7th Grade Homeschool Curriculum
We’re excited for 7th grade this year. Last year we were too ambitious and got burned out. This year we’re scaling back a bit.
One major change is dropping back on classes at the local school. Last year my daughter took physical education, computer, art, chorus, and band. On Tuesdays she was at the school three different times! It disrupted the day so much that she had trouble keeping up with her assignments.
Another reason to scale back is that the middle school uses block scheduling, so classes rotate. That makes my mind spin a bit. It was easier when we could count on art class being the same time every Monday.
Also, we’re eliminating some subjects that became “busy work.” I liked the vocabulary and grammar curriculums we used last year, but I’m not sure they were very effective for my daughter. Teaching vocabulary in isolation isn’t the best teaching method and my daughter felt like she already knew all the grammar covered in her book.
Making these changes will hopefully give us time for those subjects we’ve added to our homeschool day.
Language Arts
Writing
My daughter is taking a short story seminar at our homeschool group. She will read and analyze several stories and use what she learns to practice her own story telling. This year she will get her first experience at being graded. The teacher will use class participation, literature analysis, class activities and writing assignments to calculate her score.
Writers’ Workshop
I’m really excited to establish a writing routine for both my children at the same time. I know, it sounds like a stretch. After all, one is in middle school and one is in preschool. Writers’ workshop means everyone will be writing. I will meet with each of my children individually to coach them as they grow as writers.
Word Study
According to Words Their Way (affiliate link) my daughter is a derivational relations speller. This stage is for advanced spellers in grades 5-12. She’ll continue doing word sorts, word hunts, speed sorts, and word checks each week.
Independent Reading
Once again, Julia wants to challenge herself to read as many books as she can over the course of the year. She finished her 60th book for 6th grade this summer. She has definitely read more books than my husband and I ever did as children. She’s considering 70 books in 7th, but I’m not sure how long she’ll be able to continue this pattern.
Read Aloud
My goal for this year is to read one book per quarter. Last year we only got through two books because the bulk of the year was caught up in reading Little Women. It was such a long read aloud! Indian Captive (affiliate link) by Lois Lenski and Chains (affiliate link) by Laurie Halse Anderson are two books I’m planning to read this year. Both are historical fiction about girls facing horrific circumstances. I haven’t settled on the other two read alouds yet.
Math
Teaching Textbooks is a popular homeschool math curriculum and we’re jumping on board this year with pre-algebra. My daughter loves the idea of working independently online. This means no more waiting around for mom to be ready to teach a lesson. With a preschooler in the house, I thought it was a good idea too.
I hate to give up teaching math and have loved Singapore mathematics, but the time is right to let go. It will free up my time for other subjects I want to work on with her, like art, history, and writing.
Science
Last year we tried Elemental Science: Biology for the Logic Stage and liked how easy it was to implement. Every Monday we do an experiment and then follow up with reading, discussion, question/answer, vocabulary, and research about the topic the other days of the week. Since we only got through half of the book last year, we decided to continue it for this year.
History
We’ve studied world history up to this point, but I wanted to narrow our focus this year with US history. We’re trying All American History Volume 1 (affiliate link). It covers exploration through 1840. If we like the curriculum we’ll use volume 2 next year.
I’m excited to use the Student Activity Guide (affiliate link) to get recommendations for other books to read that relate to the topic we’re studying and for hands-on family activities. Since we live in New England, we’ll plan some field trips that relate specifically to what we study. I’m already looking forward to a trip to Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts this fall.
Latin
My daughter was quite successful at teaching herself Latin last year using the DVD lessons and workbook pages in the program published by Memoria Press, so this year she’ll do Third Form Latin.
I tried to keep up with her last year, but it was nearly impossible, since I have no Latin background. I dug out her First Form Latin book and studied, but I couldn’t catch up. I can continue to quiz her on Latin sayings, grammar, and vocabulary and set her schedule for the week, but other than that, she’s on her own.
Art
Julia wants to learn how to draw, so she’s going to do drawing lessons from the book You Can Draw in 30 Days: The Fun, Easy Way to Learn to Draw in One Month or Less (affiliate link) by Mark Kistler.
We’ll also study some American artists and famous paintings, like “Washington Crossing the Delaware” to correspond with the time period we’re studying in US History. We’ll learn about John Singleton Copley, Benjamin West, Charles Willson Peale, Gilbert Charles Stuart, John Trumbull, John James Audubon, and George Catlin with the help of the internet and our local library.
Music
Julia is singing in the chorus and playing clarinet in the band at our local middle school. We’ll squeeze in some duet time when I get a chance to dust off my flute.
Computer
Scratch is a free programming language that is great for kids learning to code. It was designed by people at MIT. My daughter was introduced to Scratch when she attended a Scratch Day as an 8 year old. Last year she enjoyed coding work in her computer class at school, so I’ve ordered a copy of Coding Projects in Scratch (affiliate link) by Jon Woodcock for ages 8-12. I’m hoping to encourage her to make more projects and get more familiar with the coding language.
I plan to show her Code Monster too. Maybe she’ll be interested in learning some Javascript. Code Monster has two display boxes. The one on the left gives you prompts, and when you change the code it shows the results in the box on the right.
Physical Education
My daughter is trying something new this fall, running. She joined the middle school cross country team and if she likes it, she’ll do track in the spring. After much thought, she decided not to continue ballet. I’m proud of her for following her heart and challenging herself to learn something new this year.
Field Trips
Last year I really dropped the ball with taking my kids out to do hands-on learning. I found a great article written by Cindy at Our Journey Westward about planning your field trips in advance for the year. I’m taking her advice, so I don’t get too busy with daily life and let another year go by without taking advantage of fun, learning opportunities outside the home.
Past Years’ Curriculum Choices
If you’re wondering what we’ve used in the past few years, take a look at these posts:
6th Grade Homeschool Curriculum
