help with 6th grade LA

[crl]

We have used HOD with our DD from the beginning of her schooling through the CTC guide. She will be entering the 6th grade in the fall and this will be my first year not using HOD so I'm feeling uncertain. She has already chosen to do a science course from Sonlight. And I will use SOTW as a spine for her (and her younger brother). With SOTW, we'll be pulling books from Sonlight, WP, and HOD to read as well as use the activity guide and written narrations. Math is using the net level of MUS. Where I get stuck is LA.

 

In HOD LA seems to be sprinkled throughout the day, so I'm not sure exactly what is needed for a 6th grader. She has completed Rod and Staff through half of the 5th grade book. So I guess I should finish that book and start the next. What else do I need? A writing program? A spelling program? A lit. program? Please help me understand what a proper 6th grade LA schedule looks like.

[Heather in VA]

Whether you need a writing program or not depends on whether you want the writing in R&S to be your writing program. If you want more writing instruction then you could use Writing with Skill or Classical Academic Press Writing and Rhetoric. There are more but these are my two favorites. The Bravewriter approach is excellent too, and can include literature, but it can be difficult to learn to implement. For literature it sounds like you will already be choosing literature to go with SOTW. So you can just have the beginnings of analysis type discussions with her about them. Talk about the plot, the setting, the characters etc. I use Center for Literature products to help me since I'm woefully inadequate to develop my own discussions. If you want more in-depth studies you could pick a couple of Progeny Press guides to go with your literature choices. No need for a ton at that age but a few might be helpful. 

 

Spelling is completely up to you. Does she still need it? My rising 6th grader will be doing  Vocabu-Lit next year as we transition from spelling to vocabulary. I don't always think a vocabulary program is necessary if you are already reading good literature but for this one I am going to use one for at least a little while. 

[crl]

Thanks. I think I will stick with spelling since that's a weak area for her. Thanks for the tip about the lit guides idea.

[SilverMoon]

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Edited July 9, 2022 by SilverMoon

[Ellie]

We have used HOD with our DD from the beginning of her schooling through the CTC guide. She will be entering the 6th grade in the fall and this will be my first year not using HOD so I'm feeling uncertain. She has already chosen to do a science course from Sonlight. And I will use SOTW as a spine for her (and her younger brother). With SOTW, we'll be pulling books from Sonlight, WP, and HOD to read as well as use the activity guide and written narrations. Math is using the net level of MUS. Where I get stuck is LA.

 

In HOD LA seems to be sprinkled throughout the day, so I'm not sure exactly what is needed for a 6th grader. She has completed Rod and Staff through half of the 5th grade book. So I guess I should finish that book and start the next. What else do I need? A writing program? A spelling program? A lit. program? Please help me understand what a proper 6th grade LA schedule looks like.

 

A complete English course would include grammar, composition, spelling/vocabulary, reading/literature, and penmanship (if needed). The grammar is about a semester's worth, and the composition is about a semester's worth (usually mushed up between the two, lol).

 

So you could complete the R&S text (no, you would NOT need to add writing--there is plenty) and add Spelling by Sound and Structure. For reading ("literature" usually begins around eighth), you'll just want to help her read a variety of genres (novels, poetry, short stories, etc.). You could have her do book reports randomly, using the book report forms from the Love to Learn site. R&S's English teaches poetry, which would be a good time to add your own poetry.

[KeriJ]

We use HOD loosely, so I just plan LA based on theirs.  For 6th, we will be using the second 1/2 of R&S English 5..  You can find Dictation Day by Day (which is what HOD uses) free online and just continue what you have been doing with dictation.  or you could do R&S spelling.  Like Ellie said, R&S has enough writing, but you could add a writing course. (We're doing WWTB because we hadn't done it yet)  

 

After that, I just have them do written narrations in history and science.  Then I pull from HOD lists and other places for reading-- some independent, some as read-alouds with the family.

 

We're also going to do English from the Roots Up informally, just making flashcards and reviewing them.

[birchbark]

I think R&S plus some writing makes an excellent LA course for this age. Written narrations would fit the bill. It doesn't need to be a complete writing program. R&S actually has great writing instruction; it just does not allow for a lot of practice. Another simple way to add in writing is to do a weekly interest-led paper as 8FillTheHeart explained here. (About halfway down.) And FWIW, I think a lot of R&S's grammar exercises can be done orally.

 

If you want to continue spelling, Keri's suggestion of Dictation Day by Day would be familiar and free.

 

For lit, just pick out some classics to read. SWB has excellent discussion questions here (under middle grades) for easy, informal analysis.

[crl]

Thanks so much for the help. I love the book reports idea since we haven't done anything like that before. I think I'm just about set to start another year!