This post is all about 3 things to consider teaching to your middle schooler (homeschool or not!).
Congratulations, you’re about to have a middle schooler! Entering the middle school years can feel a little scary. There are a lot of physical, emotional, and mental changes happening within your tween. As homeschool moms, we have an exciting opportunity to shepherd them and nurture their growing minds.
I’m talking about 3 things to consider teaching your middle schooler. A lot of how I plan is starting at the goal, and thinking back to what I would like them to be exposed to. So for this stage, ask yourself what you hope your tween would learn before high school?
For me, there are 3 areas that stood out. I’ll share all about them and some resources we have tried in this post. After reading, my hope is that you leave with an extra boost of confidence in approaching the middle school years of homeschool.
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3 Things to Consider Teaching Middle Schoolers
Bible Study for Your Middle Schooler
One thing I wanted to start working on with my middle schooler was setting her up for the discipline of independent Bible study and prayer life. Not only to develop the habit, but also the peace and joy of living that out.
Resources I have used and found helpful are:
- Developing a Quiet Time Bible Study for Teens: This study is designed for teens 13+ years, and they have other versions so younger students and parents can do it to at their appropriate level. It is designed to completed independently, and can be a family discussion afterwards. The focus of the study is on application and apologetics, and has 28 days of study. I like to use these guides about twice a week in morning time, and we finish one per term.
- In the Garden Bible Study: From the same company, this study focuses on building an independent and consistent prayer life. In 25 lessons, students will grow in the practice of Biblical prayer.
- Life in the Word: Students will learn the principles of inductive Bible study and how to accurately and effectively do a word study, a topical study, a book study, a character study, a narrative study, and more. This Bible study is designed for grades 7-12, and my daughter and I found this one helpful too.
Financial Literacy for Your Middle Schooler
Middle school students would have a great advantage learning basic earning, spending, and saving practice. So many high school and college students make important choices without a solid foundation in finance. This can help prevent big spending or no saving mistakes before adulthood.
We start the envelope system (save, spend, and give) in elementary as my kids would earn income doing various things. In 7th grade, I went through the Foundations in Finance course that Dave Ramsey had available for homeschoolers.
Unfortunately, that curriculum was discontinued, but the high school version is still available. It looks like it covers similar topics as what we used. I am considering going through this high school version in a year or so. We are also planning to use Economics for Everybody in high school.
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Maturation for Your Middle Schooler
I shared before how nervous I felt about approaching this topic with any of my children. After a lot of preparation and prayer, I decided to use a curriculum to teach on the topic of personal hygiene, sexuality, and reproduction. It was very calming to have a script to work off of, to have diagrams, and a plan!
My daugther and I met together one-on-one for about 8 weeks and went throught that week’s topic. Surprisingly, it was actually a very special and bonding time for us. She was able to ask her questions, get over feeling embarrassed, and vice versa. 🙂 That experience made the nerves fade, and actually look forward to that time with my next children.
What would you not want to forget to teach your teen before high school?
This post was all about the 3 things to consider teaching your middle schooler.
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- Review of CM Simple Studies Curriculum
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