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Homeschool for Middle School Tips

Read these 13 Homeschool for Middle School Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Home School tips and hundreds of other topics.

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I am considering homeschooling by teen through middle school, but worry about her missing out by not being in a public school?

Homeschool Junior High Encourages Personal Strength and Values In Students

The middle school years are a time of great physical, emotional and spiritual growth in any child's life. These are the socially formative years in which peer pressure, exterior influences and self-image are actively playing a role in the self-image of the teen-age individual. With each of these outward and inward developments and influences taking such a powerful role in the middle school student's life, many parents believe that the homeschool middle school curriculum is the best educational opportunity for their son or daughter.

A teen that is participating in a homeschool junior high education is going to have more time to focus on their academics. than a child that is struggling for acceptance and approval in a public or private school. Many homeschool parents believe that the more time a teen spends in the safety of their own home, growing and learning about themselves and the world around them, the better prepared they are for adulthood. These parents believe that their children will be able deal with real life challenges in a manner that is true to their beliefs and morals based upon having grown in their faith without challenge during the teenage years.

   
What should I do if my homeschool student suddenly wants to learn about something I know nothing about?

What To Do When Your Homeschooled Child Enters Unknown Territory

As your middle school homeschooled student moves closer toward independence, it becomes obvious to the homeschool parent that is might be time to step back and allow a specialist take the academic wheel to guide your learner into uncharted waters.

For example, if your son or daughter wants to learn a foreign language, it might be best to hire a professional tutor to supplement this portion of the home school curriculum. Don't be alarmed or concerned that you are failing to provide adequate training yourself. Rather, rejoice that you have guided your learner to take on new challenges without fear and to strive to enhance their own knowledge through hard work and dedication. Utilizing the specialized talents of professionals is not something to shy away from; instead it is an educational opportunity to teach your child the importance of seeking out and learning valuable skills from other members of the community. If your middle-school aged son or daughter has approached you with a request to study a subject for which you have no training or prior knowledge, there are many colleges, educational resources and libraries that keep lists of qualified tutors and private instructors. Children watch and replicate the actions of their parents. If you show them how to utilize each and every resource to solve a problem, then you have continued in your homeschool fashion to teach them another valuable life skill.

   
My middle school child expects me to help with their homework, what do I do?

Homeschool Middle School And Student Independence

Middle school homeschoolers should be well on their way to being independent workers. During the elementary years it was normal to sit down with your children and help them through their school work from start to finish. Now that your children are maturing you need to teach them how to work alone and to search for their own answers. While you should not completely “check out” you should start expecting your middle school children to take responsibility for schoolwork. Learning how to do their own research is part of that responsibility. After you have taught the new lessons and discussed the information with your middle schoolers, provide an assignment sheet. Encourage them to tackle their work on their own while you go about other activities in the home.

   
How do I get my middle school child to make good use of his time?

Homeschool Middle School: Self Discovery And Accountability

The middle school homeschooling years are all about children discovering who they are as individuals. It is also the appropriate time for them to learn to be accountable for their choices. If your child chooses to participate in an activity they should be required to see it through until it is done, even if they lose interest in it halfway through the season or class. Try to steer your middle school homeschooling child into participating in one or two activities that they are excellent at -- instead of filling up their free time with many activities that they are merely good at doing. However, if they make unwise decisions they should be held accountable for seeing the decision through to the end.

   
Is it normal for a homeschooler to be moody?

Homeschool Middle School And Hormones

Part of homeschool middle school involves watching your child change from a child to a teenager. This can be a very hard time for both parents and children. Too much “together time” is hard on any relationship, especially one that involves a hormonal tween! Keep in mind that just because you have bypassed public school does not mean that your child will get a free pass through adolescence and mood swings. Middle school children should be allowed to have their alone time.

Having solitude is part of being a tween and you should not take it personally if your children start to hang out alone in their rooms. When your middle school children do come around to talk, be there to listen. This age group is tricky. One minute they want to be children and the next they want to be mini-adults. Let them take the lead and just go with the flow. Learn to recognize which part of the child you are dealing with and react accordingly.

   
How do I teach my middle school child about money?

Homeschool Middle School: Teaching Money Responsibility

Part of homeschooling middle school is teaching your children about money. No matter how many math questions children do concerning money in their text books it is important to understand that these are not "real life" experiences. Encourage your children to find ways to earn their own money and work with them to create a budget. Keep in mind that the money your middle school children earn is theirs and making mistakes with it is part of learning. Do not be the buffer between your child's money decisions all the time. Allowing your middle school child to spend all of their money on something trivial is an important lesson on responsibility.

   
Is there an effective method for organizing larger, more complex projects?

A Homeschool for Middle School Project Organizing Program

As your homeschool middle school student's projects and assignments become increasingly complex, its imperative to teach them how to plan their project out, and organize their thoughts and ideas. 'Inspiration' is a tremendous resource to add to your homeschool middle school curriculum.

‘Inspiration' uses diagramming and charting to help your child brainstorm and graph out their writing assignment before they just dive in, allowing them to organize and sort out all the complexities of what they want to communicate. If you think this program might help your middle school student, you can download a limited version or try a full version on 30-day trial.

   
How can I help my homeschool middle schools tudent keep up with vocabulary?

Homeschool for Middle School VocabularyBoost

Did you know that by knowing just 50 key word parts you can decipher the meaning of 100,000 words? By learning to recognize the Latin and Greek prefixes, suffixes, and roots that a majority or words in the English language are based upon, home school junior high school students can give themselves a big vocabulary boost that will also help them on their SATs.

   
Should I be encouraging my homeschool middle school student to follow his or her special interests?

Special Interests for Homeschool Middle School Students

Elementary school age is a time of great experimentation in many subjects. However, by middle school, your child should have started to develop special interests or talents, and a uniquely recognizable learning style.

Now's the time to spend more concentrated time in those areas that are of special interest, letting some of the less favorite extra-curricular subjects wane. For instance, if your middle school student is a talented musician, tailor some writing and research assignments to those areas, study the lives of past composers, and go to see concerts.

   
How do I keep my my middle school child from over extending himself?

Homeschool Middle School And Over Extending Your Child

It is easy for homeschool middle school children to become overextended. Just like a middle school child in a public school system has to strike a balance with leisure and work, homeschoolers this age must do the same. Without guidance, homeschool tweens can become too involved and stimulated with friends and leisure. This can lead to a lack of interest in educational studies. Help your child strike the balance between leisure, being with friends and school work. This will set the precedence for high school homeschooling.

   
What can I teach my middle school student to help foster their independence?

Practical Life Skill for Middle School Students

Now that your middle school student is at an age where he or she will look for greater independence, it's a good time to begin teaching practical living skills. These skills will help give them the independence they want, and they will be grateful to you for recognizing and acknowledging that.

*Some ideas for what to teach them include how to balance a checkbook, how to create and stick to a budget, and nutrition, to name just a few.

   
How can I teach my middle school student subjects that I myself don't know?

Teaching New Subjects in Homeschool for Middle School

As your students gets older, the subjects they need to learn become more complex and advanced. Luckily, they are also at an age where they want a bit more independence, so one idea is to give them that independence by providing online resources and other materials to allow for some independent study.

Don't underestimate your ability to master new subjects either. Remember that as you've been teaching, you've also been learning, and that learning has laid a great foundation with which to chart new territory. Also, by the time your student has reached middle school level, you've already instilled a love fand motivation for learning that will keep them moving forward.

   
How do I test my child on current events?

Middle School Homeschool And Current Events

Homeschool middle school involves teaching your children about life and current events. The New York Times provides a wonderful resource that tests your students on weekly news events. Visit the New York Times website weekly and let your children test their knowledge about what is happening in the world around them. This resource is a great supplement to social science and history.

   
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