fourth grade child:

Social Graces: What to Expect in 4th Grade

When it comes to a well-rounded fourth grader, good manners rank up there with mastering cursive writing. And it's not about walking with books on their heads, it's about mature communication skills and thoughtful actions.

Talking Safety

When your child is in upper grade school you must actively help him learn how to gauge what's safe. He's no longer "a baby", and will want more independence, but he's far from an adult. You'll need to know and use age appropriate expectations, set limits, supervise him, and make sure he can ...

How a 4th Grader Thinks

Now that your child’s in fourth grade you can see the end of elementary school right up ahead, but your child’s still developing mentally. And at a rapid pace! What are fourth graders capable of understanding? Here's what an important expert has to say:

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Milestones and Development

4th Grade Math: What Happens

Fourth grade math is characterized by skill building and growth. Your child has learned many new mathematic concepts during the elementary years. This year your child will be refining his or her abilities.

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