Preparing for Sixth Grade

1. Build Reading and Writing Skills

Your child will read a variety of works in language arts, as well as analyze and identify recurring themes in literature. Your child will create more complex narrative pieces in the school, such as personal narratives, fiction, poems, and news articles. This summer, have your child write and read for 15 minutes every day to strengthen their reading and writing skills.

Kids who write daily will improve their research skills in gathering information as well as interpreting, organizing, and presenting it. They learn how to identify themes of stories, compare stories that talk about the same theme, learn topic-related vocabulary to use in writing and speaking, and participate in conversations and discussions. 

2. Practice and Learn Math Skills 

In fifth grade math, your child will learn ratios, geometry, statistics, long division, and more. You can help prepare your child for sixth grade by teaching them how to apply classroom math lessons to real-world problems. For example, when it comes to the restaurant bill, ask your child to figure out the tip. 

While shopping, ask your child to figure out the final cost of items after the discount and sales tax. These exercises will help them strengthen their math skills in the classroom and also how to use them in real life. 

3. Attend Back-to-School Night

When parents are involved in their children's academic lives, they perform better in school. Attending a back-to-school night at the beginning of the school year is a great way to meet your child's teachers and learn about their expectations. 

Visiting the school before the first day of school can also help you and your child become familiar with the physical layout of the school building. It's useful to know where the main office, school nurse, cafeteria, gym, athletic grounds, auditorium, and special classes are located.

4. Homework Expectations 

During the middle school years, homework becomes more rigorous, and the time spent on it is likely to be longer than during the elementary years, averaging 1 to 2 hours per school night. 

Make sure your child has a peaceful, well-lit, distraction-free workspace that is well-stocked with school supplies. Distraction-free means no phone, TV, or websites other than related to homework. Check in on a regular basis to ensure that your child hasn't become sidetracked.

5. Practice Organization Skills 

Being organized is essential for success in middle school, when most children meet various teachers and classrooms for the first time each day and where some students participate in extracurricular or after-school activities.  Because time management skills are rarely taught in school, preteens can benefit from their parents' guidance in organizing tasks and managing time.

Binders, notebooks, or folders should be used to arrange class information and assignments by subject. Teach your child how to keep organized and schedule study periods by using a calendar or personal planner. Calendars or planners should contain your child's extracurricular activities to help with time management.

6. Teach Study Skills

Now that your middle-schooler will have multiple assignments from different teachers, planning is a key element when studying for tests. Make sure you know when tests are and that your child has enough study time before each one. 

Create a study calendar with your child and help them determine how much time they should spend studying for each test. Remind your child to take notes in class, arrange them by subject, and go over them every day at home.

Emmanuel Lutheran School

Middle school can be a difficult time for your child and hard on the parents as well. Luckily, Buncombe County is North Carolina's fastest-growing county, with a variety of outstanding academic institutions for teenagers. 

If you live in the area and are looking for a middle school for your child, enrolling them in a private Christian middle school is one of the best options you can make to improve their middle school experience.

Emmanuel Lutheran is the only Christian parochial school in western North Carolina that uses a S.T.E.A.M.-based curriculum. That means your child will have a high-quality academic experience in a Christian setting. 

For additional information about our private Christian middle school, contact us today.