Seventh Grade Curriculum Plans

This post contains affiliate links.

Next year my children will be in 7th and 5th grades.  I can't believe that my oldest will be entering into the second half of his schooling years! Over the years we have done a variety of schooling options.  We began homeschooling at the beginning.  We did one year of Classical Conversations.  One year I led a Scholé group (I would love to do that again! Any local friends interested?) My kids attended a local classical, Christian school for two years, and the past two years we have been back home just doing our own thing.

I have learned something each year from all of these different options, which I am thankful for! My hope though, as we approach the high school years, is to settle on a path that we can be consistent with.  Right now we are really happy to be homeschooling, and I do think that it is best for our family, but some things I still think are beneficial to do in a group.  I would love to find some like-minded people to so some of these subjects with.  That will take some time to figure out, but at least I've got the basic curriculum planned out.

So far this is what I have planned for my child that will be in 7th grade next year:

Logic

I believe that each of these books covers a semester.  This will be our first year of formal logic study.  We have been preparing this year by reading the Fallacy Detective and the Thinking Toolbox. This seems like a subject that would be more fun more fun together.  If you are a local friend and have a middle school aged child, let me know if you'd like to do this as a group!

Art of the Argument by Classical Academic Press

From the publisher:

"Students who complete The Art of Argument will know how to reason with clarity, relevance, and purpose . . . and have fun along the way! They will study and master 28 logical fallacies, which will provide an essential lifetime framework for filtering good and bad reasoning as well as writing and speaking effectively."

Discovery of Deduction by Classical Academic Press

From the publisher:

"The book emphasizes the practical and real-world application of soundly structured deductive logic. Using methods such as Socratic dialogue, ample discussion, and integration of other subjects, the book teaches formal logic in the best way for dialectic students."

Science

For a few years we have casually made our way through a number of Apologia's elementary science courses. My children loved reading those books, so I figure that we might as well stick with Apologia.  If any local friends want to get together to do the experiments, let me know!

Exploring Creation with General Science by Apologia

From the publisher:

"Specifically designed to be the first course taken during junior high, it was created to give middle school students an understanding of the basic world that surrounds them each day of their lives so that they can appreciate the real-world relevance of scientific inquiry and the beauty of creation."

History, Literature, & Theology

I have had my eye on this curriculum since my kids were little.  I love the idea of intertwining these three subjects.  In the elementary years we mostly used Veritas Press history and I picked literature to go complement those studies. This curriculum progresses chronologically and is based on reading and discussion.  I think we can accomplish this discussion as a family, but I think it would be awesome to have a group of kids contemplating these ideas together.  If you are local to me, have a middle school aged child, and this curriculum looks interesting to you, let me know!

Omnibus I by Veritas Press

From the publisher:

"Designed to help enlighten, train, and develop young minds through the study of everything important, long-lasting, and true: the ideas, arguments, and expression of the Western Canon as expressed in the Great Books. Each chapter covers a Great Book, examining the author, context, significance, main characters, summary and setting, worldview, and providing an in-depth essay analyzing and teaching the important points of the work. Chapters conclude with five sessions that provide questions to consider, optional activities, reading assignments, cultural analysis, biblical analysis, application, summa questions, recitation comprehension questions, lateral thinking, review questions, and evaluation questions."

Books covered:

The Chronicles of Narnia, The Holiness of God, Selected books of the Bible, Epic of Gilgamesh, The Odyssey, Oresteia, Plutarch's Lives, Last Days of Socrates, The Early History of Rome, The Aeneid. Julius Caesar, The Eagle of the Ninth, The Screwtape Letters, Holiness of God

Math

My son loves math, but hates to have to practice concepts that he understands over and over.  Last year we started using this (new to me) program and are loving it!  It is really challenging, and is mostly for the child who really wants to know the why of math. We are finishing the Pre-Algebra book this year and will move on to Algebra by next year,

Introduction to Algebra by Art of Problem Solving

From the publisher:

"The text is structured to inspire the reader to explore and develop new ideas. Each section starts with problems, giving the student a chance to solve them without help before proceeding. The text then includes solutions to these problems, through which algebraic techniques are taught. Important facts and powerful problem solving approaches are highlighted throughout the text."

Latin

I have thoroughly enjoyed studying Latin with my children.  We started with Song School Latin and then moved on to Latin for Children.  I have not used any curriculum other than what Classical Academic Press publishes, so I do not have anything to compare it to, but we have been happy so far, so unless I am convinced otherwise, I plan to continue.

Latin Alive by Classical Academic Press

From the publisher:

"Students will be delighted by what they learn in each new chapter of Latin Alive and they will learn to see that Latin is everywhere around them. It is a rigorous and thorough introduction to this great language."

Writing/Grammar

This subject has always been a mix of things for me.  Spelling, Grammar, Writing, Poetry, Readers. Each day we would do one or two of those things.  I think next year we will drop spelling and the McGuffey Readers that I have always loved.  We will focus on writing skills and still do some grammar.  We have typically done poetry memorization and studying as a part of our morning time, so I think we will continue doing that.

Writing & Rhetoric by Classical Academic Press

These books are intended to take less than a year.  I think we will be in book 5 at the beginning of next year, but I'm not sure yet.

From the publisher:

"In this book, students will learn to identify and refute, or criticize, parts of a narrative that are unbelievable, improbable, unclear, or improper. A confirmation is a short essay that defends certain parts of a narrative. When students see parts of a narrative that are believable, probable, clear, or proper, they will confirm them. After learning to identify the parts of a story that can be attacked or defended, students will practice writing refutations or confirmations using sound arguments to explain their opinions."

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Planning is my favorite part of homeschooling =) So, it feels nice to have worked on this and have it mapped out.  Things may change, and I'm sure that I've missed some things (like things we don't do every day...music, art, map drawing, skillwork, etc.), but this is at least the general idea.

I would love to hear what is working for you, what things you are thinking of changing, and if you made any major changes as your children entered the second half of their schooling years!

Encouraging Curiosity with By Design Science

I received this curriculum for free in order to provide you with my review of it.  I was compensated for my time.  All opinions are my own.

Classical education is what I love.  I used to think that in order to teach classically, I needed to use certain, classical curriculum.  While curriculum that has been designed to facilitate a classical education can be helpful, I have been learning that it isn't so much what curriculum you use, but how you use it.

When I first was given the opportunity to review By Design Science, I wasn't sure how I would like it since it isn't written specifically for classical homeschoolers.  In fact, it is the most textbook type book I have ever used with my children (other than for math).

I thought I should give it an honest look before making my decision, so I browsed the sample pages. What I found was engaging, Christian, curiosity inducing content.

Each school morning since we received this curriculum my children and I have sat down together and learned about life science.  We have included this as a part of our spring trimester morning time and it fits perfectly!  I chose the 2nd grade text and started with the first unit, which is life science.  Each grade level (1st - 8th) of By Design Science is broken down into four units: life science, human body, earth and space science, and physical science.

Student Journals For Each Unit

I am notorious for expecting my children to do more than is reasonable for their ages.  This curriculum was great for me because it gave me developmentally appropriate material to enjoy with them, and guess what?  They are loving it!

Even though By Design is a textbook, I found it to be delightfully conversational!  Basically, I would sit across from my children at the kitchen table, I would look at my teachers guide and they would look at the student text, and we would discover new things together.

First I would just have them look at the pictures on the page and try to notice all that they could about them.  Just this exercise of observing led to so many great conversations!  Then we would read through the few paragraphs out loud.  The paragraphs would share a bit of new information, but also would ask questions.  I love how this would get my children thinking and discussing, digging deep into the subject matter.  It really is an inquiry approach to science.

This curriculum (at this grade level) is not filled with facts to memorize and words that are difficult to pronounce, but instead guides children toward wonder and curiosity at the world that God has created.   

Engaging Your Children with By Design Science

After we are done with our initial conversation about the material, I look around the boarder of my teacher's edition for other ideas of ways to engage my children with the material.  There are always great ideas to further their inquiry and knowledge.  There are more ideas to discuss, background knowledge to acquire, and experiments to discover.  Sometimes I mistakenly think "Come on kids, lets move on to the next thing now." But then I realize how silly that thought is, because this kind of engagement is exactly what I want!

During one of the lessons we were talking about what kinds of things animals need to survive. A suggested activity had to do with doing an experiment about the shape of bird's nests. This was perfect for us because we have been reading, watching, and nature journaling about birds this spring!  Here is my daughter having a fun time figuring out what shaped nest would best keep eggs from rolling out:

She made a hypothesis, worked hard testing the nest shapes, and excitedly came to a conclusion!  My son is the 2nd grader (the age this level is designed for), so I had him fill out the student journal page.  He recorded our hypothesis, our observations, and our conclusion.

A Christian Science Curriculum

I believe that if we want to learn truth, it is impossible to leave God out of the story.  Some say that we need to do this for a subject like science, but I believe that we need to give glory to God especially in a subject like science.  How could we ever attempt to learn about ourselves and our world without first turning to the One who created us and this world.

By Design Science is a faith-based curriculum that acknowledges and gives glory to God throughout the book.  The text reminds us that God is the creator of all the things we are learning about and that he designed everything for a purpose!  Often in the book it asks us to look up a passage in the Bible or reminds us of a passage within the book.

I want to let you know that By Design Science is created by a Seventh Day Adventist group.  I am not Seventh Day Adventist, so I was on the look out for anything that would go against what my family believes.  The teachers guide does have quite a bit of info at the beginning about how this curriculum will reinforce the Adventist beliefs, but the student textbook does not include this information (which I was thankful for).  The student text is filled with references to God and the Bible, but I did not find anything at all that was contrary to my beliefs, in fact, I thought that the way it incorporated those topics was perfect!

If you are looking for a science curriculum for next year, or want to lead your children into a curiosity driven exploration of the world this summer, I highly recommend that you check out By Design Science!  Don't forget that you can view sample pages from each grade level to help you learn even more!

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Want to learn more about the publisher?  Visit Kendall Hunt Publishing Company and Kendall Hunt Religious Publishing.  

Kendall Hunt also provides faith-based programs in Reading Language Art called (Pathways) and a New Kindergarten program (Stepping Stones). In addition, Kendall Hunt offers Talented and Gifted programs in mathematics (M2 and M3) as well as products developed in collaboration with the CFGE (Center for Gifted Education) College of William and Mary in subject areas such as language arts, social studies, and science.

Starting a Scholé Group - My Plan for the Year

A new school year is here!  I love planning and preparing, so summer was really fun for me.  This year will be different for us than any of our previous years, so I had lots to plan!  I am excited for the changes!

One change from last year is that we will not be a part of a Classical Conversations group this year.  (If you are interested in why, read my post Why I Am Not Returning To Classical Conversations.)  Last year was a good learning year for me as far as figuring out what I want my homeschool to look like and what I think education in general should look like.

One thing that I am learning is that I think there is real benefit to doing some parts of education together, and benefit to doing some parts alone.  By together, I mean with other children/families, and by alone, I mean at home as a family.  Ideally I think I would really like a half-day cottage school type program (that is located 5 minutes from my home, that teaches using the classical model, and filled with wonderful students and amazing teachers....hey a girl can dream, right?) but that is not available to me at the moment, so I've come up with something as close to that as I can get for now.

At the end of my Why I Am Not Returning To Classical Conversations post, I listed somethings that I desired for my homeschool this year.  Here is what I wrote:

I want a truly classical group.

I want a group of like-minded people to dive into the full richness of classical education with.  I want to dive deep together, cultivating virtue, enhancing wonder, and pointing our children toward truth, goodness, and beauty.

I want freedom.

I want the freedom to change things that need to be changed.  I want the ability to stay on one subject for 2 hours if the children are engaged in the wonder of God's creation and there is no pressing reason to stop!  

I want to work together with other moms.

The Body of Christ is so diverse in our gifts and talents.  CC literally left me in a state of exhaustion each week because their model has the tutor doing everything (to show that "You can do it too, mom!")  I appreciate their desire there, but it has made me understand more fully how every person is uniquely gifted and that it is beautiful when we come together and share our strengths!  

I think that meeting days could be a time of joy (instead of stress), with each mom doing what she loves to do, blessing the entire group by doing it.

Enter Scholé Groups from Classical Academic Press

A few friends and I had already been talking about getting together once a week this year for a co-op type group.  We had the same desires as far as working together to create a day of joyful, restful, beautiful learning for our children, but didn't have all of our ideas together yet.  Then I heard about a new program that was being launched by Classical Academic Press, called Scholé Groups.

I have been greatly influenced by Dr. Perrin and many Classical Academic Press resources, so I knew right away that I wanted to check this out!  It turns out that it is a perfect fit for what my friends and I had already started formulating.

A Scholé Group is unlike other homeschool groups in that it does not tell you the specific course of action that you need to follow (no specific classes or curriculum is outlined).  The folks at Classical Academic Press simply want to lead us in our understanding of classical education principles and help us to employ them as we learn together.  From their website:

"A Scholé Group is a homeschooling community of at least two families employing the content of a classical curriculum and the pedagogy of restful learning embodied by the word scholé."

So, that is what I am doing this year!  I spent the summer planning, hit a few bumps along the way, planned some more, and now will be starting my Scholé Group this week on Tuesday!  My group is pretty small (3 families) and quite young (ages 4-7), so it is going to look different than other Scholé Groups, but I think it is going to be wonderful!

Scholé Group Curriculum

Here is what a day in my group will look like:

Morning Meeting

Recitation - One student each week will share something with the group.

Bible/Virtue Lesson - We will start our days pointing the children (and ourselves!) to Christ.

Memorization - Each week we will learn a Bible verse and a hymn together.

History & Geography

This year we will be learning about ancient civilizations.  We will memorize a timeline and create one of our own.  We will learn about the people, places, and events of history through story, song, and hands-on activities.

We will use Story of the World as a jumping off point, but will add or take away as we see fit.  I am really enjoying the corresponding activity book which provides map work, reading suggestions, and lots of great activity ideas.

Nature Exploration & Recess

When the weather is reasonable, we will take the children outside to explore God's creation.  Some days we will have specific activities for the children, and other days they will explore freely.

Lunch

I have typically thought of lunch as a break from the day.  When I was reading the Scholé Group handbook I was intrigued to read their thoughts about lunch.  They talk about lunch being a time for great conversation, beholding that which is beautiful, and restful enjoyment of food.  I'm sure I still don't exactly understand it all, but that sure got me thinking!

We are planning on opening our lunch time by singing the Doxology and then praying.  The children will all have a part in setting and clearing the table and will work on learning certain manners each week.  Remember that my group is very young, so we have to start with the very basics!  Hopefully as we grow we will be able to engage in great conversations, but for now we will focus on keeping the kids in their seats for the duration of lunch and saying please and thank you =)

I plan on having something nice to set on the table each week (flowers, candles, etc.) and playing nice music in the background.  If anyone has any other ideas for making lunch a venue for contemplating truth, goodness, and beauty, please share!

Literature

I really want to title this section The Great Books, but in reality it is going to be the Kindergarten version of great books.  I am really excited for this time as we strive to help the children love books and begin to learn how to discuss what they have read or heard.  This time will change throughout the year.  We will read pictures books, chapter books, poetry, etc., discussing and doing activities where appropriate.

Music

We will end our day by attending a local homeschool music class together.  Hopefully the kids won't be too tired out after our day of scholé!  I think it will be really fun and a great experience for the kids.

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So, there you have it.  This is my plan for next year!  I am very hopeful that it will be a wonderful time of learning and exploration.  I will share more with you as we get going.  If you want to see some other Scholé Groups in action, check out Sola Gratia Mom and Expanding Wisdom's Paideia Fellowship. 

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Delighting in Latin - A Song School Latin 2 Review

                                   This post is sponsored by Classical Academic Press.

One of my favorite things this past year has been learning Latin.  I knew nothing about Latin before we started last year, so I am learning right along with my children. What I love the most is learning how much of our English language is influenced by Latin. I am continually amazed at how many of our words are derived in some way from Latin words.

English just makes so much more sense when you know Latin.  I can't believe that I can already tell that after only doing 2 years of very basic learning...taught by a monkey =)

Here are a couple of examples of words that have me delighting in learning Latin:

Contradict -

contra = against
dico = I speak


Transport -

trans = across
porto = I carry


Do you love that too, or am I just odd?  I think I learn things better when I can know the "why" behind them, so when I can see our words broken down like that, it leaves me amazed!

In those examples, I probably should have given the infinitive (to speak, to carry), but I'm still learning, so I did the best I could =)  I'm sure you got the idea despite my insufficiency.

Using Song School Latin 2

Last year we used Song School Latin 1, so this year we moved right along to Song School Latin 2.  SSL1 focuses mostly on fun, familiar words and is a wonderful way to introduce a child to Latin.  When I got to flip through SSL2, I was amazed at how much longer the book was, and how much more content it covered.  It still has all the fun of SSL1, but adds much more grammar.

Each chapter includes new vocab words, a fun song, a grammar lesson, worksheets, and activities.  If you want a better look (or listen!) at these components, the Classical Academic Press website has samples of everything for you.

I am not making my son memorize all of the words and especially not all of the conjugations and declensions.  Of course you could do that, but I am looking at this program as a first taste of learning Latin and I want my kids to just be excited about it.  (We go through every chapter and practice everything, I'm just not testing him on the material.)

So far, it is working =)  As I sit here typing this, my son actually asked me if I could play the Monkey Match game with him.  I told him to wait just a few minutes, so now he is playing by himself on the other side of the room and humming one of the Latin songs.  No joke!

My kids both are learning so much and think it is so neat to see what derivatives we get from Latin.  When we are out at the store and hear people talking another language, I always think it is so funny when my 5 year old daughter says "Oh, they are probably speaking Latin."  I love that Latin is just a normal part of our life (not that we are any good at it yet!)

Another part of the curriculum that you can get is the DVD.  That is the kind of 'extra' that I typically don't get.  I figure if I'm teaching the lesson already, why do I need someone else to teach it to my kids again.  In this case, I would have been making a big mistake!  The SSL2 DVD is very much worth it for so many reasons.

• It helps you hear the pronunciation clearly, if you are not already a Latin pro
• It gives your child another exposure to the material, since it is something completely new
• It gives Latin an element of fun, if they are not as excited about the derivatives as I am =)
• It helps your child learn through multiple senses

The DVD lessons are short and sweet.  Each lesson has a few parts: new vocabulary, derivatives, grammar lesson, and a fun cartoon at the end.  Can I make a confession?  I've never actually seen the DVD.  Eek!  I feel bad saying that!  I may have never seen them, but I have heard them many, many times.  We have a built in DVD player in our minivan and I really don't appreciate having it there, but the one thing I will let my kids occasionally watch are these Latin DVDs.  I really enjoy listening to them.  The voices are pleasing, the derivatives are fascinating, and the cartoon at the end is really funny.  Here is a sample (so I guess now I can say that I've seen it!)

Song School Latin Giveaway

Here comes the fun part!  If you are looking for a Latin program to use with your lower elementary students next year, you can enter to win the entire Song School Latin 2 curriculum!  Classical Academic Press has graciously offered to give one of my readers the complete SSL2 program which includes:

• Song School Latin 2 Student Edition
• Song School Latin 2 Teacher's Edition
• Latin Monkey Match 2 Flashcard Game
• Song School Latin 2 DVD Set

If you don't win, or if you are in need of a different Latin curriculum, you can use code: LLH20 to get 20% off of any Latin curriculum (included the already discounted bundles!) at Classical Academic Press until the end of the month (7-31-15).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Easy Grammar Review

 

This post contains affiliate links to curriculum that I love!

Last year I wrote a review of Primary Language Lessons. I love its gentle, Charlotte Mason type approach to language arts, but the one thing that it doesn't have is lots of practice for the different topics that are introduced. Most of the time when I want something a little different than what I have, I create my own. Sure, I could write lots of practice sentences, and in fact I was copying sentences from his McGuffey Reader for him to edit, but sometimes the effort is just more that I'm willing to make. Then I stumbled upon another blogger talking about Easy Grammar. I looked at the website and realized that it was exactly what I needed!

Read my review of Easy Grammar over at The Curriculum Choice!

First Grade Classical Curriculum

This post contains affiliate links to the curriculum I use and love!

Like I mentioned a bit ago, this year is going to be different for us because we are going to be a part of a Classical Conversations community.  I am excited for this change, and hope that it ends up being a good fit for us!  So, you will see that some of our curriculum choices are based on that, and others are separate.  This year I have a 6 yr old boy and a 4 yr old girl.  I will mostly focus on the 6 yr, but I'll also throw in what my 4 yr will be doing.

History - Classical Conversations

History is a big deal at Classical Conversations.  Each week we will memorize part of the timeline and also a sentence about a particular even in history (this year the focus will be American history).  My son loves to read and he also retains what he reads very well, so for history we are not going to be adding anything except reading books having to do with the week's sentence.  Some I will read aloud and others he will read independently.  My daughter will enjoy the read alouds and work on memorizing the history sentences.  Here are some of the books we will be enjoying (focusing on the first few weeks because I haven't planned the whole year out yet =)  Ooo!  Also American history related books from Heritage History.

Math - Saxon and Ray's Arithmetic

This will be a continuation of what we were doing the second half of last year.  We will move onto Saxon 1 and keep moving along in our Ray's Arithmetic (with workbook). I love how Ray's Arithmetic provides such a great base of understanding numbers, and I love Saxon because it covers everything else so I know I'm not missing anything (measuring, time, patterns, etc.)  Last year I kept my kids together in Saxon K even thought it was very simple for my son.  He needed to build some confidence at that point, but I think he is ready to move more quickly again.  I'm not sure if I will do their math lessons separately, or do it together but have him work on the later worksheets.

In Classical Conversations, we will be learning skip counting, so we will be playing a lot of SPEED! and doing some skip counting worksheets for practice.

By the way, if you are interested in Ray's Arithmetic, you can enter to win it this week as a part of my Homeschool For Free giveaway!

English

I am also really happy with what we have been doing for ELA.  We use Primary Language Lessons for a gentle intro to language arts, the McGuffey Readers (primer for my 4yr and 2nd reader for my 6yr old) as reading/comprehension/narration practice, and we recently started using Easy Grammar (grade 2), which I am loving because it provides exactly the right kind of practice that my son needs.

 

Of course, I am also in love with copywork, so we will be doing selections from Patriotic Songs and Sayings, Poetry for Kids, and McGuffey Primer copywork packs.

Latin

I am thrilled to be moving on to Song School Latin 2 for the new year!  My kids love Song School Latin 1, and are excited to learn new songs and color new pictures =)  Book 2 is really big compared to book 1, and it starts covering grammar as opposed to just vocab.  I have no idea what I'm getting into, but I trust that Classical Academic Press will gently guide us all through the process!

Also, in Classical Conversations we will be memorizing John 1:1-7 in both English and Latin.  I have it on my list to make copywork for Latin Bible verses, so maybe I'll get to that and we will do some Latin copywork as well!

Science - Anatomy & Chemistry

Like with history, I am going to be letting Classical Conversations take the lead on this one.  Each week we will memorize a piece of information and also do an experiment at CC.  My plan is to go to the library and get books related to the topic studied that week.  Once I learned that anatomy was going to be a part of CC science this year, I stopped what we had been doing with Elemental Science.  I was planning on finishing that up during the summer, but we were right in the middle of anatomy, so instead I'm saving it to use once we start CC.  We will finish filling out the notebook and use the rest of the curriculum for other ideas if my kids are interested in learning more about the topic for the week.

Fine Arts

Honestly I'm not sure how this one will pan out.  I plan on listening to lots of classical music this year, looking at great pieces of art, and practicing whatever we learn that week in CC.  We will also pick selections from Draw Write Now to complement our history studies.

I'm sure we will also still use Harmony Fine Arts because my kids and I both really enjoy what we have been doing with that.

My daughter is really musical, so I'm thinking of finding a class of some sort for her.  She got a violin for her birthday last year, so we have been (slowly) going through The Violin Book.  My son is doing awesome learning to play the piano, so he will continue in that.




So there you have it!  What do you think?  Are you using any of the same material?  I'd love to hear what you'll be using this year!  Also, check out what hundreds of other homeschool moms are using this year at the 6th Annual Not Back to School blog hop hosted by the iHomeschool Network! (Starts Monday, August 4th)