As children in grade Three cross the nine-year-change in development, creation stories from the Old Testament, Taoist and Native American canons serve as examples of both interdependence, morality and separation. The child now sees themselves as more of an individual. The child experiments through this growth and is bound to make mistakes (and learn to take responsibility, without a sense of shame or guilt). The notion of building and experiencing shelter-- how to take care of oneself and the immediate community-- can take on the forms of building physical structures, gardening and even knitting hats for warmth. Form and structure in spelling, sentence and paragraph writing become more demanding, as a love and appreciation of poetry, instrumental music (pentatonic and diatonic flute) and choral singing fill the class. Mastery of the multiplication and division facts also lends itself to the increased need for precision and measurement for the child; the mathematical activities of measurement and quantity are covered.
Feeling newly comfortable in their independence, fourth graders are full of vitality and ready to delve deeper into developing their inner world and intellectually understanding the outer world. They begin sharpening their perception of and relation to the world through zoology, local history and geography. As they learn about their city socially, historically, and geographically, they develop a love for and connection to their place and time. The study leads students to experience the world in terms of concepts, which are additionally explored through stories of Norse and American Indian mythology that provide children an experience of adversarial relationships, love, courage, sadness, change and transformation, and an understanding of how humans can work through conflict toward resolution. Friendships deepen in fourth grade, as the children learn about mutual respect and understanding, and are given a safe space to work through their conflicts. This year has a strong theme of part and whole - they are gaining an understanding of their part in their friendships and their communities while gaining a feeling of wholeness in themselves in the world.
