Favorite Homeschool Curriculum Choices for 6th Grade

August 08, 2024 Treehouse Schoolhouse

This blog post lists some of my favorite curriculum choices for the sixth grade, or children ages 11-12. My oldest son is heading into sixth grade, so much of this is what we are using this year. I have also shared other options we considered and will likely use another year soon.

Because my family practices family-style learning, you may notice the overlap between this grade and others. I believe there is so much joy in learning together and adapting each study for different grades and interests. Keep in mind I don’t use all of these resources simultaneously. This is simply a list of various resources I would recommend at this stage of learning.

In this blog post:

Our homeschool style
Sixth grade homeschool schedule
Sixth grade homeschool curriculum choices

Our homeschool style

Family-style learning

As you may know, in my homeschool we do not emphasize labeling grade levels. This is because we do much of our schoolwork “family-style.” Family-style learning means we use the same curricula for my children at different ages, tailoring the material to their levels. This way, my children learn together, despite being at various ages. While my children also have work they do independently that is tailored to their levels, the majority of our curricula can be tailored to use with all of my children, together. Lesson planning is streamlined and fosters sibling bonding as we do lessons together.

Respectful learning

Rather than forcing my children into specific grade levels, I allow my children to progress at their own pace. Sometimes this means they are above “grade level” according to curriculum labels or state standards. Sometimes this means they are “behind.” My goal as a homeschooling parent is simple: To see that my children are continually growing in understanding, in skills, and in the desire to learn. I want them to enjoy their education, while also being challenged at just the right level.

Charlotte Mason-style

While I do not subscribe to one specific methodology of education, I do lean toward Charlotte Mason principles. I value learning through living books, life experiences, and educating the whole child (not only the mind). Take this Homeschool Style Quiz to see what learning styles fit your family best.

Sixth grade homeschool schedule

In my homeschool, a sixth-grade student does formal lessons about five- six hours a day, four days each week. We usually do school lessons Monday through Thursday, and spend Fridays outdoors with our homeschool nature group.

Here’s a breakdown of what a day may look like:

Family devotions: 30 minutes
Morning Time (art, poetry, nature, literature): 1 hour
Core subjects (math, grammar, reading, written narrations): 1.5 hours
Read-aloud, oral narration, research, and notebooking: 1.5 hour
Rotating subjects (history, typing, science, etc.): 1 hour

Sixth grade homeschool curriculum choices

In my homeschool, we start the day with a family devotional over breakfast. When we are ready to begin our school day, we do Morning Time, where we go through our family-style curriculum together. Then we work through core subjects like language arts, math, and social studies.

Family devotionals

My husband leads this time over breakfast. We have used various resources over the years, but my favorites are Rooted Family Bible Curriculum, Our 24 Family Ways, Hero Tales, and The Story Bible.

Rooted Family Bible Curriculum

Rooted incorporates Bible readings, discussion, Scripture memorization, prayer, hymns, art study, poetry, and simple hands-on connections. I designed it to combine beauty subjects with Bible study. The curriculum is centered on declarations about identity in Christ and their choices to live a life devoted to God.

Our 24 Family Ways: A Family Devotional Guide

The book’s premise is that you as a parent create the culture in your home of how your family thinks and acts. Based on the idea that Christians are called to “train up a child in the way he should go,” the author maps 24 ways to teach and instruct children. I love this idea because it articulates the character traits I want my children to have.

Hero Tales: A Family Treasury of True Stories from the Lives of Christian Heroes

Hero Tales is an illustrated storybook that presents the true-life stories of fifteen key Christian heroes. Each hero is profiled in a short biography and three educational yet exciting and thought-provoking anecdotes from his or her life.

The Story Bible

The Story Bible is such an amazing resource for kids at this age. This book condenses the story of the Bible into cohesive chapters that tell the chronological Bible story in one narrative without any Scripture verse markings or references. At the same time, at this age I start encouraging my children to start a prayer journal and do their own independent Bible study and devotional time, and look for ways for them to foster their own individual faith.

Morning Time

Our formal school time begins each day with Morning Time. During Morning Time, my children and I gather and connect with different subjects where we all share and learn together. We may check in with the calendar, literature, nature study, and more. I love beginning the day together and using this time as a springboard for the rest of our studies.

For Morning Time, younger children love doing daily tasks like calendar and weather charting, but I have found older children have grown out of those activities. Instead, my older children focus on a passage of literature or poetry we read together and engage with it through art and notebooking. I love that Morning Time gives us time to join together even though my children are at different phases of learning.

Related: Our Homeschool Morning Time

Here is what I use in Morning Time for children ages 11-12.

Literature with other subject connections

Treehouse Book Club is great for Morning Time because it’s designed to be family-style and can engage children of multiple ages. Each month you read aloud great literature and learn about various themes in the story. This could be watching videos that teach about the book’s historical elements, sketching a topic we read about in the story, or reading more picture books about ideas presented in the story. Learning is documented through notebooking.

For a sixth grader, the focus is narrating, researching topics that emerge in the story, chasing interests inspired by the story, and notebooking. For notebooking at this age, they usually write several paragraphs for each notebook page and are growing in their art skills by using tutorials and various mediums. They also complete the Book Report Booklet throughout the study, which includes writing and drawing on topics like characters, plot, and the book's author. We also add to the Illustrated Dictionary, where they look up unfamiliar words throughout the story and create illustrated entries. I also focus on giving them opportunities to present what they have learned, whether that is with our family or in a book club setting.

Treehouse Book Club is also an excellent choice for families looking for ways to collaborate and interact with friends by implementing a format for book club, plus options for presentations and group activities.

LEARN MORE ABOUT TREEHOUSE BOOK CLUB

Nature study with music, art, and poetry

Treehouse Nature Study has been a staple of our Morning Time for years. It’s a fun way to begin a day with fun family learning. Each week of Treehouse Nature Study covers a seasonal nature theme and includes songs, hand rhymes, poetry, art study, an extensive book list, and hands-on connections. The study is meant to be used year after year and includes so much that we will easily go deeper and wider each year with. All of my children engage with elements of this, so it’s easy and fun to include them all.

This year I am so excited to introduce Treehouse Nature Study, Intermediate Years for my older children to use alongside Treehouse Nature Study. While my younger children will study nature topics connected to art, poetry, and hands-on activities, Treehouse Nature Study, Intermediate Years gives my older children ways to dig deeper into topics they love with more in-depth writing assignments, science experiments, and more.

Related:

Core subjects for sixth grade

Language Arts: Grammar, spelling, handwriting, and reading

We holistically approach language arts, meaning much of what children learn happens through narrations, copywork, notebooking, and organic writing opportunities like penpalling and list-making. While some homeschooling parents prefer to have separate curricula for each language arts “subject,” I prefer to use living books and curriculum and expand on it to offer language arts learning.

Both print and cursive are usually pretty solid at this age, so we just practice both with copywork using various excerpts of literature, scripture, poetry, and the Wonder of Nature Cursive Copywork. We also practice Mail Monday where each of my children writes a letter and sends it to someone we know. At this age when we do this, I expect longer letters with proper grammar and spelling.

Around sixth grade, if my child is struggling with spelling we may use a spelling book from Evan-Moor. If not, we don’t use anything formal for spelling and instead, continue copywork and notebooking and practice spelling organically.

Here are some other practices and resources I use for these subjects:

Copywork: Each day the kids will have a selection to copy or write from dictation. This is for handwriting, spelling, and grammar. Sometimes this selection will be a passage of Scripture we are memorizing, an excerpt of a poem, a quote, or a selection of literature from something we are reading. Sometimes they will write in cursive and other times in print.
Grammar: We use Fix-it! Grammar. In 6th grade, they may be on Level 4: Mowgli and Shere Khan or on a lower level, depending on their progression. In Fix-it! Grammar, students search for and correct errors in passages that cumulatively tell a story. It is an incremental program that encourages students to apply new grammar knowledge in every lesson while continuing to practice what they already know.
Literature and narrations: Each morning I read aloud from a selection of literature from Treehouse Book Club. We often do this during Morning Time. They will narrate orally after each chapter. In 6th grade, I expect a higher level of writing and composition, with several carefully crafted paragraphs for book reports and other projects throughout the study.
Composition and writing: Each Monday my children participate in Mail Monday, an informal way to practice writing skills by writing letters. They also complete written narrations throughout the year, as well as stories, research papers, and notebooking pages. In Treehouse Nature Study, Intermediate Years, they will practice forms of creative writing like persuasive articles, journal entries, letters, and more.
Independent Reading: I like for a sixth-grade student to spend 30 minutes each day reading independently from books I choose. Around this age, they will write or type a paragraph of narration of their reading. The chapter books they read are from “Mom’s Library,” a basket of books I curate primarily from the “Free Reads” lists in Ambleside Online years 4-6 as well as others from other book lists for them to choose from.
Notebooking: Notebooking is central to so many of our lessons. There are notebooking opportunities in Rooted Family Bible Curriculum, the Book Club Guides from Treehouse Book Club, and Treehouse Nature Study, Intermediate Years. For a sixth-grader I am looking for multiple paragraphs about the topic we are studying with correct spelling and grammar. I love using notebooking as a way to explore new topics and document our learning.

Math

We have tried various math curricula over the years. Finding the right fit depends on the child’s learning style and the parent’s preference. Some of my favorite math curricula that I recommend for sixth grade are Teaching Textbooks, Math-U-See, and Saxon Math.

Teaching Textbooks is a spiral-approach, digital math curriculum that offers teaching videos, math problems, and grades every math problem with instant feedback. Teaching Textbooks gently introduces new math concepts in plain, easy-to-understand language and in an engaging way. The formatting makes math approachable and fun for students, without being over-stimulating. This is a great option for kids who can work independently in math.
Math-U-See is a solution for struggling math students with gaps in their foundational math skill set. The Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) programs use strategies and manipulatives in combination with an accelerated approach to help students successfully master math facts.
Saxon Math has been around for decades and uses an incremental approach to instruction and assessment. I like it because it limits the amount of new math principles delivered to students and allows time for daily practice.

Geography, history, and science

best science history curriculum homeschool

My favorite curricula explore different subjects through reading literature. Instead of going through a textbook, these studies pull from a curated collection of literature to use stories and different writers to provide knowledge about various subjects.

Treehouse Book Club allows us to use literature as a lens to study historical and scientific themes in the books we are reading. We may break out and research the historical context of the book, inventions in the period, historical figures, and more. I love the overlap between these subjects and something else we are working through.
Treehouse Nature Study, Intermediate Years - This year my older children will use Treehouse Nature Study, Intermediate to study themes in nature and science. This is the same seasonal nature topics from Treehouse Nature Study, but geared for children 6th grade and up with advanced language arts and scientific experiments. Join the waitlist and get a free week here.
History of Science Pack 4-6 (Beautiful Feet Books) teaches through biographies of scientists including Archimedes, Galileo, Leonardo da Vinci, Marie Curie, George Washington Carver, Einstein, and more, paired with hands-on science experiments.
World Watch News is a daily video that showcases the news in 10 minutes each weekday. I love being about to give my children access to the current events so they can learn about the world, but I also love that the network delivers the news with Biblical discernment. The reporting covers sciences, world news, economics, government, and more.
U.S. Geography 4-6 Pack (Beautiful Feet Books) connects the stories of Native American tribes, intrepid explorers, and hopeful pioneers to the land in North America. These stories introduce homeschoolers to the vast variety of landforms, biomes, and ecosystems found in the United States.
Early American History 4-6 Pack (Beautiful Feet Books) studies the foundations of civil and religious liberty unique to the United States. Students will celebrate the rich mosaic of people who contributed to the founding and development of the United States.
Medieval History 5-8 Pack (Beautiful Feet Books) is an in-depth study that covers Medieval Africa, China, and the Renaissance.
Ancient History 5-8 Pack (Beautiful Feet Books) covers the innovations in ancient civilization, such as the creation of the written word, the invention of the wheel, and the rise of ziggurats and pyramids.
Modern America and World 6-8 Pack (Beautiful Feet Books) covers the Civil War, Reconstruction, the turn of the century, both World Wars, Civil Rights, Korean War, Vietnam War, and contemporary America, plus other historical events such as the Dust Bowl, the suffrage movement, and 9/11.

Enrichment Subjects

For sixth grade, we add enrichment activities throughout the year. Here are some of my favorites.

Piano: My children have loved taking piano lessons from Hoffman Academy this year. Each day they do a lesson and spend time practicing. We have family recitals for them to share what they are learning every couple of months!
Typing: We do a Keyboarding Without Tears lesson a couple of days each week for typing practice.
Art and drawing: We do a lot of art and drawing in our notebooking by following online watercolor and sketching tutorials. We also have an Art For Kids Hub subscription, and my kids also like doing origami.
Holiday studies: We use a holiday study like A Connected Christmas: Around the World to prepare for Christmas. This includes Bible readings about the nativity story and a look at how the Christmas season is celebrated in different countries throughout the world. We will also use An Expectant Easter to learn about the resurrection in the weeks leading up to Easter.
Practical skills and handcrafts: Many of our studies include crafts and baking projects. We will introduce them to many handcrafts and skills over the year such as woodworking, crocheting, cross stitching, leatherwork, and bread making.
Chess club: My older children recently got interested in chess. We periodically invite friends over periodically to play together and my kids love it!

Other curriculum recommendations from Treehouse Schoolhouse:

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