Best Charlotte Mason Homeschool Curriculum – Middle School

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Please note: this article is part of a series on Charlotte Mason-style homeschool curriculums. This article discusses curriculums for the middle school level. If you have a younger or older child, check out our articles Best Charlotte Mason Homeschool Curriculum – Elementary and Best Charlotte Mason Homeschool Curriculum – High School. 

If you follow a Charlotte Mason-style approach to homeschooling, you probably already know that it can be difficult to find suitable curriculum for middle school students. On one hand, you want your child’s education to have the freedom, spontaneity, and literature-rich experience that Charlotte Mason promoted. But at the middle school level, it is also important to have a certain degree of structure and be sure your child is learning the basics in each core subject. 

Fortunately, there are some excellent homeschool curriculums that align well with the Charlotte Mason method. In this article we’ll tell you about our favorite Charlotte Mason-inspired program in each of the four core subject areas (language arts, social studies, math, and science). If you have younger or older children, check out our articles Best Charlotte Mason Homeschool Curriculum – Elementary and Best Charlotte Mason Homeschool Curriculum – High School. 

Best for Language Arts

Language Arts for Intermediate Students: Bards and Poets, Cottage Press

If you are looking for a comprehensive middle school language arts curriculum that incorporates the ideals of Charlotte Mason, we recommend you check out Cottage Press’ Language Arts for Intermediate Students – Bards and Poets series. This program is, on one hand, very classical in its approach: it teaches writing using the progymnasmata, a system of writing exercises developed in ancient times and used by some of the world’s greatest historical writers; it also uses a classical model to teach grammar. At the same time, however, this curriculum is very much Charlotte Mason-inspired, incorporating dictation, narration, copywork, narration, and most importantly, exposure to high-quality, morally-uplifting literature.

Language Arts for Intermediate Students – Bards and Poets is an excellent option if you want to use a Charlotte Mason approach while nevertheless following a clear, carefully structured curriculum. The daily lessons are detailed and easy to follow, and the program itself is very comprehensive, covering composition, grammar, vocabulary, literary analysis, and more. Students are introduced to classic authors and regularly read poems, excerpts from classic fiction, and relevant non-fiction passages. 

Language Arts for Intermediate Students – Bards and Poets consists of two levels, each of which takes about one school year to complete. If your student is starting the program, you’ll need to get the Level I Student Book, the Level I Teaching Helps volume, the Sentence Sense grammar handbook, two composition books (such as these), the program’s flashcard set (available as a free PDF on Cottage Press’ website), and an index card box with dividers (such as this). Also recommended are a good poetry anthology such as Favorite Poems Old and New by Helen Ferris; the blank timeline notebook Book of Centuries; and a print dictionary (we love Merriam-Webster’s Intermediate Dictionary).

Best for Social Studies

Beautiful Feet Books Literature Packs

If you are looking for a Charlotte Mason-inspired social studies curriculum for your middle school student, consider the wonderful literature packs offered by Beautiful Feet Books. Each pack includes a collection of quality literature – including fiction, non-fiction, and biographies –all based around a single social studies theme. Also included in each pack is a teacher guide containing daily lessons that you can use one-on-one with your student or as a family. The lessons are short and feature discussion questions and ideas for extension activities and projects. 

Each literature pack is designed to be used over about one school year, but you and your student can set the pace to be as fast or slow as you want. These packs are an excellent option for kids who are bookworms and families with children in multiple grades who want to work together.

The following literature packs are available at the middle school level:

To learn more about these literature packs and how to use them as a full social studies curriculum, check out BFbooks.com.

Best for Math

Life of Fred Pre-High School Math Series, Stanley F. Schmidt

If you are looking for a math program that is story-based and helps students understand how math relates to “real life”, consider the popular Life of Fred series by Stanley F. Schmidt. Life of Fred is a completely unconventional program that provides a comprehensive math curriculum without the drills and lists of equations you might see in a typical math textbook. 

Written in the style of a funny novel, Life of Fred tells the story of Fred Gauss, a six-year-old math professor. In his daily life, Fred encounters the need for math, and students are challenged to help him. This approach to teaching math concepts is simple and effective, showing students how math relates to real-life situations. The program is incremental and thorough, leading students through math concepts one step at a time. 

The Pre-High School series is designed for students in grades 5-8 and consists of five courses, each of which takes about one school year to complete. The courses are listed below:

It is recommended that your student take the courses in order. 

Best for Science

Classical Science Series, Elemental Science

If you are looking for a homeschool science curriculum embodying many of the methods promoted by Charlotte Mason, consider the Classical Science Series by Elemental Science. This series follows a classical homeschool approach, using the model of the Logic Stage (grades 5-8) and emphasizing subject mastery. At the same time, however, the program incorporates many Charlotte Mason-style elements, such as writing, sketching, and developing one’s observational skills. Creativity, artistic development, and imagination are woven into this thorough science program. For this reason, the series is very popular among both classical and Charlotte Mason homeschoolers.

The middle school series consists of four courses: Biology for the Logic Stage, Earth Science & Astronomy for the Logic Stage, Chemistry for the Logic Stage, and Physics for the Logic Stage. Ideally, students begin the series with the biology course in fifth grade and proceed through to the physics course in eighth grade. If your child is starting the series after fifth grade, you can still begin with the biology course, or you can start with another course in the series if you’d prefer. 

Each course is structured around a 36-week school year, with new topics being introduced each week. Students learn through a combination of reading, performing experiments, and doing hands-on activities. Sketching assignments, memory work, vocabulary study, and writing projects are also incorporated into this curriculum. The lessons plans are simple and easy to follow, and they allow you to customize the program for either a 2-day/week or 5-day/week schedule.

This curriculum is designed to work well for both secular and religious homeschoolers. While the program is secular and does include controversial topics such as evolution and the Big Bang, these topics are included as optional material, so you are free to skip over them if you prefer. 

Each course requires a student guide, a teacher’s guide, and a couple of additional texts. The materials needed for each course are listed here:

Biology for the Logic Stage

Earth Science & Astronomy for the Logic Stage

Chemistry for the Logic Stage

Physics for the Logic Stage

Experiment kits can also be purchased on the Elemental Science website.

To supplement your child’s science education with even more hands-on activities and experiments, you may also want to consider getting your child a subscription science box. To learn about some of our favorite options, see our article Best Science Subscription Boxes.

Conclusion

There are many wonderful Charlotte Mason-inspired curriculum options for middle school students. If you have younger or older students, check out our articles Best Charlotte Mason Homeschool Curriculum – Elementary and Best Charlotte Mason Homeschool Curriculum – High School. If you have questions or would like more information about this topic, please email us!