Project-Based Learning for Middle School

Project-Based Learning: Creating Modern Education of Curiosity, Innovation, and Impact is a great resource for homeschool parents looking to make project-based learning part of their families’ learning lives.

I’ve been interested in project-based homeschooling since we started homeschooling, but to be totally honest, my kids and project-based learning have been a match made in … well, let’s just say The Bad Place. Our attempts at project-based learning were unorganized, unfocused, and usually ended in a big mess because someone lost interest or couldn’t figure out what to do next. I would look at other people’s awesome learning projects and wonder what they were doing that I wasn’t.

This has been frustrating because project-based learning feels like the right fit for us for middle school. We spent elementary school developing skills, and I know we’ll get more academic in high school if we continue to homeschool. Right now, though, we’re working hard to stretch ourselves to use our skills in all kinds of ways and to get better at creative problem-solving. I want my boys to figure things out for themselves, and I love the way project-based learning supports self-directed learning.

So I was happy but skeptical when I got the assignment to review a new book about project-based learning. Project-Based Learning: Creating Modern Education of Curiosity, Innovation, and Impact is a great resource for homeschool parents looking to make project-based learning part of their families’ learning lives.

The highlight of this book is the Project Planning Workbook in the back, which breaks down long- and short-term projects into specific steps. If you’re like me, and you love the idea of project-based learning but have not had good luck implementing it in your homeschool, you will really appreciate this step-by-step approach. I was able to take the one-day workbook plan for general research skills and help my boys adapt it into a plan for starting a lawn business in our neighborhood. Working through the specific questions gave them a meaningful framework for their project, and they were inspired to work through the list to complete the project — something that they’ve often struggled with in other projects, which they have tended to give up when the time comes to figure out what to do next.

I also really appreciated the section on finishing a project — especially the idea that a project doesn’t have to be complete to be finished. The authors offer some suggestions for reframing and redirecting stalled projects, but they also give parents permission to let a project that’s just not resonating any more go. I especially like the advice to wrap up a project instead of putting it on indefinite hiatus — you don’t have to complete the project, but you should finalize it with a wrap-up presentation and evaluation instead of just letting it moulder on the shelf. Because this has been a problem for us in project-based learning, going in knowing that quitting would be an official process and not a gradual fading away has been incredibly helpful in making project-based learning feel productive even when a project doesn’t work out.

I will say that the book is written by two authors and maybe because of that, the tone is a little flat. It is full of interesting information, but I would encourage you to skip ahead to the actual project-focused part of the book because the first part, which introduces project-based learning, is very repetitive and makes for dull reading. The problem may also be that the book is trying to be a general resource for all kinds of teachers, and because of that, it doesn’t specifically address the needs of each group. (For instance, a lot of the advice assumes that you’ll have several students working on a project, but for many homeschoolers, that won’t be the case — and there’s often not an alternative suggestion for solo homeschoolers.) I also wish there had been more specific advice for networking contacts and mentors because I think this can be particularly challenging for homeschoolers — at least for introverted homeschoolers like me. I also wish the editing had been a little more consistent. Overall, though, I recommend this as a useful resource for any parents who want to bring project-based learning to their homeschools but aren’t really sure where to start.

Sabrina Diaz is the assistant editor of HSL. This column originally appeared in the summer 2019 issue.

Blair Lee, one of the authors of this book, has a professional relationship with HSL and has written for the magazine. That relationship did not affect our choice to review her book or Sabrina’s opinions of it.

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