6th Grade Newbie HSers: Please Critique

[Penguin]

Next year will be our first year at home, and I would love to have a critique of our plan. We did A LOT of afterschooling this year, so some of what I have planned is already mid-stream. DS11 is a rising 6th grader. He is a strong (but not voracious) reader.

 

Math: Math Mammoth and LOF. We have been usiing these already, and the combo is working for him.

 

Vocabulary: MCT Caesar's English is planned, but I am tempted by the Salier Oxford series. DS18 used that series beginning in 6th grade and it served him quite well. But the MCT book looks like such a great program!

 

Spelling: DS is a natural speller. We have been doing studied dictation twice per week, and we will continue doing it. I think that this is enough for him for spelling.

 

Writing: I would like to do WWS, but I think that DS will need more variety. I think that WWS will appropriately challenge him, so I am still mulling this over. I would like to figure out a way to use WWS without it taking over ALL of his writing time.

 

Literature: Read and discuss. Perhaps some written narration.

 

Grammar: Currently working through R & S5. We will just keep going!

 

History: WTM method using the white Kingfisher and...still mulling over the booklist.

 

Science: I want to continue with the Cambridge International sequence, which means that the year will be divided into thirds: biology, chemistry and physics. Earth science gets woven into these three categories. I already own the CPO Science books and I LOVE them. I also own Galore Park's So You Want to Learn Science 2. Galore Park follows the Cambridge curriculum, but I really don't care for it :(

 

Logic: Prufrock Press series

 

Music: Piano

 

Art: Creek Edge Task Cards + Drawing (his choice). For drawing, I am looking into Artistic Pursuits, Draw Squad, Drawing with Children, Draw and Write Through History, Mapping the World through Art. Undecided.

 

Foreign Language: Lots and lots of Danish :)

 

Oh, and I am only ready to homeschool because I have spent COUNTLESS hours reading these forums for the last six months. All of you have done so much for me already!!!

[Parrothead]

It looks okay to me. I don't use most of what you have there but the plan looks well thought out.

[Trish]

Having used both Sadlier and Caesar's English I, I'd use both. They are both very good, but they do different things. Neither one of them takes a lot of time out of our day.

[HSMom2One]

WWS is a very strong writing curriculum that I only wish my dd had at 6th grade level instead of waiting until 7th. She did have it last year though, and I'm so thankful because it made a huge difference in her writing ability. We find that WWS has a very good variety, and the lessons build upon each other with each new concept. One thing that particularly makes it interesting is the tie to actual literature as well as non-fiction resources that are topics of the writing. My dd just loves that about WWS. She's been drawn into some stories and books that she might have otherwise missed, which is an added bonus.

 

Additionally, we are going to add creative writing on Fridays. I just ordered, "The Creative Writer" for this. It was designed to be used with WWS and I think it will add a nice twist to things. We'll do WWS M-Th and then creative writing on Fridays.

 

So saying all that, I would not discount WWS for not having enough variety until you actually pick it up and look at it, and even better yet -- use it.

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[Dolphin]

could you post a link to the Cambridge international Science. We are looking at Galore Park. DH is British so he wants to some of each of the main 3 each year.

 

Thanks.

 

I am a year behind you with a rising 5th grader. It looks like you have really thought everything out.

[Penguin]

The Cambridge International Primary Curriculum takes you through to about age 11 / 5th grade. Here is the link . I *really* wish that I could warm up to the Galore Park Books, as they do follow the syllabus quite well.

 

I also bought this Cambridge Coursebooks for Year 7. It is new. And it is thin. Thin=nice if I want to ensure that he gets the Cambridge content but would prefer to round out the year with non-textbook supplements. My dilemma is that I love,love,love the CPO books but they don't really line up with Cambridge.

 

ETA: Cambridge Year 7 is equivalent to American Grade 6.

 

HTH

Edited July 4, 2012 by Penguin
clarity

[Dolphin]

Thank you, I will browse through all that. It looks impressive.:001_smile:

[Elizabeth in MN]

My daughter is eleven going on twelve (summer birthday) and starting sixth grade in September. This is what I have planned so far. Personally, I think your plan looks great : D

 

•Japanese – Rosetta Stone

•Math – Singapore

•Composition – Writing with Style; The Creative Writer; *maybe* Rod and Staff Grammar

•Literature – LCC list

oTales from Shakespeare

oDon Quixote (kid version)

oTreasure Island OR Kidnapped

oThe Scarlet Pimpernel

oThe Hobbit (prep for the movie)

•History – Story of the World volume 3, with the Kingfisher Encyclopedia of History

•Geography – Evan-Moore South America, Asia, Africa, Australia and Antarctica

•Logic – "Building Thinking Skills" and “Critical Thinking in U. S. History Series, Books 1 and 2â€

•Religion – One World, Many Faiths; Wicca /Neo-Paganism unit study

•Nature Study – Walks; “The Nature Connection: An Outdoor Workbook for Kids, Families, and Classrooms†by Clare Walker Leslie

•Science – Janice VanCleeve Physics or Chemistry ; *maybe* Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia

•Handy Work -

•Music – The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Book & CD); read biographies (by Mike Venzia)

•Art – Fine Art Studio: Sculpting; read biographies (by Mike Venzia)

•Character Training – The Book of Virtues; The Lakota Way

[NittanyJen]

Your plan is different from my 11YO's in several places, touches it in a few, and overall the whole thing looks terrific to me.

 

I think the fact that you have been afterschooling and are using some things that you already know work for you is a great start and should provide you with a great launch.

 

The only thing I don't see is physical education-- hopefully there is some provision for physical activity in the week; it need not be team-based sports, but some type of activity that is actually sustained for at least 30 minutes rather than just poking around the back yard in stops and starts is a good idea. I know my 11YO son is NOT athletic by any stretch of the imagination, but at this age when hormones are starting to percolate, if he doesn't get regular bursts of activity, even my Mr. Mild Mannered starts to bounce off of the walls, lose his concentration, pick on his brother, and become a royal pain . . .

 

I'd vote, stick a PE class in there, and you're golden.

[TKDmom]

If you decide to do Caesar's English, I vote for the new, expanded version. I have both the old and new versions, and I really prefer the layout and all the added exercises in the new version. I just restarted CE with my 6th grader (after quitting midstream a year and a half ago) and it's so much fun to learn new words and play with them in our daily vocabulary. With all the extra material, we're not rushing through the book. It may take us more than a year to finish, but that will be okay.

 

Overall, I think your plan looks great.

Edited July 3, 2012 by bonniebeth4

[Mom-ninja.]

We're heading into 6th as well. I think your plans look good.

 

What do you not like about Galore Park science?

[Mallory]

My 6th grader will be doing similar!

 

Math: Math Mammoth and LOF. - Singapore and LOF

Vocabulary: MCT Caesar's English us too!

Spelling: DS is a natural speller. We have been doing studied dictation twice per week, and we will continue doing it. I think that this is enough for him for spelling. My 11yo is a terrible speller, but we are also going to be using copywork/dictation and ElizabethB's phonics/spelling lessons

Writing: I would like to do WWS we are using WWS and Killgallon's sentance composing and Unjournaling (maybe Classical Writing Poetry for Beginners B- I love CW's poetry).

Literature: Read and discuss. Perhaps some written narration. We are also going to add in Figuratively Speaking for lit terms

 

Grammar: Currently working through R & S5. We will just keep going! Same (okay we are about 1/2 way through 6, but close enough)

 

History: WTM method using the white Kingfisher and...still mulling over the booklist. We are using HO Middle Ages Level 2.

 

Science: I want to continue with the Cambridge International sequence, which means that the year will be divided into thirds: biology, chemistry and physics. Earth science gets woven into these three categories. I already own the CPO Science books and I LOVE them. I also own Galore Park's So You Want to Learn Science 2. Galore Park follows the Cambridge curriculum, but I really don't care for it :( We are using CPO Earth Science

 

Logic: Prufrock Press series Critical Thinking, and other books

Music: Piano He'd rather draw

 

Art: Creek Edge Task Cards + Drawing (his choice). For drawing, I am looking into Artistic Pursuits, Draw Squad, Drawing with Children, Draw and Write Through History, Mapping the World through Art. Undecided. He likes Draw Squad, he'd much rather have a "cartoony" kind of drawing to the more realistic. I am not sure what he will do next, he is nearly through Draw Squad, history/appriciation for music and art we all do togther.

Foreign Language: Lots and lots of Danish :) Okay we don't study Danish ;) but have the chance to use spanish quite often!

There are just two little things you didn't mention that we are going to work on next year- typing and memory work! My boys play lots of soccer, spend hours at the skaing rink each week, and are always outside busy so I don't worry about pe (but I did when I was teaching my sister, so I know both ways are possible!)

Good luck!

[Penguin]

A thousand thanks! (That would be tusind tak in Danish, LOL). I am equal parts excited and nervous.

 

For those who are interested in the Cambridge International Curriculum, you might want to look at this recent thread.

 

FWIW, I think that the content of Galore Park science is solid. I just don't like the busy layout or the illustrations.

Edited July 8, 2012 by Penguin

[freerange]

Essential Science, which is linked in my sig, was a big hit with my 2. It is English & covers biology, chemistry, physics; each being a third of the book. Galore Park flopped for us, but this is working, we're on the second (year 8) book now & both dd are very clear they want to get the year 9 book.