A Sample Block Rotation of Main Lessons
for the School Year
Nature, Number
and Geometry I 3 weeks
Ancient Greek
History 3 weeks
The Physics of
Heat, Light and Sound 4 weeks
Rome: the
First Kings and the Republic 3 weeks
English
Grammar 3
weeks
Winter Break
Astronomy I 3 weeks
Rome: the
Empire of the Caesars
and
begin The Middle Ages 3 weeks
Nature,
Number, Geometry II
and Math
Practice 3 weeks
Mineralogy 4
weeks
Spring Break
History of the
Middle Ages (completed) 3weeks
Astronomy II
[and any remaining Physics ] 3-4 weeks
Math
for the 6th Grade
The math for 6th grade [ratios, percents, continued work with decimals, area and perimeter formulas, etc.] can be presented in a late morning after main lesson practice period two or three times weekly through the entire year.
We recommend the inexpensive Key Curriculum Press workbooks with teacher answer keys:
Key to Percents
Key to Decimals
Key to Measurement books 1 and 2 only
Available to order online
at keypress.com
Geography in
a Historical Context
In the fifth grade a formal survey of the
cultural and environmental regions of the North American continent was
introduced—geography was treated as a subject unto itself. But when we look at
the study of ancient civilizations, India, Persia, Mesopotamia, Egypt and
Greece that were also studied in fifth grade, then we gain a sense of wider
view of geography intimately connected with history. The student gained a geographical imagination of the civilizations
of the Mediterranean and the Fertile Crescent.
In this sixth grade year, within the context
of teaching ancient Greek history, Roman history and the Middle Ages, the
student will gain familiarity with all of Eurasia, for the empire of Alexander
moved eastward from Greece through Egypt, Persia, Mesopotamia, all the way to
the Indus Valley in India; whereas the Roman Empire spread westward from Rome
through what is now France and Spain, all the way to Great Britain. Then, in the later centuries of the Middle
Ages, the Mongols, native to the steppes in a huge region north of China
advanced from the far East into the interior of Europe and southward into
China, Southeast Asia, and India. When
studying the Middle Ages, we must also survey the Islamic expansion throughout
the Middle East, westward across northern Africa and then northward into Spain. A relief map of
Eurasia will be indispensible for teaching these blocks. In the sixth grade, the study of history is
also the study of geography.
But we must also consider the study of the plants in fifth grade, and the study of mineralogy in sixth grade. In this case a world map will allow one to point out regions of chalk and limestone deposits (the White Cliffs of Dover, the Juras) or granitic ranges (the Alps, Himalayas, etc.), the zones of forests that encircle the entire earth, jungle regions, arid deserts, etc.