How to Homeschool Your 6-Year-Old

Around age 6, homeschooled children transition from pre-school to “real” school. However, that doesn’t have to mean hours of sitting at a desk with a workbook. Depending on the ideal educational method for your child, you can enjoy a literature-rich program, lots of hands-on activities, structured textbooks, or even a more relaxed style of learning from real-life experiences.

What Should a 6-Year-Old Learn?

Your 6-year-old should be learning the core subjects of reading, writing, math, and age-appropriate responsibilities. Each child will advance at their unique pace, and these skills will continue to mature for many years to come, but some of the basics they should begin to learn are:

• Mastering phonics
• Book reading fluency
• Sentence structure
• Able to write complete paragraphs
• Spelling phonograms and some sight words
• Addition and subtraction
• Using a clock/time management
• Simple chores
• Personal hygiene
• Dealing with big emotions

How to Start Homeschooling a 6-Year-Old

1. Comply with the law. If you are new to homeschooling, your first step to start homeschooling your 6-year-old is to learn the requirements. We recommend the Homeschool Legal Defense Association website, which has up-to-date information on the latest homeschooling laws in every state.
2. Become a student of your child. Assess their stage of development in all areas, including social, physical, emotional, and educational. Set learning objectives based on where your child is and where they can go over the next few months, knowing that at 6, children vary widely in their development, so no two will need exactly the same learning objectives in every area.
3. Good reading skills are crucial to academic success, so we suggest you prioritize mastering basic reading skills. Confident readers are confident, successful students. Use a research-backed, proven curriculum like All About Reading, which makes learning fun while giving you all the materials and guidance to teach your child with less effort on your part.

4. Consider setting up a dedicated learning space. While preschool tends to be informal, at the early elementary level, children are ready to be introduced to doing at least a little formal school work, and often, that means sitting at a table or desk for part of the day.
5. Continue to build your collection of hands-on activities, including math manipulatives, art materials, maps, simple science experiments, and even a home library if the budget allows.
6. Create a schedule. If you have never homeschooled, now is the time to introduce structured learning time into your days. Setting aside specific time for learning ensures it gets done daily. 6-year-olds can do up to 15 minutes of focused time per subject. Work on building up to 20 or even 30-minute blocks by the end of the school year.
7. Know your child’s internal rhythms and plan your day to take advantage of their best learning times. Sticking with a structured and consistent daily agenda is best, but your schedule does not have to mimic the public school’s. If your child can focus well at 7:30 in the morning, you can do math even before breakfast.
8. Keep your schedule flexible. Life will interfere. Just as public school children have their day interrupted by fire drills, special assemblies, teacher workshop days, and more, homeschool education will have interruptions as well. Making plans no more than a month in advance will give you room to adjust lesson plans when disruptions slow down your progress.
9. Decide on a curriculum approach. 6-year-olds do not require an all-in-one boxed curriculum unless that fits your child’s needs best. A relaxed, activity-based method will work best for many active young children. Each child has their own personality and learning style, which will continue to develop as they grow. We suggest a flexible approach to choosing curriculum that considers your child’s unique needs rather than limiting yourself to whatever is popular.

How to Create a Homeschool Curriculum for a 6-Year-Old

When creating a homeschool curriculum for a 6-year-old, the early elementary years can be a bit more relaxed for some subjects. The focus should be on the essential skills for reading, spelling, and math. Other topics are necessary but not as crucial. For example, you can approach art, science, and social studies more informally.

Reading. Learning to read is a primary focus in the early elementary years because reading is fundamental to all other subjects. Your child should master phonics, if they haven’t already, to prepare them for exceptional reading comprehension. The goal at this age is literacy, defined as competence in the foundational skills needed to read well. For this reason, a mastery-based program like All About Reading will help ensure your child has no gaps in their literacy.

Spelling. Many, but not all, children are ready to start spelling lessons by 6. It is wise to assess your child’s readiness before starting a spelling program so they don’t get frustrated and burned out attempting material too advanced for them. Take the guesswork out of finding the correct spelling level for your child with this easy spelling placement test.

Math. In addition to counting to 100, a 6-year-old should begin with addition and subtraction and learn to tell time. They are learning to identify numbers from 1 to 100 and write them. Just like reading books, math is another foundational skill. Taking the time to master each concept is more important than moving quickly through a curriculum.

Writing. The fine motor skills involved in writing can be complex for young students. Start writing practice in small doses and with patience. Children who still struggle with writing at 6 can do copywork. By the end of the year, they should be comfortable crafting simple sentences and writing up to a paragraph of their own stories.

Art and music. Playing with art materials develops spatial skills used in everything from learning to ride a bike to understanding complex relationships in math. Research has shown that music can grow new neural connections in areas of the brain involved in reading and math, giving children extra mental resources needed for executive processing tasks.

Science. You don’t necessarily need a curriculum for science. Children can learn so much from the world around them. Borrow a library book to identify the different species of trees in your neighborhood. Get a magnifying glass and take a close-up look at bugs. Plant some seeds together and watch them grow. Explore the power of magnetism and gravity.

Social Studies. Younger students typically don’t have a formal social studies curriculum. This is the time to teach them their home address and phone number. They can learn about family relationships and their community. You can introduce early geography with simple maps and globes to introduce the concept of living in the broader community.

5 Tips for Homeschooling Your 6-Year-Old

There are many reasons for teaching your 6-year-old at home. Whatever your reason, here are 5 tips to help you and your child start on the right foot. We’ll start with one of the most important.

Read aloud daily. Hearing stories read aloud helps children develop the following:

• An ear for proper grammar
• Understanding of sentence structure
• Wider vocabulary
• Better comprehension and fluency
• Interest in reading books for themselves

Reading together and weaving those shared stories into your family heritage will be a cherished part of your adventure. As you set up your homeschooling space, consider a dedicated library to store those special books. Here are our suggestions for 6 Inexpensive Ways to Build your Home Library.

More Homeschooling Activities for 6-Year-Olds:

Build Reading Skills with Daily Reading Practice.

Because reading is fundamental to successful academics, use a mastery-based, consistent, daily reading program like All About Reading to give your child the greatest chance at becoming a fluent reader.

Real-Life Math. Make some simple recipes, such as macaroni and cheese, tacos, or microwavable mug cakes. Introduce your child to measurements, fractions, and counting as they compare 1 cup to ½ cups or count out enough taco shells for everyone.

Foster Independence and Responsibility. Allow your child to make choices within the parameters you set. You could give them some say in which chores they do which days or to write in the All About Reading activity book with a colored pencil instead of a standard lead pencil.

Include breaks and physical activity. A great way to keep up motivation and help your child maintain focus is to reward their accomplishments with a special 5-minute dance party or a short break to play with a favorite toy. This is a win/win because it gives him a boost of confidence when you notice him doing well, and it gives his brain a break from intense focusing.

Homeschooling Your 6-Year-Old with All About Learning Press

Reading and spelling are two of the most critical subjects for homeschooling your 6-year-old at this stage of their journey. All About Learning Press was developed based on the Orton-Gillingham Approach, a world standard for teaching reading and spelling that works for any student, whether they struggle or not. Each child learns at a slightly different pace and in various ways, and it can be overwhelming for parents to figure out how to best teach their child. All About Learning Press makes Reading and Spelling easy to teach.

All About Reading for Your 6-Year-Old

Master phonics in the early years to prepare your child for better reading comprehension. The All About Reading program is explicitly designed to use all three learning channels—hearing, seeing, and hands-on activities—to help lay this crucial foundation of learning to read. Take a look at the science behind why reading fluency is critical. Fluency takes practice, and using a variety of learning channels on a daily basis to engage multiple areas of the brain increases comprehension and retention.

All About Reading incorporates lightly scripted teaching instructions for you to read aloud, flash cards, and hands-on letter tiles to ensure all those learning channels are activated.

You can confidently start your child off on the right reading level for her needs using our All About Reading placement test.

All About Spelling for 6-Year-Olds

In the era of spell-check, spelling is becoming a lost art. However, the benefits of good spelling go beyond getting the right letters in the correct order. Spelling and the ability to break words down into the root words increases reading comprehension and widens a child’s vocabulary. A child who can identify the root words will easily recognize unfamiliar words with the same root.

Adults who can spell and write well typically rise higher in their careers. The professional world sees good spellers as more intelligent, better at communication skills, and more attentive to detail.

All About Spelling uses a mastery-based sequential approach to learning all letter sounds and blends. It emphasizes covering the various sounds of letters, consonant blends, when to double letters, compound and plural words, vowel teams, and much more.

The All About Spelling placement test will eliminate the guesswork involved in finding the right level for your child.

You’re just beginning the homeschooling journey. Congratulations! You are making the choice to provide the best possible education for your unique child. Homeschooling can feel daunting; however, these simple tips will help you feel more confident about your choice.