Curriculum for 6th Grade 2015 - 2016

It's that time of the year. Curriculum planning and purchasing. This year I have the task of planning for three 6th grade girls (my tutoring students) and a 11th grader. In this post I will concentrate on the 6th grade students.

Math - I am a Teaching Textbooks fan and will continue with the 6th grade edition. Sometimes we use the CDs for teaching and sometimes I just quickly teach the concept to them. This is usually scheduled for 5 days a week.

Science - Because I love all of Jeannie Fulbright's science books and we only did the first with my tutoring students this past year I decided to try and squeeze in two of her books. One per semester. I let the girls look at the titles and pick their favorite two then went with the majority with the parents approval of course. The first semester of the year will find us diving (pun intended) into Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day while the second semester we will be studying the Human Body. We will also continue nature studies while using the new journal from Simply Charlotte Mason.

Language Arts - I love Easy Grammar so this will stay on the docket for 6th grade. Adding to the mix will be Essentials in Writing and 4-5 literature study guides from Progeny Press. Again I let the girls look over the titles and come to some sort of agreement. This coming year they will be reading Island of Blue Dolphins, Anne of Green Gables, The Horse and His Boy, Redwall, Sign of the Beaver, and if time permits The Secret Garden.

History - This year we read The Story of the World Volume 2 about The Middle Ages and loved it. In the new year we will continue on to Volume 3. The girls will continue to use the Test Booklet for comprehension questions and I plan on adding map work, activities, and other books to the mix depending on the time period we are studying. The girls will also start keeping their own Book of Centuries.

Other items I will try to fit into the days will include CNN Student News, Art, Shakespeare, Poetry and Reading Comprehension books from Abeka. It is always such a blessing to be on the Review Crew to introduce you to so many different types of learning materials. This year three of the products I have chosen to use with the girls were previous review products that I loved and kept in the mix.

I'm sure some things will fall through the cracks as it does every year. Always over planning on my part. So many wonderful things to show and teach each year it is hard to narrow it down to a manageable bit.