Even though I’m late in doing so, I wanted to share our homeschool curriculum choices for the 2019-2020 school year.
My oldest boy is in 9th grade at a University-model school, which means he is home with us on 2 satellite days each week. This is considered a private school, so I have no choice in his subjects or curriculum. He and I are, however, working through Henle I for his foreign language credit this year.
Oh boy. That’s a post for another day. I am learning Latin with him and it is taxing for my old brain! Ha!
I homeschool my middle 3 girls, and my oldest daughter is in 7th grade this year.
Here are the subjects and curriculum I have chosen to use with my sweet 7th grader.
→ Here are our 7th grade homeschool goals for this year.
Browse through all of the homeschool curriculum posts here at Mama’s Learning Corner.
Last year, we had a big shake up in our homeschool and started using almost all Memoria Press materials. Even though we had used Memoria Press Latin for years, it was a jump for me to use their full curriculum.
Because it was a wildly successful year for my children, we are using almost all Memoria Press again this year.
I am not affiliated with them in any way (except for the affiliate links here on my site), I am just one super happy customer.
7th Grade Math and Science
My oldest girl is working her way through the rest of Rod and Staff Grade 6 Math. She needs to do some more work with understanding and manipulating fractions, decimals, and percents. If she finishes up with Grade 6 math, we will move onto College of the Redwoods Pre-Algebra for the rest of 7th grade.
She is also working through a physical science course of chemistry, physics, and astronomy.
Using the John Tiner book for each of these topics, she will work along with the Supplemental Workbook questions from Memoria Press.
She and I have science class twice a week to discuss concepts and her answers to the workbook questions.
7th Grade Latin
My daughter loves Latin! She will move onto Second Form Latin with the Memoria Press Online Academy.
She also took First Form with the MPOA during her 6th grade year and it worked out beautifully for her.
7th Grade Grammar and Composition
My 7th grader will also work through the end of Rod and Staff English Grade 6. The Grade 6 book is packed with information, and I take this book slower since she gets so much grammar through Latin.
We will work our way through the last half of Grade 6 and then move on to the Grade 7 text.
My 7th and 5th grader are taking a whirlwind ride through Traditional Spelling II and then through Spelling Workout D, with intense help from me. Despite being voracious readers, they struggle with spelling and still need explicit instruction.
You can read about How I Teach Spelling if you need fresh ideas.
I struggled and struggled with Composition this year. My 7th grader completed Fable and Narrative from Classical Composition during 6th grade, so she should move on to Chreia/Maxim.
I don’t understand Chreia/Maxim well enough to teach it with excellence, so she is working through Writing With Skill Level 1.
Because I had a hard time choosing between the two, I ultimately went with Writing with Skill since I was sure it would be completed. I already have a lot on my homeschool plate and wasn’t sure I’d have the time to learn Chreia/Maxim.
Choose the curriculum that will actually be completed, right?
I personally believe that both Classical Composition and Writing with Skill are outstanding writing programs, albeit quite different in approach. Both teach the student how to think logically and then write down those thoughts, which of course, is the basic goal of writing.
7th Grade Literature
My daughter and I will be reading through the Memoria Press 7th grade Literature books and completing the Literature Guides.
On tap for us are The Trojan War, Anne of Green Gables, The Bronze Bow, and The Hobbit.
Right now, we’re about half way through The Trojan War and it is just a marvelous read! We are both enjoying this selection and its literature guide. The discussion points laid out in the guide are so fun to talk through together!
She will read these 4 books in depth, analyzing various topics using the literature guides as just that – guides. My daughter reads an hour or two a day for pleasure, so these are certainly not all of the books she will read this year!
My oldest girl is also memorizing a few poems this year: Columbus, O Captain! My Captain!, and a few others as well.
7th Grade History, Bible, Geography
My girls and I do Bible time first thing every homeschool day, and we’re finishing up the last unit of Christian Studies I and then will go straight to Christian Studies II.
We love our Bible time in the morning, and this is the last subject we can all still do well together! ::sniff sniff::
My 7th grader is working her way through Famous Men of Greece and also taking a high-top overview of American History this year.
She uses the Student Guide for Famous Men of Greece, and she uses the 200 Questions workbook as she reads through The Story of the Great Republic & The Thirteen Colonies.
We have Famous Men of Greece class once each week and American History class once each week.
Lastly, for Geography, she’s working through Geography II. This is a totally independent subject for her, and I just check in on her work a couple of days each week.
Need more homeschool curriculum ideas? You can browse through all of my homeschool curriculum posts and get a few new-to-you ideas!
3rd Grade Homeschool Goals 2019-2020
Hello! Does Traditional Spelling have a placement test? Or how do you know where to start a child in this curriculum? Like you, I have done All About Spelling Levels 1-3 with my oldest child (she is 10), and we started Level 4 for this school year, but there is just something about that method that is just not working for us anymore. I am intrigued by Traditional Spelling. Any insights you have for me as far as a starting place would be much appreciated. Thank you!
Hey Elaine,
To my knowledge, there is not a placement test for Traditional Spelling. I chose to start my older two with TS II because I had a copy of both workbooks to look through and make a good decision. It’s so hard to do that from just an online sample, isn’t it?
The customer service at Memoria Press is amazing. I’ve called them only a million times to ask for placement help, or assistance with how to teach a particular subject. I would give their customer service a call and ask for specific advice. They’ve also sent me another sample week or two of the lesson to look through when I’ve had a hard time determining placement.
After going through levels 1-3 of AAS, I felt like my 10 year old could go into TS II easily. Also, we don’t do all of the lessons, so we will finish long before the end of the school year. Then we will just go on to Spelling Workout D. We skip lessons that she has firm footing in, such as the beginning or final consonant blends, or the three letter blends. We definitely don’t skip lessons such as consonant+LE, for example.
I hope that helps! Feel free to ask me any more questions and I will try to help. 🙂
xo, Lauren
Lauren,
This was very helpful. Thank you very much for such a thorough response! I think only doing the specific lessons she needs is a brilliant idea. So often – because I am Type A, check ALL the boxes homeschool mom – I forget curriculum is a GUIDE and resource and I don’t have to do everything cover to cover. 🙂
I appreciate your website. You have helped with many resources through the years. I use your attendance sheets every year. Thank you.
Elaine