My daughter is headed into Year Six and here are the resources that I plan to use for her home education this year. If you are in the US, this is more commonly referred to as Fifth Grade.

Language Arts

In the first half of the year, we will work on our vocabulary and structured writing. We are finishing up Wordly Wise 3000 Book 4 which is a twenty week program. Each week introduces the child to fifteen vocabulary words, and daily exercises related to these words can then be completed independently.

We have also be using Paragraph Writing for Kids by Common Sense Press which helps a child produce clear, organized writing, whether it be descriptive, narrative, persuasive or otherwise. It’s designed to prepare students for structuring longer essays which I thought was a helpful skill for this age. We’ll be using this over a three-month period.

In the second half of Year Six, we will focus on creative writing and grammar. We’ll be using The Creative Writer Level 1 by Well Trained Mind. In this thirty-six week curriculum, writers of fiction and poetry learn vital skills such as point of view, characterization, plotting, dialogue, and description. We’ll also be reading Grammar Land by M.L. Nesbitt which I think will be a light-hearted way to keep on top of grammar.

Aside from these curricula, we’ll be doing handwriting practice and a lot of reading! We are also starting a book club, using Little World Wanderers Book Celebration Guides, like The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies: A Book Celebration Guide. This is a very simple guide containing four discussion questions, a recipe, a craft and a science experiment!

Math

This year, we are using Practical Geometry by Simply Charlotte Mason, which focuses on key geometry concepts such as measurements, shapes and angles. There are thirty-six lessons which we complete in a Schoolnest Math Notebook. The lessons are practical and are a nice change for us.

Our main math curriculum continues to be Math-U-See. We are using Epsilon by Demme Learning which focuses on fractions. For the last four years, we have used Math-U-See, and I like the traditional paper-and-pencil approach. However, we do find this to be a rigorous program and we take it slowly.

We tend to keep math going all year round, and I like to take a break from our usual curriculum at times, to recap and do something a little lighter. For this we are using Math With Confidence (Fourth Grade) to review some previously taught concepts. My daughter is very visual and I think this curriculum will be enjoyable for her.

Spanish

After trying a number of different options for Spanish in the past, I was excited to find Spanish for Children Primer A! It is a thirty-seven week program that teaches grammar aswell as vocabulary. It’s a robust curriculum that will challenge us, and requires a lot of parent input. Though DVD Classes are included. Now that we are entering Year Six, I was looking for something thorough and am excited about learning alongside my daughter!

Bible Studies

Each day we practice our scripture memory verses. At the moment we are listening to songs by Seeds Family Worship which we find to be a fun and effective approach to memorising scripture!

We are also reading through a short passage of scripture straight from the Bible together each day. We are in Colossians at the moment and just reading a paragraph at a time. I ask questions and we pray over what we have read, as a family. I read from an ESV Reader’s Bible which I love because the large font size, thick paper and lack of columns make it easier to read.

My daughter will also read a Read Kaleidoscope Book each month. These are brightly illustrated chapter books which retell each book of the bible. You can read more about Kaleidoscope Books in this blog post.

Each term, my daughter will also read a missionary biography from one of our favourite series and complete a four-week character study of that missionary. It is important to me that my children see faith in action, but know that there are countless different ways to serve the Lord. We love learning this through the stories of others. At the moment you can find our C.S. Lewis Character Study in my shop and others, which we have already completed will be available in the shop soon!

Science

Science is not a core subject for us this year, but we will occasionally watch a nature documentary, and nature journal. We will also reading about the life and work of a scientist, once a month, and do a fun experiment from Curiosity Box.

Weekly Loop Subjects for Year Six Homeschool

Christian Living

For the first few months of the year, we will be learning about the work of Open Doors. They have fabulous free resources for families that will help us pray for the persecuted church around the world. We cover one country each week by locating the country and reading about it, if possible in a book called Children Just Like Me. We watch a video from Open Doors, read from the Prayer Passport, and pray together. Some weeks we also cook a dish from the country we’ve learned about!

Later on in the year, I plan to switch from our focus on the persecuted church to apologetics. I think we will likely use a book called A Visual Guide to Biblical Apologetics which comes out in October.

British History

This year, we will be using Invasion, Plague and Murder: Britain 1066-1558 by Aaron Wilkes. I struggled to choose a curriculum for us this year because I didn’t find quite what I was looking for. Ideally, I wanted a Christian resource, that covered British History at a level appropriate for Year Six. However, this is a secular curriculum, and it covers exactly what would be covered in public schools here in the UK. We are only a few weeks in so I cannot yet recommend this resource. So far, I like how this curriculum helps us consider different sources, and helps my student prepare for essay writing in the future. It’s open-and-go, but thorough, and my daughter loves it!

Geography

We have never completed Elementary Geography by Charlotte Mason, and I thought this book would be a nice read for both my children, one afternoon a week. We’ll then move onto Home Geography for Primary Grades by C.C. Long. We also tend to do a lovely cultural study with our Co Op each year.

Creative Interests

My daughter is completing an NCFE Level 2 Certificate in Creative Craft Cookery with Technology Triumphs. This is a two-year course which is a nationally recognised qualification, accepted by colleges and equivalent to a GCSE. She will be learning more about food safety, cooking every week and building up a portfolio for external assessment. The course requires her to follow specific briefs, develop recipes, plan projects, and evaluate her creations. I believe this course will require about four hours of work each week and my daughter is thrilled to be doing so much of what she loves!