6th grade year

Wow!  I haven’t got my schedule down to terms yet.  But if it’s any consolation, my 6th grader hasn’t even started written narrations yet, but will in September.  My boys were in PS until I started homeschooling them last September.  It was primarily a “deschool year” with lots of reading.  Our Focus was on math and copywork (my ds has dysgraphia) and everything else was bonus. 

One thing I know from working in the school and talking with many teachers is that even in the PS there is a huge range of abilities within a grade.  While the average 6th grader may be expected to achieve a certian goal set by a teacher, there are many children who will fall short, and many others who will exceed.  It is completely unfair to judge or compare a child to anyone other than himself, and that applies to PS and homeschooled children.  My son would have been one to fall very short of the mark, though his verbal narration skills are excellent.  I also know that my mother would say the same thing yours did if she were here (thankfully she lives several provinces away and I don’t have to deal with her condemnation too much.  She was trained as an upper elementary school teacher, but never worked in an actual school.) 

Keep doing what you’re doing and trusting that you know what’s best for your child.  Keep trusting and following God’s plan for your family and just remember that we are called to NOT reform to the pattern of this world.  You are a brave woman dedicated to the Lord and your family. 

Here’s what my 6th grader is doing:  (We generally only school three days per week, so most everything happens every day.)

Life of Fred Fractions and Decimals and Strayer Upton tan book for math (alternating days)

Writing with Ease, book 3 for narration/dictation practice – will transition to Writing with Skill for 2nd semester

Storybook of Science

Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding  (with family)

Usborne book of the Microscope Unit Study (with family)

SCM Module 6 (with family) along with century book and personal atlas – we don’t use Bible portion though

Commonplace book

Around the World in 80 Days Geography Study (with family) – this only lasts 6 weeks and we will do it before beginning SCM module 6

The Most Important Thing You’ll Ever Study (with family)

Mind Benders, level B

Apologia General Science or Elementary Anatomy book (haven’t decided yet)

6 Literature studies using Any Novel Study Guide:  Emma, The Red Badge of Courage, Lad: A Dog, Helen Keller, the Story of My Life, and Robinson Crusoe

Extra reading:  In His Steps, Oliver Twist, Captains Courageous, McGuffey’s Fourth Reader

Spiritual: Polished Cornerstones, Beautiful Girlhood, Stepping Heavenward

French:  Beginning Francais for occasional use, Easy French Reader, Barrons Learn French the Fast and Fun Way

Fix It Grammar and Editing

Stobaugh’s Greek Morphemes (not until 2nd semester)

IEW – American History based Writing Lessons (with family)

Wednesday co-op at the park for nature study

I would love to see what everyone else is using with their middle schoolers.  Many times this is how I learn about new and wonderful books.  We also have issues with narrations, so we are working on that this year.  She likes writing in general but has trouble organizing her thoughts so we will be working on that as well.

Charlene  – we’ve been using All About Spelling.  He’s almost done with Level 3.  Not strictly CM, but close.  We both like it and I’ve seen definite improvement in his spelling (and in his brothers).  I rarely hear “How do you spell ______?” anymore.  He also reads a TON which I encourage!

Charlene – I did start my older boys back at the beginning of AAS, Level 1.  We worked through it as quickly as they needed to.  If they had learned the rule and could spell the words easily, I moved them forward.  If they struggled with a particular rule then we stayed there for a bit, using all the regular words, reinforcement words, phrases and sentences.  One son zipped through it, the other took much longer.  They never complained of it being ‘baby’ or ‘childish’ – it was just spelling and they did it.  Since I have 2 others coming behind the older 2 I thought the investment worth it.  You only need a teacher’s book and a student packet and it’s completely reusable.  I think part of our success with AAS is that the format and style worked for ME so I was happy to teach it every day and it was easy to implement.

Each family is different, each child is different.  In addition to the AAS we also use copywork and lots of reading.  Some dictation and slowly moving into written narrations.