1. Benziger Family Life
Grade 7

2. God’s gift of family
Unit 1

3. Unit 1 - Lesson 1 - Family relationships
Goal -to examine good communication skills within family relationships and how birth order and changes during puberty can affect the way we interact

4. Unit 1 - Lesson 1 - Family relationships
Birth Order Blended Family Compassion Generation Mercy

5. Unit 1 - Lesson 1 - Family relationships
Birth Order – describes the sequence of offspring and thus particular position within the family according to when born Blended Family – a family created when adults with children from an earlier marriage enter a new marriage

6. Unit 1 - Lesson 1 - Family relationships
Compassion – the character strength of being able to identify with the situation and feelings of another; built on an attitude of equality Generation – a group of related people born at the same time Mercy – loving kindness in the context of forgiveness and compassion

7. Unit 1 - Lesson 1 - Family relationships
The lesson will help you:
Explore the meaning of family relationships
Connect compassion to communication
Practice the skill of listening in conflict situations

8. Unit 1 - Lesson 1 - Family relationships
Read page 11
Small Group Discussion:
Share any information with your group regarding your name.
Reveal your birth order.
Tell the advantages and disadvantages of your birth order.
According to your birth order, what do you contribute to your family?

9. Unit 1 - Lesson 1 - Family relationships
Page 14 Read Catholic Family Album – the three archangels Read Resolving Conflicts Individually: Choose one of the Do’s principals and tell how you will use it. Write in your notebook.

10. Unit 1 - Lesson 1 - Family relationships
What qualities do you admire in yourself, your family? What do you want to pass on? What qualities has your family passed on to you?

11. Unit 1 - Lesson 1 - Family relationships
Speaking Honestly
Look at the person to whom you are talking.
Tell exactly what happened. Do not leave anything out.
Answer the questions to help fill in details.
If you have made a mistake, admit it, and then apologize.

12. Unit 1 - Lesson 1 - Family relationships
Pages 12 and 13. Copy Growing in Virtue and Catholics Believe into your notebook. Read pages 12 and 13, Maturing and Compassion. Small Group Activity: “Showing Compassion” page 13 in notebook.

13. Unit 1 - lesson 2 - values and virtues
Goal - to explore values and understand how they influence our decisions to live virtuously

14. Unit 1 - lesson 2 - values and virtues
Peer Pressure Perseverance Responsibility Value

15. Unit 1 - lesson 2 - values and virtues
Peer Pressure – influence to others, especially those closest to us, like our friends Perseverance – the act of continuing with patient effort despite obstacles Responsibility – the character strength of being dependable, putting care for others and the world around us into action Value – comes from the Latin word valere, meaning “to be of worth”

16. Unit 1 - lesson 2 - values and virtues
Copy the top of page 13:
This lesson will help you to:
Explore how values are formed in the family
Examine the positive influences we have on others by living our values
Decide ways in which we can put our values into action
Read page 13, Living Treasures
Small Group Discussion:
What values do you hold most dear and why?

17. Unit 1 - lesson 2 - values and virtues
Pages 16 and 17. Copy Catholics Believe and Growing in Virtue. Read pages 16 and 17. Small Group Activity: Recreate the ‘pressure gauge’ in your notebook. Share some peer pressure you have experienced. How did you handle it? What gifts of the Holy Spirit help you handle peer pressure?

18. Unit 1 - lesson 2 - values and virtues
Page 18 Read Catholic Family Album, Saint Hilary of Poitiers. Read Putting Good Values in Action Individually: Recreate the value chart in your notebook. Select three and tell how you would put them into action.

19. Unit 1 - lesson 2 - values and virtues
Individually : Complete pages 19 and 20

20. God’s gift of self
Unit 2

21. Unit 2 - lesson 3 - identity
Goal- to examine spiritual maturity in light of the changes that test one’s resiliency during puberty

22. Unit 2 - lesson 3 - identity
Adolescence – the stage of life between childhood and adulthood. The word comes from the Latin, adolescens, which means “growing up” or “growing toward.” Endocrine System – a collection of glands that make hormones that regulate body growth, reproductive development and metabolism

23. Unit 2 - lesson 3 - identity
Maturity – the process through which one realizes their full potential Resilience – the ability to adjust to change, or capacity to survive and recover from change; a character strength developed through the exercise of fortitude

24. Unit 2 - lesson 3 - identity
Reflect on Wisdom 4:8-9

25. Unit 2 - lesson 3 - identity
Copy the top of page 23.
This lesson will help you to:
Explore the different ways you are maturing
Understand the changes during puberty
Affirm that your identity is about your whole person, body and soul.

26. Unit 2 - lesson 3 - identity
Read page 23, Heading Toward Maturity.
Small Group Work:
Write the four dimensions of maturity in your notebook: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual
Write an “I can” statement for each dimension.
How can you show spiritual maturity in your relationship with God?

27. Unit 2 - lesson 3 - identity
Pages 24 and 25. Copy Catholics Believe and Growing in Virtue Read pages 24 and 25, Change in Motion. Individually: Copy and complete “Looking in the Mirror” in your notebook. Think about the different kinds of growth and maturity you have recently experienced.

28. Unit 2 - lesson 3 - identity
Page 26. Read Catholic Identity, Saint Gertrude the Great. Read Identify Yourself. Individually copy and complete the activity, all ten statements.

29. Unit 2 - lesson 4 - gender
Goal - to examine God’s plan in creating complementary genders to help a person accept and appreciate their gender

30. Unit 2 - lesson 4 - gender
Complementary – to live with and for each other as equal in dignity, helping each other according to God’s plan for the two genders Diligence – in the context of sexual identity, the steadfast attention and appreciation of one’s gender

31. Unit 2 - lesson 4 - gender
Sexual Identity – sexuality; everything about a person that relates to a person being created either male or female Stereotype – erroneous ideas or false preconceived notions about an individual

32. Unit 2 - lesson 4 - gender
Meditate on Genesis 1: 26-27

33. This lesson will help you: Explore the meaning of gender
Unit 2 - lesson 4 - gender
Page 27
Copy from top of page.
This lesson will help you:
Explore the meaning of gender
Understand that males and females complement each other
Affirm your gender

34. Unit 2 - lesson 4 - gender
Page 27 Read Male and Female he Created Them. Small Group Work: Make three columns in your notebook labeled; physical, psychological, spiritual. Under each column write examples of how each gender is perceived (i.e. pretty, smart, athletic)

35. Unit 2 - lesson 4 - gender Small group Activity:
Pages 28 and 29.
Copy Catholics Believe and Growing in Virtue into note book.
Read Different and Equal and Sexual Identity
Small group Activity:
Make two columns. Label one column, “Seventh grade boys and girls are very similar” and the other column, “Seventh grade boys and girls are very different”
How many ways are you able to list in the columns?
Are seventh grade boys and girls similar or different?

36. Unit 2 - lesson 4 - gender
Page 30 Read Catholic Family Album, Paul of Tarsus, Apostle to the Gentiles Read Part of God’s Plan Individually copy and complete the activity in your notebook.

37. Individually Complete pages 31 and 32
Unit 2 - lesson 4 - gender
Individually Complete pages 31 and 32