A Closer Look at 6th Grade Charlotte Mason Curriculum
Do you have a sixth grader you’d like to homeschool using a Charlotte Mason-inspired curriculum? Well, Resurrection to Reformation is a Charlotte Mason-inspired, complete, literature-based, Christ-centered curriculum written specifically for 10 to 12 year-olds. It works well for 6th grade and includes all your student needs for a complete year of Charlotte Mason-style curriculum! Let’s take a look at this inspirational 6th grade Charlotte Mason curriculum!
A Charlotte Mason Living Books’ Approach to History
Told in story form, Heart of Dakota’s Resurrection to Reformation provides students with chronological and narrative overview of history from Christ’s Resurrection to the Reformation. In this 6th grade Charlotte Mason curriculum, students learn of the Good News after Christ’s Resurrection, the struggles and growth of the developing church, and the transformation of the world from the Dark Ages, through the Middle Ages, to the Renaissance. Next, children learn of the upheaval and redesign of the church in the Reformation, and the global mapping of the world as it was discovered in the Age of Exploration. As students ‘travel’ chronologically through history, they chronicle their journey by keeping a timeline in a beautiful, full-color notebook. Very Charlotte Mason-inspired!
Full of ‘can’t put them down’ books, Resurrection to Reformation’s history weaves an exciting coherent and memorable timeline. Just as Charlotte Mason advocated, students at this age should begin reading a portion of their history independently. The Story of the Middle Ages, Famous Men of the Middle Ages, The Mystery of History: Vol. III , and more provide the perfect Charlotte Mason-style books for students to read independently. However, students aren’t the only ones that get to have fun reading Charlotte Mason-style books! Parents enjoy reading aloud the Charlotte Mason-inspired Storytime set of books. So, together, students and parents read Charlotte Mason-style living books to make this time period come to life!
A Charlotte Mason Approach to Geography and to Independent History Study
Just as Charlotte Mason matched geography lessons to the historical time period, Resurrection to Reformation’s geography matches its time period as well. Map Trek and the World History Atlas correspond with living book history readings to further bring the time period to life. Students complete this geography study independently, creating colorful maps that help them see how history was impacted by the geography of the times.
Resurrection to Reformation’s Independent History Study uses What in the World? Volume 2; Draw and Write Through History: The Vikings, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance; Gabriel and the Hour Book; and Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare to further make this time period come to life! Audio presentations, copywork of quotes and verses, notebook entries, sketching, mapping, and labeling famous works of art are all Charlotte Mason-inspired history-themed parts of the plans!
A Charlotte Mason Optional Living Books Approach to Shakespeare
Resurrection to Reformation gives students the option to complete a Shakespeare study with Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare. This living book provides an age-appropriate introduction to Shakespeare that helps students find success with the more in-depth Shakespeare readings later in high school. Beautiful, full-color notebooking assignments accompany the Shakespeare readings. They leave students with a lovely keepsake of copywork of Shakespeare’s most famous quotes, and notebook pages they have neatly colored of accompanying artwork. Click here to read more on thoughts about reading Shakespeare!
A Charlotte Mason Living Books’ Approach to Science, Literature, and Composition
Resurrection to Reformation features a unique, Charlotte Mason living books approach to earth science that integrates notebooking, narration, relevant Scriptures, and hands-on experiments. The science study is written directly to the student, helping them learn to follow written directions and gain independence. As students delve into earth science, they will find what they learn matches up with the Bible. Students explore God’s intricate design for our planet, the solar system, and the universe. A hands-on approach to experiments makes science come to life right along with the living books’ readings!
With Drawn into the Heart of Reading, students read captivating books, explore nine different genres, learn common story elements, discover Godly character traits, and complete fun activities. This flexible literature program will help your 5th grader become passionate about books, while still teaching necessary reading skills. Based on clear instructions and engaging activities, this innovative program will work with any literature. You can choose your own books, or use our engaging Level 5/6 or 6/7 Book Packs instead!
A Charlotte Mason’s living books approach recognizes the importance of connecting composition to the history theme! Resurrection to Reformation’s composition program follows Charlotte Mason’s advice by linking composition to history with IEW’s Medieval History-Based Writing Lessons. This teacher’s guide and student book combo gives your knights and fair damsels a tour through the Medieval World. As they work through these writing lessons, they use sources that touch on major Medieval and Renaissance themes. This 6th grade Charlotte Mason curriculum takes a beautiful living books’ approach virtually every subject it can!
Oral and Written Narrations
Oral and written narrations provide important Charlotte Mason assessments, and Resurrection to Reformation’s plans include both! Just as Charlotte Mason recommended, only narrative, living books provide the basis for narrating. In response to their independent history living books’ readings, students write 8-12 sentence written narrations and use the Written Narration Tips to edit their narrations. At the start, the guide narrows down the focus of the narration to just a portion of the history reading, but as students progress through the guide written narrations focus upon the whole Reading About History daily reading. This helps students incrementally learn to narrate upon lengthier living books’ readings. Likewise, students work through the Written Narration Tips one at a time when they are editing. This helps sixth grade students develop strong written narration skills!
In response to the history-based living books read aloud for Storytime, students rotate through orally narrating, finding vivid descriptions, locating new vocabulary, identifying plot twists, recognizing strong moods, copying great lines, and watching for life lessons. Students record their findings on index cards. These fresh responses teach a wide variety of skills alongside narration! Students also alternate between oral narrations and written narrations in response to their living books’ science readings! This variety keeps narration fresh and fun, and also teaches different styles of oral and written narration skills. This 6th grade Charlotte Mason curriculum helps students learn to successfully narrate in both oral and written form!
Charlotte Mason’s Method of Dictation and Grammar
In Resurrection to Reformation, the Charlotte Mason method of studied dictation is used. In this method, students study the passage prior to having it dictated. This is an important step in learning to visualize the correct spelling of words. All items in the passage must be written correctly, including punctuation marks, before going on to the next passage. Studied dictation focuses on the goal of using correct spelling within the context of writing. Multiple levels of dictation are provided, so you can place your student properly. Rod and Staff English instruction is also included to teach students proper grammar.
Handwriting/Copywork, Common Place Books, Scripture Memorization, Poetry, and Art Appreciation
Inspirational daily practice of handwriting is scheduled from a variety of excellent copywork sources. Students keep a Charlotte Mason-inspired Common Place Book in which they copy anything which is timeless, memorable, or worthy of rereading. It is for copying text and not for original writing. Bible verses, classic poetry, and memorable quotes are written in the Common Place Book in Resurrection to Reformation. In their Bible Quiet Time, students memorize all of Philippians 1 through repetition, copywork, and music. Students also copy all of Philippians 1 in their Common Place Books. Two days in each unit focus on a devotional study about becoming a Godly young man or woman. This devotional Bible study teaches the habit of meeting with the Lord.
A different classic poem written by Emily Dickinson is studied in each unit. Each poem was chosen for its enduring quality and its ability to withstand the test of time. This Charlotte Mason-inspired poetry study includes the introduction of unfamiliar vocabulary, questions and discussion related to the meaning of the poem, lessons focusing on poetic devices, memorization of previously studied poems, and copywork of selected poems in students’ beloved Common Place Books.
Finally, this sixth grade curriculum includes a Charlotte Mason-inspired picture study. Looking at Pictures combines clear entertaining prose, imaginative layouts, and stunning color reproductions of some of the world’s greatest paintings to teach children to enjoy and respond to art. Through picture study, according to Charlotte Mason, Children learn not merely to see a picture but “to look at it”, taking in every detail (Vol. 6, p. 214-215). Beautiful full-color prints from Looking at Pictures or from the “Art Gallery” provided in the back of Resurrection to Reformation’s Student Book provide the lovely artwork for this study.
In Christ,
Julie
