MCT has been a fabulous curriculum for us. I'm sure your 6 year old would have no problem doing the island level. The only thing to consider is that is designed for 3rd grade gifted. So ideally, you'd probably want a 4th to 5th grade writing level. We had a great year last year with my 3rd grader who reads at a high school level and can now type, so was probably writing at a jr. high level. We just added in MORE writing. It's easily modified. At the first level, quite a bit can be done orally. But there are big leaps between every level of MCT. I had a jr. high english teacher take a look at it, and she really said that first level is what she was teaching 7th & 8th graders. It's packaged to be engaging and fun to younger kids.
MCT teachers manuals are just the regular books, with hints, teachers notes, and exercises written into the back. I think those are definitely the ones to order. However, to me, for a 6 year old it sounds like you have plenty to work on maybe? You know your 6 old best. My kid is definitely verbally gifted, but doesn't exactly clamor for more grammar!
He did very little grammar before we started MCT at 3rd grade. If you are going to do MCT, I'd highly recommend the whole package. The pieces fit together really well and aren't nearly as appealing stand alone. We love it. It really is for whole picture learners who like everything thrown at them at once and who don't need repetition. My kindergartner enjoyed it and followed along last year. But I'm definitely coming back to it for her when she's writing at a higher level and can really cement the concepts. People seem to love it or hate it.
