Hey friend! Pull up a chair and grab your favorite mug. I’ve got mine full of barely warm coffee, and I’m ready to chat about our 2025–2026 7th-grade homeschool plans for our daughter. Just yesterday we were knee-deep in sight words and phonics games, and now we’re talking about graphic design software, dramatic monologues, and team sports. The years really do fly when you’re learning and growing side-by-side. My babies aren’t babies anymore!!!!
7th Grade Plans for 2025-2026
This year, we’re marched into August thinking we were going to continue the video-based learning that we did last year and add in some creative co-op classes to let her shine. When I mentioned our start date was approaching she wasn’t really thrilled. We’d picked her classes together, so I was a little surprised. Then I woke up one morning this week and thought, “maybe we should switch gears for a bit.”
One of my favorite things about homeschooling is that we’re not locked into anything. We get to choose what fits our child, which means we can do what works and toss out what doesn’t. And we can celebrate where she’s strong and shore up the things where she needs more time. It’s truly the best of both worlds.
So… it’s August and school is starting in just a few days, and I’ve called to pause the start date the video-based classes (because I’m keeping them in my back pocket just in case) and we’re going to try unit studies for a few months.
Here’s a look at what we have in mind.
7th Grade Space and Astronomy
We’re going to do an Astronomy Class at home, using a combination of Crash Course Astronomy, Gather Round Homeschool Space and Astronomy units, and Astronomy & Space Science videos from The Great Courses Plus. She’ll learn about the heavens, the earth, and we’ll do it from a lens of faith. We used Gather Round Homeschool units as a family prior to certain life events that forced changes in our homeschool approach.
7th Grade Health and Human Body
For Health and Human Body, we’ll also use a Gather Round Homeschool unit, and we’ll pair it with The Curious Adventures of Delta and Dash: Exploring the Wonders Within by Erin Pajda. We’ll also read Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper and if we can squeeze it it, Wonder by R. J. Palacio. We’ve already watched the movie, so she may not be willing to go back and read the book, which is why I am opting for Out of My Mind first. We’ll definitely use parts of the Crash Course Anatomy & Physiology course on YouTube. And there are even more great videos that we’ll add, and I’m hoping to add in a CPR class for this one.
7th Grade Social Studies
I *think* we’re going to study the Renaissance and *maybe* the artists of the Renaissance. It’s August, and the fact that I don’t have this ironed out is kinda freaking me out. She wants to go to the St Louis Renaissance Festival, so it’d be perfect to learn about time. The Great Courses Plus has some amazing videos on the subject, including How the Medici Shaped the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci and the Italian High Renaissance, Great Artists of the Italian Renaissance, and Renaissance: The Transformation of the West. While we wouldn’t watch them all (she’d slay me in my sleep), we can watch some from each and see where her interests take her.
Speaking of artists, we’ll probably may toss in the Artists unit from Gather Round, just for good measure. We might do the unit on South America. We’ve previously studied Africa, Europe, and Asia but we never got around to doing the unit on South America, so we might pick it up. She’s also looking at some of the Campfire Curriculum units to see if she might be interested in one (or more) of those.
With the return to unit studies, I’m not sure yet whether we’ll move through one whole unit by itself at a time at a quicker pace, or if we’ll stack units and move more slowly. We’re going to start with Space, and see where it takes us.
Math
Math is our Achilles heel and we’re trying to figure out how shore up skills, build confidence, and truly understand concepts before diving into more complex equations. We tried several different curricula last year and couldn’t quite find a right fit, so this year we’ll explore some more.
Co-Op Classes
This year, we’re excited to be returning to our local homeschool co-op once a week, and let me just say, I’m excited about the classes she’s taking. This is where the magic of learning comes in. She’ll be diving into subjects that make learning feel like play.
Media Arts with Canva
Okay, listen. I use Canva all the time for blog graphics, church slides, social media, basically everything, and I love that she’s getting to learn this tool early. In her media arts class, she’ll explore the exciting world of media arts, where design meets technology and storytelling takes on a visual form. From photography basics to graphic design and layout, this course introduces students to the tools and techniques used by modern creators to communicate, capture moments, and craft compelling messages.
By the end of the year, she’ll be able to:
- Design flyers and social media graphics
- Create slideshows and digital posters
- Understand basic branding principles
And a bonus? I’m *hopeful* she’ll be willing to start helping me with some stuff by the time it’s over. I’m not crying, you’re crying.
Ink & Imagination: Writing Class
This one makes my writer mama heart do a little happy dance. This weekly class is focused on writing. She will learn how to sift through her many thoughts and turn them into clear, purposeful writing. The class will discuss various types of writing, but the primary focus will be on crafting an expository essay. She will learn basic essay structure, how to gain the reader’s interest and trust, how to stay on topic, choose the most meaningful words, avoid common errors, write concisely, and present a coherent finished work. She’ll build up to a five-paragraph essay over time.
Now, that sounds like a load of work, and it will be. BUT. The teacher of the class, Miss Julie, makes the lab time (which is the one hour class each week) so much fun. I want to be in her class. They play games that make the English language fun! I really hope she enjoys it. And if not, she’ll clobber me in my sleep.
Drama Class
Yes, friend. We have a little actress in the making. She did acting camp over the summer and really enjoyed it. She really wants to join the drama class, and now she’ll get to experience drama through games, improv, character building, and even the year-end performance. And for a girl with a big imagination, this class is going to be so. much. fun.
She’ll learn:
- Stage presence and projection
- Memorization skills
- Team collaboration
- Confidence in public speaking
It’s the kind of class that sneaks in life skills while they’re too busy pretending to be a pirate queen or a Shakespearean sidekick. This year there is a new drama teacher, but I’m confident that she’s going to love her.
First-Time Volleyball Player
This fall, she’s joining a homeschool volleyball team for the first time. She has tried a few different things in the past, including acro and silks, and just hasn’t found what she was looking for. This summer she tried a volleyball camp and it seemed to click. She liked the game, she liked the challenge, she liked the people. So, we’re going to give it a go.
We’re not aiming for Olympic-level skill here. We’re looking for:
- Movement and physical fitness
- Teamwork and sportsmanship
- Confidence in trying new things
- And…a chance to wear cute knee pads (just keeping it real)
Whether she ends up loving it or deciding it’s not her thing, I’m proud of her for stepping out and trying something brand new.
At-Home Enrichment
While Power Homeschool and co-op classes cover a lot of ground, we’re also building in plenty of at-home learning adventures that speak to who she is—curious, artistic, and full of ideas.
Reading, Reading, and More Reading
We’ll keep a bookshelf full of choices and encourage daily reading. We don’t require a specific number of pages each day, but we require reading each day and we do have cozy areas and plenty of fuzzy blankets to curl up with. And this year, I think I’ll offer fun incentives to keep things lively. Some of these books we’ve already stacked i our shelves, some we have on order, and some of them we’re eyeing for this year:
- The Redemption Tales by Marty Machowski
- In the Red by Christopher Swiedler (we’ll read this when we’re study space and astronomy)
- Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper (we’ll read this when we’re studying health and the human body)
- The Curious Adventures of Delta and Dash: Exploring the Wonders Within by Erin Pajda (we’ll read this with our study of health and the human body)
- Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi (we’ll read this when we study the Renaissance)
- The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
- Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan
- Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
- Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen
- Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt
- The Redwall series by Brian Jacques
- Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
- Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez (we would read this when studying South America)
- Restart by Gordon Korman – my son read just about all of the Korman books, so we have to steal them form his room.
- Several books by Sharon Creech, including Walk Two Moons, Ruby Holler, and Chasing Redbird.
IF she’ll let me get away with it, I’d love to do some of these as read-alouds together, because those shared stories are just as rich and important as anything in a textbook. My kids have a love-hate relationship with read-alouds. They love it when I read, but hate it when I leave off at the cliffhangers. LOL
Independent Art Projects
This girl loves to create. And I love watching her creative brain go to work. I’ll restock her sketchbooks, colored pencils, and such. She’ll doodle and sketch and draw to her heart’s content. We’ll probably check out some classes on Outschool, but she has to figure out which ones. She’s currently interested in WATCHING anime, but not certain if she wants to DRAW it. In the meantime, we also plan to explore YouTube art tutorials, possibly do some online art challenges, and take a few trips to our local pottery painting shop that she likes. She gets the freedom to create what inspires her, with gentle encouragement along the way. When she asks for specific art supplies, I generally get them. She loves her glue gun.
Building Her Independence
One thing we’ll be working on this year is independent learning and time management. Seventh grade is a bridge year in so many ways. It’s when you start to shift from being the teacher to being the coach, mentor, and cheerleader.
I’ll be teaching her to:
- Use a weekly planner
- Set goals and break them into small steps
- Take responsibility for checking in on her assignments
- Communicate when she needs help
This is all about practice. And grace. So much grace. For each other. Seriously, we’re going to learn grace for each other this year if it kills me. Sometimes, this child and I get along like gasoline on a brush fire. But, I was made for this. I was made to be her Momma. And teaching her to have grace for me, while learning to have grace for her, is something we’re both going to work on this year! Whew. You read it here first.
Faith and Character Growth
At the heart of all our plans, the most important thing we’ll be cultivating is character and faith. The world is loud, and we want her to be grounded in truth.
- Talking about what we’re reading in our Bible (with plenty of reminders to read her Bible)
- Challenging each other to memorize verses
- Talking about what it means to follow Jesus in real life
- Praying together daily
One verse I want to help her hold onto this year is:
“Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12 (NLT)
Because even in 7th grade, she’s already making an impact. She has such a kind heart and really looks out for the younger kids around her when they are feeling anxious.
Final Thoughts
One thing I’ve learned along the way. Every homeschool year is different, and every child is unique. What works one year might need a tweak the next. There have been years when we have had to change things mid-stride multiple times. But that’s the beauty of this journey. We get to build something beautiful together, brick by brick, day by day.
This year, with a blend of structure, creativity, community, and faith, I truly believe she’s going to grow, thrive, and discover more of who God made her to be. We’re purposely scaling back on a few things, not because she can’t do more, but because we want to give her the breathing room she needs to let that wonderful, out-of-the-box thinking flourish. She’s got a mind that sees the world differently, and we want to nurture that with time to tinker, dream, explore, and create without a clock ticking in the background.
Because when you give a kid like that margin, she fills it with beauty, ideas, and bursts of inspiration that you just can’t teach from a textbook. So here’s to seventh grade, full of Canva creations, volleyball spikes, writing breakthroughs, dramatic flair, finally conquering math, and quiet moments of truth.
We’re ready. I think. Maybe? And, just as in years past, if we discover the curriculum isn’t working, we’ll shift again. Because our peace, and our relationship, is more important that whatever we spent on books and printables, amiright? And at the end of the day, there are so many free resources for home education that even if I have to toss what I’ve bought, I can make it through the year.
As your looking ahead to your homeschool year, check out this printable homeschool planner, that I designed and had several veteran homeschool moms check out. They loved it. I’ve also got a 31 Day Prayer Challenge for Moms printable and 31 Scriptures to Deepen Your Prayer Life printable available. There’s nothing quite like praying Scripture!
Here we go! I’m cheering you on!
