7th Grade Homeschool Curriculum: What to Teach in Every Subject

What should a 7th grade homeschool curriculum include?

Seventh grade is the year math gets abstract, writing gets argumentative, and kids start asking "when will I ever use this?" A good 7th grade plan answers that question by building skills in order, week after week, so nothing feels random.

Below is what to cover in each of the eight subjects we teach, based on California's published standards (which match Common Core for math and English). Use it whether you buy a boxed curriculum, build your own, or use our packets.

What math does a 7th grader need?

Seventh grade math is the bridge to algebra. California's grade 7 standards group it into five domains:

• Ratios and proportional relationships (7.RP). Unit rates with fractions ("½ mile in ⅙ of an hour is how fast?"), deciding whether two quantities are proportional, the constant of proportionality, and multi-step percent problems: tax, tips, discounts, markups, percent increase and decrease, simple interest.
• The number system (7.NS). Adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing positive and negative numbers, including fractions and decimals.
• Expressions and equations (7.EE). Simplifying expressions, then writing and solving two-step equations and inequalities from word problems.
• Geometry (7.G). Scale drawings, constructing triangles, area and circumference of circles, angle relationships, surface area and volume.
• Statistics and probability (7.SP). Random samples, comparing two data sets, and simple and compound probability.

Teaching tip: percent change is where kids get "robbed." If a price goes up 20% and then down 20%, it ends lower than it started. Let them discover that with real numbers before you explain it. (Our very first Max & Nib comic is built on exactly that trick.)

What should 7th grade English cover?

Seventh grade English shifts from "what happened" to "how do you know?" The California ELA standards ask 7th graders to:

• Cite several pieces of evidence from a text to support what it says and what it implies (RL.7.1 and RI.7.1).
• Find a theme or central idea and track how it develops.
• Compare a written story with its film or audio version, or two authors writing on the same topic.
• Write arguments with a clear claim, reasons, relevant evidence, and a response to the other side.
• Write informative essays and narratives with organized paragraphs and transitions.
• Grammar: phrases and clauses, simple/compound/complex sentences, and avoiding misplaced modifiers.
• Vocabulary: Greek and Latin roots, context clues, figurative language.

A realistic week: read a chapter or article every day, answer 3 to 5 evidence questions, and write one solid paragraph. Every month or so, turn a paragraph into a full essay.

Book ideas many families use in 7th grade: Hatchet, The Giver, A Wrinkle in Time, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, and The Hobbit. Pick what fits your family and your kid's reading level.

What science is taught in 7th grade?

California uses an integrated middle school model under the Next Generation Science Standards, which mixes life, physical and earth science each year. The Grade 7 preferred integrated course covers:

• Atoms, molecules and chemical reactions, including what changes and what is conserved.
• Matter and energy in living things, like photosynthesis and how food becomes energy.
• Earth's resources and the rock cycle, and how humans depend on them.
• Ecosystems and biodiversity, including how ecosystems change and why diversity matters.
• Engineering design: define a problem, test solutions, improve.

Do at least one hands-on investigation a week. Baking soda and vinegar (chemical reaction and gas production), a leaf in a jar (photosynthesis), and a sugar-cube "rock cycle" are cheap and memorable.

What history do 7th graders study?

In California, 7th grade is World History and Geography: Medieval and Early Modern Times, roughly A.D. 500 to 1789. The state standards walk through:

1. The fall of Rome and the Byzantine Empire
2. The rise of Islam and its civilizations
3. China in the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties
4. The kingdoms of West Africa, including Ghana and Mali
5. Medieval Japan
6. Medieval Europe: feudalism, manors, the Church, the Crusades and the Black Death
7. The Maya, Aztec and Inca civilizations
8. The Renaissance
9. The Reformation
10. The Scientific Revolution
11. The Age of Exploration, the Enlightenment and the Age of Reason

That's 11 units, which works out to about three weeks each over a 36-week year. Pair each unit with a map, a timeline entry and one primary source (a short excerpt from Magna Carta, Ibn Battuta's travels, or Galileo is perfect).

Do you need Spanish, art, coding and life skills in 7th grade?

They are not all required, but middle school is the easiest time to add them, and they are the subjects kids most often call their favorite.

Spanish

The California World Languages standards describe progress by proficiency level, not grade. A beginner in 7th grade is working in the Novice range: greetings, numbers, family, food, school, simple present-tense sentences, and a little culture. Fifteen minutes a day beats an hour once a week.

Art

The California Arts Standards organize visual art into creating, presenting, responding and connecting. In practice: drawing skills (perspective, shading), one art movement or artist a month, and a short written response ("What is the artist trying to make you feel? How?").

Coding

California's Computer Science standards for grades 6–8 cover algorithms and programming, computing systems, data, networks and the impacts of computing. Kids can learn real concepts on paper: write step-by-step algorithms, trace loops by hand, find the bug in a short program. Then move to Scratch or Python on screen.

Life skills

Budgeting, reading a recipe and scaling it, comparing unit prices, making a weekly schedule, basic first aid. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Money as You Grow has free, age-based money activities. Life skills also reinforce 7th grade math, because unit prices and recipe scaling are proportional reasoning.

How do you plan a 7th grade homeschool year?

Plan 36 weeks. Then lay out each subject as a sequence so every week builds on the last:

Two habits make this work:

1. Review old material on purpose. The U.S. Institute of Education Sciences practice guide Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning recommends exposing students to key material at least twice, spaced weeks to months apart. Put two or three old problems at the start of each week.
2. Keep a simple record. Note what was covered and how it went. If your child struggles with a topic, revisit it before moving on. This also gives you a ready-made portfolio if you're in a charter or need records for a private school affidavit.

For the daily rhythm, see our middle school homeschool schedule.

Where Homeschool Packets fits

We built Homeschool Packets to do the sequencing for you. Each subject follows a 36-week scope and sequence, so every printable packet picks up where the last one ended and mixes in quick review from earlier packets. Every packet includes a full answer key, your child's first name in the problems, and a Max & Nib comic on page 1 that usually sets up a problem inside.

• $7/month for one subject, $25/month for any four, $40/month for all eight. See plans
• Want to see the level first? Try our free 7th grade sample worksheet with answer key.
• Ready? Tell us about your learner.

Not sure your child is ready for 7th grade work? Check our K–8 "what should my child know" checklist.