Middle School Homeschool Curriculum for the Large Family

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 1 middle schooler, a boy age 12. If you read my Occupying Busy Toddlers post, he’s THAT kid! Hard to believe he’s in 7th grade this year!

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 our son to more and more independent school work, including online classes that interest him and hone in on his 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, I only have one child in this “middle age,” 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 littlest.

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 kids really enjoyed it, so I wanted to mention it here. They loved sketching, so they would often embellish their stick figures!

Last year, we read through The Child’s Story Bible because we were studying Year 1 of Tapestry of Grace that begins with Creation and goes through the Resurrection. I mention it here because it really sets the stage for all other Bible study and I really love homeschooling with this book!

Already this year, we have bounced around using a few different things, and have finally landed on Training Hearts, Teaching Minds by Starr Meade.

The children bring their Bibles to Morning Time and I read 2-3 of the devotionals (they are very short!) and assign the Bible verses for them to read aloud. We often take the time discuss the concepts further, so they are really understanding what we are reading.

At this age, they are also expected to read their Bibles on their own. Our 12 year old is currently reading in the Psalms.

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

I’ll admit, Science in the middle school years feels a bit like a throw-away subject. We’ve done Apologia in the past, but this year I’m considering Berean Builders. I’ve also been having my middle schoolers read The Story of Science by Joy Hakim. This is NOT from a Creationist viewpoint, but by this age my children have been steeped in Creation Science, so I’m willing to let them venture out a bit.

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!

They also have classes that follow chronological history, so this year, we will be using the Music Appreciation that goes along with the Middle Ages:

We will also end up doing the Shakespeare class as well (my older kids LOVED this class when we did it last time!)

Read my review here:

These 2 classes are really just the tip of the iceberg! Take a look at the website and start dreaming up ways to incorporate music into YOUR homeschool! So easy!

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:

1. Simple with few supplies.
2. Integrates with what we are already learning.
3. Something I can do with the entire family.

Many of our art lessons come from You ARE An Artist chalk art lessons. Chalk is a very forgiving medium and everyone can participate

READ >> You ARE An Artist Clubhouse Review

But, this year, several of my children asked if they could do some watercolor and I wanted to work on my watercolor skills as well, and I had the perfect class for it! Back in 2020 during COVID, I had grandiose plans to learn to watercolor in all my spare time, but didn’t get very far. I purchased the lifetime Watercolor School membership to Lily & Thistle and bought the supplies and that was as far as I got.

But, this year we are going to use it as our homeschool art and I am so excited! Our plan is to start with Modern Watercolor Basics and then this Fall go to the Autumn Watercolor Bundle.

Independent Schoolwork

Once Morning Time is finished, I send everyone off to do their independent school work. By middle school age, my kids are doing most of their work on their own. I simply check in on them from time to time to make sure they are still on track and don’t need any further assistance.

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.

Scheduling Your Middle Schooler’s Homeschool Day

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

Our 12 year old just started Pre-Algebra. He’s always been a bit ahead in Math.

We use Teaching Textbooks for all of our 3 grade + Math. It has been really great for us a large family because it is so flexible – especially the 4.0 app version! It just makes it so much easier on me!

READ >> Teaching Textbooks 4.0 Review

One thing I will recommend if your child is taking more than an hour to do a math lesson is 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.

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

You can find all of our Homeschool Curriculum Choices HERE >>