Cycle 1 Week 11 Tutor Ideas for Classical Homeschooling

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Are you new to the Classical model and want to know more about it? Keep reading below about how it’s organized, the different cycles, our community time, and MORE!
If you already know about the Classical homeschooling model and you are ready to jump to the actual tutor ideas, click here.
A Classical model of homeschooling
We are part of a Christ-centered homeschool program that follows the Classical model. The younger children, ages 4-12, focus on a memorization-based curriculum which acts as the groundwork of learning that is built upon in later years.
Children and their parents learn key facts across the core subject areas including history, science, English, mathematics, geography, and Latin. Tutors use fun activities, games, songs, and lots of energy to introduce the new material. The parents can then expand on that material at home throughout the week.
Cycle rotation
The material is divided into three cycles, which each last one year. The cycles continue to rotate every three years, so most children who start when they are kindergarten age, complete each cycle at least twice. This allows them to develop a deeper comprehension and grasp of the material through repetition.
Cycle 1 material
This year, in Cycle 1, we are learning about ancient world history, biology, earth science, Latin noun endings, and English prepositions and verbs.
The following ideas are what I’m planning to do with the group of kids I am tutoring this year (ages 4-6). You may use these ideas if you are also tutoring in a Classical homeschooling community, or if you’re a parent who is looking for memory work ideas to use at home.
Also, you don’t have to be part of any particular Classical homeschooling group to use these ideas! These are ideas to help children learn key concepts in the core subject areas. If you are a homeschooling parent, or just a parent who wants to supplement what your kids are currently learning in school, these ideas will be helpful for you.
Community group time
Our homeschooling community has been meeting on Tuesdays. Our leader starts off the morning with everyone together in a big group setting. She typically begins that time with a devotional reading and prayer, and then continues with some announcements, celebrating birthdays, the pledge of allegiance, and anything else she wants to cover with everyone.
After this time, we split off into our different groups based on age. The tutors lead their groups into different classrooms and begin the New Grammar part of the day. This is when the tutor introduces the memory work for each core subject. Check out my post and video about how to make your own tutor board!

Cycle 1 Week 11 Tutor and Memory Work Ideas
New Grammar
English
I like to start with English each week. I have purchased a lined notebook for each child in my class to use and I lay these out on the table before our class time begins. When the kids walk into the room, they find their notebook which shows them where to sit.

I love using these notebooks because I think it’s great for the kids to get some writing practice. During the summer, I decorate the front of each notebook with each child’s name and a fun biology design related to Cycle 1 (see below for picture). You can download a template of this biology themed notebook cover here and customize for your kids.
In these notebooks, I write each week’s English memory work on a blank page as large and neatly as I can. I use a light colored marker, so that the kids can trace my writing and easily see their own writing with their pencil.
I lay the notebooks out on the table before our class time begins. After English, I collect them and bring them back the following week. At the end of the school year, they will have all 24 weeks filled out and they can take their notebooks home with them.


Cycle 1 Week 11 Prepositions
In Cycle 1 Week 11, we learn five new prepositions. I prep the notebooks with some of the prepositions already written, a few dotted prepositions that the children can trace, and a horizontal line where I will have the children write the third preposition. See picture above. Depending on the ages of the kids in your class, you could adjust this to meet their level:
- Write four of the prepositions and have the kids write the last one.
- Write some of the prepositions normally and then write one or a few very lightly or with dots so the kids can trace.
- Have the kids write all five prepositions on their own.
- Write the prepositions but with missing letters and have the kids fill the correct letters in.
As the children are writing, I start singing the Preposition song that we have learned so far. See my video below:
I love making little jingles to the memory work we are learning. Children memorize much quicker if it is to a song, and it’s more fun too! It’s also a great way to review the material throughout the week at home. It is so easy to play the week’s songs while you’re at home or in the car. I also like playing previous week’s songs at the end of our new grammar class time to help review previous material.
I also have a video of a slowed down version of the entire Preposition song (weeks 2-12) and the hand motions here:
I encourage the children to sing the tune with me several times as they finish up writing in their notebooks. After we sing the song several times, I hand out a sticker for each child to stick to the front of their notebook. I often try to find stickers that relate to some of the material we are learning about that week.
Preposition Hand Motions
Once the kids are finished writing, I have them stand up and show them the hand motions to this week’s prepositions:
- Under: hand over head so you’re under
- Underneath: hand over hand and squat
- Until: stay in squat, one finger comes down to touch the other
- Up: standing up and up motion with palms
- Upon: from palms up, circle around to palms down
Check out this handout for stick figure drawings of each of the hand motions for the ENTIRE Preposition song.
I encourage the children to try singing the entire preposition song while doing the hand motions with me starting from the beginning through this week. Then we play a game where the children take turns showing the rest of the children a hand motion for one of the prepositions (either from week 11 or previous weeks) and the other children try to guess which preposition the child is showing.
Timeline
I like to follow English with Timeline. Each week, I use these Timeline Cards: Set 1 (Ancient World), Set 2 (Medieval World), Set 3 (New World), and Set 4 (Modern World) I highly recommend investing in them (you should get all four sets) whether you are a tutor or a parent. I consistently use them as a tutor and also at home with my kids.

Since I have the younger children, I like to tape the paper letter that the timeline event starts with at the top of the card. I have found these letters at my local Dollar Tree. Some of the children in my class can’t read yet, so this helps them identify the event I’m referring to.

Cycle 1 Week 10 Timeline
Before our class time begins, I put seven pieces of painters tape on the wall and I hide the cards around the room. When it’s time to start Timeline, I tell the children to look around the room and see if they can find 1 or 2 cards (depending on how many children are in my group), and to bring them back to their seats.
I sing this week’s part of the timeline song as the children are looking for the cards. I sing it myself instead of playing the music so I can control the speed of the song. See my tutor video for the tune of this week’s timeline song.
When the cards have all been found and all the children are back in their seats, I go through each timeline event in the correct order and see which child has each card.
For example, I say, “The first card is Norman Conquest and Feudalism in Europe. What letter does “Norman” start with?”
A child answers, “It starts with the letter “N.”
I say, “Correct! Who has a card with a letter N on it?”
I instruct whoever has this card to walk up to where I have put the painters tape on the wall, and to stick the card to the first spot on the wall. We repeat this for each timeline event until all the cards are on the wall in the correct order.


After this, each child gets a turn to take a fly swatter and “swat” (gently) each card as we sing this week’s part of the timeline song together. I encourage them to try to swat the card as we sing that particular event.
Then I have the children go stand against the wall in front of the timeline cards and we go over the motions together. See my video below which includes the hand motions for this week in the timeline section:
We sing this week’s part of the timeline song and practice the motions together a few times.
Geography
Now for geography! The children are now sitting at the table which follows the timeline part well where the kids were standing. I like to try to alternate active parts with sitting to mix things up and keep the kids engaged.


I prepare these trivium table maps ahead of time. You could always print a map too and laminate it. This is the laminator I have and use all the time. I outline the features we are discussing this week in dry erase marker, each in a different color.
Cycle 1 Week 11 Geography: The Byzantine Empire
This week we learn about the Byzantine Empire. I give each child a trivium table map and a few chocolate chips to put on the different cities. I tell the children to NOT each the chocolate chips yet!
First, I have the children find the blue dot which is Constantinople and put a chocolate chip beside it. Then they find Rome (pink dot), Athens (orange), Ephesus (green), and Antioch (purple) and put chocolate chips beside each of the cities.
I teach the children a song to the tune of Joy to the World. See my video below:
We sing the song together several times while pointing to the different cities. Then I say to the kids, “Who remembers what the green city is called?” After someone answers, I let the children eat the chocolate chip that is on the green city. Then I ask, “who remembers what the pink city is called?”, etc.
Depending on time, I give each child a few different colored dry erase markers and let them color in some of the places we have learned about so far this year. Or if you need to move on to the next subject because of time, you definitely don’t have to do this.
I have also found that it works best to review geography WHILE we are doing geography. The kids have their maps in front of them and it’s really easy to talk about places we have learned about previous weeks.
Math
This week in math we are skip counting the cubes. I first sing a song to the tune Battle Hymn of the Republic to the children while pointing to the cubes on my board. See my tutor video to hear this tune.
Then I ask for some volunteers to tell me 3 or 4 of the cubes to circle on my tutor board. When we get to the first circled number, we all have to stand up. When we get to the next circled number, we all have to sit back down. Then we stand up again when we get to the next circled number. We only change positions when we sing a circled number.
After we sing through the cubes standing and sitting when we see sing the circled numbers, I ask the children to tell me a few more numbers I can circle. Then we sing through the cubes again, standing and sitting when we sing a circled number. We repeat this until all the numbers on the tutor board are circled.
It’s so fun to do this when all the numbers are circled because we are sitting and then standing, and then sitting, etc. every single number. This usually ends in laughing.
History
We learn about Emperor Constantine and the Byzantine Empire this week. I say the history sentence once NORMALLY to the kids and tell them to listen very carefully. Then I say the history sentence again but with some “silly words” added in. I tell the kids that if they hear a silly word, to raise their hand and try to tell me what the correct word should be. Here is the correct version of the history sentence:
Emperor Constantine stopped the persecution of Christians in the Eastern Roman Empire. In AD 330, he moved the capital to Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople. Emperor Justinian’s
Code became a model for legal systems. The Byzantine Empire lasted until Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople in 1453.
Here is the history sentence with silly words:
Elmo Constantine stopped the parading of Christians in the Easter Roman Empire. In AD 330, he crawled the capital to Byzantium and repaired it Constantinople. Emperor Justinian’s Cow became a model for little systems. The Byzantine Eagle lasted until Superman Turks captured California in 1453.
Each time I say a silly word and the kids catch it, I ask them to correct it. Then I say the history sentence from the beginning, correctly, until I get to the next silly word. This way the kids are hearing the history sentence correctly several times. I repeat this until I have said all the silly words and the whole history sentence correctly.
Latin
In Latin this week we learn the 5th Declension Noun Endings. See my tutor video for the tune we sing these to.
First I sing these for the children. Then I ask for a volunteer to sing the singular noun endings with me while everyone else tries to hold their breath. I do this a few times with different volunteers singing with me. Then we repeat this but sing the plural noun endings.
Science
This week in science we learn about some parts of a flower. I teach the kids the song to the tune of Who Built the Arc to help them remember these.
First I encourage the kids to try to sing this song with me normally. Then I hand out a silly voice card (get these here) to each child and we rotate singing the song in the different silly voices.
Free Silly Voice and Movement Cards

Here are the silly voices I wrote on these sticks:
- Loud to soft
- Slow like a sloth
- Close eyes
- Squeaky voice
- Super smiley
- Excited
- Whisper
- Crying
- Fish/pucker face
- Pouty
- Scared
- No teeth
- Quiet to loud
- Mad
- Hold your nose
- Tongue out
- Mouth closed
The kids love doing this! It’s a fun way to make them laugh and keep them engaged, especially when they are getting tired. You could also give each child one of these movement cards (get these for FREE below), and have the kids switch off doing these different movements as they sing the song.
Free Silly Voice and Movement Cards
For review time this week, we play a game called “Stop, Drop, Act Like a Rock!” I tell the kids to move around the room and then I yell out, “Stop, Drop, Act Like a Rock!” Then they all have to stop moving, drop down to the floor, and curl up like a rock. I walk around and tap one of the “rocks.” and ask a review question. That child tries to answer and then everyone gets up and moves around until I say again, “Stop, Drop, Act Like a Rock!” We keep doing this until every child gets to answer a review question.
I prefer to ask review questions on the fly instead of preparing them ahead of time. Here are some more example questions I ask (remember I have the youngest children in my group):
- Do you remember any parts of an animal cell or plant cell?
- What was one of the names of a Greek or Roman god we learned about?
- Do you remember the Fertile Crescent song? “The Fertile Crescent, Mediterranean Sea…”
- What are some animals that are vertebrates?
- What are some animals that are invertebrates?
You could also let anyone answer the review questions instead of putting one child on the spot.
Printable and Editable Cycle 1 Week 11 Tutor Plans
Cycle 1 Week 11 Memory Work Activities
Also check out the FREE activities and games that you can use at home to help your kids practice the memory work this week.
Blessings to you on this homeschooling journey!