
Tweens +
Middle Schoolers
10 - 13 Years Old
Homeschooling Tweens +
Middle Schoolers
Time for the ups and downs!
Developmentally, tweens have one foot in childhood and one foot in adolescence. They develop at different paces from one another and grow in fits and starts. Tweens need a sense of competence, industry and a belief that they are good, able, and accepted by others. Accepting themselves is the first step, and this can be a challenge when so much about the self is changing. Being a part of a kind, accepting, safe community, homeschooled tweens can feel unconditional acceptance while they wrestle with the natural physical, emotional, and relational shifts in their worlds. They need a sense of: "We've got you," and "We'll do these changes together."
The tween years can be dramatic when children begin to look to their peers to work out their needs, not just their parental attachment bonds. Differing attachment systems in different families bump into each other and children experiment with ways to be in friendships, ways to resolve negative feelings, ways do demonstrate affection for one another. Thus communication between parents is essential.
If your child has homeschooled "from scratch," perhaps there are already friendships in place from the elementary years. If you're entering the homeschool world from another schooling environment, it can seem overwhelming to try to find friendships and avoid tween isolation that might push you back into an institutional educational environment. Joining social pods in AnySchoolers is a first step towards connection and safety with others, even if building friendships is harder with older kids. Joining in to play events where there are shared experiences (camping, paintballing, watching movies, gaming, for example) builds comradry and history between tweens (and teens)!
- Thu, Feb 02Kansas City
- Fri, Feb 03Ernie Miller Nature CenterFeb 03, 3:00 PM – 3:50 PMErnie Miller Nature Center, 909 North, KS-7, Olathe, KS 66061, USABirds of Prey By day or by night, out of the sky flies a rodent's nightmare, the birds of prey. Using their powerful talons, beaks, and wings, they are some of nature's best hunters. Your group will see close-up live examples of these majestic raptors and their special adaptations.
- Thu, Feb 09Legacy Park Community CenterFeb 09, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM CSTLegacy Park Community Center, 901 NE Bluestem Drive, Lee's Summit, MO 64086, USALet’s go swimming! This pool includes a 141' long figure-eight water slide. Spray features, large play area, and a zero-depth beach entrance, four 20-yard lap lanes, current channel and hot tub.
- Fri, Feb 10Above All Trampoline
- Membership OfferTue, Feb 14Lakeside Nature Center Indoor Group RoomFeb 14, 10:15 AM – 12:00 PM CSTLakeside Nature Center Indoor Group Room, 4701 E Gregory Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64132, USAOpen to any homeschoolers and a great pod group activity for subscribers! Make and bring a Valentine's shoebox to receive your mail, and each participating child/teen should bring Valentines for 75 children. We will provide the crafts, friends, and music.
- Thu, Feb 23IBEX Rock Climbing Gym
- Fri, Feb 24Mission Board Games
- Wed, Mar 01Burr Oak Woods NatureMar 01, 1:30 PM – 3:00 PMBurr Oak Woods Nature, Blue Springs, MO 64015, USACome adventure with us! Join us at Burr Oak Nature Center for a maple tree tapping experience! Children will get to experience tapping a tree for syrup, making + tasting syrup, tree identification, sap-flow science, and more!
- Fri, Mar 17Location is TBD
- Mon, Mar 20Gladstone Fire Station #1
- Thu, Mar 23Cave Springs Park
- Multiple DatesFri, Mar 31Rosedale Park