Sixth Grade: The Student and the Curriculum

Sixth graders have taken a step out of the golden age of childhood and are perched on the edge of turbulent adolescence as they labor to bring forth their individuality. Their skeletal systems are active as limbs lengthen and bones harden. Students experience earthliness, finding the force of gravity strong and their movements awkward and angular. All of this makes sixth graders ready to learn about the laws that govern the earth. As they foray into physics, dig into the earth in geology, work with the polarities of black and white in drawing, or journey with the lawfulness and passions of Rome, their desire for facts, for understanding causalities in the world, and for meeting their own moods are addressed.

Students write practical works, including business letters, formal multi-paragraph essays, and short reports, learning the forms our community has agreed on to help convey meaning clearly. Their idealism is fed as they work with the subjunctive tense, that which expresses what is desired but is yet to be realized. The students delve into the almost anatomical structure of the English language as they analyze the parts of a sentence and diagram them.

In business math students come to see the laws that govern our economy and the means by which our needs are met. They experience the discipline of numbers as they calculate percentages and ratios as well as study the relationships among fractions, decimals, and percentages. Discipline is also required as they work with the precise tools of geometry. The figures they create are studied for the numeric laws the forms embody. Students begin using textbooks in their skill lessons for consistent math practice.

In history, the class is immersed in the world of Rome with its discipline and lawfulness that allowed Rome to dominate the world. The students embrace the feeling, “I can do anything!” Yet, an implicit moral lesson lies in their witnessing the excess that led to Rome’s decline, giving birth to Christianity and the Dark Ages. Students begin to understand how differences in geography help shape the lives of people. As their own individuality emerges, the capacity to see the unique qualities of others also develops. The Mediterranean world is then contrasted with Central and South America.

The science curriculum includes both geology and physics. As students study mineralogy, the formation of rocks and crystals is a point of awe and wonder that reflects the beautiful process of bone formation taking place in their own bodies. In physics, students focus on observation rather than assumptions, allowing the observations to reveal the natural, lawful ordering of the phenomenon. Physics includes a beginning look at acoustics, optics, and magnetism.

Grade 6 Morning Lesson Blocks: Rome, Christianity and Islam, Middle Ages, Geography of South America, Physics (sound, warmth, light, magnetism, tribo-electrics), Geology, Business Math, Ratios and Proportions, Geometric Constructions, Class Play

Grade 6 Trips: Caving Camping, High Ropes Course