Large family homeschooling middle school curriculum ideas from a mom of 10. These are actual products we have used in our homeschool.
This year, I have two middle schoolers – boys, aged 11 and 13.
Middle School years are when I start challenging my kids to become more responsible and more mature. So, this year we will be slowly leading these two boys to more and more independent school work, including classes that interest them and hone in on their passions and giftings.
READ >> Independent Learning – Teaching Kids to Homeschool Themselves
OK! Let’s start at the top of the day…
Morning Time for Middle Schoolers in a Large Family
Our Morning Time has always been done first thing in the morning with everyone altogether, and I tend to “teach to the middle,” meaning I choose curriculum, topics, and information that are most relevant to the child or children who are in middle of the ages I am currently teaching.
For this year, my 11 and 13 year olds are my middle ages, so I am focusing on upper elementary and middle school and then supplementing extra literature and projects for my high schoolers and coloring pages and fun projects for my little girls.
READ >> Morning Time with Multiple Ages
If you are unfamiliar with the concept of Morning Time, let me begin by explaining that Morning Time can be ANYTHING you want it to be. You can use the time to do something simple like Bible and a Read Aloud (Read >> Making Morning Time Easy) or buy a full-blown Charlotte Mason Morning Time curriculum like:
- Morning Virtues from Gentle + Classical.
In our homeschool, we start with Bible (more on this in a moment). After Bible, we do History and Geography lessons from Tapestry of Grace, with lots of extras mixed in from Music in Our Homeschool and You ARE An Artist.
To learn more about how we use Tapestry of Grace, visit THIS PAGE:
NOTE: To use TOG the way we do, you will need Integrated Tapestry of Grace.
Rather than get into the details in this post of how we put all of this together, I have a post where I share exactly what our Morning Time currently looks like, so you can get an idea of how I incorporate all of these curricula into one Morning Time setting!
READ >> What Our Homeschool Morning Time Currently Looks Like
However, I will share each of these components one by one below:
Bible Study for Middle School Homeschoolers
A couple of years ago, we did GrapeVine Bible Lessons (that link goes to my review). My boys really enjoyed it, so I wanted to mention it here. They loved sketching, so they would often embellish their stick figures!
Currently, we have started over in our History Cycle with Creation to Christ, so we are reading book by book from The Child’s Story Bible and then doing a corresponding page from the PictureSmart Bible.
The PictureSmart Bible kind of reminds me of The Bible Project in the way it uses illustrations to explain the point of each book of the Bible. For my elementary students, I will often give them the completed page to color along with rather than have them fill in the drawings and words like the older kids do. They seem to like this a lot better.
History for the Large Family Homeschool
I have always preferred to do History as a group and in chronological order. Thanks to Tapestry of Grace, this has been possible for many, many years because it teaches history chronologically to all ages at their own level. I have tried other curricula over the years, and nothing compares to TOG for a robust education!
You can see it in action if you read my Large Family Homeschool Life posts!
Middle School Science for Homeschoolers
For years and years, Science that wasn’t Nature Study based was part of each child’s Individual School Work, done AFTER Morning Time; however, this year, we are trying something new!
I was really saddened to find out my kids were not enjoying Science. I thoroughly enjoyed most of my Science classes in school and wanted my kids to feel the same way. They were finding their Science books dry and tedious, so this year, we are adding Science to Morning Time!
We are starting with Gentle + Classical’s Agricultural Science – a Creation-based Science class that goes through all aspects of farming and ranching from a Scientific viewpoint. While this class is geared toward 3rd – 6th graders, I have no doubt I can make it stretch from my 2nd grader to my 10th grader.
Fine Arts for Middle School Homeschoolers
I really like to supplement Morning Time lessons with Music in Our Homeschool! These music-based lessons are so wonderful and so easy to use. Everything is online and works well with a variety of ages. And there are so many topics to choose from! This year, we will be using World Music for Elementary every time we study a new country:
And for holidays, we’ll use:
Another really good middle school option for Fine Arts from MIOH is their Charlotte Mason Fine Arts class!
READ >> Charlotte Mason Inspired Fine Arts Class
But these are just the tip of the iceberg! Take a look at the website and start dreaming up ways to incorporate music into YOUR homeschool!
Art for Middle Schoolers
Once or twice a month, we do art projects during Morning Time as a family. I usually do this toward the end of Morning Time and usually on a Thursday (the last day of the week we homeschool since we do a 4 Day a Week Homeschool Schedule).
My philosophy on art in homeschooling is that it needs to be:
- Simple with few supplies.
- Integrates with what we are already learning.
- Something I can do with the entire family.
That’s why I chose You ARE An Artist chalk art lessons for our art! Chalk is a very forgiving medium and everyone can participate.
READ >> You ARE An Artist Clubhouse Review
Once Morning Time is finished, I send everyone off to do their independent school work. At the middle school age, my son rarely needs my help, but I am available to him whenever he has a question or is struggling with something – usually in math.
Individual work for this age includes Individual Bible Study, Math, Literature assignments, and electives like Graphic Design or Web Design. They also learn Piano or Guitar.
Before I get into the specifics of their individual school work, I would highly recommend you get my ecourse Creating a Homeschool Schedule You Love! This ecourse will help you put your entire homeschool day on autopilot, including your children’s individual school subjects. GET IT HERE >>
Homeschool Math for Middle Schoolers
Garin (13) has been working through Algebra. He does a half lesson each day. Yes, he is taking it early and I will be giving him the credit as if he’s in high school.
Creed (11) is finishing up Math 6 and will be going into Math 7 soon. Math is a strong subject for him, and he was ready for the leap.
Teaching Textbooks is really great for a large family because it is so flexible – especially the 4.0 app version! It just makes it easier on me!
READ >> Teaching Textbooks 4.0 Review
There is one thing I will recommend if you go with Teaching Textbooks, and that is to invest in a program that will teach multiplication facts. Teaching Textbooks does not drill these and I have found my boys to be lacking in these skills because of that.
I chose to get them the Kumon Multiplication workbooks on the recommendation of another homeschool mom, and have been quite pleased with the outcome.
I’d also recommend if your child is taking more than an hour to do a math lesson that you have them do only half a lesson. I am not a fan of children spending hours and hours on one lesson. They retain so much more if they take it in bite-sized pieces.
Spelling for Middle Schoolers
Spelling is a tough one for me because it seems like it just isn’t a one size fits all kind of subject.
First of all, you have the kids who don’t need a spelling program at all. Yes, that’s right – I said NO spelling program. (READ WHY HERE)
Then, you have the kids who can use just about any spelling program, so your best bet is to find something that is simple for YOU as the homeschool mom to manage. In our homeschool, those kids use an app called Simplex Spelling (I bought the bundle, in case you are wondering).
And THEN, you have the kids who need help…lots of help…with their spelling. These are the children who will probably still need spell check as adults, but you are just wanting to get them spelling decently, and you are at a loss for how to do that! I hear ya!
The program I use for middle schoolers who fall into this camp is Phonetic Zoo. Years ago, I listened to Andrew Pudewa of Institute for Excellence in Writing talk about Spelling and Brain. This program from IEW uses those concepts to teach your children to put letters in sequential order. It is super helpful for auditory learners, but great for any child struggling to learn how to spell.
Years ago, I listened to Andrew Pudewa of Institute for Excellence in Writing talk about Spelling and Brain. This program from IEW uses those concepts to teach your children to put letters in sequential order. It is super helpful for auditory learners, but great for any child struggling to learn how to spell.
READ >> The Best Spelling Curriculum for Struggling Auditory Learners
Other Classes for Middle Schoolers
My middles schoolers have all taken this Graphic Design class from Techie Homeschool Mom and LOVED it! It gave them a great start in graphic design, and they continue to use the skills they learned.
READ >> Review of Graphic Design with Canva
Our 13 year old is taking CompuScholar’s Web Design class as a follow up to Graphic Design. This is a well-laid out class from a homeschool dad. He has LOTS of classes to choose from if you have children who are interested in computer-related things!
If I add anything else to their homeschooling this year, I’ll update this post, so keep it bookmarked!
You can find all of our Homeschool Curriculum Choices HERE >>
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