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Fun Math Books for Middle School

April 27, 2020 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

I have a rising sixth grader who HATES math. I mean, she hates it.

If there was a way to study only literature for the remaining seven grades, she’d be in heaven.

But once numbers show up on a paper, her love for reading goes out the window.

I wasn’t encouraged to pursue a mathematics-based career and I’m a literature lover, so I understand her feelings completely.

But I don’t want her to allow a discomfort with mathematics to limit her career choices, so we’ve got to find a way to make math fun!

Fun Math Books for Middle Schoolers

Thankfully, there are a lot more resources for making math interesting these days than there were when I was a kid and I’ve gathered up a few today!

Check out this list of educational and fun math books for middle school to find some resources your kids might like!

For more fun with math, don’t miss our list of hands-on math activities to try!

Fun Math Books for Middle School

Fun Math Books for Middle School

These books are not the only cool math books for tweens around, but they are some of the best. Especially if you have students who love to work with their hands.

If you like any of these, leave a comment and let me know which one!

(This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

1.Math Dictionary for Kids: The Essential Guide to Math Terms, Strategies, and Tables (Grades 4-9)

2.Math Doesn’t Suck: How to Survive Middle School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail

3.100 Math Brainteasers (Grades 7-10)

4.40 Fabulous Math Mysteries Kids Can’t Resist (Grades 4-8)

5.Janice Van Cleave’s Math for Every Kid: Easy Activities That Make Learning Math Fun

6.One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve with Math

10 Fun Math Books for Middle School

7.Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi: A Math Adventure (Grades 2-7)

8.Math Puzzles and Games for Grades 6-8

9.Funny & Fabulous Fraction Stories: 30 Reproducible Math Tales and Problems (Grades 3-6)

10.Math Projects: 50 Hands-On Projects (Grades 5-8)

11.Everything You Need to Ace Math in One Big Fat Notebook (Grades 6-8)

12.Real World Math (Grades 5-8)

Help tweens learn to love math with these fun math books for middle school! These interactive and funny math books can help kids master concepts and have fun too!

Does your middle schooler have a math book that he or she loves? Please share your recommendations in the comments!

Need more math learning resources? Check out these posts!

Sidewalk Chalk Outdoor Math Game

Math Activities for ADHD Students

Filed Under: Homeschool Math, Middle School Tagged With: fun math books, fun math books for middle school, fun middle school math books, homeschool math, math, middle school, middle school math, middle school math books

Simple Homeschool Reading List for 6th Grade

October 13, 2016 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Since we have a sixth grader this year (our first middle schooler!), I’ve been looking around for great kids’ books for her age range for some time.

If you have a tween, I don’t have to tell you that it actually seems as if you’re parenting two different children: one that acts about 20 and one that acts about 6. My daughter switches between both age levels almost simultaneously.

I really wanted her to progress to reading thought-provoking books this year, but I also want her to indulge her silly side a bit. So I put together this homeschool reading list for 6th grade. There are serious and eye-opening selections, as well as some playful ones – perfect for both sides of the tween mind.

Simple Sixth Grade Reading List for Kids

Be sure to see our preschool reading list and our third grade reading list for this year also!

Challenge your middle schooler with this fun and thought-provoking sixth grade homeschool reading list!

Image c/o: robertsrob / depositphotos

Homeschool Reading List for 6th Grade

1. The View from Saturday – E.L. Konigsburg

2. Miracle’s Boys – Jacqueline Woodson

3. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

4. Drama – Raina Telgemeier

5. Homeless Bird – Gloria Whelan

6. The Skin I’m In – Sharon G. Flake

7. Bud, Not Buddy – Christopher Paul Curtis

8. Dork Diaries #1: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life – Rachel Renee Russell

9. M.C. Higgins, The Great – Virginia Hamilton

10. Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life – James Patterson

11. Sounder – William H. Armstrong

12. Out of My Mind – Sharon M. Draper

Homeschool Reading List for Sixth Grade - Look! We're Learning!

Don’t miss our other book lists!

Help your preschooler love reading with this preschool homeschool reading list!

50 Fall Books for Kids

Help your third grader love reading with this third grade homeschool reading list!

Plus, get more tips for raising readers on my Reading for Kids Pinterest board!


Filed Under: Book Lists, Reading Tagged With: 6th grade, book lists, books for 6th grade, books for kids, homeschool reading list, homeschool reading list for 6th grade, middle school, middle school book list, reading, reading for kids, reading list, reading list for 6th grade, reading lists

Teaching Money Management with a Lapbook

September 8, 2016 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

We’ve been loving our lapbooks recently and I thought I’d share one that is seriously terrific for teaching money management to middle schoolers. It’s called “Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees” and it. is. fantastic.

Kids usually love to learn about money, at least how to count it and pretend to spend it. But they’re often a little less than enthused about learning how finances work and why financial responsibility is important. After all, in their minds, the whole point of growing up is being able to spend money the way you want, right? 🙂

So, I was thrilled to try out this lapbook, because it’s focused on helping middle schoolers understand what it takes to earn and save money, not just blow it on things you want. Read on to see how we’re using this lapbook to teach money management skills to our tween!

Disclosure: I received this product in exchange for this post. All opinions are my own and I was not required to post a positive review.

Money Management Skills Lapbook for Middle School

Teaching Money Management with a Lapbook

This is a tremendous unit from Knowledge Box Central. The file has 130 pages in it. So be prepared to spend some serious time putting the lapbook together.

Here’s the list of supplies you’ll need:

  • Colored file folders
  • Hot glue gun with glue sticks (for gluing the folders together)
  • Colored paper
  • Stapler with staples
  • Metal brad fasteners
  • Tacky glue (for gluing the minibooks into the folders)

money-doesnt-grow-on-trees-lapbook-cover

Most of the lapbooks we’ve made so far use two folders, but this one uses three. And, boy, is it packed.

money-doesnt-grow-on-trees-lapbook-interior

See what I mean? 🙂

money-doesnt-grow-on-trees-lapbook-folder-1

Here’s a look at the first folder.

money-doesnt-grow-on-trees-lapbook-folder-2

And the second…

money-doesnt-grow-on-trees-lapbook-folder-3

And the third.

By the time kids get into the middle grades, it’s time for their learning to take a more independent route. And this lapbook does just that. There are sections in the study guide that are written directly to the student, which I loved.

learning-about-financial-terms

On those sections, I just handed the laptop over to my daughter and had her read aloud. She really liked the content, also. Some of the things that were included in the guide were feelings about finances that she could relate to personally, such as “Why don’t my parents always buy the things I want?” I couldn’t stop nodding at the reasons why….lol.

reading-about-money-terms

Since this lapbook was so extensive, I had her help me assemble some of the smaller books. The Money Terms minibook in the first folder includes definitions for each term, so she matched them up and glued them in. All of the matching definitions are in the study guide as well.

She did a pretty good job of choosing the correct ones on her own, but there were a few she was unfamiliar with. On those, she checked the guide and then went forward.

banking-term-minibooks

We did the same thing with the banking words section in Folder 2. There are several minibooks with matching definitions there also. So it was up to her to find the right definition and glue it in the minibook.

banking-terms-minibook-definitions

Like so. Again, the answers are in the Guide.

learning-to-balance-a-checkbook

Naturally, kids want to do the stuff that looks grown-up, such as writing checks. The checkbook activity in the lapbook is really comprehensive. It has a check register, practice checks, and deposit slips.

Which meant we had to do an exercise on how to balance a checkbook.

learning-about-bills-and-money-management

Then it was time to pay bills. *cue horror music*

learning-to-read-an-energy-bill

Look at that! Isn’t that neat? It’s a sample electric bill and we discussed how to read the statement: why account numbers are important, where to find the due date, and how to write out the check to the correct company name.

learning-how-to-write-checks

Then she wrote her very first check!

I realize, of course, that we don’t really use checks that much anymore, so we will eventually talk about online bill payment. But this was a great introduction to the world of bill paying, AKA, being an adult. And there’s a practice debit card in the lapbook too. 😉

researching-inflation-in-middle-school

Another activity in the lapbook teaches kids the basics of inflation by comparing current prices of basic goods to the prices of those same goods 50 years ago. We researched the price of gas, milk, and housing in 1966 to compare.

researching-prices-from-today-and-the-past

Then we started filling the figures in to note the difference.

comparing-gas-prices-of-today-to-gas-prices-in-the-past

32 cents for a gallon of gas???!!!! Sign me up for that!

learning-about-money-management-in-6th-grade

This was really, very fun to do as a unit and my tween, who typically hates math, loved it. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that we were basically doing a math lesson. 🙂

money-management-skills-for-middle-school

Learn more about the awesome lapbooks available from Knowledge Box Central! And get a closer look at the Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees lapbook on the company website!

Money Management Resources for Middle School:

Use these other resources to round out your money management unit!

  • How to Turn $100 Into $1,000,000: Earn! Save! Invest!
  • Building Real Life Math Skills: 16 Lessons with Reproducible Activity Sheets
  • Real Looking U.S. Play Money Set
  • Arthur Season 15 Episode 4: “Cents-Less”

Knowledge Box Central

See more of Knowledge Box Central’s lapbooks below!

Giant Panda Lapbook for Homeschoolers

Learning to Bake with a Cooking Lapbook

Creatures of the African Savannah Lapbook Review

Get more ideas for your homeschool unit studies, including lapbooks, from my Unit Studies board on Pinterest!


Filed Under: Lapbooking, Middle School Tagged With: finance, homeschool lapbook, homeschool lapbooking, homeschooling, lapbooking, middle school, money management, money management for middle school

Learning How to Use a Microscope in Middle School with Real Science-4-Kids

August 30, 2016 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

My new middle schooler has always been interested in science. She loves examining nature and conducting basic experiments. One thing we had yet to introduce her to, though, was the microscope.

When I took college biology last year, I had my very first experience with a light microscope and it was awesome. So I was excited to show her how to use it as well.

But I wasn’t quite sure how to teach her microscope basics. After all, my college textbook was a little too advanced. I still wanted her to have a chance to learn it without me hovering somewhere nearby.

Enter Real Science-4-Kids! This homeschool science program for grade 6 offers plenty of hands-on biology lessons and experiments!

Read on to see how we used Real Science-4-Kids to teach our child how to use a microscope in middle school!

Disclosure: I received this product in exchange for this post and I was compensated for my time. All opinions are my own and I was not required to post a positive review.

Learning to Use a Microscope with Real Science-4-Kids

What’s Included in the Real Science-4-Kids Grade 6 Curriculum?

Real Science-4-Kids offers its science program, Exploring the Building Blocks of Science, in several grades, including grade 6.

The Grade 6 program includes the following materials:

  • Exploring the Building Blocks of Science: Book 6 Teacher’s Manual
  • Exploring the Building Blocks of Science: Book 6 Student Textbook
  • Exploring the Building Blocks of Science: Book 6 Laboratory Notebook

Need a higher grade level? Exploring the Building Blocks of Science Book 7 will be released just in time for the new school year!

Exploring the Building Blocks of Science Grade 6 Curriculum

Initially, I didn’t think that I would need all three books. But as I examined them, I was extremely impressed at how clearly everything is written and how thorough (but not overwhelming) the program is.

The teacher’s manual is a sort of guideline for which lessons and resources to use and when. The student textbook is written directly to the student, so I was able to give the book to my daughter and let her read the lessons, define the terms, and follow the instructions herself. It’s a really great way to reinforce independent learning at this level.

The laboratory notebook is for students to write down and draw their observations as they conduct the experiments in the book. After all, the goal here is to raise scientists. 🙂

Want to learn more about Real Science-4-Kids? Listen to the program author, Dr. Keller, explain more about how the program works!

Learning How to Use a Light Microscope

Okay. Microscope time!

Choosing a Microscope for Middle Schoolers

Ours is the My First Lab Ultimate Digital Microscope, which is monocular. But if you’d like a binocular model, the OMAX Binocular Compound Microscope looks pretty good as well. The student textbook contains a nice summary of the features to look for when choosing a good light microscope.

Parts of the Light Microscope

Unit 7 in the program deals with microscope basics. I assigned section 7.1 through 7.3 as reading. Then we started working with our microscope.

Introducing Middle Schoolers to the Light Microscope

As you can see, my child was basically waiting for me to shut up so she could get her hands on the microscope.

Labeling Parts of a Light Microscope

To help her identify the parts of the device, we grabbed a few Post-Its and wrote the name of each part (corresponding to the diagram in the textbook) and then labeled them.

Learning the Parts of a Microscope

After that, it was easy peasy to fill in the diagram in the textbook!

Testing Out a Microscope in Middle School

As part of the science lesson, we looked at various biological samples under the microscope, including pencil markings and blood. Since we already had prepared microscope slides with a sample of frog blood, we didn’t have to prepare them, which saved time. But if you want to make your own slides, you’ll need to pick up some blank slides to get started.

Making Observations from Microscope Experiments

First, we wrote down letters in pencil and examined them at 4x magnification and 10x magnification. Tigger wrote down her observations afterward and surprised to see how different the markings appeared at a higher magnification.

Drawing Observations in a Science Notebook

Next, it was time to examine a drop of blood under the microscope. This was really, really neat. At 4x magnification, we could see a pink mass with circles inside (the individual blood cells).

Exploring Magnification with a Microscope

As we increased the magnification to 100x, though, we could see even more detail, including colors inside the individual blood cells. Following the experiment instructions, Tigger drew pictures of how the sample changed as the magnification increased.

Teaching Middle Schoolers to Use a Microscope

I basically had to tear her away from the microscope afterward.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive (and affordable) grade 6 science curriculum, stop by and visit Real Science-4-Kids to pick up the Grade 6 Science bundle today! And science isn’t the only subject offered by Gravitas Publications! Visit the homepage to browse all of the company’s homeschooling helps!

Teaching Middle Schoolers to Use a Light Microscope

Want to score this program for 30 percent off? Click the image below to get a discount on your science purchase through September 30! Or visit my referral link to get your savings! (Once you buy, you can also sign up to get your own referral link and get rewarded when your friends buy the program!)

RS4K-30percent-off

Learn more about Real Science-4-Kids and Gravitas Publications by following the company on social media!

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
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  • Instagram
  • Blog

Get more ideas for teaching homeschool science from my It’s Science board on Pinterest!


Filed Under: Curriculum Reviews, Middle School, Science Tagged With: grade 6 science, grade 6 science curriculum, homeschool science, middle school, middle school science, middle school science curriculum, real science 4 kids, real science 4 kids curriculum, science

Art Study Coloring Books for Middle Schoolers

August 15, 2016 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

Scrambling to find art study resources for your middle schooler this year? These art study coloring books for middle schoolers are absolutely awesome ways to study classic paintings!

We’ve loved these books and today – I’m giving four of them away to one of my readers! Woohoo!

Read on for more about these books and for your chance to win them!

Art Study Coloring Books for Middle Schoolers

Art Study Coloring Books for Middle Schoolers

Let’s face it: Studying classic art can be a bit of a challenge, especially if your tween is not into art. Getting to “recreate” classic masterpieces, though, can bring these artistic styles to life!

Take a look at these!

Color Your Own Impressionist Paintings

Color Your Own Impressionist Paintings

Color Your Own Famous American Paintings

Color Your Own Famous American Paintings

Color Your Own Still Life Paintings

Color Your Own Still Life Paintings

Color Your Own Italian Renaissance Paintings

Color Your Own Italian Renaissance Paintings

Get more ideas for teaching art in your homeschool with my Art Appreciation board on Pinterest!

Color Your Own Masterpieces Giveaway

Now – for the fun part! You can enter to win all four of these coloring books, plus a set of colored pencils! Use the Giveaway Tools widget below to enter!

Entry-Form

Want to enter to win even more awesome resources for your homeschool year? Stop by the iHomeschool Network Gift Basket Giveaway to see all of the other amazing gift baskets you can enter to win!

Gift Baskets 2016 Collage 2


Filed Under: Art Appreciation, Middle School Tagged With: art, art study, book lists, homeschool art, homeschooling, middle school

Middle School Student Organizers for Tweens

August 12, 2016 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

It’s back to school time! And this year, I have a rising middle schooler. Eeek!

In keeping with my decision not to use a homeschool planner this year, I’m putting the organizing squarely on my sixth-grader’s shoulders. So that means it’s time to shop for gorgeous middle school student organizers that are lovely enough for tweens to use!

Check out this list of fun and functional middle school planners your child will be psyched to use this school year!

Tween Middle School Student Organizers

Need more tips for planning your homeschool year? See how to simplify lesson planning and streamline your daily homeschool schedule!

Middle School Student Organizers

Middle School Student Organizers for Tweens

  1. 2016-17 Coloring Academic Agenda – Weekly & Monthly Organizer
  2. Bloom Daily Planners 2016-17 Hard Cover Academic Year + Passion/Goal Organizer
  3. Undated Student Organizer for Middle School
  4. Mead Paper Airplane Academic Year with Weekly/Monthly Planner
  5. 2016-17 Year Spiral Organizer Student Weekly at a Glance Dayminder
  6. 2016-17 Middle School Student Planner
  7. Spiral-Bound 2016-17 Academic Coloring Planner
  8. Student Planner, Grades 4-8: Second Edition
  9. 2016-17 Academic Planner for Time Management
  10. Bloom Daily Planners Acadmic Soft Cover Vision Planner

Middle School Student Organizers for Tweens

Want to ease your child into planning his or her own schedule? Try these fun student planner printables!

Superhero Free Student Planner Pages @ Look! We're Learning!

Strawberry Friends Printable Student Planner Free Pages

Grab more tips to make this homeschool year the best one ever on my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board!

Free Unit Studies

This post is part of the Back to School Unit Study Hop! Stop by to read all these great posts from my fellow bloggers!

Back to School Teacher Gift {Free Printable Bag Topper} from Crafty Mama in ME

The Best {Back To School} Books For Kids from Play Dough & Popsicles

Back to School Interview for Kids from CraftCreateCalm

Free Kissing Hand Songs, Poems, & Videos to Ease Separation Anxiety from Living Montessori Now

How to Help Kids Back to School from iGameMom

Middle School Student Organizers for Tweens from Look! We’re Learning!

Back to School Party Ideas from Schooling a Monkey

Not Back to School Picnic from Tales of Education at Home

Back to School in a Forest School from FrogMom

Back to School Hand Washing Water Play from Play & Learn Every Day

52 Preschool Themes (& FREE 2016-2017 Preschool Theme Calendar!) from Preschool Powol Packets

Homeschooling? Have a Not Back to School Day from Adventures in Mommydom

Books for Kids About Starting Middle School from Planet Smarty Pants


Filed Under: Homeschool Organization, Homeschool Planning Tagged With: homeschool planners, homeschool planning, middle school, middle school student organizers, middle school student planners, school shopping, student organizers, student planners

Fun and Easy Middle School Coding Projects for Beginners

February 21, 2016 by Selena Robinson 4 Comments

It’s hard for me to believe, but I’ll have a middle schooler this fall. (Yikes!) And one of the subject areas I really want to focus on with her is STEM.

But – here’s my conundrum – I wasn’t really that interested in science as a kid. And, to make matters worse, the sciences have vastly expanded since I was in school.

I had no clue about computer programming as a kid and no real desire to learn it after I grew up. Today, though, it’s obvious that our kids need to learn (at least) the basics of coding.

Middle School Coding Projects for Beginners FB

Personally, I want to encourage my daughter to learn anything without feeling that it’s “too hard” or “too complex”. And programming can certainly appear that way, especially at first.

So I’ve found middle school coding projects that are perfect for beginners! Trust me, they’re even easy enough for us parents to teach!

Try some of these easy coding projects with your middle schooler over summer break! By the way, find out how to use Bitsbox to get a new set of coding projects for middle schoolers each month!

Help your middle schooler learn to code with these middle school coding projects for beginners! These are easy enough for any first-time coder to try!

Images c/o: iofoto & belchonock / depositphotos

Easy Middle School Coding Projects for Beginners

Coding itself is a bit abstract for my kids to grasp. But when I tell them “You can learn to do ______”, they get way more interested.

And that’s what I like about these easy middle school coding projects for kids. They all teach kids to make something. Even better, they’re all absolutely free!

1. Learn to make a website. Really. With CodeAcademy, kids (and adults) can learn to create a website from scratch in as little as four hours.

2. Draw a waving snowman. Khan Academy’s Intro to JavaScript course is simple enough for middle school kids to learn.

3. Make a GIF. GIFs are everywhere and, I’ll be honest, I love them. Kids will love using Google’s Made with Code program to design their own!

4. Build a Star Wars galaxy. Code.org features a simple and super fun Star Wars drag and drop exercise that’s perfect for beginning coders!

5. Design digital art. Another Code.org project, this one lets kids use coding and math to create art from angles.

6. Program a virtual robot. Lightbot is a project that teaches kids how to send program commands to a robot that follows their instructions.

7. Make your own beats. This Made with Code project lets kids use Blockly to create their own music.

8. Code a 3D Solar System. In this Scratch project, students can alter and design an existing solar system project and add their own touches.

9. Design an animated story. Google CS First, a resource for introducing computer programming, offers this project to kids of all ages, but it’s ideal for middle grades.

10. Create a video game. With W3Schools, students who have a basic understanding of HTML and JavaScript can build their own games.

Beginner Middle School Coding Projects

More Resources for Middle School Coding Projects:

For more help to get middle schoolers started in programming, try these affiliate resources from Amazon! (For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

  • Python for Kids: A Playful Introduction to Programming
  • Code Master Programming Logic Game
  • Learn to Program with Scratch: A Visual Introduction to Programming with Games, Art, Science, and Math

10 Middle School Coding Projects for Beginners

See more coding ideas below!

Stumped by how to teach computer coding? Make basic coding for kids easy and fun with Bitsbox!

See how we used our Bitsbox subscription box to cover introductory robotics for kids! My middle schooler loved it!

And get even more ideas for STEM education from my STEM for Homeschoolers board on Pinterest!

Don’t miss these other great posts!

Free The Grouchy Ladybug Printables ADHD Handwriting Help for Kids Sleep Tips for Kids with ADHD Middle School Coding Projects for Beginners

This post is part of the 28 Days of Hands-On STEM Activities for Kids linkup! Stop by to get a look at all of the awesome STEM resources being shared this month!

28 Days of Hands On STEM


Filed Under: STEM for Homeschoolers Tagged With: coding, coding for beginners, coding projects, coding projects for beginners, coding projects for middle school, coding with kids, computer science, how to start coding with kids, middle school, middle school coding, middle school coding projects, programming, stem

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