Seventh Grade Curriculum Plan
I realized the other day that we are officially halfway through the school year, according to our lessons. Remember, we started last spring, took time off this summer, then when we started back in August, Kara was having a hard time with sixth grade so we slowed down. Well, she is on fire now and so in the groove. So, hopefully we will finish in the spring, like we usually do. And hopefully we start seventh grade in the spring. But I am always open to go with the flow both Kara and I need. I'm in no race. Especially now that I realize we only have seventh through twelfth grade left. Is it just me or does it it sound way too short? Boy do I wish I had more kids so we could do fun first-third grade over again.
So, now that we are halfway done, what's the most practical thing to do? Have all of next year planned for and all the books purchased. lol. I am not crazy. Well I am, but it's totally normal for a homeschool teacher to be looking ahead. With Kara's whole high school in mind, here are my choices: (By the way, I reserve the right to change anything we originally planned to do if it isn't working for us.)
Math: We are planning on sticking with Teaching Textbooks. This year (sixth grade) we are doing Pre-Algebra, so next year (seventh grade) we are doing Algebra. So far, the unit conversions (you know, how many miles is 351289 inches) was pretty tough for Kara. She was able to do it even though she hated it and found it a little difficult. Fortunately we won't be doing unit conversions any more through high school (yes, I looked it up - those were not happy days in math class). So, now that we're officially getting into the algebra part of it, she is loving it. Kara likes to say she doesn't like math, but she was literally dancing through algebraic equations and I made her admit how she really feels. Imagine a slight eye roll. "Fiiiiiiine. I really like it." All of that to say, I think she's ready.
English:
Grammar & Composition: I planned to use BJU again, but when I went shopping at the homeschool book store that was going out of business and they sold everything for a dollar, they didn't have BJU materials, but did have Abeka materials. (I have been praying God would reveal Kara's curriculum to me, so this may be a way He decided to do it.) I thought I should buy the Abeka stuff for a dollar and check it out. If I still wanted to switch to BJU, I wouldn't be out much money. Yep, I love it. And there's way more writing than I thought there was in it too. We'll give it a shot! I have loved all Abeka we have ever used in the past.
Literature: I am planning to use Abeka's literature. They use parts of lovely literature to ask questions about it, to give topics for essays, and to work on how many words per minute Kara can read. (By high school, I want to switch to Charlotte Mason - which reads entire books of that gorgeous literature.)
Spelling: We dropped spelling. Kara's spelling is excellent, so I decided not to do it anymore. If I see her slipping, we will bring it back.
Vocabulary: I'm still not positive about what we will do for vocabulary. I think we'll use it in conjunction with our literature, like we do now. She remembers the words so well when she reads it in a story.
There are quizzes and tests with grammar, literature, and I plan to make some for vocabulary. There are essays, book reports, a research paper, and a lot of reading and work required. But I think she's ready.
Science:
As posted before, I'm going to go ahead with the much harder BJU for life science for seventh grade. It's going to be a lot of work, but I think she can handle it.
History (and Bible):
I am so excited about this one. Seriously, Kara and I do not enjoy history. And while I enjoy geography, Kara does not. This subject has not been very in depth for us, but we've touched on it throughout the years, and this year. Remember, this year her American History has been reading all of the American Girl books in order that pertain to major things that happened in America's History. She absolutely loves it and I'm hoping this is giving her the foundation for when we get into the bigger stuff. Well, next year we are going to use Charlotte Mason's History, which is mostly Bible history since that year will be Ancient History. They have the coolest books that go along with it (mostly interesting novels) and I am actually really looking forward to finally learning the stuff myself. Some of the books include a cool maps book with a clear page that you can set on top of each map. The map page is a Bible times map, then you set a clear map with red country borders for current information. I think it'll be really cool. We are also going to learn all of the countries in Africa. If all of that wasn't enough, we will be reading the Bible just about every day and Kara is to keep a journal of all the Scripture based (not novel based) doctrine she learns. When she is done, she should have her very own collection of what the Bible is to her on which to base her foundation of her faith. I think this is so cool that I just might make one for myself too. I am very clear with Kara every time we talk about church or Bible class during school - do not take someone's word for it - always read the Bible for yourself to be sure of the Truth.
Again, this is going to be a lot of work. But I plan to do this one together as much as we have time for so we can have a lot of discussion.
Health:
This is a subject I have dropped formally because so much of the science we learn includes so much about our bodies. Separately we read the Care and Keeping of You books by American Girl that talk about changing bodies, which is the non-science stuff - more about how all the changes make you feel.
We are going to try a cooking class for a while and I'll incorporate a little health in there.
Music:
Oh, we totally stopped music too. Although, I don't remember doing music past elementary school, so I don't feel so badly. If Kara were interested in doing anything musically with her life, we would stick with it, but she is not going down that path, so we aren't spending time on it.
P.E.:
Horse lessons are our major P.E. class. Now that it's getting colder, Kara is a little less active than before, but it'll be cool enough (now through April) to finally play outside more with her friends at playgrounds and swings and all of that. So, if we're around friends - about once a week - we'll do that. (Oh, and every time she goes to Florida, she swims for hours every single day. We should plan another trip soon, just for the P.E., of course.) ;-)
Art:
Kara has art coming out of her ears. She is always drawing - with pencil, pen, shading pencils, on the computer, on my phone, anywhere. She is always trying to improve herself and learn more. I don't feel the need to do much more with her on that for seventh grade because she is so self led.
Spanish:
We are currently doing ninth grade Spanish, and Kara is doing really well. She enjoys it and is grasping it remarkably well. This year, we read her book out loud and do the exercises out loud. It's a bummer to not get any high school credit for it, even though she is doing a high school class. By the time we get to high school, we will probably be doing Spanish, but it'll be level 5 or 6 or something. No official curriculum, just reading Spanish novels and writing essays in Spanish about them. Anyway, for seventh grade I decided to use the exact same book we are using this year and just make her write all of the exercises and homework and add tests. I'm afraid that'll suck all the fun out of it, but she does need to know how to write in Spanish. So, we'll do spanish 2 for eighth grade, Spanish 3 for ninth grade (only one publisher makes Spanish 3 for high schoolers), then I'll make up my own Spanish 4, 5, and 6 with Spanish novels for the rest of high school. That's the plan anyway! Down here in the south, we have a very large Spanish speaking community and they have segregated themselves because they don't speak English. I plan to teach Kara Spanish so she and I can both communicate/witness to them and hopefully be part of the beginning of the integration of the two cultures.
Computers:
I want to start Kara learning to write code, but we are introducing some big new things, and adding quite a lot to her workload, so I just don't think this is the year for this. If Kara takes all of the new stuff super well and seems like she can handle more, I might change this, but for now, I think seventh grade will be a very full plate for her!
Speaking of a full plate - my goal is while Kara is pushed in school (I honestly believe nothing should be super easy for her or super hard for her - everything should push her to do her best and leave her feeling rewarded, not exhausted), while she has time for her friends, while she attends church twice a week, while she helps with chores at home, my goal is to leave her with several hours of free time every day, AND two completely free days on the weekend. I think being bored allows her to be creative. I think Americans in general have become too busy and every minute of our lives shouldn't be so packed full. I don't know everyone's situation, but I know ours. Kara needs free time. Down time. Not just to rest, which is important, but to be bored so she invents things, pursues interests, reads books for fun. I think that's how I can keep Kara a well rounded kid.
So, now that we are halfway done, what's the most practical thing to do? Have all of next year planned for and all the books purchased. lol. I am not crazy. Well I am, but it's totally normal for a homeschool teacher to be looking ahead. With Kara's whole high school in mind, here are my choices: (By the way, I reserve the right to change anything we originally planned to do if it isn't working for us.)
Math: We are planning on sticking with Teaching Textbooks. This year (sixth grade) we are doing Pre-Algebra, so next year (seventh grade) we are doing Algebra. So far, the unit conversions (you know, how many miles is 351289 inches) was pretty tough for Kara. She was able to do it even though she hated it and found it a little difficult. Fortunately we won't be doing unit conversions any more through high school (yes, I looked it up - those were not happy days in math class). So, now that we're officially getting into the algebra part of it, she is loving it. Kara likes to say she doesn't like math, but she was literally dancing through algebraic equations and I made her admit how she really feels. Imagine a slight eye roll. "Fiiiiiiine. I really like it." All of that to say, I think she's ready.
English:
Grammar & Composition: I planned to use BJU again, but when I went shopping at the homeschool book store that was going out of business and they sold everything for a dollar, they didn't have BJU materials, but did have Abeka materials. (I have been praying God would reveal Kara's curriculum to me, so this may be a way He decided to do it.) I thought I should buy the Abeka stuff for a dollar and check it out. If I still wanted to switch to BJU, I wouldn't be out much money. Yep, I love it. And there's way more writing than I thought there was in it too. We'll give it a shot! I have loved all Abeka we have ever used in the past.
Literature: I am planning to use Abeka's literature. They use parts of lovely literature to ask questions about it, to give topics for essays, and to work on how many words per minute Kara can read. (By high school, I want to switch to Charlotte Mason - which reads entire books of that gorgeous literature.)
Spelling: We dropped spelling. Kara's spelling is excellent, so I decided not to do it anymore. If I see her slipping, we will bring it back.
Vocabulary: I'm still not positive about what we will do for vocabulary. I think we'll use it in conjunction with our literature, like we do now. She remembers the words so well when she reads it in a story.
There are quizzes and tests with grammar, literature, and I plan to make some for vocabulary. There are essays, book reports, a research paper, and a lot of reading and work required. But I think she's ready.
Science:
As posted before, I'm going to go ahead with the much harder BJU for life science for seventh grade. It's going to be a lot of work, but I think she can handle it.
History (and Bible):
I am so excited about this one. Seriously, Kara and I do not enjoy history. And while I enjoy geography, Kara does not. This subject has not been very in depth for us, but we've touched on it throughout the years, and this year. Remember, this year her American History has been reading all of the American Girl books in order that pertain to major things that happened in America's History. She absolutely loves it and I'm hoping this is giving her the foundation for when we get into the bigger stuff. Well, next year we are going to use Charlotte Mason's History, which is mostly Bible history since that year will be Ancient History. They have the coolest books that go along with it (mostly interesting novels) and I am actually really looking forward to finally learning the stuff myself. Some of the books include a cool maps book with a clear page that you can set on top of each map. The map page is a Bible times map, then you set a clear map with red country borders for current information. I think it'll be really cool. We are also going to learn all of the countries in Africa. If all of that wasn't enough, we will be reading the Bible just about every day and Kara is to keep a journal of all the Scripture based (not novel based) doctrine she learns. When she is done, she should have her very own collection of what the Bible is to her on which to base her foundation of her faith. I think this is so cool that I just might make one for myself too. I am very clear with Kara every time we talk about church or Bible class during school - do not take someone's word for it - always read the Bible for yourself to be sure of the Truth.
Again, this is going to be a lot of work. But I plan to do this one together as much as we have time for so we can have a lot of discussion.
Health:
This is a subject I have dropped formally because so much of the science we learn includes so much about our bodies. Separately we read the Care and Keeping of You books by American Girl that talk about changing bodies, which is the non-science stuff - more about how all the changes make you feel.
We are going to try a cooking class for a while and I'll incorporate a little health in there.
Music:
Oh, we totally stopped music too. Although, I don't remember doing music past elementary school, so I don't feel so badly. If Kara were interested in doing anything musically with her life, we would stick with it, but she is not going down that path, so we aren't spending time on it.
P.E.:
Horse lessons are our major P.E. class. Now that it's getting colder, Kara is a little less active than before, but it'll be cool enough (now through April) to finally play outside more with her friends at playgrounds and swings and all of that. So, if we're around friends - about once a week - we'll do that. (Oh, and every time she goes to Florida, she swims for hours every single day. We should plan another trip soon, just for the P.E., of course.) ;-)
Art:
Kara has art coming out of her ears. She is always drawing - with pencil, pen, shading pencils, on the computer, on my phone, anywhere. She is always trying to improve herself and learn more. I don't feel the need to do much more with her on that for seventh grade because she is so self led.
Spanish:
We are currently doing ninth grade Spanish, and Kara is doing really well. She enjoys it and is grasping it remarkably well. This year, we read her book out loud and do the exercises out loud. It's a bummer to not get any high school credit for it, even though she is doing a high school class. By the time we get to high school, we will probably be doing Spanish, but it'll be level 5 or 6 or something. No official curriculum, just reading Spanish novels and writing essays in Spanish about them. Anyway, for seventh grade I decided to use the exact same book we are using this year and just make her write all of the exercises and homework and add tests. I'm afraid that'll suck all the fun out of it, but she does need to know how to write in Spanish. So, we'll do spanish 2 for eighth grade, Spanish 3 for ninth grade (only one publisher makes Spanish 3 for high schoolers), then I'll make up my own Spanish 4, 5, and 6 with Spanish novels for the rest of high school. That's the plan anyway! Down here in the south, we have a very large Spanish speaking community and they have segregated themselves because they don't speak English. I plan to teach Kara Spanish so she and I can both communicate/witness to them and hopefully be part of the beginning of the integration of the two cultures.
Computers:
I want to start Kara learning to write code, but we are introducing some big new things, and adding quite a lot to her workload, so I just don't think this is the year for this. If Kara takes all of the new stuff super well and seems like she can handle more, I might change this, but for now, I think seventh grade will be a very full plate for her!
Speaking of a full plate - my goal is while Kara is pushed in school (I honestly believe nothing should be super easy for her or super hard for her - everything should push her to do her best and leave her feeling rewarded, not exhausted), while she has time for her friends, while she attends church twice a week, while she helps with chores at home, my goal is to leave her with several hours of free time every day, AND two completely free days on the weekend. I think being bored allows her to be creative. I think Americans in general have become too busy and every minute of our lives shouldn't be so packed full. I don't know everyone's situation, but I know ours. Kara needs free time. Down time. Not just to rest, which is important, but to be bored so she invents things, pursues interests, reads books for fun. I think that's how I can keep Kara a well rounded kid.
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