In many ways, the middle-school years are like High School Lite. Here is where students get their first introduction to upper-level reading, writing, and analysis in every subject.

Your child has spent the elementary years learning the basics: reading, writing, & arithmetic. These skills need to be solid, since everything taught in middle school builds on these basic skills. (For advice on how to catch up QUICKLY when your child is not 100% fluent in basic skills, click on our FAQs!)

The middle-school years are also when your child become a teen. Your relationship will change, as the new “young adult” starts to think and reason more for himself or herself. Be sure to read the “Eye Opening” articles on this page to find out why this should be a good thing and not the harbinger of years of defiance and rebellion!

25 Top Tips for the Middle School Years The Practical Homeschooling staff shares 25 tips for teaching middle school

The Myth of the Teenager Dr. Michael Platt proves teenagers are a figment of our culture that didn’t exist before 1934. Learn the difference between “teenagers” and “youths” and find out how to help your child transition into young adulthood.

A Mind of Their Own A call to teach kids to lift their eyes away from virtual reality to the wonderful realities of the universe

How to Not Raise a Slacker Kid One of my favorite writers, Marion Kester Coombs, explains why kids today often want to be slackers instead of scholars, and what we can do about it.

Slackers Need Heroes The ultimate slacker prevention.

Top Ten Character Tips Top ten tips for building character. Bonus effect: they act as slacker prevention! Christian viewpoint.

Middle School During the Great Depression Middle school was certainly quite different during the Great Depression compared to what it is today.

The Grammar Level Ten things to do with your child from ages ten through twelve.

A Homeschooled Preteen in College Teresa Schultz-Jones’ 11-year-old daughter tests the waters at community college

Building Fluent Reading Comprehension Skills, Part One How to measure—and improve—reading comprehension.

Reading Comprehension, Part 2: Inference How to improve your student’s ability to draw inferences from what he reads.

Reading Comprehension Part 3: Deductive Reasoning How to use the rules of logic to help your student understand what he reads.

Reading Comprehension Part 4: Logical Reasoning How to use the rules of argumentation to evaluate a writer’s reasoning.

Speed Reading Learn to speed read! How it works, what books to buy, what to try!

Write Now Cathy Duffy gives quick tips that can add power to your kid’s writing.

“I Know What I Mean But I Don’t Know How to Say It” How to put it all into words.

Getting Kids Ready to Write Stimulate your children’s learning.

Getting Rid of Clichés Avoiding clichés in your writing.

“Beware The Awful Curse of Horrible Overwriting,” She Pontificated How to avoid the dread disease of overwriting.

How to Encourage Your Kids to Write Encouragement that motivates the student to improve.

How to Teach Your Children Not to Plagiarize Plagiarism can destroy a student’s future life. Here’s how to teach your kids to be honest writers.

Spelling a Word a Week A simpler approach to spelling.

Not Just Another Spelling Bee Kids can just stand there and spell. Or you can use your Bee to motivate, teach spelling, and even improve handwriting. Here’s how.

Getting Ready for (Gasp!) Algebra & Beyond How to get your child ready for high school math.

Math Counts What can our children gain by entering this famous math competition?

Middle School Science What’s it all about?

Keeping Science in Perspective Fritz Hinrichs thinks learning the history of science is important, because it teaches us that scientists make mistakes, too.

Geography and History at the Crossroads Geography and history together are better than either by itself.

Practical Geography Facts and Numbers Fun ways to tie geography study to the real world.

Learning Geographic Concepts and Terms Becoming fluent in the specialized vocabulary of geography.

Teaching Geography How to become fluent in geography.

The Geography of Victory and of Defeat How geography can affect history.

What We Can Learn from the Homeschooled 2002 National Geography Bee Winners These kids know geography. So, what methods did they and their parents use that let them beat nearly 5 million other kids?

How to Win the Geography Bee If you subscribe to National Geographic and paper your walls with maps, this is for you!

The Geography Bee Geography is one of the most useful subjects that students will learn.

How History Was Taught Back Then How history used to be taught in U.S. schools.

Models for Understanding History The Shearers wonder if the human race is going uphill, downhill, or over the hill. Find out what difference this makes to your history studies

Eloquent Kids in 5 Minutes a Day Your kids can easily become good speakers using these great tips.

Awareness and Assessment How to integrate career awareness into your curriculum.

Shouldn’t Your Children’s Curriculum Include Chess? Richard Driggers shows how to accelerate learning skills by playing this classic game.

What I Learned at TeenPact There’s no time for slacking when this group is teaching you how to be a leader!

A Mother-Daughter Book Club Why should the kids get to read all the good books? Enjoy them together.

Why (and How) We Joined the National History Club History can be amazing when you start a history club! How your children can benefit from participating in one.

Investing in Eternity with the National Bible Bee The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God stands forever (Isaiah 40:8)

Going Classical with the National Latin and Mythology Exams Learn how to teach children Latin through the classical education model.

What We Learned at FIRST Lego League Do you have children who are drawn to building, inventing or programming? FIRST Lego League is a worldwide competition that introduces students to hands-on robotics and programming.

Middle School During the Great Depression Middle school was certainly quite different during the Great Depression compared to what it is today. Eyewitness account from Sam Blumenfeld, who was there!