Eclectic Ramblings

My 3 Year Plan for the Middle School Years

When I first started homeschooling my son last fall, I asked myself what my goals for my his education were. During our time of trying to do "school at home" I was trying to stick close to the state standards because I didn't know any other way. Then I noticed that many career homeschooling families recommended not even looking at the standards. Hmm..on some level that made sense. After all, I was completely free to choose what we would be doing for the first time in his educational life.



It really began to sink in when I realized that almost everything that I was trying to teach him that was on grade level was something that had already been covered in previous grades. I began looking at the standards for the next few years and they were almost identical as well. The main difference was the the topic of study in Social Studies and the addition of a couple of other things in the other subjects. No wonder he was bored and tired of repetition!!

So, I looked further in the future to set my educational goals. I thought about it, and it dawned on me that I should be guiding his education to cater to what he would need to cover in order to be accepted at college if he decides to go. That left me with 3 whole years to relax, give him time to de-school, let him mature, and to find out what really works for us!

Next, I took into consideration both of our personalities, his learning style, natural interests, talents, and previous education.  I came up with a general idea of what areas and concepts I'll be directing his learning through for the next 3 years to prepare him for High School age. It is absolutely flexible, there's plenty of room for him to follow his interests and passions, and we can take our time getting there. Best of all it fits in with all the things I love about the Unschooling philosophy too!

You can see our "curriculum" here.