Homeschooling 8th Grade: Our Curriculum Choices For Middle School

Inside: Are you homeschooling middle school? Many ask what we are using for Grade 8 curriculum. Sharing our homeschool picks for my son this year!!

One of the biggest challenges of being a working homeschool mom is finding a curriculum that will not only work for your kids but will work for your lifestyle.

Disclosure: I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Homeschooling Middle School Plan:

I always start with a “PLAN”.

I call “The Plan” as this is what we hope to go with, however, sometimes the curriculum we pick doesn’t always work for us. Or we change direction mid-year to follow a new interest.

That is the freedom of homeschooling your child. You can change things around to figure out what is working and what isn’t.

After sending in our Year-End Reports, according to the Law I need to send in a list of curriculum/subjects we plan on studying the next year. I didn’t want to share that with you until we received our approval.

How We Choose Our Curriculum:

When choosing the curriculum for my son, there are 3 basic steps I take.

Step One: Review Your Last Year’s Homeschool Choices

The first thing I do is review with him what we did last year. We talk about what he liked and what he didn’t. We also chat about what worked and what didn’t.

This might sound like the same question just reframed but this slight change helps him to identify the program he liked but didn’t move him towards his goals…or the other way around.

This is key because it helps me get a great idea of how he is learning and how to improve our homeschool to fit his unique learning style, interests, and needs.

TIP: When doing a review with your children it is key to ask open-ended questions over closed. The more information you can get the better decisions you’ll be able to make.

Step 2: Research What Is Required

Next, I check to see what is required if anything by law. I use the Department Of Education Website to print off the reporting forms and see if anything has changed.

This is important as many provinces and states have their own requirements. Make sure you meet them!

Websites for more information are:

For information for other countries, please contact your local department of education.

Step 3: Research Homeschool Curriculums & Programs

Now for the fun part! Gather a list of ideas.

I start with The Well Trained Mind to see what homeschooling programs and resources I might want to include. I love the lists in this book!

The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home (Third Edition) by Susan Wise Bauer, Jessie Wise (May 4, 2009) Hardcover Third Edition

That being said, I do not follow it to the letter or even close. I love the ideas then take it and make it work for us. I highly recommend you do the same for your family, your child, and your schedule.

When we get a list he agrees with he will spend time testing them out before we send in our “Homeschooling Middle School Plan” for approval.

This plan is subject to plan but we don’t need permission to change it up mid-year. After all, the best part of homeschooling is being able to tailor your homeschooling to your child’s needs.

Curriculum Choices Grade 8:

Here we go!! Below you will find our final choices and what was submitted.

Note: The curriculum is broken down by subjects to fit our homeschooling and learning styles. You can read why our homeschool looks like school at home for more information.

Math:

We are using Easy Peasy Middle School Math Step 2 for math this year.

This level is like general math in that it covers developing skills in counting, number comparison, geometry, money, time, measurement, fractions, and graphing. He will also practice his skills using worksheets and online games, quizzes, and activities.

UPDATED (2019) Easy Peasy has updated this math course and added printed workbooks you can purchase for learning offline. Both the Workbook and Parent’s Guide can be purchased on Amazon.

EP Math 6/7 Workbook: Part of the Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool EP Math 6/7 Parent’s Guide: Part of the Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool

You can create an account or you can skip it and just bookmark the page. We plan on doing a “day” a day. The course is designed for 180 days however I encourage my kids to work at their own pace. If we get stuck we take more time.

Language Arts:

We use different programs for different parts of Langauge Arts we want to cover.

For writing, we are using Writing With Skill, Level 1 (The Complete Writer).

Writing With Skill, Level 1: Instructor Text (The Complete Writer)Writing With Skill, Level 1: Student Workbook (The Complete Writer)

This program covers:

One- and two-level outlining
Writing chronological narratives, biographical sketches, descriptions, and sequences across the curriculum
Constructing basic literary essays on fiction and poetry
Researching and documenting source material
First volume of four that will prepare students for high-level rhetoric and composition

Homeschool Spelling:

We are using Spelling Workout, Level E.

We love using this workbook for spelling. What is great about it as the list of words is written in cursive writing, I feel this is really important for the children to be able to read cursive and write it as well. It is a dying skill.

How I Use Spelling Workout:

I didn’t want to add “one more thing” to our homeschool. At the same time, spelling is a needed skill.

When you begin a new lesson, it starts with a story. Next, you get a list of spelling words with a tip for grammar at the top. Lastly, there are little boxes or activities using the list of words.

To prevent overwhelm and keep it fun we read the story and the list on day one. Then they need to do one box a day. It takes around a week or so to do a lesson.

Every so many lessons there is a review lesson to give the student a chance to see what they have retained. I love this part as it allows me to see what areas they are struggling with.

As a working mom, this spelling program works great for our family, it only takes a few minutes to complete, completely independent (unless they don’t understand something), has a built-in dictionary and it takes a few minutes to check each day.

Homeschool Grammar:

We are using First Language Lessons.

This book is a complete beginning grammar text that uses copy work, narration, picture study, and other classical techniques.

I love how easy this program is to use. I do not make my kids do all the memorization but we do most of this book the way it is designed to be used.

First Language Lessons Level 1

Middle School Homeschool Reading List:

They were able to choose their own books this year. This is what we have planned.

Not all books have been pre-read, if you are using this list for inspiration for your own kids, I highly recommend reading the reviews before deciding which ones for your family.

Grade 8 Book List:

History:

We are using The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 3: Early Modern Times, we are using both the workbook and textbook.

This program continues to be well-loved in our house. This has been our favorite for years.

We have purchased the textbook, I will be purchasing one activity book this year for the activities, recipes, and coloring pages. We also have on hand The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia which I am beyond thrilled to try.

The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Vol. 3: Early Modern Times, 2nd Edition (9 CDs)The Story of the World Activity Book Three: Early Modern Times The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 3: Early Modern Times Story of the World, Vol. 3 Test and Answer Key, Revised Edition: History for the Classical Child: Early Modern Times Story of the World, Vol. 3 Bundle, Revised Edition: Early Modern Times; Text, Activity Book, and Test & Answer Key The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia (Kingfisher Encyclopedias)

How I use Story of The World:

Story of the World can be overwhelming to those just beginning to homeschool. I highly recommend taking any homeschool program or resource you use and make it your own!

This is how I fit Story of the World into our busy homeschool life.

We do history 3 days a week:

Day 1:

I read aloud from the textbook. Then I ask the questions from the activity book and the kids answer orally.

We add the dates and characters to a timeline. I use a timeline from Notebooking Pages. I have the kids either write one paragraph summarizing what they learned, color a coloring page or map activity provided in the workbook.

Day 2:

I read aloud from the textbook what is left in the chapter. Most chapters are divided into 2 subheadings. I ask the questions from the activity book and the kids answer orally.

Again, we add the dates and characters to our timeline. I have the kids either write one paragraph summarizing what they learned, color a coloring page or map activity provided in the workbook.

Day 3:

On this day we pick one of the extra activities to do. Sometimes it is a game we make from scratch. Cook a meal. Make a craft.

Again, always do what works for you. This is how I use Story of The World in our homeschool.

Geography Studies:

We are using History-Geography, which is from Easy Peasy Year 3 History for Geography.

Although technically our study of Story of The World contains geography we wanted to use this program as well.

We used the levels of 5-8 sections and did not create an account as this is new in the update.

They now have a printed book that is a companion to this course. It contains all the worksheets as well as the things to print and cut out.

EP Geography and Cultures Printables: Levels 1-4: Part of the Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool EP Geography and Cultures Printables: Levels 5-8: Part of the Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool

I suggest carefully ripping out the pages for cutting when the day comes to use them. becuase the pages are NOT perforated. Also, this is NOT a stand-alone workbook. It is to be used along with the online course.

Science:

We are diving into studying Zoology this year using Level M from Easy Peasy Zoology.

In this course, we used level 5-8 and they learned zoology through readings, videos, and a variety of online activities.

EP Zoology Printables: Levels 1-4: Part of the Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool EP Zoology Printables: Levels 5-8: Part of the Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool

At this time, there was no printable workbook available. However, you can purchase the 3 books they will read but this is NOT required. They are available online and within the course.

Homeschool Middle School Electives:

I love electives as they offer a great chance to really dive into the interests of my child!

Foreign Language:

He is studying French. We are using:

Duolingo now has another free app that also helps called Tiny Cards.

Computer:

We will be doing Easy Peasy Computer to learn about basic computer and internet usage and obtain word processing skills.

For typing, we will be trying out Dance Mat Typing, Typing Club, and Typing Web.

UPDATE: Our favorite program for typing is Typesy!

My 8th grader loves writing stories on the computer and is teaching himself PhotoShop.

Homeschool Art:

My son is not big into art. He will work his way through Easy Peasy Early American Art.

He will also do various crafts and projects through his history program.

Music:

Due to not loving music, or having an interest at all, this course Easy Peasy Music: Early American is holding her attention and teaching her lots.

This is a once-a-week course. She will learn about both popular folk music of various historical periods to the classic music of many great composers during this time period including Beethoven, Bach, Handle, Mozart, Vivaldi ,and more.

Health & Physical Education:

We do a lot of exploring, camping, and hiking outside. We also walk, swim, bike and play different sports as a family. We have set 30 minutes of outside time each day for them to run and play without screens!

This is a great way for your kids to dig in and explore nature.

For more structured learning we are using Easy Peasy PE/Health-Odds, levels 5-8.

The Homeschool Curriculum Grade 8 Plan:

So that is our plan for grade 8 this year!

We are super excited. I hope to share updates, book lists, and reviews of curricula as we use it. Along with any “extra’s” that might find it’s way into our homeschool.

Are you homeschooling in 8th grade? What are you using? Let us know!

Take care

Jen

PS. Do you need more homeschool curriculum ideas? Check out this page!

📌Don’t let this post get lost in the internet abyss – pin it to your Pinterest board now!