The homeschool curriculum choices blog posts are great, but what I really want to know is what families thought AFTER they used the curriculum they chose! Today I am sharing our 7th Grade Homeschool Year-End Review!
{disclaimer ~ affiliate links are used}
Here’s a link to the original 7th Grade Curriculum Choices post.
7TH GRADE SUBJECTS
- Math ~ Teaching Textbooks Pre Algebra
- Literature ~ Essentials in Literature 7
- Grammar ~ IEW Fix It! Grammar Level 2
- Writing ~ IEW Structure & Style Level B Year 1
- History ~ Notgrass America the Beautiful
- Geography ~ Country by Country
- Science ~ BJU Life Science {with her weekly enrichment class}
- Elective ~ The Animation Course
Math ~ Teaching Textbooks Pre Algebra
Once again, Teaching Textbooks does the job for us! She used Pre Algebra and will be finishing it in the fall and beginning Algebra 1 when she finishes Pre. We slowed things down around Christmas time to be sure she understands things. Math isn’t her thing so going slowly was necessary. She is gifted in the creative and expressive areas (language, art, etc.) so getting through math is what it is. She does not like it at all. It’s a get-through-it subject, which I know she would hate if she didn’t have Teaching Textbooks. It’s the only thing that makes math tolerable for her.
Independent Reading ~ 7th-grade reading list
Below is a list of the books she read independently this year and her rating from 1-10 in parenthesis. Some she forgot to rate so I left those blank.
- Refugee (10)
- The Hiding Place (9.5)
- Hunger Games (9)
- Catching Fire
- The Night Diary (7)
- Out of My Mind (8)
- Show Me a Sign (6)
- Rain Reign (8)
- Rules (7.5)
- Pax (10)
- Pax Journey Home (8.5)
- The War That Saved My Life
- The War I Finally Won
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
- Warrior Cats (many from series)
Literature – Essentials in Literature 7
This curriculum did the job but it wasn’t my favorite. The videos were basically the textbook, we ended up just using the book instead. I did love that the curriculum is mostly short stories/poems with one novel study. The novel was Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry. If I exclude the fact that the videos weren’t very useful for us, the curriculum is wonderful. It did exactly what I was looking for. Next year she will be using something different, but more for a different viewpoint.
Writing ~ IEW Structure & Style Level B Year 1
I love IEW but she does not. She is a creative writer naturally and IEW is more structured (for people like me and my other two kids). We finished it but will be using something different next year for writing.
Grammar – Fix It Grammar Level 2 (Town Mouse & Country Mouse)
We started this mid-year and it is a good fit. See our full review here. We will continue with this next year.
History ~ Notgrass America the Beautiful
Honestly, we stopped using this mid-year, it was boring. I love Notgrass for High School and maybe the updated version of this is better (we have the older version) but we didn’t enjoy it. I plan to dive into history with her next year, we will make up for time lost easily!
Geography ~ Country by Country
She finished up Asia and although she’s pretty “over it” I still like her to at least have a small exposure to every single country. Obviously, since I created Country by Country I like it. But that doesn’t mean my kids do!
Science ~ BJU Life Science {with her weekly enrichment class}
I did not like this curriculum for middle school. I didn’t have a choice because it was through our enrichment group, but it was too much for 7th grade. We won’t be using this next year for sure.
Elective ~ The Animation Course
The best course of the year, by far. She wants to be an animator when she is older and she has had that dream for years and it’s only stronger each year. The Animation Course has been such a blessing. She took level 2 in the fall and can’t wait to take the next level in the coming school year. If I could afford it, she would take a course every semester. It isn’t cheap but it’s SO worth it for her. You can see our review here.
Homeschool Curriculum Choices From the Past…
All of our Homeschool Curriculum Choice PostS…
The posts below are color-coded for each of my kids. My oldest son Pax is the navy/tan, my middle son Ky is the orange/blue, and my daughter is the yellow/blue.
