Are you looking for a sixth-grade homeschool curriculum for your student? The sixth-grade options are very diverse and offer you great flexibility to adjust the learning to suit your student’s needs. As your child will begin to take on more responsibility for their education at this age, we strongly recommend creating their sixth-grade curriculum with their input.
One popular curriculum option for homeschooling sixth graders is to follow the traditional middle school curriculum. Another option is to use a customized curriculum that focuses on the student’s strengths and interests but still provides them with a solid foundation in all academic areas. Additionally, some homeschoolers may opt for online or virtual schooling options that offer a structured curriculum, interactive learning activities, and the opportunity to connect with teachers and peers virtually. Whatever option you decide to choose, it is essential to select a curriculum that aligns with your state standards. Also, sixth grade builds a foundation for the academic challenges your child will face in middle and high school so please keep that in mind when considering your options.
What Is a Typical Sixth-Grade Homeschool Curriculum?
The typical six-grade homeschool curriculum includes the following:
- Language Arts/English: Reading comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, spelling, writing (including essays, narratives, and research papers), literature analysis, and possibly elements of creative writing.
- Mathematics: Advanced arithmetic, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratios, proportions, algebraic concepts, geometry, data analysis, and probability.
- Science: Physical sciences (such as physics and chemistry), life sciences (biology and ecology), earth sciences (geology and weather), scientific inquiry and experimentation, and possibly introductory concepts of scientific methodology.
- Social Studies/History: Ancient civilizations, world history, United States history, geography (including map skills), government and civics, economics, and current events.
- Fine Arts: Introduction to visual arts (drawing, painting, sculpture), music (listening, theory, and playing an instrument), and possibly theater or dance.
- Physical Education: Regular physical activity, exercise, sports, games, and health education.
- Electives: There is never an end to possible electives for your student. Some of the most common subjects include foreign languages, technology, home economics, life skills, etc.
How to Choose the Best Sixth-Grade Homeschool Curriculum?
In How to Choose the Best Homeschool Curriculum we describe the best practices for choosing a curriculum based on your state’s laws, your purposes and goals, how much time you want to spend teaching, etc. I always try to look for curricula that meet the following criteria:
- They are engaging and taught in a clear and fun way.
- They include regular reviews in order to reinforce the material taught.
- They encourage problem-solving skills.
Our Sixth-Grade Curriculum Journey
Following are the sixth-grade homeschool curricula that we used:
Note: As I am more of an eclectic homeschooler, we have combined a number of curricula from various resources. However, if you prefer using a complete curriculum set, Abeka and BJU Press are some of the most popular ones (but there are many others!). These packages will provide you with all textbooks, workbooks, tests, teacher’s manuals, etc., so your only time investment will be familiarizing yourself with the material.
Reading:
Step by Step by Pathway Readers: This is actually an eighth-grade reader in the Pathway Readers series. However, as we combined both sixth and seventh-grade reading in the fifth grade, we were able to get a step ahead of the regular grade level.
This curriculum presents a child with beautiful, real-life wholesome stories and keeps the reader excited to continue reading. The workbook not only requires the student to answer the questions but also leads them back to the text in order to search for particulars.
Adventures in Greatness Speed and Comprehension Reader by Abeka: This is an excellent reading program that presents the students with very engaging and age-appropriate stories. You can find short tests at the end of the book so there is no need for any additional materials. [Please note that this is not a comprehensive reading curriculum but rather supplementary material introduced for the purpose of increasing your student’s reading speed while focusing on understanding the stories.]
Note: All these readers can be found for purchase on second-hand sites like Ebay or Thriftbooks for a fraction of their original cost.
Math:
Primary Mathematics 6A & 6B, Standards Edition by Singapore Math: We continued to follow the same curriculum that we used since kindergarten. To learn more about the benefits of Singapore Math, please read a detailed description at Singapore vs. Saxon Math – Which Is Better?. Also, you can read about our personal math journey in Singapore Math? Really?.
English:
Climbing to Good English 6 by Schoolaid: This is a Christian-based curriculum, easy to use, and very economical. The series takes the student from the first grade all the way to the eighth but can be joined in any grade. It is very complete and thorough and encourages independent learning. We used it for several years before switching to a more hands-on English program in seventh grade, which became more suitable for us at that time.
We also continued with Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) program for composition. It is an absolutely outstanding curriculum that has the ability to make a good writer even out of children struggling with dyslexia and dysgraphia. We have had much success with it over the years and can recommend it without hesitation.
Penmanship:
In sixth grade, we persevered with New American Cursive Penmanship by Memoria Press which we originally started in the fourth grade. It was a good choice for us as it provided my son with simple cursive letters to assist in his battle with dysgraphia. I only wish we would have started him on cursive much earlier!
Spelling:
Sixth grade found us to continue with Spelling Power by Beverly L. Adams-Gordon. It is a very comprehensive curriculum with many support activities and games. We stayed with the curriculum until high school when we determined we needed to change our spelling approach.
Science:
After thoroughly enjoying the fifth-grade Abeka Science curriculum, we decided to follow the same vein in the sixth grade. The sixth-grade book series is called Observing God’s World. This curriculum covers topics such as matter and energy, forces and motion, cells and living organisms, ecosystems and habitats, weather and climate, geology, and astronomy. The curriculum incorporates hands-on experiments and interactive activities to promote active learning and understanding of scientific concepts. We also purchased the accompanying Choosing Good Health curriculum to learn more about various systems of human anatomy and how to best take care of one’s body. It was a real joy to cover Abeka’s science curriculum this year.
History:
The Mystery of History, Volume 3 by Linda Lacour Hobar was our history curriculum for the sixth grade. We found this volume to be more interesting than Volume 2 as the time period from the Renaissance and Reformation (1455-1707) suited us better. So if you are currently in Volume 2 and not enjoying it very much, please rest assured that there are brighter days ahead of you.
Over the years we completed all four volumes of The Mystery of History, including various projects, timelines on a board, as well as a timeline book. Our entire family profited from this curriculum and can highly recommend it to you too.
Geography:
In sixth grade, we happily returned to Around the World in 180 Days by Apologia. You may wonder why we kept going back to the same curricula over the years. It is because we really enjoyed it. It provided us with a basic outline on which we could base our research. We also spiced our lessons with many projects and videos.
Bible:
As we did in the fifth grade, we opted for reading the Bible itself in the sixth grade instead of following any particular curriculum. We were very blessed to study the Bible as a family and enjoyed our conversations on various passages. We also heavily memorized scripture verses this school year.
Arts & Crafts:
A friend of mine offered to have my son join her family’s arts and crafts classes. It was fun for my middle schooler to attend these creative group sessions. They didn’t follow any particular curriculum but played with colors, shapes, textures, etc.
PE:
My son was a member of a competitive swim team and enjoyed it very much.
Music:
We continued playing piano with Hoffman Academy. This program provides students with a basic understanding of music and teaches them to play both classical and other genres. Whether you play a musical instrument or not, Hoffman Academy is very easy to use and will teach your child more than just the fundamentals of music. It is the best program I have seen thus far.
Languages:
Czech:
As Czech is my mother tongue, my son has been fluent in speaking it as well. This year we continued to improve his reading skills and grammar by diving into many books appropriate for his age.
Spanish:
This was the first year we chose to incorporate another foreign language into our official curricula. We purchased Rosetta Stone Spanish and completed several lessons. However, we soon concluded that, with all other school demands, we didn’t need to dedicate time to another language and focused on improving Czech.
In summary:
Sixth grade was a joy for both my son and me. Our curricula proved to be a suitable choice for us and enjoyable ones too. The only thing we may have changed would be the grammar curriculum to make it a better fit for a child with dysgraphia. I trust you will also be able to find the best curriculum option for your sixth grader and enjoy their first year of middle school as much as we did.
