Posted on September 21, 2008 - by
“A Formidable List of Attainments for a Child of Six”
When I first read this list after discovering Charlotte Mason, I was amazed at the things that a 6 year old could do. While I know that this list was very specific for the time period it was introduced, it still seems to be a good guide for what I can work towards with my 5.5 year old through our “kindergarten year” of homeschool. And most of it can be accomplished without any “formal” school lessons at all. (Please note that most folks agree that this is a list of things that are to be accomplished by the END of a child’s sixth year, and NOT to be strived to be attained by the time they TURN six.)
“A Formidable List of Attainments for a Child of Six“, a reprint of a curriculum outline from a Charlotte Mason school in the 1890′s. (from Summer 93 Parents Review pub by Karen Andreola)
1. To recite, beautifully, 6 easy poems and hymns
2. to recite, perfectly and beautifully, a parable and a psalm
3. to add and subtract numbers up to 10, with dominoes or counters
4. to read–what and how much, will depend on what we are told of the child
5. to copy in print-hand from a book
6. to know the points of the compass with relation to their own home, where the sun rises and sets, and the way the wind blows
7. to describe the boundries of their own home
8. to describe any lake, river, pond, island etc. within easy reach
9. to tell quite accurately (however shortly) 3 stories from Bible history, 3 from early English, and 3 from early Roman history (my note here, we may want to substitute early American for early English!)
10. to be able to describe 3 walks and 3 views
11. to mount in a scrap book a dozen common wildflowers, with leaves (one every week); to name these, describe them in their own words, and say where they found them.
12. to do the same with leaves and flowers of 6 forest trees
13. to know 6 birds by song, colour and shape
14. to send in certain Kindergarten or other handiwork, as directed
15. to tell three stories about their own “pets”–rabbit, dog or cat.
16. to name 20 common objects in French, and say a dozen little sentences
17. to sing one hymn, one French song, and one English song
18. to keep a caterpillar and tell the life-story of a butterfly from his own observations.
