What's Covered in Age 6-8
Our Age 6-8 curriculum offers a complete, literature-rich homeschool program that integrates science, social studies, language arts, math, and reading. Usually used as a second-grade homeschool curriculum, it features clear daily instructions and carefully chosen books to support a full year of meaningful, connected learning at home.
Interdisciplinary Curriculum
The core of our Age 6–8 curriculum is the science, social studies, and language arts program. All three subjects are woven into an integrated learning experience. Each unit explores a central theme through multiple academic lenses and subjects are all taught together. In Communities Around the World, students build 3D maps and write brochures (social studies and language arts) while exploring cultural customs across continents. In Living Things and Their Habitats, they create ecosystem models and life cycle crafts (science), compose poems and nature guides (language arts), and reflect on environmental needs (social studies). In Community and Citizenship, students write biographies (language arts) and design inventions (science), investigate community roles (social studies), and graph their own citizenship behavior (math and social studies). This approach fosters deeper understanding by connecting skills across subjects and anchoring them in meaningful, real-world topics.
Build Understanding Through Big Ideas
Our concept-based curriculum for Ages 6-8 builds understanding around four big ideas: Community, Matter and Movement, Culture, and Relationships. Students explore topics such as ecosystems, global cultures, civic responsibility, physical geography, the properties of matter, map reading, timelines, and storytelling traditions. Each unit weaves together science, social studies, and language arts to form a cohesive exploration of the world and our place in it.
Students deepen their understanding through hands-on, creative projects. They build 3D maps, write and perform myths and folktales, design inventions, grow plants, craft globes, create biography books, simulate food chains, and produce environmental exhibits. These projects connect academic content to real-life experiences, encouraging critical thinking, creativity, and global awareness.
Read With Confidence
The goald of the Age 6–8 Reading Program is to develop the reading ability to tackle simple chapter books by the end of the year. Students review key phonics patterns, explore complex vowel sounds, and expand their knowledge of digraphs, blends, and syllable patterns. Weekly lessons guide children through word-building activities, shared reading, and fluency practice using decodable readers and early literature. Students develop sight word recognition, improve reading accuracy and speed, and deepen comprehension through writing prompts and vocabulary work. Engaging stories, contextual learning tools, and carefully sequenced instruction give children the confidence and skills they need to read independently and understand what they read.
Hands-On Math
The Age 6-8 Math program builds deep conceptual understanding through hands-on projects, engaging literature, adaptive review, and comprehensive materials. Children first explore and visualize mathematical ideas before learning procedures, using multiple strategies to build fluency and critical thinking. Daily activities—like reading, games, and hands-on projects—connect math to real life. Final projects reinforce learning through real-world application. Our adaptive Learning Gates system ensures lasting mastery by personalizing review. Fully aligned with Common Core Standards, the program teaches essential skills creatively and is supported by a complete, easy-to-use materials kit.
Language Arts Prerequisites
- Able to read and comprehend simple picture books
- Able to write simple sentences independently
- Usually used by children in second grade
Reading Prerequisites
- Read short and long vowel spellings
- Recognize common blends and digraphs
- Read R-controlled vowels
- Read and comprehend simple early readers
- Write simple sentences independently
Reading Placement QuestionnaireMath Prerequisites
- Knows addition and subtraction facts to 10
- Understands place value to the tens
- Can add and subtract two-digit numbers
- Usually used by children in the second grade
A Day In the Life
Each day, your child will complete three lessons:
- One covers science, social studies, and language arts (~90 minutes),
- One covers reading (~45 minutes), and
- One covers math (~60 minutes).
In addition to this schedule, we recommend spending 20-30 minutes reading aloud to your child, 30 minutes in additional practice that your child may need, and 30 minutes extending the lesson when students want to spend extra time on a lesson.
See a complete list of the units and how they line up.
Beyond Standards
Because all lessons are based on state and national standards, you can be confident your child will learn all of the necessary skills for his age. Your child will also be challenged to read and write at a higher level.
The Age 6-8 Full Year Package - S, SS, LA, M, R covers science, social studies, language arts, math, and reading.