Curriculum Review--6th grade

This year was a genuine challenge for all us; primarily an enjoyable one. It felt like getting off a country road and getting on to a 4-lane freeway. My 6th grader responded well and hit the accelerator. I tried to follow suit.

Here is what we did:

Bible-God's Great Covenant New Testament  by Classical Academic Press. I continue to like this series a lot; it primarily stays out of the weeds of controversy and focuses on the story of God's redeeming work. This year's focus was the Gospels and it was understandable right down to my kindergartner without being juvenile.  The teacher's guide was really busy, with a lot of supplementary information. It wouldn't have been necessary but it did save me time checking worksheets and quizzes. (5 days a week)

History-Story of the World V2 by Well-Trained Mind Press, continues to be our anchor curriculum for the humanities. Everyone is involved in this class which involves a lot of external reading (we check books out from the library on literature and history and read thru them during the week.) The Activity book makes this curriculum with art, craft, cooking, sewing and other activities that support the reading, along with geography and a coloring page. For Ben, we used these resources from a Catholic  mom blogger. He kept a running timeline and a notebook of written summaries as well as writing some essays. (My favorite was his compare and contrast essay on Martin Luther and Henry VIII and what they did for the Reformation.) You won't find anything on the Reformation and Copernicus's discoveries in the timeline cards and notebooking pages. These topics apparently offended the Catholic mom who made them. (Not a Flannery O'Connor kind of Catholic!)(4-5 days a week)

Math - We stayed with Horizons again and while I wish I loved the teacher's manual more, we had several parents of older children affirm this decision. One homeschooling mom said she had switched and had to come back because the spiral method Horizons uses covered the material so much better. I found myself beefing up on forgotten math concepts this year so I could better explain concepts. So far, I still know more than Ben does.... So far. (5 days a week)

Writing & Rhetoric - Ben completed Classical Academic Press's Refutation and Confirmation book and started Commonplace this year. He really enjoys the creative but structured approach to writing and I value both the writing instruction, and the emphasis on rhetoric. The introduction to these books does a great job explaining the classical approach to writing and how it differs from current modes of instruction. I don't choose books based primarily on price, but it doesn't hurt that this is one of the more economical writing programs out there. (3 days a week)

Grammar - The challenge is finding a stand-alone grammar book that doesn't want to incorporate writing and grammar. The Writing and Rhetoric series has some grammar but not enough and it is expected that the student will have other grammar instruction. Language Lessons is such a great curriculum for grades 1-4 that we floundered a bit as to where to go from there. We chose poorly for 5th grade. I went with a known in 6th-Rod & Staff. While there is some writing, you can make those exercises optional and Rod and Staff is a challenging and thorough grammar curriculum.  Ben has a pretty good knack for grammar and handles the diagramming well. We typically work through a lesson together and do the "class practice" section. If he has a clear understanding, we skip the "written exercises" and he does any corresponding workbook pages. A lesson can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. I have continued to peruse other grammar programs and with what we are doing in our overall program, we will stick with Rod & Staff for next year. (4 days a week)

Spelling - We used Spelling Workout F as both our Spelling program (one lesson on one day of the week) and for some handwriting practice. (1 day a week)

Science - Ben continued to benefit from nature and science classes at our local nature center. He just completed their four-year rotation. They don't have classes every week so he also studied Geology this year.  We like the Real Science 4 Kids program. Each lesson includes a colorfully illustrated chapter, a lab activity (I can buy a lab kit through Home Science Tools,) as well as some research questions and a folder he prepares that checks his learning before he takes the chapter quiz. It was our plan to do Astronomy as well, but we fell behind. We are beginning it in the late summer and will catch up next fall. (2 days a week)

Foreign Language - Our primary language this year was Spanish which Ben and Kyrie took together and I will write about in my 3rd grade reviews. Ben really prefers Latin but he was ahead of where he needed to be in grade level. He studied Spanish four days a week and reviewed Latin on Fridays by doing a translation exercise from the Latin History Readers (A & B). He is retaining well so will continue this next year before starting the next level of Latin in grade 8. (5 days a week-4 for Spanish; 1 for Latin review)

Art and Music  - This was definitely a weak spot this year. We took the year off from music lessons and I hope to resume again. We did some music appreciation, a trip to the symphony, some listening, but otherwise focused on art on Fridays. He is using the Feed My Sheep curriculum. It is very good art instruction, even though the fonts and appearance seem a little outdated. (1 day week)

Logic - We started Logic a year early for Ben because he was ready for it. I would normally suggest waiting until 7th or 8th grade, but he loved this class, and he uses this information all the time. We used The Art of Argument program by Classical Academic Press. We did buy the DVD and I think it was helpful to watch other students his age engaging in discussion. The text is great as a stand-alone as well. This class could be taught one-day-a-week if you wanted. We waited to start it until mid-year and worked on it two or three days a week.(2-3 days a week but for a year long class, 1 or 2 days a week would work)