At this point in their academic life, the sixth grader’s critical thinking skills begin to develop at a rapid rate. This type of thinking can analyze cause and effect and connect inner experience with the outer world in a profound manner. The stream of history planned for this year allows the students to acquire knowledge of people whose monuments still stand, and whose character still shapes our consciousness. A wide range of ancient civilizations are studied, along with the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
As research papers become a regular way of demonstrating acquired knowledge in a variety of subject matters, taking notes and outlining skills are introduced. Students learn how to compose a strong topic sentence, expand into a five-paragraph essay with the basic form of a bibliography. This year science may become one of the most language arts intensive subjects of the year. Topics such as: ecology, photosynthesis, soils, green plants, animal life cycles and systems of the human body, required the student to record, as objectively as possible, their observations in an ordered and precise manner using exact and descriptive writing.
The study of geometry affords the students with a spatial aspect of mathematics. The numeric aspect of mathematics is explored this year through a study of decimals and the conversion of decimals into fractions and back again. The students will learn to use all four processes with decimals, and many discover it is easier to work with decimals instead of fractions. This work is taken further with the introduction of percentages and business math.
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