Homeschooling Middle School, Here We Come!
Everyone says “time flies”, and I have to agree. Somehow I am already at the middle school years! It seems like not long ago I was letting my 1st grader stay up to watch Nature Documentaries on Primetime. This same girl is now thinking seriously about her future on her own. All of this brings me to our homeschooling middle school plans with high school years and beyond in mind.
What are the Middle School Years?
I believe they are exactly that, the middle years: they are a transition point between the foundational years of learning in elementary school and the high school years of beginning to apply your knowledge to real life. When you are homeschooling middle school years are a good time to look both backwards and forwards in time.
As the teacher it’s a good time to assess what your homeschool has covered or what the child knows across the subjects. I have used the Big Fat Notebook series, to give myself a reference point to check against. Every person has gaps in their knowledge, no matter where they were educated. My goal is to give my younger students a general exposure across all subject areas before they see it in High School. The areas we have focused on less will get more attention during these transition years.
Making Goals
It’s a time look ahead to what options your student might pursue in the future as well. Having a general future goal can help you make sure your student is positioned well for the high school experience that will be needed for their future plans. The homeschooling middle school experience also has lots of room to explore different activies and career possibilities. We don’t need to have all the answers for the future right now, but it’s good to have a few ideas as we plan the next few years.
Thinking through what comes next can be helpful to set goals as you plan these middle school years. Math has been a struggle for my student. Before we learned they had Dyscalculia, they had fallen a full year behind. We have since found a program that works very well for them and they are thriving and progressing. Together we have committed to continue math over the summer so this student could catch up to be ready for Algebra 1 as a Freshman. Their future goals at this time include a college education, so starting high school in Algebra 1 is important to them.
Learning as a Partnership
An important skill for our students as they grow is independence. When homeschooling the middle school years, that can look like the student taking more ownership in their education. It’s a great time to partner with the student to determine how and what they are learning. If they aren’t sure give them time to think about the options and consider their input. This year I decided they needed to study anatomy, and my student told me that they would prefer to be given a book to read and questions to answer. I found some resources and a list of questions for them to answer and they can do it independently. She has learned how she prefers to gain information and I can help provide resources that fit that style.
Helping our students discover how they learn in the safety of home is important for life. It will lead them to better study habits in future learning and teach them about themselves. At co-op, this middle-schooler’s assignments don’t fit my teaching style, but they are learning that it works for them and the memorization that is required is challenging them to find ways to learn it. They discovered that they’re an auditory learner, so they used a voice memo app to record themselves reading the information and they then listen to it during other activities. Challenging them to build study habits and find the routines that work for them with the no-fail environment of home sets them up for success.
Looking Beyond Homeschooling Middle School
The homeschooling middle school years are also a good time to start exploring new options for high school classes. Many more options are available to meet requirements than in generations past. Many local community colleges and universities have dual enrollment options where you can take classes at the college or university and satisfy both high school and college requirements at the same time. It can be an affordable option to early college credits. It’s also a great way to delegate some of the challenging lab science classes. The options vary by state or region so check your local options. Some dual enrollment options can also help you bypass the traditional college entrance exams as well if your student is not a test taker. Again, thinking about these options early can help you position your child to be prepared to take advantage of the opportunities.
Our Current Plans
All plans for our family are always fluid but I like to ask my kids what they want to learn and how they want to learn. Right now my middle school student plans to continue at a co-op for many of their classes. This student thrives on the group discussion and exchange of ideas that can only happen in the group setting. They have plans now for a career that would need a 4-year degree so we are looking at dual enrollment for the second half of high school which would let yer graduate high school with 30+ credit hours and an affordable bill for mom and dad.
For my second middle school student, they are very different from their sibling and we will likely continue learning completely at home independently. We will continue presenting a variety of interests so they can explore what they might be interested in pursuing as a career. Online classes or dual enrollment would be a better fit for this student. When thinking about the future, flexibility is key!
