Curriculum by grade › 4th Grade › History & Social Studies

4th Grade homeschool history curriculum

All 36 weeks of 4th grade history, planned and ready, with the exact topic for every week below. Start with Week 1 free, no card needed.

Open the free Week 1 lesson See plans

How 4th grade history works

History is taught from primary sources: students read real documents, letters, and speeches, then analyze who wrote them and why.

Time: about 25–40 minutes a day
Scores go straight to the gradebook and report card
Print any lesson as a worksheet with an answer key
Parent tools: hours log, weekly report, portfolio
Family plan: up to 4 students, each with their own records

The full 36-week scope & sequence

Topics and standards come straight from the live course. Standards codes are listed for reference; Life Academy is built to help meet homeschool requirements in all 50 states.

Quarter 1 (weeks 1–9)

Week	Topic	Standards
1	World map literacy: continents, oceans, latitude belts	C3 D2.His.1.3-5
2	Age of Exploration: ships, winds, and sponsors (facts, not glory slogans)	D2.His.14.3-5
3	Columbian Exchange: plants, animals, disease — a biological fact	C3 D2.Civ.2.3-5
4	Native nations of North America: regions and lifeways (survey)	D2.Civ.5.3-5
5	Spain, France, England: overlapping claims on a map	C3 D2.Geo.6.3-5
6	Thirteen colonies: geography and economies	D2.His.4.3-5
7	Colonial daily life: labor, family, distance from London	C3 D2.His.14.3-5
8	French and Indian War (Seven Years' War) — debt and new taxes follow	D2.His.2.3-5
9	Stamp Act to Boston Tea Party — a sequence of disputes	C3 D2.Civ.1.3-5

Quarter 2 (weeks 10–18)

Week	Topic	Standards
10	Lexington and Concord (1775) — fighting before independence is declared	D2.Civ.3.3-5
11	Declaration of Independence (1776): philosophy paragraph vs grievances	D2.Civ.6.3-5
12	Revolutionary War: Trenton, Saratoga, Yorktown, French alliance	D2.Civ.9.3-5
13	Loyalists and Patriots; the war split families
14	Articles of Confederation: what a weak Congress could not do
15	Constitutional Convention (1787): federal republic, not a king
16	Ratification fight: Federalists and Anti-Federalists
17	Bill of Rights (1791): amendments 1–10 as written limits
18	Midyear: 1763–1791 document and timeline battery

Quarter 3 (weeks 19–27)

Week	Topic	Standards
19	Washington's presidency: precedents you can name
20	Adams, Jefferson, and the peaceful transfer of 1800
21	Louisiana Purchase (1803): land, power, and Native nations already there
22	Lewis and Clark journals as primary sources
23	War of 1812: causes and Fort McHenry (1814)
24	Our state's statehood story (year, enabling act idea)
25	Three branches with checks — a diagram you can defend
26	Federal vs state: coin money vs a local speed limit
27	Westward movement and Indian removal as documented policy (age-right)

Quarter 4 (weeks 28–36)

Week	Topic	Standards
28	Immigration and cities in the 1800s
29	Reformers: abolition and women's rights as real campaigns
30	Primary-source week: one colonial letter, one founding excerpt
31	Economics of a colony: export staple vs subsistence
32	Civics: how to read a ballot question (local example or model)
33	History fair: colony → Revolution → Constitution with sources
34	Review: causes of independence vs the later Constitution
35	Oral defense: Declaration is not the Constitution
36	Grade 4 history portfolio: annotated timeline 1492–1814

Need a little extra help?

Live 1:1 tutoring with David Clifford on Zoom or Google Meet: $35/hour, your first hour $25. See tutoring.

Same grade: 4th Grade math · 4th Grade English · 4th Grade science

← 3rd Grade history · 5th Grade history →

FAQ

Is this 4th grade history curriculum free?

Week 1 is free with no card needed: open the Week 1 history lesson. Weeks 2–36 unlock with a Student plan ($35/month) or a Family plan for up to 4 students ($69/month).

How long is a 4th grade history lesson?

Plan on about 25–40 minutes a day for history. There is one lesson per week of the school year, broken into short daily steps.

Is Life Academy accredited?

No. Life Academy is not accredited. It's built to help meet homeschool requirements in all 50 states, and parents are the school of record. Why that's usually fine.

Can I print it?

Yes. Every lesson prints as a worksheet with a separate parent answer key.

Life Academy is a parent-directed online K–12 curriculum, built to help meet homeschool requirements in all 50 states. It is not accredited, and parents issue the homeschool transcript. Nothing here is legal advice. Check your state's law at HSLDA. Questions? Email david.dukes77102@gmail.com.