How to Homeschool a 12 Year Old

What Should a 12 Year Old Be Learning?

Homeschooling activities for 12 year olds should include math, language arts (reading, writing), social studies and science. The lessons will include complex topics such as understanding pre-algebra concepts and geometry, writing complete paragraphs using correct grammar and sentence structuring, identifying the components and structure of DNA and more. Additional areas of focus will include:

• Finding and positioning pairs of rational numbers on a coordinate plane.
• Applying concepts of congruency, similarity and symmetry.
• Using knowledge, information, and ideas from literary texts or expository texts to make inferences about the text.
• Using the writing process (plan, draft, write, revise, edit, print, and share), to write poems, fictional stories and more.
• Explaining why and how millions of people immigrated to America.
• Describing how physical geography, specialization, and trade influence the way people earn income.
• Explaining the steps of photosynthesis.
• Examining the periodic table and determining the properties of an element.

How to Start Homeschooling a 12 Year Old

Before you start thinking about how to homeschool a 12 year old, you should take a moment and realize that your kids are growing up. At this age they’ll start forming their own opinions, becoming a bit rebellious and sometimes thinking they know the meaning of life. They’re becoming individuals. So, let them join in on developing the homeschool plan for the year. It will give them a sense of purpose. Begin by considering these actions:

• Step 1: Investigate your state laws, especially about compulsory attendance. The laws vary on how many days per year that you are required to homeschool your child.
• Step 2: Review your curriculum or curricula options. Even If you’re satisfied with what you’re using, it wouldn’t hurt to reevaluate the pros and cons now that you’re homeschooling a 12 year old.
• Step 3: Draft out your homeschool objectives. Don’t set them in concrete, they’ll probably change.
• Step 4: With your child’s help, start formatting a schedule that matches your family’s needs. Be flexible because it may also change during the year.
• Step 5: Find socializing options like homeschool groups, intramural activities and more.
• Step 6: Include time for technology and entertainment in your schedule. Improving your child’s tech skills should be a goal, and having fun is a must.

Homeschooling Planner

Start planning out your homeschooling days with this free easy to use daily planner.

Get Started With This Daily Planner

What Should a Curriculum for a 12 Year Old Look Like?

As your children grow older, you may notice that they’re becoming more independent. Your curriculum or curricula should encourage that independence and provide the flexibility that’s so important for homeschooling families. But those benefits are just the beginning — when your homeschooling a 12 year old, your curriculum provider should also offer:

• Core subjects and electives that are geared toward meeting your sixth grade learning objectives.
• The ability to redo lessons and retake tests and quizzes, which helps strengthen your child’s knowledge of more complicated concepts.
• Activity planners and curriculum calculators that keep that keep your student organized and working independently.
• The option to change courses anytime to either review previous concepts or start advancing on the next year’s lessons.
• Parent resources such as  printable lesson plans, homeschool teaching tools, and online and telephonic homeschool support.
• 24/7 access, which allows your students to study at anytime – day, evening or on weekends.
• An automated grading system that also tracks your child’s progress and keeps reports for homeschool portfolio usage.

How Time4Learning Helps You Homeschool Your 12 Year Old

Many parents have found that learning activities for 12 year olds are most effective when they apply a tech-oriented approach. Afterall, technology plays a vital role in education, business, social functions and everyday life. Time4Learning is a computer-based, interactive program that incorporates technology, entertaining lessons, instructional videos, virtual labs and parental tools that make the transition to middle school much smoother.

Additional benefits that Time4Learning offers and parents appreciate, include:

• Dynamic lessons that correlate to all state standards and focus on meeting the advanced learning objectives set for 12 year olds.
• Student-paced method that allows students to progress through each course comfortably and at their own speed.
• Over 6,100 activities for middle schoolers across all subject areas.
• An automatic  grading system that tracks your student’s progress and frees you from grading multiple assignments, quizzes and tests.
• Multiple activities in diverse learning formats such as printable worksheets and quiz answer keys that help improve skill mastery.
• 24 hour access and adaptable grade levels that can be changed at anytime, giving students the flexibility to study during their peak learning hours.
• Multi-media lessons and interactive activities that make learning core subjects fun.

Time4Learning isn’t the only homeschooling program you can use for homeschooling your 12 year old. You can compare Time4Learning to other popular online curricula, to gauge the pros and cons of each product, or use a mix of curriculum providers to meet your needs.

Tips for Homeschooling a 12 Year Old

On occasion, 12 year olds are known for ignoring their parents decisions and advice. It’s part of their growing process, but this process presents additional challenges for you. Don’t get too worried though, because we’ve learned some shrewd tips from parents who’ve already experienced homeschooling a 12 year. They include the following:

• Don’t extend school hours. For example, if your child finishes his or her work in three hours, there’s no need to pile on an additional hour. This will only make your students frustrated.
• Stay patient. Remember that your child is going through some difficult hormonal changes. There will be good and bad days, so patience is important.
• Involve a lot of physical activities for your children. Have them burn through some of the physical and mental frustrations they feel.
• Give your children the freedom to make their own decisions. Once a week let them decide what subjects or activities they’ll partake in.
• Provide opportunities for them to take more responsibility. Let them look after their younger siblings, study independently,  pet sit, and do chores.
• Include entertaining STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) activities. Build and launch your own rocket, create stop motion animation, engineer a propeller car (a quick Google search will show you how to do all three).
• Find board games that your 12 year old can play with friends and adults. Examples include, Dixit, Spontuneous Singing Game and strategy-based board games like Santorini.