The  Christopherus  Curriculum

A Rough Guide to  

Seventh Grade  by  Donna  Simmons  

Christopherus  Homeschool  Resources  PO  Box  231  

Viroqua,  WI,  54665   608-­‐606-­‐0855

www.christopherushomeschool.com

Donna Simmons 1 Copyright © 2017

A Rough Guide to Seventh Grade Welcome to our Rough Guide to Seventh Grade. We are in the midst of increasing our offerings to waldorf homeschoolers with middle grades children. This Rough Guide has therefore changed dramatically since its creation, as was the original intention. Our thinking about how lessons flow and grow out of one another over the years has changed since our original Rough Guide was created—so this new (summer 2017) version is very different.

Our website and offerings for those homeschooling middle grades students is also changing –please refer frequently to the Christopherus website to see what new offerings we might have!

Don’t forget to visit our Amazon Store where you can purchase most of the books referred to in the following pages.

Before you read through this document, please go to our Rough Guide for Sixth Grade and open it or print it out for reference. We have not copied or rewritten most of the notes on schedules, teaching and other practical matters as much of what goes for sixth grade pertains to seventh grade as well.

Rhythm and form continue to be important. Having said that, if you are like most homeschoolers of children of this age, your homeschooling experience with your older child might look very little like what you did in earlier grades. Many of the forms and rhythms of earlier years are gone as your child works more independently and also might take classes with other teachers and/or even study together with other homeschoolers of the same age.

Bearing that in mind, do however, create some sort of “in-breath” and “out-breath” in your schedule, something. I speak of in great detail throughout our various publications. Working with your larger family schedule, there should be definite lesson times; definite study/reading and independent work times; and definite school times which involve other siblings or other children such as a co-op.

Remember, too, to find a healthy balance between the various components of your child’s education: language arts, math, crafts and handwork, science, movement, music and other hands-on work (such as cooking) as well as art. I hesitate to include “art” in this list because, ideally, artistic work should be a main way that all lessons are approached, whether through specific artistic projects (such as a mural or painting) or through the creation of main lesson books. However, for many homeschoolers, finding a specific time “for art”, especially if a child now takes art lessons, it important. And don’t feel guilty about that — in most Waldorf schools there is a specialty art teacher who works with children in the upper grades.

Do consider purchasing our Audio Download on 7th and 8th Grade as you plan this year and beyond

Donna Simmons 2 Copyright © 2017

Language Arts

Like last year, we suggest that you schedule one 1 hour lesson and two 30 minute lessons per week, instead of three 30 minute periods as in past years. This will give you and your child a longer uninterrupted period during which you can work in-depth on a paper and discuss relevant points about grammar, spelling or so on. During the shorter lessons your child can work in a workbook or copy things into his English Notebook as in past years.

Remember, you will also have plenty of time to address language arts issues during most of your main lessons.

Poems/Verses Find suitable poems or verses for your child to memorize this year. Excerpts from speeches made by appropriate historical figures or excerpts from plays (such as Shakespeare) or other historical documents are possible alternatives. Some can be copied into main lesson books. Try to ensure that your child has an opportunity to memorize at least one really long piece this year.

You should also write poetry with your child. Don’t get too bogged down with the forms — save sonnets and quatrains and some of the trickier kinds of poems for high school. Having said that, it is fine to draw your child’s attention to how different poems are constructed. Pay attention to meter, rhythm, rhythm, and use of language. But when it comes to actually writing poetry, keep it simple. Writing for 100 Days, which we sell in the Christopherus Bookstore, contains lessons on writing poems.

Oral Reports Make sure your child has an opportunity to give at least one oral report this year. If possible, this should be given to a small audience. Your child should not read aloud a paper he has written, but should be able to speak clearly and in a lively and comfortable way about a subject. He should have a clear ending and beginning. If your child gave an oral report last year, discuss what he did and discuss together how this year’s oral report can be even better.

Read Aloud (child) Your child should continue to read aloud to you — 15 minutes once every two weeks should be sufficient.

Read Aloud (you) Ideally you should read aloud to your child every day. If you have more than one child, most reading should geared more toward the younger children though it would be good to have occasionally times when you are reading grade appropriate material just to your seventh grader. This simply does not always work out in all families! Don’t think that read aloud is only for young children — this is something that can be an important part of your family life all the way through the teen years!

Donna Simmons 3 Copyright © 2017

Reading Here is just a sprinkling of books for your child to read to herself or for you to read to her. Please also check our Amazon Store page Great Read Alouds Age 12 — 14 for more suggestions.

One of the real challenges for parents with really good readers of this age is finding appropriate books. A question to ask oneself is “Just because he can read it, should he read it?” Your child is still that — a child. Everything around one conspires to rush a child out of this critical phase of life — don’t close your eyes to what your child reads. Continue to monitor his reading and to keep boundaries. I know how hard this is as my elder son especially had both the ability and the inclination to read material unsuitable for his age. But it is worth it in the long run.

Spelling Devise worksheets and various exercises to support weaknesses in spelling; have occasional or weekly spelling “Bees”; play games such as Boggle, Quiddler, Scrabble; address most spelling issues via correcting of student writing together. If your child would benefit from an orderly spelling program, do consider Spectrum workbooks. Have a look at the books for fifth and sixth grade as well as seventh. And do be aware that the books include other language arts lessons which might not blend smoothly with the approach you’ve taken with your child thus far.

Spelling Made Simple by Stephen V. Ross or Painless Spelling by Mary Elizabeth Podhaizer are decent resources for you, the teacher, to ensure that you cover an orderly progression of spelling lessons if that is what you feel your child needs. The latter book also has a few rather interesting ways to approach spelling. But…these books are for you — not for your child as far as I’m concerned! Use with care!

Donna Simmons 4 Copyright © 2017

Writing Science reports; creative descriptions and narratives; copying your writing or that of an author’s; dictation; writing summaries from history lessons or of stories you tell or your child reads; working together to write short pieces as well as a couple of biographies.

This year pay special attention to use of dialogue; and ensuring your child is sensitive to point of view both when reading and writing.

Seventh graders in Waldorf schools usually have a main lesson called Wish, Wonder and Surprise, which focuses on creative writing. We have not scheduled this as a main lesson because I think it is not something which can take place in such long periods of time at home — it is a classroom exercise and many of the things which make up the main lesson need a group of children to carry properly. However, it is important that you bring the elements and purpose of this main lesson to your child this year. Just weave in Wish, Wonder, Surprise elements into language arts lessons or into writing assignments for other main lessons.

Here is a great article by Betty Staley on this main lesson:

http://www.waldorflibrary.org/Journal_Articles/wish.pdf

Waldorf teacher Dorit Winter’s book, The Art and Science of Teaching Composition is available from our Bookstore.

You might also like to work more purposefully with writing this year with your child. We strongly suggest you consider Writing For 100 Days which we also carry.

Using a dictionary and thesaurus Be sure that your child has reason, on occasion, to consult a dictionary and thesaurus. Review how to use these tools.

Abbreviations and Contractions Your child should know what common abbreviations and contractions stand for when he encounters them in reading and should be able to use them appropriately when writing.

Letter-writing As in past years, make sure your child has several opportunities to write to businesses, perhaps requesting a catalogue or for other reasons. These should be proper letters, not emails. Knowing how to graciously write thank you and other letters and cards should also be part of every child’s education.

Donna Simmons 5 Copyright © 2017

Grammar Review the four types of sentences, parts of speech; antonyms, homonyms and synonyms; use of possessives; capitalization and punctuation; verb tenses; and the use of active and passive voice from last year. Move ahead with work on verb phrases and awareness of the use of linking verbs; compound sentences; direct and indirect objects; subject and predicate; and the use of speech marks in dialogue. Draw your child’s attention to the use of quotations in books you read or look at but do not expect him to be able to use quotes or examples in his writing yet. These are all subjects you might have covered last year — there is no need to rush through grammar. Review as necessary and move ahead slowly. Always take care not to kill a child’s grace and ease with language by too heavy a focus on the mechanics — eg grammar — of language.

If you are a bit rusty on grammar rules and so on yourself, it might be a good idea for you to get a good guide for your own use. Everything You Need to Know About English Homework by Anne Zeman and Kate Kelly is one such possibility, but with a strong caveat that this book is for your use and do not give it to your child for her own use. Further, please do NOT think that you should subject your child to any of the paragraph building exercises outlined. Really, you should just ignore the sections on writing (and that holds for just about every other writing/composition book on the market except for books by Gabriel Aquilevich which we sell in the Christopherus Bookstore). But you might find this book useful to brush up on your own

English skills (do you know what an adverbial phrase is?) and to become aware of what otherly-educated children are doing. This book is also a good guide to help you see what areas of language arts you might or might not have yet covered.

Grammar Skills grades 6-8 by Rosemary Allen (World Teachers Press) is ok. The graphics are pretty horrible and some of the exercises are pretty dumb but it covers the bases and so could be a good guide for you as you design better exercises for your child.

Grammar Practice Simplified books E and F from Essential Learning Products is also okish and could be helpful.

Donna Simmons 6 Copyright © 2017

Vocabulary For the past years of your child’s Waldorf education, you have mainly relied on the richness of the literature you have read to her, your conversations together and your writing together as the basis for the growth and richness of your child’s vocabulary. These things continue to be the main vehicle for an expanded vocabulary, one which far surpasses that found in most public school children. However, this year you can formalize this a bit and have your child start to study vocabulary as vocabulary.

This year there is no need for a text — next year you can start to use an actual vocabulary program. This year, simply pull words from various lessons and make sure that your child learns what these words mean. You might have done this last year if you used our Roman History and Medieval History books. Now it is up to you to figure out which words would be good ones for your child to learn. Five words a week for, say 3 weeks at a time and then no vocabulary for the next 3 or 4 weeks should be plenty.

Take care that your child does not simply memorize the definition of the words! Unless he can use them properly in a sentence, there is absolutely no point in studying lists of vocabulary words! So make sure that the way you teach the words and the way you quiz him on it is focused on using the words correctly in sentences.

In our seventh grade science publications (A Year of Astronomy, Chemistry: the Four Elements; and Human Physiology) we take great pains to emphasize that children of this age need to appreciate and learn the vocabulary of science as appropriate to their studies.

Donna Simmons 7 Copyright © 2017

History

If you haven’t already, you might also want to give some thought to what general history resources you have in your family library as these books will become increasingly important in the years to come. I highly recommend the multi-volume The Story of Civilization by Will and Ariel Durant. Though not all parts of the world get the treatment they deserve, these books are some of the most brilliant, entertaining, scholarly yet accessible history books available.

I do not recommend Susan Wise Bauer’s history books as they bring an unfortunate triviality and lack of depth to the retelling of history, though they are quite popular with homeschoolers.

You could also think about getting a couple of history textbooks. You can get second hand ones from Amazon or sometimes local public schools sell their outdated (ie a few years old and usually in good condition!) textbooks for very reasonable prices. I suggest you get one middle grades text and one high school text and that you use these to give yourself the background and chronology that you need. Seventh graders are too young to have history spoiled for them by the dry or, conversely, hokey, ways that modern textbooks approach history. Remember, from a Waldorf perspective we are treating history as story, as narrative and as the adventures and misadventures of individuals. Mass movements, cause and effect and a concern with dates is for high school. And text books are never used by students for a subject such as history in Waldorf schools – and that includes high school.

The two main books for you to use, both sold in the Christopherus Bookstore, are The Age of Discovery and The Age of Revolution, by Charles Kovacs. There is some overlap in these books both with what was done last year and what you will do in eighth grade. Indeed, the second title, The Age of Revolution, is mainly for eighth grade though is still useful and relevant this year. You can use them as the basis for your own narrative or you can read them to your child. If you do the latter, you can supplement and add in further information as the narratives Kovacs provides, while warmth-filled and true to how a Waldorf teacher would spin his tales, are rather thin. What is missing from Kovacs’ books is the context for the stories. My assumption is that he did indeed give his class a much fuller picture of what he was talking about but that this did not make it into his books. So you will have to supplement.

Donna Simmons 8 Copyright © 2017

Geography

This year’s focus is on Latin America, Asia and Africa. In past years, assuming you used our curriculum, you touched on places in these areas. You may have studied Mexico, China and Northern Africa. In your first days of this main lesson, start with reviewing what you did before and go from there.

Then move on to looking at the land itself and making maps. A map of Central and South America would be good, as well as a map of Africa. Look at the huge land mass of Eurasia and discuss where and why the divisions between the two “continents” can be found.

This year is the year to learn about longitude and latitude and finding one’s way with maps. Try your hand at making a few navigational tools as well during either this block or during astronomy (refer to From Nature Stories to Natural Science for resource ideas). Make sure to keep the connection between geography, navigation, history and astronomy alive and vivid!

Go back in history and explore the ancient city states of Zimbabwe, the Aztecs and Incas and pre-European Japan. You won’t have much time to do this but it is important that your child knows that there were vibrant cultures in these parts of the world before the Europeans reached them.

Do also remember to read through the geography section in the Rough Guide to Sixth Grade for further ideas.

Donna Simmons 9 Copyright © 2017

Handwork, Crafts and Art

Please refer to the overview of our Handwork Curriculum to see a flow from one year to the next and to check if you missed anything that might benefit your child.

You really are on your own with such subjects now. Those of you who are gifted at handwork, making complex crafts or who are artists will be able to teach your own children. But most of you will need to enlist the help of others in your community. You might be lucky enough to have a Waldorf handwork teacher who will give your child lessons or you might find some other craftsperson or local artist who is also skilled at working with children. In the latter case, you will need to compromise in terms of the curriculum as that person will have his or her own ideas about what to teach and their own skills. That’s the adventure of homeschooling an older child!

In a fully staffed Waldorf school (and those are rare) your child would be having lessons in woodwork, following on from work begun in sixth grade. This year, carving a bowl would be an important project.

A wonderful resource with some clear directions for various woodworking and other craft projects is Educating the Will by Michael Howard. This book also gives profound insight into some of the deepest and most significant aspects of Waldorf education. It is absolutely brilliant.

Making jewelry and complex origami are also possibilities.

In handwork, the exact curriculum varies somewhat from one to school to the next. We recommend that you knit a pull-over vest with your child as well as make an apron (boys can make manly full aprons, the kind men wear when barbequing or they can make a more feminine apron as a gift if they baulk at this project). Embroidery is also a good project this year and patterns can arise from form drawing or geometry. Learning About the World through Modeling by Arthur Auer and Painting in Waldorf Education by Dick Bruin and Attie Lichthart continue to be your main resources for these two disciplines. Do remember that there are sections on drawing in the latter book, including specific lessons for seventh grade.

Using art books is also possible, but probably only works for those who basically know what they are doing or have taken a few art lessons. Here are a few books which you might find helpful. None are “Waldorf” as there isn’t any Waldorf art book I can recommend other than the ones above:

Sketching and Drawing for Children, Genevieve Vaughan-Jackson Drawing: A Complete Course, Lucy Davidson Rosenfeld The Complete Book of Drawing, Barrington Barber

Donna Simmons 10 Copyright © 2017

Science

The main science subjects this year are astronomy, chemistry, and human physiology.

Here are links to articles on the Waldorf library website (and there are many more to find if you have the time to really go through all the Waldorf science teaching journals): http://www.waldorflibrary.org

Okay — so if I was to choose one of these articles as the most important, as the one that you MUST read if you want to approach a Waldorf way to teach and think about science, then it’s this one, by the amazing Craig Holdrege of the Nature Institute: http://www.janushead.org/8-1/Holdrege.pdf

I strongly recommend that you read the above articles and take your time in digesting them. The Waldorf approach to science is fundamentally different from the way science is taught in conventional education in many significant ways. I also strongly suggest that you purchase my audio download on Goethean (ie Waldorf) science:

Christopherus Audio Downloads

I also strongly recommend that you purchase our science book, From Nature Stories to Natural Science to get a good picture of the flow and context for middle grades science.

Astronomy

Our new astronomy materials will be available Fall 2017. We are very excited about these. Basically, we ave decided that as we are homeschoolers, why should we take a subject like astronomy, which does not lend itself to being taught in a school setting anyway…and then compress into a main lesson or two!

Instead, what you will find in this resource is all the information and guidance you need to work with your child for a whole year, experiencing the movement of the visible stars and planets as they travel across the sky where you are.

Further, as the history of astronomy is the history of the change in human consciousness from oneness with the Cosmos to bystander consciousness that does not include the human being, we also take you and your child on a journey from a geocentric approach to the Heavenly Bodies to a heliocentric approach whilst never losing the wonder and awe that all people, no matter what their perspective, feel when standing before the glories of the nightsky.

Donna Simmons 11 Copyright © 2017

To reap the full benefit of these materials, you can either begin them at the very end of sixth grade (you need to have worked on latitude and longitude and basic information about how the sun, for instance, move before beginning the astronomy work—our sixth grade Earth Science provides what you need and can be used in seventh grade of course, if your science work has been a bit thin) and carry on throughout seventh grade; or begin at the very first days of seventh grade and end at the commencement of eighth.

Refer to the Christopherus Bookstore for more information!

Chemistry: The Four Elements

It can be a real struggle for homeschoolers to find in-depth chemistry resources for use at home—and if one takes a Waldorf approach, it is just about impossible. As with sixth grade physics, chemistry suffers from a classroom dominated approach—even conventional homeschoolers can find this tough. And all the great waldorf resources that are available on these subjects written by waldorf teachers—well, they assume a well-equipped lab!

Now Christopherus is able to provide Waldorf homeschoolers with much needed science materials that are true to the subject matter (ie not tinkering with toys or hokey kits); arise out of a Waldorf/Goethean approach and can be done at home!

Our seventh grade chemistry materials should be available Fall 2017. We approach chemistry by picking up on themes touched on, left to sleep, and touched on again, in third, fourth, fifth and sixth grades in our Christopherus curriculum. Now in seventh grade, it is time to really learn about the properties of water, earth, air and fire—and how these four elements are the foundation for further studies not only of chemistry, but of any deep knowledge of the world.

Human Physiology

Our seventh grade human physiology materials should be ready Winter 2017/Spring 2018. I am still formulating what exactly they will be focused on, but it is likely that they will be concerned with a holistic appreciation of how the circulatory, digestive and reproductive systems work together. Either this year or in the second part of human physiology in eighth grade, we will also look at the twelve senses and at making healthy life choices. There will also be a focus on cycles of life, covering birth through death.

Donna Simmons 12 Copyright © 2017

Mathematics and Geometry

Make sure you begin by having a quick peek at our Christopherus overview of math through the grades

The main subjects for seventh grade math are fractions, percentages and decimals; the Pythagorean Theorem; taking first steps in calculating volume as well as the area of irregular shapes; powers and square roots; algebra; proportion, the Golden Mean and the Fibonacci series.

Here is a wonderful article written by one of the original Waldorf school teachers on why we teach mathematics. Much food for thought: The Teaching of Mathematics by Hans Gerbert

And Star Polygons - Revealing Cosmic Laws, Ernst Muller, PhD is also a very useful article to read for your seventh grade math preparation.

Mathematics in Nature, Space and Time is the main text for 7th grade math. It has examples in it, but you’ll need a selection of Key To math workbooks for practice and drill, unless you are willing to create all the extra problems yourself!

Here is our guide to selecting the appropriate Key To books: A Guide to Key To Math Workbooks grades 6 - 8

You might also need String, Straightedge & Shadow which you may have used in fifth and sixth grade. It has sections on the Pythagorean theorem which is an important part of this year’s work. It depends entirely on how far your child progressed with geometry last year and how sure his grip on the material was (and how confident you are) whether you need this book or not. If in doubt, I strongly recommend you purchase it, if only for a good solid review of the material.

The Key To geometry books provide an introduction to proofs and to the language and a way of thinking necessary to be at ease with geometry. In Waldorf education, the beauty and grace of geometry are never forfeited. Here is a book which provides step-by-step guidance on how to construct a variety of beautiful geometric forms which you should work with if your child did not do this last year: Compass Drawings

This year your child needs both a protractor and a good compass for work as proofs and constructions are a major part of geometry. Make sure your child is equipped with high quality compass which does not slip once its position is set — the kind with the wheel work best.

Donna Simmons 13 Copyright © 2017

Here is a very useful collection of links to various websites with puzzles, work sheets and hands-on exercises for a variety of geometric exercises: http://42explore.com/geomet.htm

A challenge for geometry is to keep its beauty intact and not let it get too fragmented by the approach Key To (good as they might be) takes. You might like to consider these few thoughts:

The true goal of a study of geometry is to get closer to the universality of Truth, Beauty and Goodness.

Through a high level of thinking we meet each other in Truth — there is no difference of opinion or relativity here, only Truth. However, there are many ways to get to Truth.

Our souls delight in the Beauty of geometry, its grace, lawfulness and harmony.

The world is Good because it can be understood and because there is both Truth and Beauty in it.

Math Notes:

• Make sure your child learns this year, if she hasn’t already, that she must show all herwork! Yes, it is tedious and yes, some children get really upset about thisrequirement. But it is crucial for further success in math. Once your child gets intoreally complicated mathematics, she must be able to tell you how she worked out heranswer. And this means that she can then discover where she might have gone wrong.So many problems children have with math are directly due to sloppy work habits.Don’t let your child fall victim to this!

• The middle school years mark the beginning of a new phase in your child’seducation: she is now learning to think logically. She needs to learn to be systematicin her thinking and not simply rely on flashes of brilliance — which are wonderfulbut lead to a person being one-sided and therefore limited. Showing her work whenshe does her problems is one way of countering this. Another is insisting that she takea step by step approach with, for instance, learning the early steps in geometry.

• None of the resources we currently sell do much of a job providing word problemsand mental math. You must find other sources for this or devise such problemsyourself as they are an essential component of a strong middle grades math program.

Donna Simmons 14 Copyright © 2017

The following is reprinted (with a few relevant changes) from our Fifth Grade Syllabus and continues to be of use even in seventh grade :

Resources

Geometry for Every Kid, Janice Van Cleave Van Cleave’s books are universally adored by conventional homeschoolers. Me? Well… not adored by me. Grudgingly used and somewhat admired for the clearness of presentation — but definitely not adored. Van Cleave merrily chops up the various subjects she addresses in her books, failing to show any common thread or meaningful progression which unifies her subject matter, thereby draining a subject such as geometry of all its beauty and holistic majesty.

But she is a master at presenting her concepts very clearly and, because she breaks things down, in making a subject such as geometry appear manageable. So her books can be useful.

I recommend this book but only for you, the adult, the teacher. Read it through, brush up on your own understanding of geometry, and then figure out how you can teach some of what she brings in a more holistic and living way to your child. And I should also say that this book is quite useful for seventh grade when your child will be doing constructions and proofs (though these are thoroughly explained in the texts we are selling). Nevertheless, this book can be useful to those homeschooling parents who do not excel at geometry. And there are a couple of quite decent exercises and activities which she recommends which you might feel would benefit your child.

A Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe: the Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art and Science, Michael S. Schneider A wonderful, respectful and very clear guide to the mysteries of numbers and the forms (geometry) they create or express. This book will give you a new appreciation of the Quality of Numbers main lesson you taught your child way back in first grade! This is a wonderful book to help you really prepare inwardly for the teaching of geometry over the next several years.

15 Copyright © 2017 Donna Simmons

As mentioned elsewhere, do consider getting Claudia Zaslavsky’s lively and enjoyable books, Math Games and Activities from Around the World and More Math Games and Activities from Around the World. And now, finally, I can give the go-ahead for you to use graph paper, to trace or to use a compass as they suggest in the book, whereas in past years I said no way! Hopefully, by this point in your child’s education, she has had plentiful opportunity to use her eye and her free hand in copying geometric patterns and thus has already developed the capacity to orientate herself in space, an important reason for working with geometry (and form drawing).

All of the above books are available through our website. And while you’re on our website, do have a look at some of our other materials which might also be useful for your child as you create a math program for her this year.

Your child and you could create a simple puppet play from a story and perform it for some younger children. Or maybe your child would like to draw a series of pictures or make a diorama based on a scene from the book or stories. No need for a formal main lesson book.

Or your child and you could work on a piece of drama, hopefully with other children. That could also be a very good focus for these two weeks.

16 Copyright © 2017 Donna Simmons

Form Drawing

Form drawing came to a conclusion in fifth grade, when geometry took its place. However, if this is a discipline that really speaks to your child, then by all means find time to continue with it! One really good resource for very complex forms is Rudolf Kuntzli’s Creative Form Drawings.

Another way to continue with various elements of form drawing is to work with Geometric Patterns from Churches and Cathedrals which we sell. This book continues the work begum last year with the other two titles in the series, one on Roman mosaics, the other on Islamic art.

Try whenever possible to get your child to approach these drawings freehand. Though it is okay to use graph paper from time to time, one then loses some of the therapeutic benefits of form drawing. It is the inner picturing of the straight or curved lines and the discipline of the will to make those lines correctly which is so healthful.

Foreign Language, Movement/Sports, Social Studies, Health & Safety and Music

Please refer to the relevant section in the Rough Guide to Sixth Grade for guidance.

The only difference is in Social Studies – but, as in years’ past, you should have no trouble at all satisfying any requirements for social studies which your State (or Province or Territory) might have. Geography and history lessons should be ample. And if, here in the US, you need to prove study of that perennially popular subject, American History, simply point out that the star stories during Astronomy and portions of your history lessons were set in what became the USA.

Cooking

It would be ideal if this year you can tie a number of your Cooking lessons in with the theme of health and hygiene. This theme features in our Health & Safety section ( see the Sixth Grade Rough Guide ) as it is developmentally appropriate at a time when a child is really taking strong steps into the world and is becoming increasingly independent. No longer is it simply a case of a parent guiding choices and taking the lead — children of this age also need to have information as well as practical experience of healthy choices so that they can begin to create their lives themselves (though this is only a first step in that direction!).

Other LessonsOt

17 Copyright © 2017 Donna Simmons

During human physiology lessons your child will learn about how the digestive system works and also explore larger questions of health and healthy habits. Her cooking lessons this year should back this up.

If you look at how our cooking curriculum progresses (it is integrated with our science guide) you will see that this year’s main topic is fermented food. Take some time to make a range of fermented foods from a variety of cultures. Here are a couple of articles about the serious health benefits of fermented foods. They are easy to make and wonderful to eat!

https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/food-features/sauerkraut-the-miracle-cabbage/

https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/food-features/lacto-fermentation/

Lastly, in the afternoons during your geography main lesson don’t forget to explore the wonderful cuisines of countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America!