6th grade--narrowing it down, but still need help

[Shay]

My (now) 5th grader will be HS'ed for 6th. Actually, we are BOTH coming home, as I am a PS teacher. My son has burn-out in some areas, and my goal is to get that spark for learning back, but also require hard work because one of his reactions to the burn-out was to avoid all work.

 

So, I am not taking an unschooling approach or even relaxed because that is part of the problem (not challenged in the right areas and too much busywork). I could go into detail, but I'll spare you.

 

Some of my choices reflect my desire to hook him in with his interests more than following a certain sequence or popular path. Given what I've shared, please alert me to any problems you see in my tentative choices.

 

Things I'm pretty set on:

 

History:

*Classical studies: Famous Men of Greece and/or Rome (he is sick of early Am History from PS). He loves Greek mythology.

 

Language Arts:

*Classical Writing (Fable and Narrative in one year...will try). He used to like to write. He's had tons of creative writing, and not enough of the mechanics.

*Rod & Staff (just don't know what level....5?).

*Spelling through Morphographs (needs spelling badly, gets none in PS)

*MP Guides for: Robin Hood, Trojan War, Hobbit, Bronze Bow (should be up his alley)

 

Math:

*Singapore Math (math is a definite strength, he's just tired of having to write paragraphs to explain answers). I have all levels, so may have to dip back in some areas to firm up some topics.

 

Science: (one of the biggest burn out areas...has himself convinced he is terrible at it, so this has to be fun and not vocab heavy)

*TOPS kits

*nature studies (live on lots of acreage with woods, pond, field )

 

Latin? (like the idea, but wonder if we should wait a year....thoughts?)

Geography?

 

I'd love any comments or suggestions. I have only fully homeschooled kindergarten, and have after-schooled some things in the past.

[Crimson Wife]

If you're doing CW, you won't need R&S because CW incorporates grammar into it (that's actually one of the things I dislike about CW).

 

For science, I would try to get him involved with a HS team for Science Olympiad or First Lego League or VEX Robotics or one of the other competitions.

 

MathCounts might be another thing to try to get him involved with.

[Shay]

If you're doing CW, you won't need R&S because CW incorporates grammar into it (that's actually one of the things I dislike about it.

Hmm. That is interesting.

I would like something with exercises that compare/contrast sentences that are poorly written that you have to "fix" (run-ons, fragments, quotation punctuation, pronoun clarity, etc). He is capable of learning this quickly, but has been mostly in the "just get your thoughts down" PS mode of writing. I thought R&S would give us that. I appreciate your opinion and thoughts.

[SilverMoon]

I think she means Classical Composition, given the individual titles and MP volume. (FWIW, CW only teaches the grammar itself in Aesop.)

 

Grammar: Assuming this is an average kid who's had some grammar, he'd probably be okay with book 6. If he has little to no grammar and/or struggles I'd consider 5.

 

History: I have a few Famous Men books. While we do enjoy them, I can't see how they'd fill a whole year by themselves. My kids read them as supplements to their history program, along with the D'Aulaire mythology books and tons more.

[SilverMoon]

Hmm. That is interesting.

I would like something with exercises that compare/contrast sentences that are poorly written that you have to "fix" (run-ons, fragments, quotation punctuation, pronoun clarity, etc). He is capable of learning this quickly, but has been mostly in the "just get your thoughts down" PS mode of writing. I thought R&S would give us that. I appreciate your opinion and thoughts.

R&S English would certainly do that. :)

[Crimson Wife]

I would like something with exercises that compare/contrast sentences that are poorly written that you have to "fix" (run-ons, fragments, quotation punctuation, pronoun clarity, etc). He is capable of learning this quickly, but has been mostly in the "just get your thoughts down" PS mode of writing.

Look into Evan-Moor Daily Paragraph Editing, Write Source Daily Language Workouts, or IEW Fix-It.

[Shay]

I think she means Classical Composition, given the individual titles and MP volume. (FWIW, CW only teaches the grammar itself in Aesop.)

 

Grammar: Assuming this is an average kid who's had some grammar, he'd probably be okay with book 6. If he has little to no grammar and/or struggles I'd consider 5.

 

History: I have a few Famous Men books. While we do enjoy them, I can't see how they'd fill a whole year by themselves. My kids read them as supplements to their history program, along with the D'Aulaire mythology books and tons more.

Yes, Classical Composition is what I meant. He's had some grammar, but admits he is confused. He would probably pick it up quickly but not love it :)

 

I considered the Famous Men books might not be enough, so you pointing that out helps confirm it. I do, though think he will love them. I just don't want an history curriculum that I'm forever gathering books for, and I want him reading independently books of his choice and not necessarily tied to history. So, perhaps we'll read Story of the World, too. My oldest read CHOW about 10 times (even in 6th) and swears it is the best (loved SOTW too). I don't want projects, and I doubt the boy does either.

[SilverMoon]

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Edited July 9, 2022 by SilverMoon

[Saddlemomma]

Hmm. That is interesting.

I would like something with exercises that compare/contrast sentences that are poorly written that you have to "fix" (run-ons, fragments, quotation punctuation, pronoun clarity, etc). He is capable of learning this quickly, but has been mostly in the "just get your thoughts down" PS mode of writing. I thought R&S would give us that. I appreciate your opinion and thoughts.

 

I haven't read the other responses, so please forgive me if this suggestion has already been made, but you might want to check out IEW's Fix-It Grammar: http://iew.com/fix  It sounds like what you're looking for.

 

I don't use the IEW writing curriculum, but I have incorporated their Fix-It Grammar into our grammar program. DD likes the fact that the sentences progress into a story.  It has also improved her understanding of how grammar builds sentences.  This is often a missed concept when the two subjects are taught separately.

 

[Crimson Wife]

The Dorothy Mills books might be something to consider if you want a narrative approach to history. SOTW is way too light IMHO for 6th grade.

 

I believe this is the first book in the Dorothy Mills series: http://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/classical-studies/book-ancient-world

[Goldilocks]

If you want practice in fixing poorly written sentences, R&S might not be what you are looking for. That is in there, but the sentences are purposely written awkwardly to think through what corrections need to be made and not just what "sounds right."

We are switching to fix-it next year for my oldest to get more practical use of his grammar knowledge.

[Saddlemomma]

Our DD will be going into 6th grade next year as well.  History is one of her favorite subjects, and she has really enjoyed the Yesterday's Classic books.  We bought the whole ebook collection (225 books) when they were on sale for $50.  Right now they are $100 - http://www.yesterdaysclassics.com/catalog/indivkindlebytitle.php They are used a lot by TOG as their main history spines.  However, you could just use those to read and discuss ancient history.  My DD finds them engaging and interesting.  The ancient history would be included in M. B. Synge's books.  These are the original Story of the World books and are rated for kids 9-18.  All I can say is my DD is thoroughly enjoying them more than the standard texts.  The YC collection also includes books on ancient Greece, Rome, and one specifically about Egypt.

 

In addition, there are books on science (inventors/inventions, chemistry, general & natural science, physics & geology), fables, myths, biographies, Shakespeare, faith, poetry, legends, and literature.  You could probably come up with a pretty thorough curriculum with just these books -- all for $100.

 

Some people don't like the older books (pre-1930's) because of some of the language and out-dated ideas presented, however, I find those instances wonderful opportunities to discuss how the thinking in our societies has evolved, what do we know today vs. the knowledge back then, how can we make sure to never repeat the errors of the past, etc...  Thoughtful essays or narrations could be written from these questions.

 

You can find free versions of these books online at any one of the free vintage book sites like Project Gutenburg or booksshouldbefree.com (they also offer free audio books), but I like the interactive TOCs and ease of reading with minimal errors format of the YC books.

 

If you're looking for a more relaxed school experience for him next year, maybe just reading some good books and participating in thoughtful discussions in certain subjects would spark his interest in learning again.

 

 

[Kelly1730]

Would IEW's Fix-It Grammar be used as a stand alone grammar course for middle school or as a supplement? Still, continuously, looking for our 7th grade grammar!

[Homemama2]

Memoria Press has a Geography (level 1, I think)  that is learning the countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.  We will use it this fall (we're also studying ancient history.)  It has a small section on what happened in the country in ancient times and its ancient name, then what is happening today (for example:  Italy/ Ancient Rome).  They do a small amount of mapwork, including memorizing all the countries and capitals.  We might flesh this out some by adding current events in those areas, since there is quite a bit happening over there.

 

If your child loves myths, have you seen D'Aulaires book of Greek myths?

 

 

Rod and Staff grammar 5 is usually where people start coming in new to the program in middle school (from what I've heard).  If the writing assignments in R& S seem too easy, you could just drop those since you'd already have a writing program.  I used level 5 this year with my 6th grader, and it was a good fit for him. 

[Reefgazer]

My DD came home to homeschool in 6th from public school, and like your son, was buried in American History for all those prior years (What's up with that, anyway?  Why do all public schools do that, at the expense of world history?).  Anyway, your line-up is similar to what we are doing.  We couldn't make that much work fly here, so we cut some things out, and now we are OK, as long as we remain organized and diligent because it is a lot of stuff.

 

For what it's worth, we started out as follows:
 

Ancient world history

World geography

Biology

Earth Science

Math

Language Arts (Writing, literature/poetry, grammar, spelling, homeschool version of Achieve, handwriting)

Conversational French

Latin

Art

Critical Thinking Book I

Equine Science

 

We were buried with that schedule and we ditched spelling, Achieve, handwriting practice, and Critical Thinking (that was an unbearably painful book, by the way).  Art is a digital photography course through the co-op, PE is unschooled (my daughter is active in team sports), and I outsource French to a teacher.  We handle the rest.  We get it done, but it's only because we are very diligent and organized.  It's still tough to get done and still have time for outside interests.  Next year, I plan to increase the amount of reading we do, decrease the quantity of writing (we do a lot), and pray for more time in the day over the fact that the French tutor wants more of her.  Seriously, I haven't got it all figured out yet, time-wise, for next year. 

 

Anyway, I think your schedule is do-able, but only with organization and diligence.

 

ETA:  Generally, I love Memoria Press stuff (we use their Latin program), but I would run from their literature guides.  They are the driest, most simplistic, and dull things I have ever had the non-pleasure of using.  Well, except for the Critical Thinking books.  We are using the Classical Historian materials for history, which incorporate some essay writing, and we also read the Human Odyssey for additional history.  No material-gathering necessary.  I love SOTW, but it is way to juvenile for any substantial history for 6th grade, IMO.  We also read Famous Men Of Greece and *loved* it, but it's not enough as a stand-alone history; more like a supplement.  We did Famous Men of Rome with Latina Christiana in the second semester of 6th grade.  We just read the books, nothing else; I think MP guides are inane and simplistic.  Trail Guide to World Geography is nice because you can do as much or as little as you want each week, and still get a basic overview of world geography.  Just do the questions and mapping each week (it's totally kid-independent) or add more by adding suggested "Trail Blazing " activities as you have time.

 

 

ETAA :  Start Latin now.  It is tons of fun and the benefits my daughter got out of it far exceeded our expectations; it will help your son in all areas of his schoolwork, with organization, diligence, spelling, grammar, and vocab.  We used MP Latina Christiana for a nice, fun intro to the subject, and are starting the Form series soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My (now) 5th grader will be HS'ed for 6th. Actually, we are BOTH coming home, as I am a PS teacher. My son has burn-out in some areas, and my goal is to get that spark for learning back, but also require hard work because one of his reactions to the burn-out was to avoid all work.

So, I am not taking an unschooling approach or even relaxed because that is part of the problem (not challenged in the right areas and too much busywork). I could go into detail, but I'll spare you.

Some of my choices reflect my desire to hook him in with his interests more than following a certain sequence or popular path. Given what I've shared, please alert me to any problems you see in my tentative choices.

Things I'm pretty set on:

History:
*Classical studies: Famous Men of Greece and/or Rome (he is sick of early Am History from PS). He loves Greek mythology.

Language Arts:
*Classical Writing (Fable and Narrative in one year...will try). He used to like to write. He's had tons of creative writing, and not enough of the mechanics.
*Rod & Staff (just don't know what level....5?).
*Spelling through Morphographs (needs spelling badly, gets none in PS)
*MP Guides for: Robin Hood, Trojan War, Hobbit, Bronze Bow (should be up his alley)

Math:
*Singapore Math (math is a definite strength, he's just tired of having to write paragraphs to explain answers). I have all levels, so may have to dip back in some areas to firm up some topics.

Science: (one of the biggest burn out areas...has himself convinced he is terrible at it, so this has to be fun and not vocab heavy)
*TOPS kits
*nature studies (live on lots of acreage with woods, pond, field )

Latin? (like the idea, but wonder if we should wait a year....thoughts?)
Geography?

I'd love any comments or suggestions. I have only fully homeschooled kindergarten, and have after-schooled some things in the past.

 

[Saddlemomma]

Would IEW's Fix-It Grammar be used as a stand alone grammar course for middle school or as a supplement? Still, continuously, looking for our 7th grade grammar!

 

Because we do Latin through MP, I use it as a supplement along with MP's Grammar Recitation program.  I've also incorporated Sentence Composing for Middle School (Killgallon) as well.

 

[Shay]

Wow, such thoughtful and helpful replies. I appreciate each and every one. After reading them, I think the consensus is SOTW is too light for 6th grade, even though this child hasn't had world history ever and history in PS is woefully lacking? I have the perspective of comparing it to school, and trust me, SOTW knocks what they do out of the ballpark and if it engages him, I'm inclined to do it anyway since he missed the first sweep through. I may assign SOTW 1 as summer reading, as MP does.

 

But anyway, I do want a narrative history and will look at the Dorothy Mills books that MP sells as a possibility. The excerpt looked really good. To the poster who mentioned D'Aulaires, yes, we own D'Aulaires Greek Myths and he's read some of that.

 

Latin: I wonder if I should do Latina Christiana before First Form? This is what reefgazer did and said it has been good.

Grammar/English: still don't know. He needs a good, thorough study and application. I'll look into the Fix-It that was mentioned.

Spelling: this is a must do. Not a natural speller + poor instruction= needs remediation.

 

Thanks!

[Kelly1730]

We are finishing up SOTW 4 this year, sixth grade. It may be too light for sixth grade but I wanted to see the rotation through and my boys really enjoy listening to it as I read. I did add other books, resources etc. to go along with it. We did Latina Christiana  this year as well. Again, may be a little light for sixth grade but I wanted the boys to "get it" and not be frustrated from the start. They did really well, I'm very proud of their progress, and we will go into FFL next year for 7th grade. 

 

As in most things, YMMV but I thought I would share what worked for us as it looks like that may be the direction you are headed. 

[RootAnn]

After reading them, I think the consensus is SOTW is too light for 6th grade, even though this child hasn't had world history ever and history in PS is woefully lacking? I have the perspective of comparing it to school, and trust me, SOTW knocks what they do out of the ballpark and if it engages him, I'm inclined to do it anyway since he missed the first sweep through. I may assign SOTW 1 as summer reading, as MP does.

 

But anyway, I do want a narrative history and will look at the Dorothy Mills books that MP sells as a possibility. The excerpt looked really good. To the poster who mentioned D'Aulaires, yes, we own D'Aulaires Greek Myths and he's read some of that.

 

Latin: I wonder if I should do Latina Christiana before First Form? This is what reefgazer did and said it has been good.

For an overview, I think SOTW is fine for your son's situation especially if he's going to be reading the Famous Men books alongside and finding books for any rabbit trails he'd like to follow along the way. You can always "beef it up" later (next year or second semester).

 

I'm in the crowd that says to leave Latin alone this year. However, if you want to do it, I'd suggest Getting Started with Latin. You can do it orally. You can have him write. There are free audio lectures that go along with it on the website I linked - see "Downloads." I'm a fan of (some of) MP's products and use their Latin ones, but GSWL is EXCELLENT.

[Mrs Twain]

IEW Fix It is a wonderful supplement for grammar, what I consider akin to word problems for math. Word problems make the student apply the math concepts he knows, and Fix It is just like that for grammar.

 

A very nice narrative world history book is Builders of the Old World (Hartman). It is out of print but easily found used. It could be added to whatever else you plan for history in order to get the big picture of western civ. Hartman's narrative book on the Middle Ages is just as good: Medieval Days and Ways. Quite entertaining.

 

I am going to use a few of the Oxford University Press ancient history books for my 6th grader next year (Near Eastern World, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome) along with the workbooks. Those may be a little too schoolish for you at this point, though.

[Mandy in TN]

If he really likes mythology, then maybe he would be interested in the National Mythology Exam?

[Laurel-in-CA]

You might add in Edith Hamilton's Mythology - it's a classic that I read in high school but it's not "hard" for someone who loves mythology. See if you can find a larger print edition or on kindle where you can adjust type size. I also got, but hadn't time to use, this (it's more high school level), which we'll probably do some over the summer and some next year:

http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Mythology-More-Reader-Workbook/dp/0865165734/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399140966&sr=8-1&keywords=classical+mythology+and+more

 

[Shay]

You might add in Edith Hamilton's Mythology - it's a classic that I read in high school but it's not "hard" for someone who loves mythology. See if you can find a larger print edition or on kindle where you can adjust type size. I also got, but hadn't time to use, this (it's more high school level), which we'll probably do some over the summer and some next year:

http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Mythology-More-Reader-Workbook/dp/0865165734/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399140966&sr=8-1&keywords=classical+mythology+and+more

I'm glad you liked Edith Hamilton, but my experience was less than thrilling. I had to read aloud from this book every day to 8th graders who had no background in mythology and had low reading levels themselves. I agree with you about high school level, although I can see advanced, motivated younger kids doing ok with it. However, I had to try to make this work for low performing 8th graders with poor vocabularies and it was not a good experience.

[SilverMoon]

Padraic Colum has some mythology books that are lower than Hamilton. Rosemary Sutcliff too, Black Ships Before Troy and Wanderings of Odysseus. I recommend the illustrated versions, no matter how old you are. And the Penelope Lively retelling of Aeneid, In Search of a Homeland.

 

(FWIW, my mythology loving high schooler loves Edith Hamilton's books, but DD/8th pretended to choke when I had her read a random page of The Greek Way.)

[Ethel Mertz]

Shay - Another possibility for grammar might be Editor-in-Chief from the Critical Thinking Press.

 

http://www.criticalthinking.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?limit=50&q=editor+in+chief

[Kfamily]

If you decide to go with the Dorothy Mills series, I have written guides for The Book of the Ancient World and The Book of the Ancient Greeks and I'm currently working on The Book of the Ancient Romans. They are free, for now, at my blog (A Mind in the Light) if you'd like them. :) The latter two books are fairly thick and you would not need/have to do all three books in one year.

 

 

[Shay]

Kfamily,

Your blog is fantastic and I'm so glad you posted so I would find out about your awesome schedules and plans. I had strongly considered SL Core W, but will probably go with your schedules instead. I LOVE CHOW and don't mind using, given my situation, even for upper elementary beefing it up with supplemental readings. I can cross over to your guide for older kids if/when I need to as he matures.

[Reefgazer]

MP says to start 6th graders on First Form Latin, but I was not confident enough to do that because I don't know any Latin.  It looked like a headache and a half, so we went with Latina Christiana and it was a nice, gentle intro to Latin that we both enjoyed.  Now FFL doesn't look as intimidating as it did last year.  Given your somewhat-busy academic line-up, I would think Latina Christiana would be a better choice over FFL.

 

Regarding spelling:  I have had a horrible speller; she had no editing guidance in public school and they thought "inventive spelling" was just fine and dandy.  We started a spelling program, and just like she did in public school, aced everything in the book.  But then the spelling on the essays was still atrocious.  So we ditched spelling and worked on editing and being generally more diligent and that improved her spelling.  So take a close look at why your son is a poor speller; it might just be a discipline thing, what with the lax editing and inventive spelling of public school. 

Wow, such thoughtful and helpful replies. I appreciate each and every one. After reading them, I think the consensus is SOTW is too light for 6th grade, even though this child hasn't had world history ever and history in PS is woefully lacking? I have the perspective of comparing it to school, and trust me, SOTW knocks what they do out of the ballpark and if it engages him, I'm inclined to do it anyway since he missed the first sweep through. I may assign SOTW 1 as summer reading, as MP does.

But anyway, I do want a narrative history and will look at the Dorothy Mills books that MP sells as a possibility. The excerpt looked really good. To the poster who mentioned D'Aulaires, yes, we own D'Aulaires Greek Myths and he's read some of that.

Latin: I wonder if I should do Latina Christiana before First Form? This is what reefgazer did and said it has been good.
Grammar/English: still don't know. He needs a good, thorough study and application. I'll look into the Fix-It that was mentioned.
Spelling: this is a must do. Not a natural speller + poor instruction= needs remediation.

Thanks!

 

[Reefgazer]

This has helped my DD immensely in cleaning up her grammar/spelling/punctuation issues, and takes very little time each day.

Shay - Another possibility for grammar might be Editor-in-Chief from the Critical Thinking Press.

 

http://www.criticalthinking.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?limit=50&q=editor+in+chief

 

[EndOfOrdinary]

My mythology loving boy really liked the Classical Mythology Great Course by Elizabeth VanDiver.  Fair warning, there are a few sexual parts (because, after all, these are the Greek Gods) but nothing too crazy.  Definitely not something that a six grader who has attended public school would not already be aware of. If he is familiar with the traditional stories, then it is quite a fantastic way to increase his cultural knowledge of the Ancients without much by way of work load.  We listened to them, paused to talk about what they said, and that was it.  The half hour lecture would run somewhere between 45 minutes or an hour with the discussion.  There are only 12 lectures, so approxiatly one a week for a quarter or so.

[Shay]

For history, I am going to go with KFamily's (free for now) curriculum for world history. I've got it all printed out and the free books downloaded into iBooks. The schedule gives me a framework without being too overwhelming. I think it will be a fantastic transition from ps to HS.

 

http://www.amindinthelight.blogspot.com/p/time-period-ancients_8.html

 

If you haven't checked this out, you should do so. I'm doing the Ancient History level one and using the upper elementary suggestions for my rising 6th grade boy. It has Coolidge's Trojan War, Sutcliff's Wanderings of Odysseus, Lively's In Search of a Homeland included along with other great titles and suggestions. I can easily see how I can use CHOW and beef it up for his age by using this layout, adding Famous Men of Rome and Greece at times, and reading Kingfisher. She includes links to free lap book templates, which I may or may not use (he hates "crafty"), notebook pages to print, and tells you when to make timeline entries, and much more.

 

For English and writing, I believe I'm just going to go with R&S like the WTM edition I own suggests.

For spelling: still planning on Spelling through Morphographs

For math, Singapore /R&S combo

Science: still in the works. May go with interest-led topics using TOPS or Ellen McHenry stuff. Will do nature study some, too.

 

We will probably hold off on a Latin decision until later, after we've found our groove. I don't want to have tons of things planned, but would rather start with solid choices and add to it if we feel the need later.

 

Are you all getting tired of me yet? LOL. I really am "about there" with planning.