The middle school years are a bridge between childhood and adolescence. Make the most of this quirky period with your tweens and teens because homeschooling these years can be really fun! Kids are still young enough to enjoy read-alouds and field trips but old enough to take more accountability for their studies and direct their own interest-led units. Tune in to get more tips for teaching grades 6, 7, and 8 at home.
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QUOTABLES
Ximena: "It's really important to remember ... you're teaching them during middle school how to be more independent. You're not letting them be fully independent just yet. There's still a lot of accountability."
DeeDee: "... in this age range is when... we're going to give them more choices, but then we're going to have to let them deal with some consequences. And that can be tough."
Ximena: "That's really hard for me—to let them deal with the consequences of their choices and let them quote, unquote, fail. It's hard."
Ximena: "[Middle schoolers] are still kids. So be patient with them ... their brains aren't fully developed. That's actually a fact, we're not being funny. Brains aren't fully developed until they're 26 ..."
TIMESTAMPS
03:10 Middle school is a time of transition when tweens and teens need less handholding and become more independent learners with more freedom.
03:27 Why middle schoolers still need accountability.
05:08 Giving middle schoolers more choice about what they are learning and doing more interest-led studies.
05:37 Ask your kids "What do you want to do?"
06:02 Taking an informal, interest-based approach to science and history in younger years helps kids be more interested in the topics for their high school years.
07:05 How lit-based learning pays off during the middle school years. [Listen to episode 2 Introduction to Lit-based Homeschooling]
09:20 Life skills take on new importance during middle school years.
10:32 Puberty! [Listen to episode 29 Homeschooling Teens & Tweens]
11:24 When middle schoolers deal with insecurity.
12:24 Middle schoolers need friends, so socialization is a priority!
13:24 Letting kids deal with consequences, letting them fail, and not jumping in to rescue them all the time.
16:44 TIP 1: Plan homeschool with your middle schoolers' input. InvolvE them in decision making and troubleshooting.
19:07 TIP 2: Keep reading aloud.
20:10 TIP 3: Prepare for high school, especially with writing and math. Use games during the summer to boost math skills that were missed.
[Listen to episode 32 Gameschooling]
22:18 TIP 4: Protect their sleep and encourage good nutrition.
24:45 TIP 5: Have fun. Don't take school too seriously. Keep reading and taking field trips and being silly.
26:26 Be very intentional about and make time for positive peer experiences.
