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Montreal, French AEFE curriculum, college

Sixieme Tutor in Montreal

Tutor for Sixieme, the first year of French middle school, in Montreal. I work with your child in mathematics and in Sciences et technologie, on the content and on the working method alike, so they start college well at Lycee Marie de France, College Stanislas or any other school following the French curriculum. Sessions in English or in French.

French AEFE curriculum Grade 6 equivalent Mathematics Science and technology Homework help ★ 5.0 · 11 Google reviews
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Sixieme is Grade 6, and the numbers count down

The French year names run backwards, which trips up every English-speaking parent at least once. Sixieme is Grade 6, the first year of middle school, for children turning 11 or 12. Then comes Cinquieme (Grade 7), Quatrieme (Grade 8) and Troisieme (Grade 9). The number shrinks as the child grows. In Quebec terms, Sixieme lines up with Secondary 1.

One more difference worth knowing: French middle school is called college, which has nothing to do with the North American meaning of the word, and nothing to do with Quebec's CEGEP either. Your eleven year old is in college.

Sixieme: the first step of college

Sixieme is the year when everything changes at once. Your child leaves primary school, where a single teacher followed them all day, and discovers a different teacher for each subject, a timetable, a binder to organise and a planner to keep. The content is not necessarily harder than the year before, but the whole frame around it is new. This is very often where a student's confidence for the following years is decided.

In mathematics, Sixieme consolidates numbers and calculation while introducing the first genuinely abstract ideas: fractions, proportionality, and a geometry with precise definitions. In science, the syllabus is deliberately integrated: a single subject, Sciences et technologie, blending physics, life and earth sciences and technology. The disciplines only separate in Cinquieme.

My role in Sixieme has two halves: helping your child understand and enjoy what they are doing in maths and science, and handing them working methods that will serve for the whole of college. A great many difficulties at this level come not from the content but from a lesson badly learned, an instruction skimmed, or a binder in chaos.

Mathematics in Sixieme

The Sixieme mathematics syllabus lays the foundations for all of college. Students work on decimal numbers and the four operations, but also on the first ideas that require abstraction, such as fractions and proportionality. Geometry becomes more rigorous: drawing accurately, naming objects correctly, and justifying what you assert. That is a change of culture as much as of content.

On the syllabus

  • Whole and decimal numbers
  • The four operations and written calculation
  • Simple fractions and comparisons
  • Proportionality in concrete situations
  • Lines, points, angles, axial symmetry
  • Perimeter, area and first volumes
  • Reading and constructing figures
  • Organising and handling data

We do not stop at getting the exercises done: we make sure the student understands why a method works. That is what lets them reproduce alone, on the day of the test, what we worked on together.

Science and technology in Sixieme

In Sixieme, physics, biology and technology are not yet separate subjects: they form a single course, Sciences et technologie. The aim is to awaken curiosity and install the scientific method, which is to observe, ask a question, form a hypothesis and test it. The year touches matter, motion, energy, the living world and technical objects.

On the syllabus

  • Matter, motion, energy (introductory physics)
  • Living things, their diversity and functions (biology)
  • The planet Earth and the environment
  • Technical objects and human needs (technology)
  • Investigative method
  • Measurement, units and first diagrams

In science, many students can answer perfectly out loud and still lose marks on paper because they do not write clearly. So we also work on how to present a complete, structured answer, which is a skill in itself at this age.

Where students struggle in Sixieme

The number one difficulty in Sixieme is almost never ability: it is organisation. A student who shone in primary school can slip simply because they forget homework, do not know how to learn a lesson, or do not re-read the instructions. Those reflexes are not innate, they are taught, and they are far easier to install now than in Quatrieme.

On content, fractions and proportionality are usually the first real obstacles in mathematics, because they ask for reasoning rather than calculation. In science, it is the move to rigorous written answers that catches students out. Spotting these early, without drama, means fixing them before they weigh on the child's confidence.

How the sessions work in Sixieme

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We start from where the student actually is

The first session is for understanding what is solid, what is stuck, and how the child works. We then build follow-up that fits, without spending time on what is already mastered.

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Method and content together

We work on the current maths and science while installing habits: keeping the binder, learning a lesson, re-reading an instruction, checking a result before handing it in.

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Understanding before reciting

I do not teach recipes to be applied mechanically. I explain the why, so the student gains independence and confidence, not only marks.

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Support between sessions, included

A problem they are stuck on the night before a test, an instruction they cannot decode: the student can message me between sessions. It is part of the rate.

In French

Free corrected exercises for Sixieme

One exercise set per chapter, in the format of a class test: ten questions marked out of 100, a first part on the fundamentals and a part of problems, with a full worked solution for every question. Decimal numbers, fractions and proportionality, geometry and measurement are treated separately, and a one hour review paper covers the whole year. Each chapter also has a revision sheet. Free, no sign-up, written in French, which is the language of your child's classroom.

Corrected exercise sets → Revision sheets → English exercises →

In Montreal, in person or online

I work with Sixieme students from Lycee Marie de France, College Stanislas and other Montreal schools following the French curriculum, in person and online. I went through the French system myself (Baccalaureat with the Mathematics speciality), hold a B.Sc. from McGill and an M.Sc. from Concordia, and know the syllabus, the textbooks and what the teachers expect. With more than 10 years of experience, I help your child meet college calmly rather than anxiously.

Frequently asked questions

What grade is Sixieme?

Sixieme is the first year of college, French middle school, for students turning 11 or 12. It matches Grade 6 and Quebec Secondary 1. The French system counts down, so the years run Sixieme, Cinquieme, Quatrieme, Troisieme.

What subjects do you cover in Sixieme?

Mathematics and Sciences et technologie, the integrated course combining physics, life and earth sciences and technology at the start of college. Regular homework support, working methods and consolidating the foundations.

My child is starting college, how do I help them begin well?

Starting Sixieme is a real transition: a new rhythm, a teacher per subject, much more independence. I work on method as much as content: organising the binder, reading instructions, managing homework. A good start prevents gaps stacking up later.

Do you teach in person and online?

Yes. In person in Montreal and online through Microsoft Teams and OneNote with a digital whiteboard. Follow-up by message between sessions is included at no extra charge.

Should we wait for the marks to drop before getting a tutor?

No, the opposite. In Sixieme, acting early costs far less than catching up later. A few sessions to install good habits and close small emerging gaps often sets a student up for the whole of college.

First year of college Cinquieme, Grade 7 →

See also

French AEFE program Mathematics SVT and biology Lycee Marie de France College Stanislas Parents' guide

Looking for a Sixieme tutor in Montreal?

Get in touch for a first session. I adapt to your child's level, syllabus and pace, and I report back to you in English.

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