I just learned about this. The Montessori philosophy has developed a great Middle School program, with the kids working a real farm and running real businesses, to correspond with their academic work.
If you’re not familiar with the Montessori method of education, you should check it out here. It’s a perfect marriage between homeschooling and a group school setting, in my opinion. Instead of the kids sitting passively in their seats all day, the classroom is made up of different stations with hands-on learning activities. The kids are given their requirements for the day or week, and they are responsible for choosing how to manage their time and which activities to work on at any given moment. The freedoms and responsibilities given to them are age-appropriate, of course. Montessori especially excels at the preschool level, but goes all the up through high school.
My town has turned a regular public school into a Montessori public school, going up to the 5th grade. Several of us parents are starting to research how to set up a Montessori Middle School. And in grades 7-9, the ideal Montessori school involves the kids running a farm! Maria Montessori recognized the energy kids this age have, and giving them lots of physical labor is a great way to help them grow and use this energy. And using the farm to create revenue and run a small business helps the kids to see why they are studying the core subjects, and how they are used in real life.
We’re going to see if we can possibly get a charter school going here, and find an empty city lot, to turn it into a small urban farm. The kids could grow their own food, and have at least hens here, if not other animals. I just hope we can get it going in time for our kids to go to it!
Here are a couple of links to current Montessori Farm Schools—they are amazing!
Hershey Montessori Farm School
Golden Compass Farm School