Planning middle school to set up for high school

[Emily ZL]

Hey all, I'm sure I've seen threads about planning out middle school (especially 7-8 grade) with an eye toward setting things up properly for high school, and all the things that go into that. Can anyone point me to those, or do you have thoughts on this?

[Clemsondana]

I think that it can be helpful to think separately about skills and content that you want your student to have before starting high school.  For my kids, learning to write with decent organization was a skill that I wanted to work on.  We used/are using the MCT language arts program, which emphasizes both overall structure and the idea that each paragraph makes a point.  One content decision that I made was that I wanted middle school to have a chronological history overview.  We chose something that has a 3-year plan.  I then decided that, instead of tests, I would have the kids take notes from the books and use their notes to write papers about history topics - a chance to practice the skill that I wanted to work on.  

This is just one example, and other families could easily choose different skills and content.  Some decisions will be made based on specific situations.  For example, our co-op has a good dissection-based biology class for middle schoolers.  Despite being a biologist, both of my kids took it in middle school because it makes more sense to dissect as a group.  Because this class is offered to middle schoolers, my kids' high school science will be more molecular biology-focused.  

[Lori D.]

Agreeing with @Clemsondana.

Middle school is when you want to start including time for:
- getting solid with foundations (esp. Math and Writing)
- introducing logic/rhetoric skills, as the student is ready (i.e., fallacies or even formal logic, literary elements and beginning literary analysis, etc.)
- developing skills that will help facilitate high school work (examples: touch typing, use of computer/software, internet & social media safety, public speaking/oral presentation, etc.)
- slowly start folding in study skills, as the student is ready (such as: notetaking, studying from textbooks, memorization techniques, test study tips and test taking tips, etc.)
- exploring subjects of personal interests, or introducing the student to new extracurriculars and activities 

Also in the middle school years:
- as appropriate to the student, slowly ramp up rigor of material and length of time working on a subject, as well as moving into some independent work
- build in regular 1-on-1 relationship time with each child, so you can naturally have those talks on the tough topics (s*x, drugs, relationships, mental health, social media use, etc.) all through the teen years
- if planning on your homeschool high school including outsourced classes -- to online provider, or at a local school, or through dual enrollment with the community college -- use the middle school years to practice skills that will be needed for success with those provider options

This past thread may be somewhat helpful:  What do "seventh" and "ninth" grade look like to you? 

re: high school credits
Knowing what credits will be required in high school can help you "work backwards" for planning what topics you want to cover in content areas. For example: realizing that many colleges want students to have completed 1.0 credit of American History during the high school years (i.e., not "brought up" from middle school), if you were planning on studying American History in middle school you may wish to do it earlier than 8th grade, so it's not "back-to-back" years of the same topic in History. Or, plan on doing that 1.0 credit in 12th grade, if you DO want to do American History in the late middle school years.

 Also re: credits -- Do realize that there is still much freedom to fulfill those broad required credits in the way that best matches your student, or allows your student to pursue specific areas of high interest in depth in high school.

In case you want to think that far ahead, here's the typical set of required credits (a blend of high school graduation credits + college admission credits) that will get your student into the majority of (non-top tier / non-selective or competitive) colleges (which might help you plan what you want to do in middle school to be prepared for doing these types of credits):

4 credits = English (usually 1/2 Lit. + 1/2 Writing, but flexible with variations)
4 credits = Math (Alg. 1, Geom., Alg. 2 + 4th math requiring Alg. 2 as a pre-requisite)
3-4 credits = Science, with labs (most colleges flexible, some want Biology & Chemistry)
3-4 credits = Social Studies (many colleges = 1 credit Amer. Hist; some = 1 credit World Hist./Geog; a few = 0.5 credit each Econ + Gov't)
2-4 credits = Foreign Language, same language (all colleges accept Latin; most accept ASL)
1 credit = Fine Arts (can be performance or creation of art, or can be appreciation-based)
4-8+ credits = Electives (ex: Logic; Computer; Bible/Religion; PE; Health; Vocational-Tech; credits in areas of personal interest; additional credits of Fine Arts; "Academic Electives" (additional credits in the 5 academic subjects above, beyond the required amount of credits); etc.)
22-28+ credits = total


re: looking ahead to high school:
Also, you might very cautiously dip a toe into the waters of planning for homeschool high school (lol), by slowly starting to read through some of the threads linked in the big pinned thread "High School Motherlode #1" at the top of the WTM High School board. Here are a few threads linked there that are related to your thread here about how to use middle school as prep for high school:

Preparing for high school (looking ahead from middle school)
If you knew then what you know now (what would you do differently for Logic stage years)
High school parents: looking back what would be your ideal for 7th/8th grades
8th grade goals: What skills do your kids need to practice before high school? 
Looking back (what you would do differently to prepare for high school work)
Hypothetical question: What to do for the 4 years before public high school?
How best to prepare for high school?


BEST of luck as you and your student grow into the middle school years together! 😄 Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited May 20, 2021 by Lori D.

[Noreen Claire]

This is one of the threads I reread often:

 

[Emily ZL]

Yes, this is all very helpful! Thank you, it's exactly what I had in mind. Lots to read through. My oldest will only be in 6th next year so I do have some time. And he is doing well with his skills and independence.

Random follow up regarding colleges wanting 2-4 years of the same language... We do Latin (and some Greek to a lesser extent), and I had planned to continue that up to at least part of high school, and then after a certain point (not sure what) I was going to let him transition to a modern language and just study that modern language for the remainder of high school. Does that sound like it would cause problems? He doesn't have to go to a selective/competitive college per se, but we (parents) are ivy league/top 10 school grads, so even though I think all that is super highly overrated, I don't want to preclude it either. 

[Lori D.]

4 hours ago, Emily ZL said:

...Random follow up regarding colleges wanting 2-4 years of the same language... We do Latin (and some Greek to a lesser extent), and I had planned to continue that up to at least part of high school, and then after a certain point (not sure what) I was going to let him transition to a modern language and just study that modern language for the remainder of high school. Does that sound like it would cause problems? ...

Colleges usually are fine with 2 years / 2 years of 2 different Foreign Languages. So, 2+ years of Latin + 2+ of a modern language is fine, esp. if the Latin was also being done at a high school in the middle school years and finish in early high school. Or, if overlapping 2 languages in high school.

Side note: it used to be that you could take Latin as you're doing now, and finish the levels around 8th/9th grade, and take the SAT Subject test in Latin to show high school level proficiency, and then move to a modern language for the high school years, and be credited for both languages on the high school transcript... BUT, just earlier this year, the College Board which runs all of the tests DROPPED the SAT Subject Tests, so that is no longer an option. 

That makes "bringing up" high school level foreign language credits finished in middle school a bit more tricky to document, if the student does not go on and do at least one more level of the foreign language in high school. (Ex: Latin I, II, III done in grades 6, 7, 8, and then Latin IV done in 9th grade.)

Edited May 20, 2021 by Lori D.

[Emily ZL]

I see. Thanks, that is helpful.

[2_girls_mommy]

5 hours ago, Emily ZL said:

Yes, this is all very helpful! Thank you, it's exactly what I had in mind. Lots to read through. My oldest will only be in 6th next year so I do have some time. And he is doing well with his skills and independence.

Random follow up regarding colleges wanting 2-4 years of the same language... We do Latin (and some Greek to a lesser extent), and I had planned to continue that up to at least part of high school, and then after a certain point (not sure what) I was going to let him transition to a modern language and just study that modern language for the remainder of high school. Does that sound like it would cause problems? He doesn't have to go to a selective/competitive college per se, but we (parents) are ivy league/top 10 school grads, so even though I think all that is super highly overrated, I don't want to preclude it either. 

One of mine got four years of high school Latin credits.  I started her high school credits in 8th grade even though she was doing high school Latin before that.  I just couldn't count younger years, so the years of her 8th-11th grades got credit.  We backed those years up with National Latin exam scores.  She did one year of Spanish her senior year for something different.  In college she is studying languages.  She chose a degree that requires 4 years of an ancient Language and four of a modern, and she went with Italian for the modern, so I am glad she got a spattering of Spanish at least over the years.  Bonus, the college she is in put her in one semester of intermediate college latin and said she has had enough for that degree with her high school studies.  So that saves her some time and money.  

My next will not be going into languages or an honors college.  She did Latin from an early age along with sister, but burned out around 8th/9th grades, so I gave her one year of high school credit for those years, then she moved into two years of Spanish.  So she has a bonus language credit with the one Latin.  ( I didn't giver her two credits for 8th/9th based on her National Latin exam scores.)  

[2_girls_mommy]

I don't know any threads to go look for, sorry.  It has been a few years since I have been on those.  I have finished high school with one kiddo, and am finishing up with the next one.  I am in college applications/elementary school mode right now.  

But I will say, that I really followed WTM quite a bit for middle school, with our own needed changes, but the same general scope and sequence, and a lot of the actual recommendations for history/literature.  I really did most of WTM style history/lit all of the way through high school, plus the whole logic and rhetoric with my oldest who went on to study classics in college. 

[Zoo Keeper]

Just because Nan's Words of Wisdom need to be re-read often...