Traditional math curriculum is so repetitive. I understand that kids need repeated exposure in order to fully grasp a concept. However, I worry that traditional math curriculum takes SO MUCH time that elementary-aged kids are missing out on more important activities, like playing. Sometimes kids don’t need to do 20 of the same problem to understand a concept. Other times doing the same type of problem 20 times in a row doesn’t lead to deep understanding. For this reason, I created my own elementary-aged minimalist math curriculum for my children.
The curriculum I created covers the same breadth and difficulty of problems as a traditional curriculum. However, it doesn’t have all the repetition. You can learn more about my minimalist math curriculum methodology here. To summarize, in order to create this minimalist curriculum I purchased and perused Saxon Math, Singapore, Kumon, and Mammoth Math curricula. I took notes on what I found in each curriculum. Then I divided the problems into 10 categories and created a 10 problem worksheet for each of the 36 weeks of school.
For fourth grade, these categories include:
- Understanding Numbers
- Word Problems
- Graphs, Charts, and Tables
- Telling Time
- Geometry
- Fractions
- Rounding
- Units and Measurement
- Decimals
- Calculations
Each week a child is presented with one problem from each of these ten categories. As the year goes on, the questions get progressively more difficult. Some of the problems will be very easy for children. Others will be much more difficult. Having so few problems to go through each week allows me to be very aware of what seems to come naturally for my kids, and what needs more attention.
When I give my child their weekly worksheet, I make sure I am always close by. Since there is not a lot of repetition, nearly every problem a child sees is new in some way. I like my kids to try to work through the problems on their own at first, but I don’t want them to become frustrated. I am quick to offer support before attitudes start going downhill. In this way, I hope to foster an open mind toward attempting new and unfamiliar problems.
It is my belief that if my fourth grader fully understands all 360 problems in this minimalist curriculum, they would have a solid understanding of all the math concepts that are taught in fourth grade. I think they would be at least as well off as if they had done the thousands of problems in a traditional curriculum.
The one caveat to this minimalist approach is that since kids are not spending a significant amount of time practicing simple math facts, they may be a little slow to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. As an engineer, I’m well aware that the real value of mathematics is critical thinking, not memorization of math facts.
However, if you would like your child to be faster at these drilled skills, you can always supplement this curriculum. I have a set of free printable multiplication practice sheets that might help. My kids and I have also enjoyed Kate Snow’s Math Facts that Stick series, though we focus more on the games than the worksheets. There are also several games which can get kids practicing some basic math such as Clumsy Thief or Prime Climb.
Another fun way to explore or practice the exact same problems as this Fourth Grade Minimalist Math curriculum is by using my math cards included in my Patreon membership community. Patrons can also download a mastery checklist to can keep track of which problems in the curriculum are tripping their students up. You can pull out specific cards to review later or to practice with through fun strategies such as Game Show Math or Treasure Hunt Math.
Recommended Age Range: Fourth Grade
Time Required: about 20 minutes per week
Difficulty: starts off fairly easy and gets harder as the weeks progress
Cost: Free printable
Materials
paper
Instructions
Print out the curriculum and help your child complete one worksheet each week for each of the 36 weeks of school.
Free Printable
Minimalist Math – Fourth Grade Curriculum
Click here for all the Minimalist Math curricula available for different grade levels.
Related Links
Math Activities for Kids
Minimalist Math Curriculum Methodology
Learning Activities for Kids
Michelle has a PhD in Engineering from Stanford University and a Bachelor's Degree from the California Institute of Technology. 
And there’s our review material for next summer! Thank you again so much for these! They’re fantastic. If we’ve missed something during the year or my daughter doesn’t remember something, we catch it with your worksheets. They’re multipurpose!
I’m so glad you are able to use them! If you notice any typos, please let me know! I’ve been through the younger grade with a couple kids, but I’ve only been through this one with one child, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there are still a couple errors!
You are absolutely right! It’s been fixed.
I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know about the mistakes! I don’t imagine there are that many mistakes in the actual “curriculum” since my 4th grader has already been through it once and probably caught most of them. I assume with the crayon question he just knew what I meant even if it didn’t make sense, so he didn’t say anything to me.
I definitely believe the answer key might have several errors. I made it last weekend in the car while my husband drove and we were listening to an audiobook. I really should have proofread it before I posted it, but some people were asking so I wanted to get it out there instead of waiting until I had time to check it.
Anyway, I am extremely grateful to you for pointing out my errors! I’m sure it was annoying for you finding them, but seriously, thank you so much! I’ve already updated both documents. I’m happy to fix anything anyone finds quickly.
Hi the answer key seems to be linked to both downloads not the questions on their own
Thank you for letting me know! I just fixed the link!
Thanks so much for sharing this! Very generous and kind of you!
I’m so glad you can use it! I am adding an updated version this evening where I have corrected some of the typos. Sorry for the inconvenience!
I would like to use this, but how do you go about teaching a problem your child does not know the answer to?
Hi Libny! I am always available while my kids are doing their math in case they have a question. If they don’t know how to do something, I just explain it to them. If you are unsure of how to do a problem, I included an answer key. If there are any problems in particular in which you don’t know where my answer came from, feel free to let me know and I will try to explain!
Printing fourth grade and starting today! Thank you, love you!
D
Love you too! 😘
Hi, just wondering do you still have the answer keys posted here? It used to be here, but I couldn’t find it in this post now.
Thank you for making this.
Hi Anna! I started a Patreon page and all of my answer keys plus a lot more are available there for $5/month (and you could always cancel after 1 month). I love creating and sharing resources, but now that my oldest is going into high school, I have college costs weighing on my mind. I also started an Etsy shop and have the curriculum with answer key listed there. I didn’t want to sell on Etsy exactly what they might later find out is completely free on my blog. However, I appreciate you reaching out and visiting my site multiple times. If you just send me an email, I will send you the full file for free. 😉