Post Elementary Homeschooling: Can I Teach My Sixth Grader?
As a young homeschooler, I always thought teaching elementary ages would be fun and easy. We could spend our days reading great books, exploring outside, crafting models of historic places, and baking treats while doing math.
But as my children began to mature, I noticed lots of changes that affected the way they learned. And I felt unprepared to teach them more intense academics.
Well, it turns out that post-elementary homeschooling is not difficult…it’s just different. And because your 6th-grade students are beginning to mature, I believe homeschooling during this time is one of the best ways to meet their needs.
You see, in the elementary years, children absorb and discover the world around them. Just imagine taking a walk with a three-year-old. It takes twice as long because you’re stopping to watch a butterfly in the bushes or to pick up every. single. stick.
They are building visual and motor skills as they walk, run, spin, and skip. This helps them develop basic neural pathways. Elementary children understand concrete facts. A dog is always a dog. Ice cubes are always cold. They need boundaries to learn proper behavior: Knocking over your brother’s block tower is not kind. Always be gentle when hugging your younger sister. Outside voices are for outside.
Academically, they learn the three R’s. All the other subjects during these years are a means of reinforcing reading, writing, and logic skills.
But what about after elementary school? How do we meet their changing needs?
Physically
Physically, their brains are extensively growing, building more connections. They make their brains work harder by standing up or dancing while doing math at the kitchen table. They sit upside down on the couch to read. Body movement creates nerve pathway “ruts” to help them learn.
Physical growth gets a jump start, too. Your sixth grader will need more sleep. Their body rhythms will change from being early risers to becoming nocturnal beings! They’ll eat more. They’ll start to smell, requiring more hygiene discussions. They are becoming adults.
Homeschooling lets you adjust your students’ schoolwork so they can get the extra sleep they need. You can do the more challenging school subjects mid- to late-morning or early afternoon when they are most alert. Because learning is different for each child, give them lots of ways to learn. Use flash cards, encourage drawing, change up where you do school, or set information to music. Help them discover the way they best learn (background music, audiobooks, drawing while listening, etc.).
Mentally
Mentally, post-elementary children can grasp more abstract ideas that involve feelings or bigger issues. They’ll bring up topics such as compassion or justice. Don’t be insulted if they say, “I don’t think that is right.” They are becoming adults and behaving like the Bereans in Acts 17, who tested everything Paul said against the Truth.
Because their brains are still developing, they still benefit from hands-on experiences regardless of their learning style, so let them explore. Go outside, build models, and cook. Look for experiences to volunteer, explore the arts, do science camps, and play sports. Pray for direction and know that God will open the doors for what they need. These experiences expose them to the world and help them understand how God beautifully made them and has given them unique skills, interests, and abilities.
This also provides more experience to take what they know and use it to connect to what they are learning. Academic analogies are useful because they require students to analyze something and then transfer that information to a familiar concept. For example, helping them understand the hard-to-grasp idea of air resistance can be as simple as imagining air molecules as a crowd of people, while a football player versus a toddler moves through them. The molecules resist movement differently based on each “object.”
Teach in smaller time increments. Studies show that sixth graders learn best when taking in six to seven bits of information in ten-minute portions. They need small bites to process.
If you need to back up to cover difficult concepts, don’t think of it as remediation. It’s a review. You’re building “brain muscle” the same way repetitive workouts keep muscles strong.
Challenge them in small bits and praise their successes. Small successes motivate.
Emotionally and Spiritually
Emotionally and spiritually, students may lose their excitement for learning, asking, “Why do I need to know this?” During this time, character development— such as honesty, selflessness, perseverance, and work ethic—becomes a key focus. Homeschooling offers the perfect setting for regular, natural conversations on these topics.
Reengage them by resetting their brains. Intersperse work with movement, grabbing a quick healthy snack, swinging on the swing set, or watching a short video clip of a comedian your family loves. Explain the purpose behind what you are studying. Try to connect the topic to what they like. For example, physics plays an important role in sports. Give students options to use colored or grid paper to stimulate their minds and help them focus.
They will be growing more independent, which is something we as parents are working toward – but that means they might start challenging you by saying, “This is not fair.”
To them, things will seem bigger, harder, or overwhelming. Remember, because of the internet and social media, even if your children spend little time around screens, there is more information than ever before floating around the world, and they are likely exposed to every headline. (Just know they hear you talking, even when you don’t realize it.)
They are asking bigger questions as they start to develop a faith of their own and build a personal relationship with God. Be available to talk with them when they have those questions. And let me warn you ahead of time that it might just be when you’re ready to go to bed. That’s when their brains seem to be very active!
Academically
Academically, these are the years to build solid grammar and vocabulary skills. Read good books. Because they are able to be more independent, let them have a choice of books (that you preselect). That builds ownership of their education. Allow their input on the curriculum you choose.
For math and science, continue to use lots of hands-on materials. Sixth-grade minds learn best when they can explore, see what happens, and ask questions about what’s next. Help them solidify math facts and understand fractions and simple equations. They are training their brains for problem solving – that’s why we have to learn this!
Give them a week’s worth of assignments for a subject and let them take control of when they do it. If the assignments are not completed by an agreed-upon date, then prepare consequences. That way, they will build time management skills as you give them suggestions for how to carry out what needs to be done.
Introduce study skills and notetaking. Additionally, teach computer skills, such as typing, PowerPoint, and spreadsheets. If they are college-directed, then they will also benefit from learning test-taking strategies.
Conclusion
You can homeschool your sixth grader. Discovering how they are beautifully designed by God and how they best learn gives you clues to tailor their education. Even better, it makes them aware of the unique purpose God has for them today and in the future!
