Year Seven Homeschool Curriculum - Year 8 NZ
Our Year Seven homeschool curriculum is a literature rich, family friendly homeschool program inspired by Charlotte Mason.Suitable for New Zealand and International Students.
About Our Year 7 Homeschool Curriculum
There is no time limit on completion of a grade. You can begin our courses at any time in the year.
My Homeschool Curriculum Year 7 is similar to Year 8 in the New Zealand education system.
We have divided our Year 7 course into two separate semesters.
After purchase, login details will be sent to your email address. You can then access all the course materials including planning documents. We use Moodle as our online learning platform.
- Year 7 Homeschool Curriculum Guide
- English
- Maths
- Economics, Business & World History
- Science & Geography
- Foreign Language
- Arts
- Health & PE
- Teaching Support
- Assessment & Exams
Year 8 NZ Education System
The My Homeschool high school curriculum encourages your child to make the transition from teacher dependent work to more independent learning. You, as your child’s educator, will still be involved with your child’s studies but you will mostly be giving direction and feedback for completed work. Some reading aloud is required but your children should be reading most of their material on their own.
Our literature based approach includes many living books, a key concept of the Charlotte Mason method. Living books have something special about them: they flow, they capture the imagination, and they tell us the facts while they give us the story. A living book is written by a passionate author who communicates this passion to the reader in a literary language.
As Charlotte Mason penned:
“A book may be long or short, old or new, easy or hard, written by a great man or a lesser man, and yet be the living book which finds its way to the mind of a young reader.”
We have a range of resources that we are using to teach English in our Year Seven Homeschool Curriculum.
Resources:
- The Art of Recitation – is a short twice weekly enrichment activity that incorporates elocution and the art of reading aloud. Oral presentation skills are taught using classic literature of various genres. (All year)
- Shakespeare Copywork – is a weekly handwriting resource using some of Shakespeare’s best known and profound quotes. (All year)
- Parsing Dictation – A collection of short weekly activities to practise the skill of dictation and the analysis of the parts of a sentence. This resource uses a diverse range of great texts to model excellent writing to the student. (All year)
- Exploring Stories – An English literature resource to enjoy and analyse great writing and help develop creative writing skills. Featuring tales from the great Greek and Nordic myths, it connects the classics alongside contemporary stories to teach students to become better writers. (Term One)
- The Art of Language – A resource to train students to write well and refine the technical aspects of writing, including grammar and punctuation. It uses examples from the great artists to review the mechanics of language, explore the roots of words from Latin and Greek and gain a fuller understanding of the English language. Analysis and critical thinking along with persuasive and descriptive writing are included. (Term Two)
- Novel Study Guide – An English literature resource to enjoy and analyse the elements of literary criticism using the classic children’s novel. It examines the key ideas in story writing (plot, theme, settings, characters and literary devices). (Term Three).
- Shakespeare Play – This is an own choice resource. We give you some tips with our Reading Shakespeare Guide. (Term Four)
- Studying Poetry – A resource providing an introduction to reading and analysing poetry as well as the grammar of poetry. It includes Australian and classical poems that will appeal to high schoolers. (Term Four)
- Additional Booklist – We have a list of books that need to be sourced separately and ARE NOT provided with the course. (We have factored this cost into the additional resources price. The price will not exceed $150. You may be able to source some second hand or through a library).
We don’t provide a core math program for our Year Seven Homeschool Curriculum. We want you to pick a core math program that suits your learning style, your child’s ability and your budget. However we do provide some math revision.
We have allotted approximately 45 minutes per day, four days a week, to complete your chosen math resource. If you haven’t decided on one, the course introduction gives some suggestions.
Resource
- Core Math Curriculum – This is an own choice resource.
- Alboe 7 – is a math revision resource which has 100 quick lessons that include ‘a little bit of everything’ from the Australian Curriculum’s Year Six Mathematics syllabus. (All year)
My Homeschool members also have access to our 50% discount on Maths Online membership. This can save you $150 per year for a family membership.
Ancient history is the focus of Year Seven Homeschool Curriculum.
Resources
- Exploring the Ancient Past – is a history resource examining the origins and archaeological evidence of the civilisation of Mesopotamia, Africa and Australia. It includes historical stories, maps and artefacts from the Sumerians, Hebrews, Egyptians, Greeks and Australia’s first people. Notebooking exercises, video suggestions and Book of Centuries dates are included. (Term 1 & 2)
- Richest Man in Babylon and Study Guide – includes a list of discussion questions relating to personal money management, entrepreneurship, financial institutions and the global economy. Children are encouraged to examine their own financial beliefs and plan some budgeting ideas as they read through the book with their parent. (Term 1)
- Exploring Ancient China – is an in-depth study of Ancient China that begins with the Xia Dynasty and ends at the Han Dynasty. It includes: stories of origin, geographical features, the culture, literature and focuses on the life of Confucius. Notebooking exercises, video suggestions and Book of Centuries dates are included. (Term 3).
- Rewriting History: Ancient Mediterranean World – This in-depth study begins with an overview of Greek history and its impact on Roman culture and society. It continues with biographical accounts of the lives of different Romans who played significant roles in the history of the Roman Empire. Notebooking exercises, video suggestions and Book of Centuries dates are included. (Term 3 & 4)
- The Archaeology Book by David Down – is an exciting exploration of history and ancient cultures. It teaches the techniques of the archaeologist and the accounts of some of the richest discoveries of the Middle East that demonstrate the accuracy and historicity of the Bible. It is a companion resource to Exploring the Ancient Past (Purchased separately). (Term 1 & 2)
- A Civil Society – looks at Australia’s governance, laws, culture and society. It encourages a thoughtful appraisal of the student’s identity as part of a cohesive society in Australia. (Term 3)
For all these resources you will be required to have internet access as your child will need to look up research links and watch videos.
Year Seven Homeschool Curriculum Resources:
- Simply Chemistry – incorporates the study of atoms, molecules, the Periodic Table, chemical bonding, compounds, mixtures, and solutions. It also includes a design and technology unit looking at industrial applications of chemistry in lead recycling, honey harvesting, blood donations and Australian wool production. Science related videos are included as illustrations, and demonstrations, of chemistry concepts and experiments. Notebooking pages included. (Term 1)
- Looking Up: Starting Astronomy – is an introduction to astronomy in the Southern Hemisphere. Covering earth science, physics and science skills, it also includes tips on how to observe the night sky south of the Equator. Science related videos and note booking activities are provided. (Term 1)
- Biology: An Introduction – is an entry point to cell biology, the classification of plant and animal species, food webs and food chains. It includes science skills and examines the lives and works of biologists and their contributions, including contemporary Australian examples. It also addresses the use of equipment in scientific research and how this can be explored at home. (Term 3)
- Water in the Landscape – is an inter-disciplinary approach that explores the important role of water in our world. It includes physical geography and geology topics, social justice issues, sustainability challenges, and hands-on geography skills. Notebooking ideas, mapping exercises and options for fieldwork projects are also included. (Term 1 & 2)
- Places and Liveability – Engages students to explore the importance of place, including where people live and issues around housing choice. (Term 3)
- Out in the Field: Skills in Physical Geography and Earth Science – A practical, hands-on course focusing on the skills of reading and creating maps, the use of data, and mastery of other tools to better understand geography and science. This course complements the other geography and science units. (Term 4)
- Ecology & Sustainability – provides an overview of natural resources and their use, biodiversity, ecosystems, conservation and the issues being addressed in this field of science. It explores Australian and overseas examples, and profiles on scientists in this field. It incorporates the cross-curriculum priorities of sustainability, and design and technology (marine aquaculture). (Term 4)
- Secrets of the Universe: Objects in Motion – Principles of Classical Mechanics by Paul Fleisher – is an engaging physics science book that explains advanced concepts in a simple way. Subjects include: planetary motion, applying forces, Newton’s laws of motion, laws of gravity, inertia and momentum. While reading this book your child is encouraged to notebook each chapter and do some of the simple experiments suggested. This series is loved by many Charlotte Mason home educators. ($ – This book is on your additional purchases list). (Term Four)
- Nature Study in Australia by William Gillies—is a story styled nature study book.
We do not provide a foreign language resource in our Year Seven Homeschool Curriculum. However we give some suggestions in our Course Introduction.
This is an elective in all states except Victoria and WA.
Note: You can apply for an exemption from a Foreign Language when applying for registration in Victoria.
Creative and Practical Arts are taught with other subjects including: nature journaling, literature based unit studies, picture study and music appreciation.
Art and Music Appreciation courses are provided with My Homeschool membership, so you have a choice of rotations, including some specifically developed for young learners. You can simply choose one rotation for your family to use.
Some rotations have additional books to purchase while others have everything you need provided online. Your My Homeschool membership also gives you access to our Handicrafts resource which includes a range of practical art and craft ideas with instructional videos.
Physical Education
We have included a series of fun kids exercises in our online WOW – workout world classes.
Personal Health & Development
This commonsense subject is taught through the activities of daily living and participation in local sports and community events.
Healthy Conversations checklists are provided for each stage of the syllabus so you can teach respectful relationships and personal growth as you deem appropriate. Parents are encouraged to have conversations with their children about issues related to adolescence including: identity, drug usage, emotional health, risk behaviours, bullying and sexuality.
It also includes prompts to encourage healthy eating and exercise. (All year)
The My Homeschool team includes experienced home educators who provide mentor support and help you deal with issues as they arise. We don’t provide tutoring or specific lesson support on an individual, one-on-one basis.
We are always happy to answer questions about our curriculum and how to implement it and we encourage our members to get involved in the Community Forum.
We have a vibrant online community where you can share stories and help others, purchase books you might need and connect with other My Homeschool families in your area.
You are the teacher and you oversee lessons. We provide homeschool teacher training as well through our self-paced courses How To Homeschool 101 and for our more experienced members the Boost Your Homeschool.
We are continually adding to our collection of resources to help support you in your role as teacher to your children.
Each week has its own Weekly Planner checklist which is available in an online format or as a downloadable PDF to print and store in a folder, making record keeping easy.
At the end of each term there is a downloadable report of work achieved over the term. Parents add comments and assessments of their child’s progress in each area of learning.
We know that parents want their children to thrive and that testing is popular in many school environments as a measure of progress. When you homeschool you do not need to test your children as much as they do at school, as you are assessing as you go.
We give you tips and support on how to assess your child in a way that suits homeschooling, so you can be confident that your child is progressing well in your homeschool.
Year Seven Homeschool Curriculum – End of Term Examinations
The 9th week of each term has been allocated to assessment and optional examinations.
The exams given are not like those in a traditional school with grades but rather as an assessment tool for the parent and an opportunity for your child to share what they have learnt. They are not meant to be a stressful event or a tool for comparison with peers or siblings, but rather a way to assess progress of your child throughout the year.
FAQ - Course Questions
Here are a few of frequently asked questions answered.
I am a Kiwi. Can I still use your curriculum?
Yes you can! We already have New Zealanders using our program.
My Homeschool is very much a curriculum that New Zealanders can use. The Australian Curriculum and the NZ Curriculum are different in their organisation, but they are both considered to be of the same rigour.
My Homeschool offers a Charlotte Mason inspired curriculum that considers the Australian curriculum but we have a global approach and so include lots of global goodies. For example, you will find world history and geography in all the primary years.
We have a reasonable amount of NZ content in our curriculum.. We include NZ literature, NZ nature study , some NZ civics. We don’t cover a lot of specific NZ history but we do have some when it overlaps with Australia. There isn’t any Māori content. You can source that however from your library.
You’ll find there is a lot of overlap with NZ and Australia and so we certainly have a lot there for you.
On the purchase of a course you are provided with a planning template, Scope and Sequence, and Weekly Planner to help you plan out your year ahead with ease and confidence. We also include Term Reports so you can also give evidence of how you are assessing your child. This will make your homeschool application/exemption very easy as we have already done most of the work for you. We are homeschooling parents who know what all homeschoolers need!
One thing to note is that in New Zealand your Year 1 is our Kindergarten in Australia, so you will need to use the grade below what you would normally use in New Zealand. We still have the same amount of years you just finish at Year 13 and we finish at Year 12. Our My Homeschool Curriculum only goes to Year 11 New Zealand (Year 10 Australia).
Will I be able to teach this program? It sounds quite academic.
It’s natural to feel a little daunted when we think about teaching our children. We don’t want to intimidate you, we are here to support you. We won’t send you a bunch of downloads and send you on your way. We also teach you how to teach. Our guides and homeschool expertise will help you instruct your children. You can also post questions on our forum when you hit a snag. You’ll learn some new things and brush up on old things as you teach your children. It’s a very satisfying experience and many veteran homeschoolers report co-learning as one of the unexpected benefits of homeschooling.
I'd like to know what books you use. Can I see the booklists?
Our booklist are carefully curated and are only available as a part of our program.
My Homeschool uses living books in many subjects. Some are for your child to read alone, and some are to be read aloud by the parent. We also include some online and audio book options. Books allocated for reading aloud provide an opportunity for families to discuss them broadly. Parents are able to offer the scaffolding and support which will help their child navigate the literature which may be challenging for a variety of reasons.
We do use secular books and these do not always line up perfectly with a Christian world view. This also reflects Charlotte Mason’s approach. We have tried our best to make good choices in our literature and we have read what we recommend. We have rejected many books in the process of writing this curriculum. Finding a perfect book is almost impossible but our book selection is thought out and many of our books are recommended by others who follow a Charlotte Mason education.
We’ve also included culturally significant Australian literature which often highlights what was happening in the era it was written. For this reason, some of the literature may well be ‘politically incorrect’ or old fashioned by today’s standards, but at the time of writing it was not. These books offer an opportunity to teach your child about the culture of the times.
Our books were chosen with the Australian Curriculum in mind, however we understand that you may not want to read all the books we have chosen. Feel free to replace them with a title that suits your family’s needs.
We offer alternatives and extension suggestions in our My Homeschool Reading Lounge. This is our exclusive online library catalogue of book list suggestions and alternatives.
Can I just buy individual subjects and resources?
My Homeschool does provide many free homeschool resources.
Our curriculum is a structured program so we do not sell our curriculum separately.
If you are planning on using My Homeschool as your main curriculum, we suggest you consider your approach to mix and matching resources as you may experience overlap or gaps in subsequent years. For this reason, we recommend buying appropriate grades for each child so that you will have a sequential well curated curriculum.
Will this work for teaching multiple children?
Choice has been built into this curriculum to give you the flexibility you need for teaching multiple ages and adapting to the special needs and interests of your child/children. We encourage families to do read-alouds, nature study, handicrafts, art and music appreciation as a group.
Our World History subject from Year 2 to Year 6 encourages parents to read aloud the history content. When teaching a few children in this age group at once we recommend you only teach one history cycle at a time. Since World History is not part of the Australian Curriculum this will not impact your curriculum compliance.
More details on working with multiple children can be found here.
I already have a very busy life? How much time will this involve?
My Homeschool follows the Charlotte Mason practice of shorter lessons so there is time for the student to follow other interests. Approximately three to four days per week is allocated to group study and parent reading aloud in the primary years. In high school we have written a four day schedule with Day 5 free for other planned educational activities.
Your day will usually include consistent lesson time in the mornings, leaving afternoons free for natural learning and play. You can also get some of your jobs done and pursue other interests.
(Note: This is Year 8 in the New Zealand Curriculum)
I Gave Up On A Year 7 Homeschool Curriculum
When my first child began high school I didn’t know where to go for Year 7 homeschool curriculum. Everything was American, I was constantly tweaking, skipping lessons and generally unhappy with my options. I understood the principles of a literature based education but some subjects didn’t have a book that worked in Australia. I gave up and sent my first child to school for a few years.
When the second child got to Year 7, I continued on my quest to find curriculum that worked. But not much had changed and finding good Australian content was not easy!
By the third and fourth child, I was a research machine. I’d plotted out each subject and worked out where everything fitted. The trouble was I had about 40 books where only one or two chapters were relevant. Although I’d finally worked out ways to make my homeschool fit in with the Australian curriculum and my living books philosophy, it was quite complicated to explain and expensive to implement.
Unfortunately, following the government curriculum requirements is a problem for many homeschoolers.
As regulations begins to tighten in each state, many people give up their educational philosophy and go back to worksheets, textbooks and online tick the box products, some go unregistered and hope they won’t get caught, some send their kids back to school and some just lie about what they teach in order to pass registration.
None of these are good options!
But I've found a solution. In 2007, I started publishing resources for Australian home educators and showing them how to use the Charlotte Mason method for registration. And people kindly thanked me and told me our resources and guides were ‘pots of gold’ and it had made their homeschool journey ‘so much easier’. They kept asking for more help.
And when my children had graduated from my homeschool and gone to university, I launched My Homeschool so I could continue serving the homeschooling community and help others successfully home educate their children!
Story by Michelle Morrow (Founder of My Homeschool)
Join Our Community
When you buy a course through My Homeschool you are joining a community that supports and mentors parents interested in educating their children academically and spiritually.
We give you a shortcut to help you get straight into giving your child a delightful and robust education without spending days and days researching and tweaking unsuitable content.
Our homeschool curriculum is written to comply with the Australian curriculum. And we make registration easy because we’ve already done 75% of the documentation you need for your application.
We Care About What Your Children Are Taught
We aim to give you confidence that you can educate your children with a worldview that honours Judeo-Christian principles and has strong academic outcomes. However, our resources are not predominantly Christian. We look for outstanding resources and often a secular resource is the best option.
We have a number of families who use our curriculum who are secular or from other faiths.
We do not include devotional material or specific religious instruction in our curriculum. We leave that up to parents.
We Wanted A Curriculum That Worked For Home Educators
Our curriculum writers have already done the juggle of homeschooling a few children at once.
- We knew how lovely and important it is to learn as a family so we made some lessons and read alouds possible to teach as a group.
- We reduced the time needed for formal academics by crafting our curriculum so our resources and books often teach multiple topics.
- We made each grade fit each state’s syllabus so you can get registered easily.
- We gave you a streamlined intentional curriculum so you could give your children a wholesome integrated education from kindergarten to high school.
- We made sure it was academically challenging so your children will have career options, and a pathway to university if needed.
- We put it all in one place so you weren’t hunting around looking for resources every time you wanted to begin lessons.
- We made it easy to access your lessons and planner when you were out and about or travelling just by picking up your smartphone.
We Use A Blended Learning Approach
My Homeschool lessons are provided in a blended learning format.
All our virtual homeschool uses the Moodle LMS software, a renowned online learning platform used by many schools and universities. Using this format means we give you exceptional functionality which enables you to record your progress, and access your lessons from various digital devices and locations. This format also enables us to keep our resources fresh and dynamic.
A laptop, tablet, or desktop computer is needed to use our courses. Access to a printer is also necessary.
PDFs can be downloaded and printed for offline reading but other resources can only be viewed from our learning platform.
The majority of our classes require reading from a real book or paper-based resource.
Writing exercises involve pencils and paper and many lessons are oral or conversation based.
Video lessons require access to the My Homeschool learning portal.
The Moodle App can be downloaded onto your smartphone for on the go lessons and checking progress but is not recommended as the main digital device for reading and viewing lessons.
Thank you for putting together this wonderful course. Over the last 4 years I have taken 2 of my children through Years 7 and 8 using a distance ed programme but this year my daughter and I have found this course to be a much less stressful transition to high school. I love knowing that we are still fulfilling the requirements for the Australian Curriculum but I have also been able to give my daughter the rich classical literature-based education that I was looking for. I have been interested in the Charlotte Mason style of education for a few years but until now I was frustrated that everything I came across was based on American history/geography/seasons. Thank you for putting in the time to track down and integrate appropriate Australian resources into the curriculum.
This was my first year registering with the Qld Home Education unit myself so I also found the information that you included regarding registering very helpful.
I have also used the Year 5 and Prep courses this year and found them to be wonderful as well. Thank you again.
Continued Membership Rewards
You will continue to have access to your purchased courses, and all the benefits of being a My Homeschool member, as long as you keep your membership current. This means you can use the same graded course again for subsequent children. Inactive members are deleted after 12 months.
High School Course Semesters Explained
NZ Curriculum Grades: New Zealand students need to drop a grade when using Australian Curriculum. Our Kindergarten is equivalent to Year 1 in New Zealand. Our final year is the Australian school system is Year 12, in New Zealand it is Year 13. It is still the same amount of years we just start from a different point.
Digital Course Content Provided On Learning Platform
You will be charged in Australian Dollars at checkout. Login details will then be sent to your email address. You can then access all the course materials.
High School Semester | Price NZD$ 471.20 per semester.
Additional costs for books and stationary approx. NZD$ 160.64 per semester. These will be purchased by you separately.
I have now purchased year seven semester one and plan to get year two in the next few days. I have one child nearly at the end of her homeschooling journey with three more currently all school aged. I have been receiving your bulletins for over ten years and have purchased many resources from you over that time. I have also recommended My Homeschool to many new homeschoolers I've supported. And now finally ... After running on my own steam all this time, I've decided to take the plunge and make life easier for myself! I've watched what you've been doing from afar since you started and I know I can buy this resource with confidence.
I know I could keep designing my own homeschool, but you wonderful ladies have put so much thought into the content and design of this program. So I just wanted to encourage you and say thank you.
While I'm responding I just wanted to take a moment to say that we are absolutely loving the My Homeschool curriculum. My children and I feel like we have breathed a breath of fresh air after a turbulent first and second term this year with a distance education school. We had signed up with them in an effort to reduce the amount of time I spend planning and reporting for HEU [Queensland government registration unit].
In fact the only reason we hadn't signed up with My Homeschool initially is because anytime HEU was mentioned my heart rate would increase and I'd want to run!
We were, and are, a Charlotte Mason style family and in hindsight I should have realised that the distance education route was going to be a disaster. Let's just say, in term 1 and 2, no-one saved any time, there were lots of frustrated tears from children and mother, and there was so much busy work to do and no time for a proper education!
Enter My Homeschool, oh how we loved term 3, our first term with you. My children were once more excited about 'school', I was once more loving learning alongside them. There was time to explore some of the creative tangents the children go off on when were learning new things, you know the sort, "if that happened, I wonder what happened when...", or the classic "why?".
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the hard work you do, your curriculum has provided a platform (and the reporting documents) that satisfies the HEU while still leaving us loads of flexibility and room to explore our amazing world and the people who have lived here and still live here.
You have saved me time in planning and reporting and the word HEU no longer makes me want to run. I have been so thrilled I tell all my homeschooling friends about your amazing program and one of my friends signed her family up with My Homeschool (PS they're loving the curriculum too).
Many blessings to you and your team, continue the good work you are doing. The hours are most likely long and some days feel fruitless, but you are without a doubt a blessing to many families.