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Free curricula in every subject for your 7th grader

 Free Curriculum for Homeschooling 7th Grade

Homeschooling in the middle school years doesn’t have to be expensive. There are many outstanding curricula for math, science, history, language arts and more that are absolutely free.

Here are some of the best free resources for 7th graders in each subject.

Note: This is a tiny fraction of what’s available online for free but I’ve narrowed it down to a few good programs rather than listing a hundred web sites to wade through.

In cases where I have written up articles about the programs, I’ve linked to those articles for more in-depth information.

Math:

Khan Academy is one of the most used math sites in the world, for good reason. Kids can learn about math, science and technology (plus more) from early elementary levels to the college level and beyond. “Knowledge maps” let you easily track your child’s progress. Here’s how one homeschooling parent uses Khan Academy for her 7th grader.

MS Math 7th Grade is an online textbook with graphics and activities offered by the Georgia Department of Education as part of their shared content. Topics include numbers and operations, geometry, algebra, data analysis and probability.

Math Drills offers tons of great math practice worksheets free to print for 7th grade math subjects such as geometry and algebra.

Cool Math offers all kinds of easy to understand algebra games and lessons.

Free Math Help also has some very easy to understand algebra lessons.

Math Planet offers a comprehensive free online math curriculum for high school, starting with pre-algebra.

Also see:

Social Studies:

World History for Us All is a nine-unit curriculum that focuses on the entire span of human history and beyond. It is geared towards middle school and/or high school grades.

Crash Courses use entertaining You-Tube videos to teach world history with lots of graphics and humor. Young adult fiction author John Green presents the videos, with the help of a research team that includes his high school history teacher.  The courses have now been expanded to include American History, World History I and II, and Government, among other topics.

Supplements:

National Geographic News is a great daily source of geography and world news.

Teaching Tolerance offers middle school lesson plans on subjects such as bullying, injustice, civil rights, censorship, poverty and activism.

Also see:

Science:

Middle School Chemistry is one of the most popular science programs for 7th grade. The American Chemical Society offers this entire 700-page chemistry curriculum with online lessons, a free downloadable book, activity sheets, hands-on activities and lots more for free.

My Science Box is no longer online but it can be accessed through the Internet Archive here.  This great resource offers 4-6 week science units complete with lesson plans, activities and printouts. In addition, ideas are offered individually for classroom activities, labs, projects, field trips, assessments, computer activities, outdoor activities and more.

MS Science 7th Grade is an online textbook with graphics and activities offered by the Georgia Department of Education as part of their shared content. Topics include cell structure, ecosystems, energy, genetics, reproduction and evolution.

Crash Courses has wonderful videos available for astronomy, biology, chemistry, ecology and more.

Also see:

Language Arts:

KISS Grammar is a free online program that is very thorough but it can be a little tricky to navigate at first. Here is one homeschool mom’s introduction to the program.

Daily Grammar has archives of over 440 short, easy lessons and 88 quizzes.

Internet 4 Classrooms offers links for kids to learn about and practice all sorts of 7th grade language arts concepts such as analogies, grammar review, punctuation, proofreading, sentence structure, comprehension, fact versus opinion, and so on. Links are thorough and updated often. Click on review to view more than a dozen language arts tests for 7th grade to help identify areas in need of work, as well.

MS LA 7th Grade is an online textbook with graphics and activities offered by the Georgia Department of Education as part of their shared content. Topics include the writing process, The Outsiders (discussion of plot, setting and so on based on reading the novel), conventions, poetry and nonfiction.

NaNoWriMo Young Writers’ program offers a free middle school young writers’ curriculum and free workbooks containing over 100 pages to help kids hone their writing skills.

Recommended reading lists for 7th graders can be found on sites like Good Reads and Pragmatic Mom. It’s generally helpful to compile a longer list and let kids pick from the list. Aim to check a few out from the library at a time for kids to choose from, and be sure your child reads a mix of historic fiction, non-fiction, biographies, current reads and some that are just plain enjoyable.

Also see:

Fine Arts:

Artists and Their Art is a free art history curriculum offered for download in PDF form from Concordia University Chicago.

Smarthistory is now offered at Khan Academy and features over 500 video art history lessons.

Also see:

Foreign Languages:

Memrise is a great web site that helps students learn languages such as German, French, Spanish and Japanese.

Duolingo is another very popular web site for learning many languages.

Japanese: Irrasshai is an excellent online series by PBS.

Spanish: I’ve listed many great Spanish resources in Fabulous FREE resources for Spanish language learning for all ages.

Latin: I featured more than a dozen books and resources in Free Latin classes and resources for all ages and Free Latin books and more online (coming soon).

You can also find lessons to learn just about any foreign language in Students can use free public domain classes to learn over 40 languages (coming soon).

Physical Education:

While no formal curriculum is needed for PE, this may be helpful in keeping your 7th grader active and physically challenged in fun ways.

Full Curriculum:

Ambleside Online is a free Christian homeschool curriculum designed to be as close as possible to the curriculum that Charlotte Mason used in her own private and correspondence schools. Ambleside Online uses high quality books that you can find at your library or free online. The program also has support groups.

Also see:

Also see these articles for more resources and information:

Remember not to stress about covering everything and doing it all. Involve your 7th grader in planning the year and choosing good fiction and non-fiction books to read. Spend time in nature. Work on life skills like cooking, gardening and building. Most of all, be sure to allow for lots of time for your child to explore his or her own interests.

Seventh grade is a time of transition for kids, and you may need to alter the way you homeschool in order to meet the needs and interests of your changing child. The more say your child has in homeschooling, the easier and more enjoyable it will be for everybody.

Have a great year!

 

Note:  This article originally appeared in my homeschooling column at examiner.com.  That site stopped operations in 2016 and  I have tried to move all of my articles here so they can continue to be helpful for homeschooling families.  I tried to check and update all of the links provided here when I reposted it (September 2018).  Please let me know if you find any outdated or broken links. 

Some of the articles referenced in this post are not up here yet but should be soon.  Holler if you would like me to post a certain one soon and I’ll try to it next.  🙂 

— Alicia

Post Author: A Magical Homeschool

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