Moving into sixth grade, there was a lot less of a need to research and find curriculum. We, for the most part, had locked in on several textbooks and curriculums that met our needs and our learning styles. Again, I learned a few years back (at least for me and for our kids) to not try to look too much into “new” curriculums. Why? Because the reality is there are a lot of great things out there that I would love to try. However, just like any textbooks created, one can run into gaps where a particular textbook is a different cycle or priority of information at the same grade level as another textbook’s content at the identical grade level. So, I feared if I changed too much in the flow of our study, we might miss some key concepts at a key point in their learning. (I gave an example of this in our math choice for Third Grade.)
With that said, we stuck to using many of the same textbooks…which were already a good fit and we were happy with overall. So, I will take a moment below to share why we chose to stick with each textbook/curriculum and how it met our needs.
Mystery of History (Vol. 2…medieval years) continued to be something I read out loud to the boys. We read three lessons a week, typically did the pre-test and post-test each week, and then selected an additional activity that supplemented a lesson from the week. Doing the map work also aided in learning the details of the geographic areas we referenced in the readings. One thing I really like about this curriculum is that with the dates given within each reading assignment, we could parallel what was happening in North America at the time (tying it into our previous learning within Indiana History—for our younger, who was in 4th grade at the time–or US History readings from The Story of US which we started using in fourth grade). The author does a great job of pulling major historical events from around the world into the chronological readings. And this helps keep all the continents and their growth in a constant state of progress as you read along. It truly helps shape a global understanding of history.
Alongside history, our use of Dr. Jay Wile’s chronological science series (Science in the Scientific Revolution…available through Berean Builders) helped us also understand the progression of thinking and the influence of faith in the developments of science through the same medieval time period as our history readings. I have not been disappointed with this chronological science series. Dr. Wile does a GREAT job of breaking down science concepts into understandable language and experiments. His daily experiments are so practical and easy to follow/understand. And they so easily parallel the idea the scientist experimented with as well. (If you ever can sit in and hear Dr. Wile speak, he is very engaging, a wealth of knowledge and ideas, and a super friendly guy. Well worth your time…) We typically read 3 lessons a week in this science series.
In addition to Dr. Wile’s chronological science series, I chose to have the boys read Abeka Science (Observing God’s World) on their own twice a week as independent reading. They would read one day and then the next day we would discuss the section questions together (or I would have them answer the questions on paper on their own.) The breakdown of information in the book is well organized and well laid out. And the boys have always learned fascinating facts and been able to see God’s creativity in the world of science around us.
We also read Abeka Health (Choosing Good Health) once a week in a similar fashion as the Abeka Science. I really appreciate how Abeka has intertwined facts into the need for discipline within a healthy lifestyle. For example, when explaining teeth, they go into detail about what teeth are made of as well as how various foods affect the breakdown of teeth. And the text explains how to brush, when to brush, why to brush, etc. The knowledge of these kinds of details encourages and promotes a disciplined lifestyle for well-being. And, of course, when the book reinforces what mom and dad have been saying…well, it always helps! J
For English, we have continued with Rod and Staff (A Time to Build). This curriculum continues to build each year on the basic building blocks within the 8 parts of speech, contains a cyclical review throughout the lessons, and incorporates instruction on good writing characteristics and “how-to” write various things (like a friendly letter vs. a business letter, descriptive writing, poetry, etc). The lessons are manageable, well-explained, well laid out, and provide oral practice as well as individual practice sentences. This curriculum also utilized diagramming as a visual way to break a sentence apart. For a visual learner, this is really helpful in better understanding the parts of speech and their place/purpose in a sentence. I have learned that not all English textbooks still utilize diagramming in the teaching process, but I feel diagramming still has a purpose and is a helpful learning aid in grammar (especially if I don’t overuse it as a means of showing how the words are connected to each other). Since each grade level covers the same concepts, just at greater depth each year, this text can be taught simultaneously with multi-age/grade kids. A higher grade level student will just go deeper into their understanding than the lower grade level student. I have found this helpful in reviewing basics together (like “What is a noun? What are some examples of proper vs. common nouns?” etc) and then moving to deeper levels with the older student while the younger works through a move elementary understanding.
In addition to the writing processes covered within the Rod and Staff English book, we also utilized the Writer’s Express. This colorful text breaks down different types of writing in a very effective and engaging manner. We didn’t necessarily work through the book in order of its chapters, but we did find many resources within the book. And it proved to be a helpful resource to improve our writing and communication skills.
One thing I incorporated this year was to take a Bible verse and use it as a springboard for teaching multiple things within one activity. Of course, this could be done with a variety of types of material (for example, I have used it with poems, famous sayings, etc). So, on Monday, the boys would write the verse in cursive practicing penmanship. On Tuesday, they would act out or draw a picture of what the verse was communicating (working on interpretation of something into another art form). On Wednesday, they would have to summarize the verse in their own words (working on writing skills and the ability to not plagiarize). On Thursday, they would have to fill in the blanks that I had left from the verse (working toward memorization). And on Friday, with their spelling test, they would have to write the verse from memory in cursive. We verbally practiced the verse each day as a review. Overall, it was a pretty effective process.
To build vocabulary, we continued to learn Latin and Greek roots of words. We utilized some vocabulary cartoons that my sister had from teaching where a lesser used vocabulary word is correlated with a definition through multiple methods include a catchy phrase and a picture illustrating the definition. And we had our spelling words with a weekly spelling test.
In the area of math, we continue to use Abeka Math (Arithmetic 6). I feel like a lot of new information is introduced at this level of math. However, the 7th and 8th grade Abeka math seem to repeat alot of these concepts without introducing a whole lot of new concepts into the curriculum. This would allow a teacher to have a student progressing quickly/easily to move toward Pre-Algebra in 8th grade. Or, review difficult to grasp material repeatedly through 8th grade. So, with that said, it is a manageable curriculum at the 6th grade level. My visual learner sometimes benefits from using the videos available through Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org) to help better understand the processes as they are introduced. But overall, this curriculum provides a steady introduction of information while balancing a review/recall of previously learned information within the lessons. This provides better long-term learning. And, if a student is struggling with mastering a concept, there are additional problems available for practice in the back of the textbook. We again had a special topic each semester that the boys independently studied, did activities on, and showed understanding about. We also incorporated classics from literature to be read and discussed (especially within our writing lessons…characters, themes, foreshadowing, summarizing, etc.). We improved keyboarding skills and also worked on Spanish, art, and music lessons. And, of course, we ended the year with our “All About Me” document. (see fifth grade for details)