9 Online Courses for Middle School Students
If you’re a middle schooler, pursuing online courses outside the traditional classroom can help you enhance your academic profiles and work on advanced skillset early on.
If you’re on the lookout for accessible online courses that explore a variety of subjects, check out this list of 8 online courses for middle school students!
Cost: Free
Eligibility: Middle/early high school students, grades 6-9+
Application Deadline: Year-round
Course Dates: Flexible; can be taught as a 9 or 12-week unit, single semester, two semesters over multiple years, or as a full-year course.
Project STEM’s CS Fundamentals in Scratch is an introductory computer science course designed to spark curiosity and build a strong foundation in technology for middle school students. The course utilizes Scratch, a block-based visual programming language, allowing students to create interactive coding projects, games, and animations.
Students explore key topics such as programming, physical computing, user-centered design, and data. The curriculum is designed to be highly flexible and integrated, with inquiry-based activities, videos, assessments, and computing tools that promote an engaging digital learning environment.
By participating in this course, students will develop problem-solving skills and gain proficiency in computer science concepts, preparing them for more advanced studies in technology. The course structure supports various teaching formats, making it adaptable to different educational settings.
2. Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth’s Making the Case: Effective Legal Arguments
Cost: $1,365
Eligibility: Grades 7-10.
Application Deadline: August 27, 2024
Course Dates: September 11th - November 6th, 2024
Johns Hopkins, one of the nation’s most prestigious universities, hosts this afterschool program for gifted and motivated middle school students. The course titled “Making the Case: Effective Legal Arguments,” provides an in-depth exploration of the American judicial system and the art of crafting compelling legal arguments, making it an excellent foundation for students interested in law or those who wish to enhance their debate and critical thinking skills.
Participants will engage in both individual and group work to analyze historical and fictional court courses, learning how to construct, present, and defend legal arguments. Throughout the course, students will participate in group meetings via Zoom, complemented by asynchronous activities, allowing them to collaborate, share opinions, and receive feedback from their instructor.
Cost: $125.00/4 weeks (once a week) & $232.50/4 weeks (twice a week)
Eligibility: Students from ages 5-14+
Application Deadline: Year-round.
Course Dates: Year-round; courses run every 4 weeks.
Coding with Kids, one of the highest-ranked coding courses for children, offers an innovative coding curriculum designed to take students from beginner to advanced levels. These courses are structured to provide both individual and group learning experiences, making them ideal for young learners who want to build a strong foundation in coding.
Students begin at a level appropriate for their age and skill set, progressing through increasingly challenging stages. The small groups, with a max of 6 students per class, ensure personalized attention and support from instructors. The courses are highly interactive, with a focus on hands-on learning and real-world application of programming concepts.
Topics covered include game development, web design, and more, using languages and tools such as Scratch, Python, and JavaScript. Premier Coding Academy provides a consistent, structured, environment for students to develop their coding skills, making it a great extracurricular activity for middle school students interested in technology.
Cost: Free
Eligibility: 8th Grade students
Application Deadline: None; available year-round.
Course Dates: Year-round
Khan Academy is one of the world’s leading online education platforms. As a student, no matter your age, can learn about any school topic at your own pace. While this class specifically is a Language Arts class for 8th-grade students, you can find other English options for 2nd through 10th-grade students here.
This course consists of three units, titled Funny Business, Obscuring the Truth, and Crossing the Line. In each unit, you will build knowledge, analyze texts through close reading, apply vocabulary knowledge, and read for independent understanding. All of these tools will help you develop into a better reader and writer prior to entering high school. Each unit has a compilation of tutorial videos, and independent reading links to stories and works both nonfiction and fiction.
Cost: $6,900 for a full academic year.
Eligibility: Middle school students (Grades 6-8)
Application Deadline: First semester begins August 26th, 2024
Course Dates:
First semester: August 26, 2024 - January 27, 2025
Second semester: January 29, 2025 - June 11, 2025
Pearson Education, the company that publishes the very textbooks used at school, created an online education platform for students looking to challenge themselves outside of in-person, traditional classes. The Gifted and Talented Middle School Program offers a comprehensive and rigorous curriculum in subjects such as Language Arts, Literature, Pre-Algebra, Algebra, Geometry, and Science. This is ideal for students who wish to learn at an accelerated pace and delve deeper into academic subjects.
For a child to be considered for the Gifted and Talented program, they must already be a member of the Pearson Online Academy and be nominated by either parents or teachers. In evaluating nominations to the program, Pearson Online Academy considers: Aptitude and achievement test scores, grades or previous academic performance, an individual portfolio of previous work, and an assessment from a prior school.
Cost: Free
Eligibility: Middle School Students (Ages 9-14)
Application Deadline: Year-round
Course Dates: Year-round
Google’s CS First program offers an engaging and accessible introduction to computer science for middle school students. This free curriculum uses block-based coding through Scratch and is structured to make learning coding fun and interactive, encouraging creativity and problem-solving. Designed for elementary and middle school students, this course consists of hour-long instructional videos that encourage students to be creative, take initiative, and collaborate with others either from home or in the classroom.
With themes like storytelling, game design, and animation, you will not only learn to code but also develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are essential for today’s digital age. Supported by Google's extensive expertise and resources, the program provides all necessary materials for both students and educators, including lesson plans, instructional videos, and assessment tools, all free of charge.
Cost: Free
Eligibility: Grades 4-12
Application Deadline: Monthly
Course Dates: Monthly; each novel is due by 11:59 PM on the last day of the month.
NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program (YWP) is a dynamic, month-long creative writing challenge designed to unlock the storytelling potential of young writers. The program invites participants to draft an entire novel in just 30 days, encouraging them to set and meet their own word count goals.
Students can join an online classroom to stay connected with their peers and educators while being supported by the program’s resources such as writing prompts, noveling workbooks, and access to advice from published authors. NaNoWriMo YWP provides an empowering and enjoyable approach to creative writing. The program aims to help young writers not only improve their writing skills but also build confidence and a sense of accomplishment.
Cost: Free
Eligibility: Middle School Students
Application Deadline: None; open enrollment.
Course Dates: Year-round
The American Chemical Society (ACS) offers a comprehensive suite of chemistry lesson plans tailored for middle school students. These resources provide an engaging and interactive approach to learning fundamental chemistry concepts from the comfort of their home. Through interactive videos, online assignments, lessons, and at-home experiments, you will learn about matter, changes of state, density, the Periodic Table, bonding, molecules, dissolution, and chemical change.
Each chapter features anywhere from one to ten online assignments, each in Google Doc form to ensure easy downloading and editing options. With clear objectives and teacher-friendly materials, ACS also empowers educators to cultivate a passion for science while equipping students with essential skills for future scientific inquiry.
Cost: $1990 (Financial Aid is available)
Eligibility: 6th-8th grade students
Application Deadline: February 18th for Spring 2024 cohort & May 12th for Summer cohort
Course Dates: March 11 for Spring cohort and June 3 for summer cohort
Lumiere Education’s Junior Explorer Program is a virtual, 8-week-long program created for the unique experience of one-on-one mentoring between middle school students and their academic advisors. With an end goal of creating a project you are passionate about, this course would expose you to the research process while supporting your journey towards learning more about a subject of your choice. Your potential mentor will be chosen from a list of scholars from top research universities such as Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Yale, and Duke.
As a participant, you will get to immerse yourself in four distinct topics within your selected track. After four weeks of researching and learning, participants will then take the next two weeks to deep dive into one specific topic area before finally, during weeks 7 to 8, finally implementing their project. During this entire journey, you will receive support, guidance, and advice from your mentors as you learn and grow.
Mandy Brenner is a current junior at Harvard University. She is concentrating in History and Literature and loves to read and write in her free time.
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