🛰️

8th Grade Take-Home Practice

Linear functions, systems, exponents, Pythagoras, transformations — and writing real analysis.

Ages 13–14

What this year is really about

Grade 8 is the year of the linear function. Slope is not a formula, it's a rate of change — and that one sentence carries the whole year.

Thirty-five to forty minutes, self-directed. The most useful question you can ask this year is "what does that number mean in the situation?"

📚 21 topics⏱️ 40 min a day🖨️ No printing needed

🎒 All 21 take-homes 🗓️ The weekly rotation ✅ End-of-year checklist ⬇️ Download the PDF

A week that doesn't become a second school

40 minutes a day, one strand at a time. Skipping a day is fine — skipping the same strand every week is what causes gaps.

Monday
Linear functions
Graph one relationship and say what the slope means in words.
Tuesday
Reading & rhetoric
One speech or article: find the technique and judge the evidence.
Wednesday
Systems & exponents
Four problems, checked by substitution or estimation.
Thursday
Writing
One analysis paragraph: claim, quote, analysis.
Friday
Science, civics & planning
One investigation, one civics question, and next week's plan.

Take it off the screen

The whole 8th Grade pack as a PDF — every topic, every check, every activity, with tick boxes and a date line so you can see what you have actually run. Free, no signup, and it works offline once it's saved.

Or just one subject

📖 Reading

Decoding, fluency, and understanding what was actually said.

3 topics this year

Rhetoric — how persuasion actually works
Literary analysis — how the writing creates the meaning
Synthesising several sources into one understanding

✏️ Writing

Getting a thought out of the head and onto the page so a stranger understands it.

3 topics this year

The analytical essay
A research-based argument
Sentence craft and academic register

🔢 Math

Number sense first, then the procedures that ride on top of it.

8 topics this year

Linear functions and what slope actually means
What a function is
Systems of equations
Exponent rules and scientific notation
Pythagoras and irrational numbers
Transformations, congruence and similarity
Volume of cylinders, cones and spheres
Scatter plots, correlation and the line of best fit

🔬 Science

Noticing, predicting, testing — and being willing to be wrong out loud.

3 topics this year

Forces, motion and Newton's laws
Waves and the electromagnetic spectrum
Plate tectonics and Earth's history

🌍 Social Studies

Maps, communities, history, and why people who were there disagree.

2 topics this year

Constitutions, rights and the limits of power
Industrialisation and how technology changes societies

🧭 Study & Life Skills

Attention, organisation, and the habits that decide whether the rest lands.

2 topics this year

A study system that survives high school
Sleep, stress and actually functioning

Every 8th Grade topic, and what to do about it

Run the two-minute check first. If it passes, move on — you have just saved an evening. If it doesn't, the take-home underneath it is the fix.

0 of 21 done

📖 Reading
Rhetoric — how persuasion actually works
Can do: Identifies appeals to credibility, emotion and logic, and judges whether the argument survives without the rhetoric.
Why it matters
Once a child can see the technique, they can decide whether to be persuaded rather than simply being persuaded.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Finds a speech moving without noticing a single technique that made it so.
⏱️ Two-minute check
Play a famous speech or an advert. "What made that work? Would the argument survive without it?"
Solid looks like: Two techniques named, and a separate judgement about the underlying argument.
25 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Speech Autopsy
⏱️ 25 minutesA famous speech, transcript and videoHighlighters
1Watch it once and note the emotional effect honestly.
2Read the transcript and mark appeals to credibility, emotion and logic in three colours.
3Find the repetition, the three-part lists, the contrasts.
4Strip it to a plain summary of the argument. Is the argument still good?
5Rewrite one paragraph plainly and compare the effect.
If it's too hard
Analyse a 30-second advert instead.
If it's too easy
Compare two speeches on the same issue and judge which argument is stronger, separately from which is more moving.
Say this
"That moved you — good. Now separately: is what they actually claimed true?"
Reading practice
📖 Reading
Literary analysis — how the writing creates the meaning
Can do: Explains how specific choices — structure, imagery, point of view — produce the effect on a reader.
Why it matters
High-school English is almost entirely this. The skill is moving from what happens to how the writer made it happen.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Writes about the character as if they were a real person, with nothing about the author's choices.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"Why did the author choose a first-person narrator here? What would change in third person?"
Solid looks like: Reasoning about the effect of the choice, not just the content.
25 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Change One Thing
⏱️ 25 minutesA passage from a novelPaper
1Read a strong passage and note its effect.
2Rewrite it changing exactly one thing: person, tense, or the order of information.
3Read both aloud and describe precisely what changed for the reader.
4Repeat with a different change.
5Write a paragraph explaining why the author's original choice was the right one.
If it's too hard
Change first person to third and discuss the difference.
If it's too easy
Analyse structure across a whole chapter — what's withheld, and when it's revealed.
Say this
"That's what happened. How did the writing make you feel it? What choice did the author make?"
Reading practice
📖 Reading
Synthesising several sources into one understanding
Can do: Reads three or four sources and builds a single account that handles their disagreements.
Why it matters
Research at high school and beyond is synthesis, not collection. It's also how any complicated real question gets answered.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Produces a summary of each source in sequence rather than an integrated understanding.
⏱️ Two-minute check
After three sources: "What's the overall picture, and where do they conflict?"
Solid looks like: One integrated account, with the conflict named and handled.
30 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
One Page, Four Sources
⏱️ 30 minutesFour sources on one questionPaper
1Write the question at the top.
2Note each source's key claims in a shared table organised by sub-question, not by source.
3Mark where sources agree and where they conflict.
4For each conflict, work out why — different data, date, method, or motive.
5Write a one-page answer that cites more than one source per paragraph.
If it's too hard
Two sources, one sub-question.
If it's too easy
Include a source you judge unreliable and explain why it's excluded.
Say this
"Don't tell me what each one said. Tell me what's true, and where they disagree about it."
Reading practice
✏️ Writing
The analytical essay
Can do: Writes paragraphs where analysis takes up more space than quotation or summary.
Why it matters
The commonest weakness in high-school essays is quote-heavy, analysis-light writing. Fixing the ratio now is worth a grade.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
A long quote, then one sentence of comment, then the next quote.
⏱️ Two-minute check
Take a paragraph of theirs. "Count the words of quotation versus the words of your own analysis."
Solid looks like: Analysis at least twice the length of the quotation.
25 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
The Two-to-One Rule
⏱️ 25 minutesA draftA highlighter
1Highlight all quoted material in one colour, all their own analysis in another.
2Measure the ratio by eye. Most drafts are the wrong way round.
3For each quote, add two more sentences: what technique is at work, and what effect it has.
4Cut every quote to the shortest version that still works.
5Reread and check each paragraph answers the essay question, not just the text.
If it's too hard
One paragraph, one quote, three sentences of analysis.
If it's too easy
Analyse two quotes in one paragraph and connect them to a single point.
Say this
"The quote isn't the argument — it's the evidence. What are you saying about it?"
Writing practice
✏️ Writing
A research-based argument
Can do: Plans and writes a multi-page argument using evidence from several sources, properly cited.
Why it matters
It's the closest thing to real academic work they've done, and it demands planning, synthesis and stamina at once.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Writes it the night before, so the structure is whatever order the research happened to come in.
⏱️ Two-minute check
Ask for the plan before any prose exists.
Solid looks like: A thesis and a paragraph-by-paragraph outline that exists before the writing starts.
40 minutes across several daysDone this week
Do this at home
Outline Before Prose
⏱️ 40 minutes across several daysSourcesA document or index cards
1Write the question, then the working thesis. It's allowed to change.
2Outline one line per paragraph, with the evidence noted next to each.
3Check the outline flows as an argument before writing a single sentence.
4Draft from the outline, one section per sitting.
5Leave a day, then revise for structure first and wording second.
If it's too hard
Three paragraphs from a three-line outline.
If it's too easy
Include a counter-argument section and a limitations paragraph.
Say this
"Show me the outline. If the argument doesn't work in ten lines, it won't work in five pages."
Writing practice
✏️ Writing
Sentence craft and academic register
Can do: Varies sentence structure deliberately and writes in an appropriate register without sounding stilted.
Why it matters
By high school, style carries marks. Overwritten thesaurus prose loses as many marks as flat prose.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Either everything is simple and choppy, or it's stuffed with long words used slightly wrongly.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"Read this paragraph aloud. Does it sound like a person who knows what they're talking about?"
Solid looks like: Clear, varied, no words they couldn't define.
20 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Three Sentence Shapes
⏱️ 20 minutesA draftPaper
1Teach three shapes: simple, one with a subordinate clause first, one with a colon or dash.
2Rewrite one paragraph using each shape at least once.
3Ban every word they can't define without looking it up.
4Read aloud and mark anything that sounds like it's trying too hard.
5Compare with a well-written published paragraph on a similar topic.
If it's too hard
Combine choppy sentences using one subordinate clause.
If it's too easy
Rewrite a paragraph in three registers — formal, plain, conversational — and say which fits the task.
Say this
"Do you actually know what that word means? If not, use the one you do know — it'll read better."
Writing practice
🔢 Math
Linear functions and what slope actually means
Can do: Moves between table, graph, equation and words, and interprets slope and intercept in context.
Why it matters
It's the central object of the year and of Algebra I. Slope as rate of change is what makes every later application readable.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Calculates slope correctly but cannot say what it means; confuses the intercept with the slope in a word problem.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"A taxi charges $3 plus $2 per mile. Write the equation. What does each number mean? Graph it."
Solid looks like: y = 2x + 3, both numbers interpreted in the situation, and a correct graph.
25 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Four Representations
⏱️ 25 minutesGraph paperA real rate: phone plan, pay rate, fuel
1Take a real linear situation and build a table of values.
2Graph it, then write the equation, then describe it in a sentence.
3Point at the slope on the graph, in the table, and in the equation — the same number, three places.
4Say the slope as a sentence with units: "for every extra mile, $2 more."
5Change the starting fee and watch only the intercept move.
If it's too hard
Positive whole-number slopes from a table.
If it's too easy
Negative and fractional slopes, and comparing two plans to find where one becomes better.
Say this
"Say the slope as a sentence with units. Two what, per what?"
Math practice
🔢 Math
What a function is
Can do: Determines whether a relation is a function and uses function notation confidently.
Why it matters
The concept underpins all later maths. f(x) confusion — reading it as multiplication — is startlingly common and easy to fix.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Thinks f(x) means f times x, and can't say why the vertical line test works.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"If f(x) = 3x + 1, what's f(4)? Is a circle a function? Why?"
Solid looks like: 13, no, and something about one input giving two outputs.
20 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
The Machine
⏱️ 20 minutesPaperA drawn box as the machine
1Draw a machine box: input goes in, output comes out, the rule is inside.
2Feed numbers in and record the outputs in a table.
3Introduce the notation: f(4) = 13 just names the output for input 4.
4Show a broken machine that gives two different outputs for the same input — that's not a function.
5Do the vertical line test on graphs and connect it back to the broken machine.
If it's too hard
Input-output tables with no notation.
If it's too easy
Compose functions, and interpret f(x) in a real context like cost as a function of hours.
Say this
"f(4) doesn't mean f times 4. It means: put 4 into the machine, what comes out?"
Math practice
🔢 Math
Systems of equations
Can do: Solves systems by graphing, substitution and elimination, and knows what the solution represents.
Why it matters
Systems answer the question "when are these two things equal?", which is one of the most useful questions in applied maths.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Can execute a method but has no idea the solution is the intersection point of two lines.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"Solve y = 2x + 1 and y = −x + 7. What does your answer mean on a graph?"
Solid looks like: (2, 5), and "the point where the two lines cross".
25 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Which Plan Is Cheaper?
⏱️ 25 minutesGraph paperTwo real pricing plans
1Take two real plans — two phone tariffs, two gyms, two taxi firms.
2Write an equation for each and graph both on one grid.
3Find the crossing point and say what it means in words.
4Solve it algebraically and check it matches the graph.
5Answer the practical question: below what usage is plan A better?
If it's too hard
Graphing only, with integer solutions.
If it's too easy
Systems with no solution or infinitely many, and explaining what that means graphically.
Say this
"What is that point, in the actual situation? Not the numbers — the meaning."
Math practice
🔢 Math
Exponent rules and scientific notation
Can do: Applies exponent laws including zero and negative exponents, and computes with scientific notation.
Why it matters
Exponents underpin scientific measurement, growth and everything in high-school science. Negative exponents are the usual sticking point.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Thinks a negative exponent makes the number negative, and adds exponents when multiplying the bases too.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"Simplify 2³ × 2⁵. What is 5⁻²? Write 0.00042 in scientific notation."
Solid looks like: 2⁸, 1/25, and 4.2 × 10⁻⁴.
20 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Build the Rules from the Pattern
⏱️ 20 minutesPaperA calculator
1Write 2⁵ = 32, 2⁴ = 16, 2³ = 8 and continue the halving down through 2⁰ and into negatives.
2The rules emerge from the pattern instead of being announced.
3Expand 2³ × 2⁵ fully to see why the exponents add.
4Practise scientific notation on real quantities: the distance to the sun, the size of a cell.
5Compare two very different magnitudes and say how many times bigger one is.
If it's too hard
Positive exponents and the multiplication rule only.
If it's too easy
Operations in scientific notation, including division and adding unlike magnitudes.
Say this
"Keep halving. What has to come after 2⁰? The pattern doesn't stop just because it gets weird."
Math practice
🔢 Math
Pythagoras and irrational numbers
Can do: Applies the theorem in two and three dimensions and understands why √2 is irrational.
Why it matters
It's the first result they can genuinely prove, and it introduces numbers that cannot be written as fractions at all.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Uses the theorem on non-right triangles, and treats the hypotenuse as whichever side is longest on the page.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"Legs 6 and 8 — find the hypotenuse. Is 0.333… rational? Is √2?"
Solid looks like: 10, yes, no.
25 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Prove It With Squares
⏱️ 25 minutesSquared paperScissorsRuler
1Draw a 3-4-5 triangle and build a square on each side.
2Count the squares: 9 + 16 = 25. The theorem is visible, not asserted.
3Try it on a non-right triangle and see the relationship fail.
4Use it for real: the diagonal of a room, whether a table fits through a door.
5Calculate √2 on a calculator and let the digits run — no pattern, no repeat, no fraction.
If it's too hard
Find the hypotenuse in whole-number triples.
If it's too easy
Find a missing leg, use it in 3-D for a box diagonal, and apply it on the coordinate plane.
Say this
"Where's the right angle? The hypotenuse is always opposite it — not just the longest-looking line."
Math practice
🔢 Math
Transformations, congruence and similarity
Can do: Performs and describes translations, rotations, reflections and dilations, and uses them to justify congruence and similarity.
Why it matters
It reframes congruence as "can be moved onto" rather than as a memorised list of rules, which makes proof intelligible next year.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Can perform transformations but can't use them to explain why two shapes are congruent.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"Describe fully the transformation taking A to B." Then: "Are these two similar? Justify it."
Solid looks like: A complete description including centre or line, and similarity justified by a scale factor.
25 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Move It Onto It
⏱️ 25 minutesGraph paperTracing paperRuler
1Draw a shape and its image, then use tracing paper to physically find the transformation.
2Describe it fully — a rotation needs a centre, direction and angle.
3Chain two transformations and describe the single one with the same effect.
4Do a dilation and check which properties change and which don't.
5Explain congruence and similarity in terms of what transformations were needed.
If it's too hard
Single translations and reflections on a grid.
If it's too easy
Composite transformations, and dilations about a point other than the origin.
Say this
"A rotation needs three things: where round, which way, how far. Give me all three."
Math practice
🔢 Math
Volume of cylinders, cones and spheres
Can do: Applies the volume formulas correctly and reasons about the relationships between them.
Why it matters
The cone-is-a-third-of-a-cylinder relationship is memorable when demonstrated and forgettable when memorised.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Mixes up which formula has the third and which has the four-thirds, and uses diameter for radius.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"Cone radius 3, height 6 — volume? How does it compare to the cylinder with the same dimensions?"
Solid looks like: About 56.5, and exactly one third.
25 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Pour It and See
⏱️ 25 minutesA cone and cylinder of the same base and height — card worksRice or water
1Make a cone and a cylinder with the same radius and height out of card.
2Fill the cone and pour it into the cylinder. Repeat. It takes exactly three.
3Now they'll never forget the third.
4Calculate a real one: the volume of a can, an ice cream cone, a ball.
5Work backwards: given a volume, find a missing radius.
If it's too hard
Cylinders only, from measurement.
If it's too easy
Composite solids, and comparing volumes when a dimension is doubled.
Say this
"Pour it again. How many cones filled the cylinder? That's your fraction — you never have to memorise it."
Math practice
🔢 Math
Scatter plots, correlation and the line of best fit
Can do: Plots bivariate data, describes the association, and knows correlation isn't causation.
Why it matters
It's the statistical literacy that matters most in adult life, and the causation error is everywhere in the news.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Reads any correlation as proof of cause, and draws a line of best fit through the first and last points only.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"Ice cream sales correlate with drownings. Does ice cream cause drowning? What's really going on?"
Solid looks like: No, and identifies a third factor — hot weather.
30 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Collect and Plot Real Data
⏱️ 30 minutesGraph paperData they collect: height vs arm span, study time vs score
1Collect fifteen paired data points from real people or real records.
2Plot them and describe the pattern in words before drawing anything.
3Draw a line of best fit by eye, with roughly equal points either side.
4Estimate the slope and say what it means in the situation.
5Propose a third factor that could explain the association and discuss how you'd test it.
If it's too hard
Ten points, describe the direction and strength only.
If it's too easy
Use the line to predict, then discuss the danger of extrapolating beyond the data.
Say this
"They move together — fine. What third thing could be causing both?"
Math practice
🔬 Science
Forces, motion and Newton's laws
Can do: Applies the three laws to real situations and draws a force diagram.
Why it matters
Newton's first law contradicts everyday intuition, and until that's confronted directly, physics stays confusing.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Believes a constant force is needed for constant speed, and that a moving object always has a force in its direction of travel.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"A spacecraft coasting with engines off — what force keeps it moving?"
Solid looks like: None. It keeps moving because nothing is stopping it.
25 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Friction Is the Liar
⏱️ 25 minutesA toy carDifferent surfacesA rampScales
1Roll a car across carpet, then wood, then a polished surface, measuring the distance.
2Extrapolate: what if friction were zero? That's the first law.
3Test the second law: same push, different masses, and note the acceleration difference.
4Find three action-reaction pairs in the room — walking, sitting, jumping.
5Draw force diagrams for a book on a table and a car accelerating.
If it's too hard
The friction ramp and the first law only.
If it's too easy
Calculate acceleration from F = ma and predict a distance.
Say this
"Nothing is pushing it forwards. So why is it still moving? What's actually slowing it down?"
Science activities
🔬 Science
Waves and the electromagnetic spectrum
Can do: Relates wavelength, frequency and energy, and places everyday technologies on the spectrum.
Why it matters
It explains wifi, microwaves, X-rays, sunburn and phone signals — a single model behind a dozen daily things.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Treats radio, light and X-rays as unrelated phenomena rather than one spectrum.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"Why does UV damage skin but radio doesn't, when both are electromagnetic?"
Solid looks like: Higher frequency means higher energy per photon.
25 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Map the Spectrum in Your House
⏱️ 25 minutesPaperHousehold devicesA prism or a CD
1Draw the spectrum as a line from radio to gamma.
2Place every device you can find: radio, wifi, microwave, remote control, lamp, sunlamp, X-ray at the dentist.
3Split white light with a prism or a CD and locate visible light on the line.
4Test the TV remote through a phone camera — the camera sees infrared, your eye doesn't.
5Explain sunscreen, and why microwave doors have a mesh.
If it's too hard
Place five devices on the line.
If it's too easy
Calculate frequency from wavelength using the speed of light.
Say this
"Same family, different energy. Which end of the line does that device sit on, and why?"
Science practice
🔬 Science
Plate tectonics and Earth's history
Can do: Explains plate movement, the evidence for it, and how rock layers record time.
Why it matters
It's a superb case study in how a rejected theory won on evidence — the history of the idea teaches as much as the idea.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Knows the continents moved but can't say what evidence proves it, or what drives the motion.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"What three kinds of evidence support plate tectonics?"
Solid looks like: Fossil matches, rock and mountain matches, magnetic striping or earthquake distribution.
30 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Reassemble Pangaea
⏱️ 30 minutesA printed world mapScissorsFossil distribution data online
1Cut out the continents and fit them together like a puzzle.
2Overlay fossil and rock-type data and see the matches cross the joins.
3Look up a live earthquake map and mark the boundaries — they draw themselves.
4Model the three boundary types with hands or two books.
5Read one paragraph on how Wegener's idea was rejected for decades, and what changed.
If it's too hard
The continent puzzle and one line of evidence.
If it's too easy
Calculate a plate's speed from real GPS data and work out how far it moves in a lifetime.
Say this
"Fitting the shapes isn't proof — lots of things fit. What evidence made this undeniable?"
Science practice
🌍 Social Studies
Constitutions, rights and the limits of power
Can do: Explains how power is separated and limited, and applies rights reasoning to a real case.
Why it matters
Civics becomes real when applied to a live dispute rather than memorised as a structure diagram.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Can recite the branches but cannot reason about a case where two rights conflict.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"Free speech versus someone's safety — how should that be decided, and by whom?"
Solid looks like: Recognises the conflict, and knows courts weigh competing rights rather than applying one absolutely.
30 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Argue a Real Case
⏱️ 30 minutesA summary of a real court case, school-appropriatePaper
1Read a real case where two rights conflicted — school speech cases work well.
2Each person argues one side, using the actual text of the right involved.
3Deliver a verdict and write the reasoning.
4Read what the court actually decided and compare.
5Discuss what would change if one detail of the case were different.
If it's too hard
Debate a school rule using the same framework.
If it's too easy
Compare how two different countries' constitutions handle the same right.
Say this
"Both sides have a real right here. That's the whole problem — so how do we decide?"
Social studies
🌍 Social Studies
Industrialisation and how technology changes societies
Can do: Analyses how a technological change reshaped work, cities and family life, and who won and lost.
Why it matters
It's the best historical parallel for the change they're living through, and it teaches that technology's effects are distributed unevenly.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Sees industrialisation as simple progress, with no sense of the costs or who paid them.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"Who benefited from industrialisation and who paid for it?"
Solid looks like: Names distinct groups on each side with specifics.
30 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Then and Now Technology
⏱️ 30 minutesResearch accessPaper
1Pick one industrial-era technology and list what it changed: work, housing, health, family.
2Split the effects into winners and losers.
3Now do the same for one modern technology — smartphones, AI, delivery apps.
4Compare the two lists and find the structural similarities.
5Ask what response worked historically — regulation, unions, education — and what might now.
If it's too hard
One technology, three effects.
If it's too easy
Write an argument about whether a current technology's benefits outweigh its costs, with evidence.
Say this
"Better for whom? Somebody's job disappeared in that story — what happened to them?"
Social studies practice
🧭 Study & Life Skills
A study system that survives high school
Can do: Uses spaced retrieval, self-testing and a real revision schedule rather than cramming.
Why it matters
The volume of content jumps next year. A system built now is the difference between coping and drowning.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Studies by rereading the night before, gets a passable mark, and remembers nothing a month later.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"Show me how you'd revise for a test in two weeks."
Solid looks like: A schedule with spaced sessions and self-testing, not one long session the night before.
25 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Build a Revision Schedule
⏱️ 25 minutesA calendarTheir notesBlank paper
1Break the content into chunks and put each on a specific day.
2Schedule each chunk three times: today, in three days, in ten.
3Every session is closed-book: write what you know, then check.
4Keep a running list of what keeps being forgotten — that gets extra sessions.
5After the test, review honestly what the system got right and wrong.
If it's too hard
Two chunks, two spaced sessions.
If it's too easy
Interleave two subjects in one session, which is harder and more effective.
Say this
"Rereading feels like learning and isn't. Close it and write what you know — that's the test."
Real-world challenges
🧭 Study & Life Skills
Sleep, stress and actually functioning
Can do: Protects sleep, recognises stress signals, and has a strategy that isn't avoidance.
Why it matters
Adolescent sleep shifts biologically and school start times don't. Sleep debt looks exactly like laziness and is often diagnosed as it.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Phone in bed until 1 a.m., exhausted all day, and the resulting drop in performance blamed on effort.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"What time did you actually fall asleep this week? What do you do when you feel overwhelmed?"
Solid looks like: 8–10 hours most nights, and a strategy that isn't only avoidance.
5 minutes daily for a weekDone this week
Do this at home
One Week Sleep Log
⏱️ 5 minutes daily for a weekPaper or an app
1Record time to bed, estimated time asleep, wake time, and mood next day.
2After a week, look for the pattern themselves. Their own data beats your argument.
3Agree one change: phone charging outside the bedroom is the highest-impact one.
4Add a wind-down routine that starts 30 minutes before sleep.
5Log another week and compare mood and focus.
If it's too hard
Track bedtime only, for five days.
If it's too easy
Add a stress log and identify which specific triggers recur.
Say this
"Look at your own numbers. What does your data say about the days after a late night?"
Real-world challenges

When to ask for help instead of practising harder

Home practice fixes most gaps. These are the ones where a conversation with the teacher — or an assessment — is worth more than another month of trying. Raising them early is not an overreaction; waiting a year rarely helps.

Cannot interpret slope as a rate of change by June — this makes Algebra I very hard.
Exponent and negative-number errors persist across every topic.
Essays remain quote-heavy with almost no analysis, despite feedback.
Consistently under six or seven hours of sleep, with the resulting drop treated as an attitude problem.
Withdrawal from school work alongside mood change — treat this as wellbeing first, and ask for help early.

By the end of 8th Grade

Tick these off through the year. Anything still open in the spring is exactly what the summer is for.

Moves fluently between table, graph, equation and words for a linear function.
Interprets slope and intercept in a real context.
Solves systems by graphing, substitution and elimination and explains the solution.
Applies all exponent rules including negatives, and uses scientific notation.
Uses Pythagoras in two and three dimensions and knows what irrational means.
Describes transformations fully and justifies congruence and similarity.
Finds volumes of cylinders, cones and spheres.
Interprets scatter plots and resists the causation error.
Revises with a spaced, self-testing schedule.

Want the written practice as well?

Everything on this page is free and needs nothing printed. If you also want worksheets to work through, the 8th Grade packs cover the same topics on paper.

8th Grade Packs

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9th Grade

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Frequently Asked Questions

What topics does a 8th Grade child cover?

21 across 6 strands: Reading (3), Writing (3), Math (8), Science (3), Social Studies (2), Study & Life Skills (2). Every topic on this page names the skill, why it matters, what struggling with it looks like, a two-minute check, and one activity you can run at home tonight.

How much home practice does a 8th Grade child actually need?

About 40 minutes a day at ages 13–14 — and it works better split into two short goes than done as one long session. Thirty-five to forty minutes, self-directed. The most useful question you can ask this year is "what does that number mean in the situation?"

How do I know which 8th Grade topic to work on?

Run the two-minute check on each topic rather than guessing. It tells you what a solid answer looks like, so you can tell in a couple of minutes whether a topic needs work or is already done. Start with whichever check fails, not with the first topic on the page.

Can I download or print the 8th Grade take-homes?

Yes — there is a free PDF on this page. Download the full 8th Grade pack (all 21 topics with their checks, activities and tick boxes), the one-page two-minute check sheet, or a single subject on its own. No signup, and the activities themselves still only need things a normal home already has.

When should I be worried rather than just practising?

There is a "when to ask for help" section on this page listing the specific signs that mean a conversation with the teacher is worth more than more home practice. Those are the ones to act on early — waiting a year rarely helps.

8th Grade Take-Home Practice

🗓️ A week that doesn't become a second school

Take it off the screen

Every 8th Grade topic, and what to do about it

Rhetoric — how persuasion actually works

Speech Autopsy

Literary analysis — how the writing creates the meaning

Change One Thing

Synthesising several sources into one understanding

One Page, Four Sources

The analytical essay

The Two-to-One Rule

A research-based argument

Outline Before Prose

Sentence craft and academic register

Three Sentence Shapes

Linear functions and what slope actually means

Four Representations

What a function is

The Machine

Systems of equations

Which Plan Is Cheaper?

Exponent rules and scientific notation

Build the Rules from the Pattern

Pythagoras and irrational numbers

Prove It With Squares

Transformations, congruence and similarity

Move It Onto It

Volume of cylinders, cones and spheres

Pour It and See

Scatter plots, correlation and the line of best fit

Collect and Plot Real Data

Forces, motion and Newton's laws

Friction Is the Liar

Waves and the electromagnetic spectrum

Map the Spectrum in Your House

Plate tectonics and Earth's history

Reassemble Pangaea

Constitutions, rights and the limits of power

Argue a Real Case

Industrialisation and how technology changes societies

Then and Now Technology

A study system that survives high school

Build a Revision Schedule

Sleep, stress and actually functioning

One Week Sleep Log

🚩 When to ask for help instead of practising harder

✅ By the end of 8th Grade

Want the written practice as well?

Frequently Asked Questions

What topics does a 8th Grade child cover?

How much home practice does a 8th Grade child actually need?

How do I know which 8th Grade topic to work on?

Can I download or print the 8th Grade take-homes?

When should I be worried rather than just practising?

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A week that doesn't become a second school

When to ask for help instead of practising harder

By the end of 8th Grade