Cycle 1 Review Games (Weeks 1-6) for Classical Homeschooling
Want creative ways to review the Classical Cycle 1 memory work? These fun and engaging games for Weeks 1-6 will help your children practice and retain the new grammar they’ve learned.
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Last week we finished up Cycle 1 Week 6. My kids loved decorating their own Greek vases as we learned about some ancient Greeks. We also learned about animals that are vertebrates and continued playing the fun domino game I made. Read more about what we did at home during the previous weeks of Cycle 1 here: Week 1 , Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, and Week 6. You can also get a peek into our first couple of homeschool weeks 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 the first eight weeks of Cycle 1 below:
- Cycle 1 Week 1 Tutor Ideas
- Cycle 1 Week 2 Tutor Ideas
- Cycle 1 Week 3 Tutor Ideas
- Cycle 1 Week 4 Tutor Ideas
- Cycle 1 Week 5 Tutor Ideas
- Cycle 1 Week 6 Tutor Ideas
- Cycle 1 Week 7 Tutor Ideas
- Cycle 1 Week 8 Tutor Ideas
Also, I have a youtube channel where I make videos with tutor and memory work ideas each week. Below is my video with tutor videos for Cycle 1 Week 7. If you are thinking past the seventh week, I also have a video for Cycle 1 Week 8 and more coming soon! Visit my channel for tutor ideas for future weeks and other videos with homeschooling tips and encouragement.
Reviewing the Memory Work At Home
In this post, I share with you about my weekly homeschool rhythms with my small children (ages five, three and one). I explain about the activities, games, and readings we do together to review the Cycle 1 memory work (new grammar) at home throughout the week. Since last week we finished Cycle 1 Week 6, this week we have a “review” week where we play some games to review the Cycle 1 material we have learned so far this year.
Morning Devotional Time
I continue to begin each day with our morning devotional time. This is my favorite part of the day with my kids. It is also one of my favorite things about homeschooling. I love that we don’t have to rush out of the door in the morning. My kids get the sleep they need and we can linger over breakfast and read God’s word 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.
Once we are all sitting around the breakfast table and my kids start eating, I begin with our Bible reading time. I read to them a small passage from my Bible and then the corresponding story in The Complete Illustrated Children’s Bible. (TCICB). This Bible has BEAUTIFUL illustrations and is very accurate to the truth of the actual Bible.
Bible Study
This week I take a little break from the Foundations of The Bible study from @drivenbygrace that we have been doing, and we just focus on reading Bible stories. Each day I choose a story that goes along with the Bible memory work from the last six weeks. Monday, we read about Creation; Tuesday, we read about Adam and Eve; Wednesday and Thursday, we read about Noah; and Friday, we read about the Tower of Babel. My daughter also wants to change it up a bit and read some Bible stories from 365 Bible Stories and Prayers.
It is great to review these stories and talk more about them with my kids. See the end of this post for my PRINTABLE lesson plans with details of what I read each day. If you’re curious about more of what I do in our morning devotional time, read my post about it here.
The 24 Family Ways
Also, each day we review one of the Family Ways (from Sally and Clay Clarkson’s 24 Family Ways) that we have learned about in the previous six weeks. Usually I leave one of the 24 Family Ways and a corresponding Bible verse on my chalkboards for the entire week. However, this week, I put a different Family Way and Bible verse on the chalkboards each morning so we can review them. It is so fun to see how well my kids remember them and how they mostly have the Bible verses memorized!
I have also found songs that match with each Bible verse that I have been playing after we eat breakfast. I play some of these songs again this week and it’s so encouraging to see how well my kids remember them. Songs truly are amazing for helping children memorize the Bible. Download my matchup of the 24 Family Ways with Bible verses and songs from my Resource Library.
Singing Hymns
We also continue to sing a few hymns each morning from this book called My First Hymnal by Karyn Henley. I let my kids each choose a hymn to sing and I sing it for them (sometimes they join in). It’s great that they are learning hymns and the ones in this book are fabulous for kids.
Math and Language Arts
This week, we take a break from math, but one morning my daughter ends up wanting to work on her handwriting. I have this Handwriting without Tears for my oldest daughter and the first level for my younger daughter. I never push my younger daughter to do any handwriting since she is still just three years old. However, she often wants to be included and do what her big sister is doing, so I have a book for her too.
Weekly Memory work songs
This week we review a lot of the previous six week’s memory work songs as we play review games. I also play some of these songs as I’m cleaning up breakfast and while we are in the car. Here are my playlists of Cycle 1 songs for English, Science and Geography:
- Cycle 1 Week 1 Memory Work songs
- Cycle 1 Week 2 Memory Work songs
- Cycle 1 Week 3 Memory Work songs
- Cycle 1 Week 4 Memory Work songs
- Cycle 1 Week 5 Memory Work songs
- Cycle 1 Week 6 Memory Work songs
A Review Week Each Quarter
Every six weeks or each quarter, I take a week “off” of homeschooling with my kids. This means I solely focus on reviewing what they have learned during the previous six weeks. We spend less time on math and language arts and more time playing fun memory work review games together. Scheduling in these break weeks is a good change of pace for my kids and me. Regular review is also extremely important to helping children retain what they have learned.
Why is a Quarterly Review Week Important?
A week each quarter to completely focus on review helps children build a solid foundation for what they will learn in future weeks. Repetition is essential in solidifying facts in long-term memory, especially when it comes to the grammar stage of Classical education. By revisiting the memory work weekly and each quarter, children have the opportunity to connect ideas, deepen understanding, and gain confidence in their knowledge. Consistent review not only reinforces learning but also makes it easier to add new layers of information as the year progresses.
Taking a Break to Prevent Burnout
Homeschooling takes a lot of work and energy. To avoid burnout, it’s important to have weeks that offer a change of pace. These breaks help both parents and kids recharge. Instead of the usual morning routine, setting a simple goal of playing a few review games can make these weeks more relaxed and enjoyable.
Fun Review Games for Cycle 1 Memory Work
My kids and I play four fun review games for Cycle 1, Weeks 1-6. The first game focuses on geography. We use a map I made of all the places we’ve learned so far and play a game called Pumpkin. The second game is a Preposition card game that includes all of the prepositions introduced in weeks 2-12. The third game is a Latin Bingo game that reviews the Latin noun endings introduced in weeks 3-12. The last game is an autumn-themed game called Memory Work Kingdom. It’s played like the classic game, “Candy Land,” but is customized for our classical memory work.
Geography Review Game: “Pumpkin”
For this game, you will need:
- 32 Popsicle sticks
- Empty can or cup
- Map of Cycle 1 Weeks 1-6 locations (get for free from my Resource Library)
- Dry erase pocket sleeve
- Dry erase marker
- Sharpie pen
- Timer
Before Playing the Game
Write all the locations from Cycle 1 Weeks 1-6 on Popsicle sticks using a Sharpie pen. Try to write on only the bottom half of the Popsicle stick. Here is a list of all the geography locations in Cycle 1 by week:
- Cycle 1 Week 1: (Hebrew Empire)
- Mediterranean Sea
- Mesopotamia
- Euphrates River
- Tigris River
- Sumer
- Cycle 1 Week 2: (Hittite Empire)
- Red Sea
- Persian Gulf
- Caspian Sea
- Black Sea
- Babylon
- Cycle 1 Week 3: (Hebrew Empire)
- Judah
- Israel
- Jordan River
- Dead Sea
- Phoenicia
- Sea of Galilee
- Cycle 1 Week 4: (Hittite Empire)
- Hattusa
- Asia Minor
- Arabian Desert
- Cyprus
- Cycle 1 Week 5: (Egyptian Empire)
- Egypt
- Nile River
- Upper/Lower Egypt
- Nile River Delta
- Cycle 1 Week 6: (Ancient Greece)
- Greece
- Aegean Sea
- Macedonia
- Crete
- Rhodes
Choose 2 Popsicle sticks to write the word “PUMPKIN” on instead of a geographical location. See picture above. Put all the Popsicle sticks in an empty can or cup with the labeled halves of the sticks at the bottom of the can so your child cannot see what they say. Print out a copy of the Cycle 1 Weeks 1-6 Geography map. You can download this map with the other review games mentioned in this post for FREE from my Resource Library. Give your child the laminated map (with locations NOT labeled) or the map in the dry erase pocket sleeve and a dry erase marker. The object of this game is to correctly find the most locations in a minute.
How To Play “PUMPKIN”
At the start of the timer, your child grabs a Popsicle stick, finds the matching location, and marks an “X” on the correct spot on the map with a dry erase marker. Put that Popsicle stick aside and let the child choose another Popsicle stick. If multiple children are playing, have them alternate choosing Popsicle sticks. When a child pulls a Popsicle stick out of the can that says “PUMPKIN,” he or she must erase all the dry erase “X’s” from the map and start over.
Remember, you child only has one minute! When the time runs out, have your child count how many locations he or she was able to find.
My daughter and I really enjoy playing this game. As we play, we sing some of the geography songs we have learned during the first six weeks. See my geography playlist for these fun tunes.
Preposition Card Game
You can use these preposition cards in many different ways. This preposition card set includes all 53 prepositions from Cycle 1 Weeks 2-12. Each card has the preposition, a sentence using the preposition and a related picture. You can download this Preposition game with the other review games mentioned in this post for FREE from my Resource Library.
This week my daughter enjoys trying to put these cards in the correct order as she sings the Preposition song. Check out my playlist with each week’s part of the Preposition song and the corresponding hand motions. We have also played “Memory” with these cards.
To play “Memory,” print two copies of each page of the preposition cards ON CARDSTOCK (then the cards won’t be see through.) Cut out each of the cards and laminate them if you wish. Mix them up, and place them face down on a flat surface. Players take turns to flip over two cards. If a matching pair is found, the player will collect these cards and take another turn. If the cards do not match, turn them back over and move onto the next player. Continue until all the cards have been matched. The player with the most matches wins. You will naturally learn about the prepositions as you play!
Latin Bingo Game
We also enjoy playing the Latin noun ending Bingo game I made. This game has seven different Bingo cards with all 27 different Latin noun endings from Cycle 1 Weeks 3-12. You can download this Latin game with the other review games mentioned in this post for FREE from my Resource Library.
We use dot markers to mark the spaces as we play. We practice saying the Latin noun endings as we mark them on our Bingo board. Each Latin noun ending has a picture with it that helps you say the noun ending correctly. We also review the Latin noun cases and sing this song I made to the tune, Are You Sleeping Brother John.
Memory Work Kingdom
We have a blast playing Memory Work Kingdom this week! This is a great game to help my kids review memory work from all the subjects.
For this game, you will need:
- Memory Work Kingdom game board (laminate if you wish)
- A game marker for each player (markers from another board game, small pieces of paper, candy, etc.)
- Memory Work Kingdom cards cut out and laminated if you wish (print out several copies of cards)
How to Play Memory Work Kingdom
To play this game, shuffle all the cards and place them face down within reach of all players. The youngest player goes first. On a player’s turn, he or she draws a card.
The card may contain a single color block, two color blocks, or a picture of a place on the board.
- Color card: player moves to the next space that matches the color on the card
- Card with two colors: the player moves to the second space that matches
- Picture card: player moves tot he space that matches the picture
The player must then answer a review question of the subject corresponding to the color or picture of the card. If the player answers correctly, he or she keeps his or her game marker on that spot. If the question is not answered correctly, player goes back to previous spot.
Some tiles on the board are shortcuts with ladders. If a player lands on one of these tiles, he or she follows the path to where the arrow ends. If a player lands on a tile with the beginning of a slide, he or she must slide backwards to the tile where the slide ends. Players switch off drawing cards and answering review questions and the first player to reach the castle wins!
You can purchase this Memory Work Kingdom board game from my Etsy shop. I love giving away games and activities away for free. However, this game took me a lot more time to make and I would greatly appreciate your support if you desire to purchase this game from my shop.
Fall-Themed Picture Books
This week check out a bunch of fall-themed books from our library. We take a break from focusing on books that relate to the weekly memory work and enjoy reading some of these fall-themed books and some other books we own and love.
My daughter also enjoys putting together this Melissa and Doug autumn-themed puzzle. She absolutely loves puzzles and it’s a great way that I can spend some time with her while the younger kids nap.
Lesson Plan Templates
Click here to download an EDITABLE template of my detailed lesson plans for Cycle 1 Weeks 1-6 Review. Here is a blank template you can download too.
Here are all the fall-themed picture books we enjoy during our review week:
- The Squirrel’s Busy Year by Martin Jenkins
- The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
- Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson
- Sophie’s Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller and Anne Wilsdorf
- Nothing Ever Happens on a Gray Day by Grant Snider
- Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter by Kenard Pak
- Four Friends In Autumn by Tomie Depaola
- Fry Bread by Kevin Noble Maillard
- Bake an Apple Pie by Jean Reagan
Cycle 1 Weeks 1-6 Review Games
Here is a set of the review games I mentioned above. You can sign up below to receive all these games for FREE! (Memory Work Kingdom game is not included in this set. Get this game from my Etsy shop.)
How many weeks are you into Cycle 1? How are things going? Comment below and tell me about any activities you have done or fun books you have read.
