In Grade 7 students study outlining in depth and learn principles that will enable them to outline compositions of any length as they read and write. Students build on their previous knowledge of punctuation, the eight parts of speech, phrases, clauses, and sentences. Students are introduced to relative pronouns, adverbial objectives, complex sentences, and learn to diagram sentences containing adjectival and adverbial subordinate clauses.

Seventh grade reading builds students’ abstract thinking and analysis skills. The Reading 7 for Young Catholics: Thinking Skills and Reading 7 for Young Catholics: Comprehension workbooks are central in introducing new literary elements: conflict, motifs, and theme. Students learn to identify these and other literary elements in classic short stories and in episodes from the life of St. Margaret Mary, preparing them to analyze full-length novels. Each of the four book reports uses the five-paragraph format done in previous years. This year the student incorporates a thesis statement into the essay to tie it together. 

Students learn to spell by completing 36 lessons with exercises on the makeup and definition of the words, and then read the words in sentences and paragraphs. Stories focus on the saints and other influential Catholics throughout history. In Spelling 7 for Young Catholics, students cover such concepts as double letters, multi-syllables, consonant digraphs, diphthongs, prefixes and suffixes, science-specific words, and words from Greek, French, Spanish, and Latin.

In Vocabulary 7 for Young Catholics, students begin each lesson with a fun and entertaining story. Each story introduces 15 new vocabulary words which are the basis for the week’s lesson. There are 24 delightfully engaging story/lessons in all. Each captivating story uses a clever twist to further engage the student. The endearing art of Ben Hatke increases the impact of the stories and helps capture the student’s attention. Crossword puzzles, a popular and rewarding way to recall the words students have learned, are part of each week’s lesson.