Cycle 2 Week 13 At Home Activities for Classical Homeschooling
It is Cycle 2 Week 13, and we are stepping into a brand new semester! ✨ I hope you enjoyed a restful winter break filled with celebration, family time, and sweet Christmas memories. As we jump back into our homeschool rhythm, I’m so thankful for the opportunity to continue learning together and to begin this next season refreshed and encouraged.
Winter Break Recap
During the last few weeks, our homeschool rhythm gently shifted as we slowed down for winter break and focused on review and the Christmas story. Each morning, I read through the Christmas story while my girls worked through their Christmas activity books, creating a peaceful and meaningful start to our days.
We also spent time reviewing geography from the first half of the year, using our Geography Passports often, especially as my oldest prepares to work toward Geography Master this year.
The girls enjoyed working through the Cycle 2 Weeks 1 to 12 Review Activity Book, which gave them a relaxed way to revisit and dig deeper into what they have learned throughout the first half of the cycle. This slower pace allowed us to reflect, review, and enjoy learning together while embracing the beauty of the season. Read more about what we did at home during winter break here.
Tutor Ideas for Classical Homeschooling
If you are part of a Classical homeschooling community, are you tutoring? If you are, be sure to check out my posts with tutor ideas for each week here.
Also, I have a youtube channel where I make videos with tutor and memory work ideas each week. Below is my tutor video for Cycle 2 Week 13. Visit my channel for tutor ideas for many other weeks and other videos with homeschooling tips and encouragement.
Morning Devotional Time
We always begin our mornings together around the breakfast table. This is one of my favorite parts of homeschooling life. There is no rush to get out the door. We can take our time to read and talk together.
I have learned some morning habits that help us all get down to breakfast at the same time. This helps me make the most of our morning time together. Read more about these habits here.
Bible Study: Lesson 13 (Jewish Captivity)
This week we started Lesson 13 about Jewish Captivity from the Foundations of the Bible study by Driven by Grace. We read related stories in the The Complete Illustrated Children’s Bible. The beautiful pictures and faithful retelling help my kids connect with what they are hearing.
My daughters also enjoyed coloring the corresponding activity page from the Foundations of the Bible Activity Book, also from Driven by Grace. We have also been enjoying listening to the Bible memory work song from Driven by Grace. Her songs are really catchy and have helped us remember this Bible memory work.
If you would like to know more about our full morning devotional routine, you can read my post about it here.
Also, here are the Bible stories we read from The Complete Illustrated Children’s Bible (TCICB) that went along with the Foundations of the Bible Study Lesson 13 about Jewish Captivity.
| Day of the Week | Bible Passage | Story Title | Page in TCICB |
| Monday | 2 Kings 17:7-8 | Captured by Assyria; Hezekiah’s Prayer | pgs. 226-229 |
| Wednesday | Isaiah 38:1-3 | Crying out for Healing; Josiah and the Book of the Law | pgs. 230-233 |
| Thursday | Jeremiah 18:1-4 | Jeremiah is Called; The Potter’s Clay | pgs. 234-237 |
| Friday | Jeremiah 29:10-14 | The Scroll; Conquered! | pgs. 238-241 |
The 24 Family Ways
We also learned our thirteenth Family Way from The 24 Family Ways by Sally and Clay Clarkson. We began memorizing the Bible verse that goes with it, Ephesians 6:1. I write both the Family Way and the Bible verse on chalk boards that hang near our kitchen table so we can see them often.
While I read, my girls colored the corresponding page from their 24 Family Ways coloring books.
After reading, I played two songs for them. One was our Bible memory work song (from @drivenbygrace), and the other was a song to help us remember the Bible verse. I have found songs that match with each Bible verse and Family Way, and we use them often. Most of the songs I use are from Steve Green’s CDs. Songs are such a powerful tool for helping children memorize Scripture. You can download my matchup of the 24 Family Ways with Bible verses and songs from my Resource Library.
We always end our devotional time with prayer, reading from My Bible Verses ABC: Hiding God’s Word in Little Hearts by Susan Hunt, and singing a few hymns from this gem of a book called My First Hymnal by Karyn Henley.
Math and Language Arts
After devotional time, we moved into our daily math work. I’m continuing to use The Good and The Beautiful for math, and it’s been such a good fit for us. My oldest is now working through Level 2, and my 4-year-old is doing their Preschool curriculum, which I’ll explain more below.
Read here why I decided to switch from Saxon math to The Good and The Beautiful (TGATB). I like doing math right after devotional time because everyone is fresh, and it’s easier to be consistent this way.
This year we are starting to do more focused language arts with my oldest, and it has been such a joy. We are using The Good and The Beautiful Level 1 Language Arts and Literature curriculum, and we have been loving it so far.
The curriculum covers everything she needs at this stage—phonics, reading, spelling, grammar, writing, and handwriting—all in one open-and-go program. The lessons are beautifully illustrated and very engaging, which keeps her interested from start to finish. Each lesson takes us about 30 minutes a day, which is the perfect length for her attention span right now.
I also picked up some of the readers that go along with the program, and she has really enjoyed them. They give her extra practice with reading and help her gain confidence as she sees herself making progress. I am so encouraged to see her excitement grow as she realizes how much she is learning.
Preschool with my 4-year old
With my 4-year-old, I am keeping things very simple. She is working through The Good and The Beautiful Preschool Curriculum along with a Handwriting Without Tears book, and that combination has been perfect for her.
I don’t believe children at this age need to be doing formal bookwork yet. I think play, stories, and being part of family life are the most important. But I like having these gentle resources because she often wants to do what her older sister is doing. Having her own activities gives her a sense of ownership and keeps her engaged.
We even call this her “math,” and she beams with pride when she sits down with her workbook. It is such a sweet way for her to join in without adding pressure, and it gives us a fun rhythm we can enjoy together.
Weekly Memory work songs
I try to review as much of the weekly memory work with my kids as possible during the week with songs and games. Often when I’m cleaning up breakfast, I play this week’s playlist of memory work songs. We also listen to these songs in the car when driving. I either record myself singing or download the CC songs to the Voice Memos app on my phone. Then I make a weekly playlist of all the memory work songs. That way, I can just plug my phone into my car when we drive and we can listen to them! See my playlist of Cycle 2 Week 13 songs for English, Science, Math and Geography below.
Daily Subject Focus
I like to dive deeper into one subject each day. I’ve found that focusing on just one subject each day is very manageable and doesn’t feel overwhelming. Here is our usual weekly schedule (you can download this template here):
Geography
This week in geography we learned about the Northern European countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark.
My oldest daughter was especially excited about this week because she already recognized these countries from our earlier studies of Europe. Since we have spent so much time learning European geography this year, this set felt familiar and fun for her, and it made the week feel pretty easy and confidence building.
She colored and traced each country in her Cycle 2 Memory Work Activity Book and enjoyed seeing how they fit together on the map. This week we also enjoyed reading the book, Nate the Great Saves the King of Sweden by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, since we were learning about Sweden. If you haven’t already, make sure to check it out my Cycle 2 booklist! I’ve gathered picture books that connect to every week of the memory work this cycle!
Geography Passports
We also continued reviewing geography from the first half of the year as my oldest prepares to work toward Geography Master. Using her Geography Passport has been a great way to reinforce what she knows, and she loves adding stamps as we learn new geography each week. I recently figured out how to fit the stamps onto sticky circular labels, which makes stamping even easier and more fun!
To help memorize this week’s countries, we learned a new geography song to the tune of Joy to the World. Singing the names together always makes geography more joyful and helps the information stick.
In their European Countries Workbooks, my girls had fun coloring and learning about two additional countries: Greece and North Macedonia. Even though they were not part of this week’s memory work, they loved expanding their knowledge and finding them on our map. I enjoy seeing their curiosity grow as they make connections beyond the week’s lesson.
My girls also had fun finding these two countries on our large felt Europe map, along with this week’s countries. A few times a week, I take all of the felt countries we’ve learned so far off the map, and my girls work on putting them back in the correct spots. It’s so fun and they are getting very familiar with the European countries! Download paper maps of Europe with all the countries labeled here!
I have the patterns for all the European countries, as well as a tutorial about how to make this kind of map in my shop. Also see my video for how to make this map with a few simple materials. You can find more information and links for these materials here.
We also made up a fun song to help us learn all of these European countries!
European Songs Tonie
Alongside our mapwork, my girls have been listening to their European Children’s Songs Tonie on their Toniebox. It has become a sweet background to our school days and has helped them soak in even more about European culture and music.
Drawing Europe
My oldest daughter also spent time drawing more of Europe using her Draw Europe book by Kristin J. Draeger! She carefully added new countries and it helped her build on what she has already learned. Watching her piece Europe together little by little has been such a gift, and geography continues to be one of her favorite parts of our homeschool days.
History
This week in history we learned about the Industrial Revolution!
My daughter enjoyed matching the inventors to their inventions and writing out the history sentence in her Cycle 2 Memory Work Activity Book. These activities are always such great listening and handwriting practice for her. Writing out the history sentence helps her slow down, focus on each word, and really remember the details of this important event.
We also used her history placemat to learn more about these inventions and what was going on during the Industrial Revolution. She loved looking at the cotton gin and steam engine images to help her color in the matching pictures in her activity book. We also enjoyed reading the books, Inventions by Mark Bergin and The Mighty Steam Engine by Yvonne Ng. This books taught us about some of the most important inventions in history, and explained how they changed everyday life and shaped the modern world. Be sure to check it out my Cycle 2 booklist! I’ve gathered picture books that connect to every week of the memory work this cycle!
Industrial Revolution Puzzles
My girls enjoyed putting together these industrial revolution puzzles as we sang the history sentence together. I made these to use as a tutor but they were fun to use at home too. You can download the PDF of this puzzle here.
I also read from The Story of the World, Volume 3 to my older daughter about the Industrial Revolution. The Driven by Grace matchup helps us easily see which chapters tie into this week’s topic.
NEW Cycle 2 History and Science Placemats
These brand-new Cycle 2 History and Science Placemats are designed to make memory work fun and interactive for kids, whether you’re using them alongside Classical Conversations or on their own as a way to dive deeper into history and science.
Each placemat is filled with colorful visuals and simple explanations that bring the topics to life. Just print, laminate, and use them again and again during meals and review time. They’re an easy, no-prep way to dive deeper into the history and science topics with your kids. Get your set for Weeks 13-18 below. The other three quarters are also available HERE!
Science
This week in science, we learned about some U.S. space missions — mercury, gemini, apollo, and shuttle.
My girls had fun coloring the space pictures and tracing the names of the U.S. space missions in their Cycle 2 Memory Work Activity Books.
We also used our science placemat to read more about each of these space missions and what happened during each one. These placemats have really helped us to dive deeper into the science and history topics each week!
The Great Space Race Game
We enjoyed playing a Great Space Race game that I created. It helped my girls learn more about what actually happened during each of these space missions in a fun, interactive way. You can grab this game (and also my Latin Bingo game) from my resource library at the end of this post.
Great Picture Books about these U.S. Space Missions
We enjoyed reading a few picture books about these space missions this week! We really enjoyed The First Moon Landing by Chris Lovitt, You Wouldn’t Want to Be on Apollo 13! by Ian Graham, and Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca. If you haven’t already, make sure to check it out my Cycle 2 booklist! I’ve gathered picture books that connect to every week of the memory work this cycle!
Also, to help my girls remember the new vocabulary, we sang a fun song to the tune of I am a Christian.
As we sang, we pointed to each space mission on our placemat — mercury, gemini, apollo, and shuttle — to connect the words with their visuals. It was such a simple, joyful way to reinforce what we learned while keeping science time lively and fun!
Math, Latin, and English Memory Work
On the last day of our week, we focused on the math, Latin, and English memory work. My girls worked on the activities in their Cycle 2 Memory Work Activity Books, which gave them fun and simple ways to practice each subject.
We reviewed liquid equivalents together and sang both the Latin noun endings and sang our whole pronoun song. I love using songs for memory work. They’re fun, easy to prepare, and incredibly powerful for helping kids remember. Plus, once a song is learned, it’s simple to review again later, whether at home, in the car, or during playtime. Here is the pronoun song we are learning to the tune Here We Go Looby Loo. I have a video with the hand motions I’m teaching the kids in my tutor group too.
The memory work activities kept things engaging and gave my 6-year-old and 4-year-old extra practice with writing and tracing. Having dedicated time at the end of the week to pull these subjects together worked really well for us, and it gave a sense of closure before heading into the weekend.
Cycle 2 Weeks 1-12 Review Activity Book
If you’re looking for a fun and meaningful way to wrap up the first half of Cycle 2, my brand new Weeks 1–12 Review Activity Book is the perfect companion! I designed it to help kids review, connect, and celebrate everything they’ve learned so far — from geography and history to science, math, Latin, English, and even the timeline.
Inside, you’ll find 50 engaging activities that make review time interactive and joyful. Each page reinforces memory work while encouraging deeper connections and confidence. Whether you use it during the mid-cycle break or as part of your regular review time, it’s an easy, low-prep way to keep learning fresh and fun.
You can find the Cycle 2 Weeks 1–12 Review Activity Book in my shop below! I also just released the Cycle 2 Weeks 13-24 Review Activity Book, which reviews the second half of Cycle 2.
Fine Arts: Great Artists (Weeks 13–18)
Weeks 13–18 are some of my favorite weeks of the year because we get to slow down and study Great Artists in fine arts. The goal isn’t to create perfect art, it’s simply to help our kids recognize famous artists, notice different styles, and enjoy creating.
Each week, we keep it simple: learn one artist, look closely at a few famous works, and then create something inspired by that style.
To make this easy in community and at home, here are a few resources I offer:
- FREE Great Artists Bios & Famous Works (printable artwork + a short bio + three kid-friendly takeaways)
- Cycle 2 Great Artists Mini Books (six mini books—one per artist—with 11 pages each)
- Great Artists Showdown Game (a fun, fast-paced review card game that includes artists from all three cycles)
If you’d like to see exactly how we teach Great Artists in community group and get more project ideas and picture book recommendations, head over to my full Great Artists post here.
Cycle 2 Pronoun Memory Cards
I also made these fun Pronoun game cards to play during Cycle 2. These Pronoun Memory Cards cover all 75 pronouns from Cycle 2, Weeks 4–13 and can be used in three different games. Each card includes a sentence, a colorful image, and the pronoun type, making it easy for kids to connect meaning with usage.
You can sort them by pronoun type, play a classic memory match, or try the fill-in-the-blank version for an extra challenge. My kids love playing, and it gives them tons of practice without it feeling like drill. This set has quickly become one of our favorite go-to grammar review tools! By the way, this is the paper cutter I use all the time and it has worked great for me!
Fun Review Games for Cycle 2
One of our favorite ways to review is with fun, themed board games. I created a monopoly style history review game and a set of Candyland-style games that make memory work review exciting and interactive for kids. Check them out below!
Cycle 2 Historyopoly
One of our favorite ways to review history is with Cycle 2 Historyopoly, a brand new game I created this year.
It is modeled after Monopoly but uses all of the Cycle 2 history sentences. The kids love rolling dice, moving around the board, and reviewing history facts as we play. It turns review into something exciting and fresh, and we will definitely be pulling it out again many more times this year. You can grab this NEW game below!
Memory Work Kingdom (Christmas Edition)
We’ve also been playing Memory Work Wonderland, a Christmas-themed review game (since we are still in the Christmas spirit!). It works just like Candyland, but with the addition of memory work review built in. Players move along the board by drawing cards with color blocks or picture spaces, then answer a review question that matches the space they land on. Correct answers let them stay put, but if they miss, they move back. The game also includes fun twists with slides and ladders to keep things lively. The first player to reach the cozy Christmas cabin wins!
The best part is that I now have a fall version, a winter version, and a spring version, so you can rotate them throughout the school year. You can grab each one individually, or get the seasonal bundle with all three at a special price.
These games work for all three cycles and have been such a hit in our home. They are perfect for community review days, family game nights, or just a fun way to end your homeschool week. You can find them all in my shop below.
Planning Our Homeschool Week
Instead of printing out detailed lesson plan templates this year, I have been using my homeschool planner to keep everything organized. It has been such a helpful tool for me as I think through our week.
I use the Cycle 2 memory work pages in the planner to map out how we will practice the memory work together. These pages make it easy to see each subject at a glance and jot down games, songs, or activities that I want to use with my kids. I also use the weekly and daily planning pages to schedule what we will do each day for math, language arts, and reading.
I’ve tried to simplify things this year so I don’t need to spend a lot of time prepping or printing. Having the Cycle 2 Memory Work Activity Book and my Cycle 2 Picture Book List ready to go means I can sit down and plan the week quickly without extra work.
Another part of the planner that I love is the monthly habit tracker. I use it to write down a few habits I want to focus on each month, like improving my health and being more present with my kids. It’s been a great reminder of the small but meaningful steps I want to take.
This planner has truly helped me stay organized so far this year, and it makes planning feel simple and purposeful instead of overwhelming. Get one for your homeschool year here!
Picture Books for Cycle 2 Week 13
Here are all the picture books we enjoy this week:
- Geography from A to Z by Jack Knowlton
- Draw Europe (Draw the World) by Kristin J. Draeger
- Maps and Globes by Harriet Barton
- Nate the Great Saves the King of Sweden by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
- Inventions by Mark Bergin
- The Mighty Steam Engine by Yvonne Ng
- You Wouldn’t Want to Be on Apollo 13! by Ian Graham
- The First Moon Landing by Chris Lovitt
- Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca
You can see my ENTIRE Cycle 2 picture book list for each week of Cycle 2 here!
Cycle 2 Week 13 Memory Work Games
Here is the science game I mentioned in this post plus a Latin endings BINGO game that you can play with your kids this week to practice the memory work. You can sign up below to receive these FREE games below.
I hope you are having a great school year so far! Please comment below with any questions or share what’s been working well for your family so far!
