cycle 1 week 15 activities on table

Cycle 1 Week 15 Tutor Plans for Classical Homeschooling

Searching for engaging tutor ideas for Cycle 1, Week 15 in classical homeschooling? Read along for creative ways to introduce the memory work. If you’re a week or two behind me, see my tutor ideas for Cycle 1, Week 13 or Week 14. You can also find my tutor plans from each of the twelve weeks of first semester here.

Please note, I am not affiliated with any Classical education organization; these are simply my own ideas and suggestions based on my experience as a tutor. I hope they inspire and support you as you plan for Cycle 1, Week 15.

cycle 1 week 15 tutor plans pinterest pin

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.

We love being part of our Classical homeschooling community. Read more about how God redirected our path from private education to homeschooling and Classical education here.

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 15 tutor board
Cycle 1 Week 15 Tutor Board

Cycle 1 Week 15 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.

preschool lined paper notebook opened to cycle 1 week 15 with the first three helping verbs.

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.

three helping verbs written in preschool lined paper notebook zoomed in
english notebook cover decorated with students name and biology design

Cycle 1 Week 15 English

In Cycle 1 Week 15, we learn the first three helping verbs: do, does, and did. Each week, for the next five weeks, the children will be introduced to three new helping verbs. I prep the notebooks with one of the helping verbs already written, one dotted helping verb that the children can trace, and a horizontal line where I will have the children write the last helping verb. See picture above. Depending on the ages of the kids in your class, you could adjust this to meet their level:

  • Write two of the helping verbs and have the children write the last one.
  • Write two of the helping verbs normally and then write the last one very lightly or with dots so the children can trace.
  • Have the children write all three helping verbs on their own.
  • Write out all the helping verbs, but leave spaces in place of the “D” at the beginning of each one, and let the children fill in the “D’s”.
  • Write the first letter of each helping verb and let the children write the rest of each word.

As the children are writing, I sing the same song we sang last week with the definition of a helping verb, and I continue singing with the addition of the helping verbs. This song is to the tune of This Old Man. See my video below. We will sing this song each week through week 19.

Cycle 1 Weeks 14-19 English song

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 hand out a sticker for each child to stick to the front of their notebook. It’s fun to find stickers that relate to some of the material we are learning about that week.

I also teach the children some simple hand motions for each of these helping verbs:

  • do: thumbs up (symbolizing the affirmation of “do”)
  • does: point to someone else (symbolizing that he or she “does” something)
  • did: pat your back (symbolizing something that was done in the past)

I have the children practice singing the song with me while doing the hand motions a few times.

Prepositions Review

I also have the kids sing and do the hand motions to the entire preposition song that we worked on last semester. I plan to have them review this once each week for the remainder of the year. See my video of a slowed down version of the entire Preposition song (weeks 2-12) and the hand motions below:

Slowed down version of the entire Preposition song and hand motions

Also, check out this handout for stick figure drawings of each of the hand motions for the ENTIRE Preposition song if you want a refresher.

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.

4 sets of classical conversations timeline cards set out on table.

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.

timeline cards for week 15 with large letters on the laying on the table with miniature timeline cards below them.

Cycle 1 Week 15 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 Japan’s Isolation. What letter does “Japan” start with?”

A child answers, “It starts with the letter “J.”

I say, “Correct! Who has a card with a letter J 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.

painters tape on wall ready for timeline cards to be hung.
timeline cards taped on wall

After all the timeline cards are on the wall, I give each child a set of miniature timeline cards (this link only works if you are logged into ccconnected.com).

miniature timeline cards on table

You can find these cards on ccconnected.com. Simply log in, click on “Forums” on the left hand side of the screen, and search for “mini timeline cards.” These are such a great resource and I love using them at home with my children too!

I encourage each child to try to put their cards in the correct order as I sing this week’s part of the timeline song. They can look at the cards in order up on the wall for help if they need.

miniature timeline cards in order

Once all the children have their cards in the correct order, I have them go stand against the wall in front of the timeline cards and we go over the motions together. I put these spot markers against the wall in front of each timeline card so it’s clear where each child should stand. See my video below which includes the hand motions for this week in the timeline section:

Cycle 1 Week 15 Tutor Ideas Video

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.

trivium table map with middle east locations outlined with dry erase markers and tiny hands on the map
close up of trivium table map with middle east locations outlined and tiny hands laying on map

I prepare these trivium table maps ahead of time. You could always print a map too and laminate it. This is the printer and 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 15 Geography: Middle East

This week we learn about the Middle East. I give each child a trivium table map and a tiny hand for the children to point to the different locations with. These are tiny locations that we are learning about this week so we need a tiny hand to point to them.

I teach the children a song to the tune of Do Your Ears Hang Low to help them learn these locations. See my video below:

Cycle 1 Week 15 Geography song

We sing the song together several times while pointing to the different locations. Then I say to the kids, “Who remembers what the purple city is called?” Then I ask, “who remembers what the green country 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.

Learning the Countries of Africa

I also want to share some of what I’m doing at home with my children this semester to help them learn the geography. We are LOVING learning the countries of Africa and I made this fun Africa map that we have on our wall by our kitchen table with all the countries made out of felt.

African countries made out of felt sorted into piles by color
African map with felt countries hung up on wall

My girls love taking the countries off and on as we learn their names and locations. Download a paper map of Africa with all the countries labeled here.

girl putting African countries up on large felt map on wall

I have the patterns for all the African countries, as well as a tutorial about how to make this kind of map in my Etsy shop.

My daughter is also enjoying putting together this Africa puzzle. She absolutely loves puzzles and it’s a great way that I can spend some time with her while the younger kids nap. I especially love these Geo Puzzles because the pieces are the actual shapes of the countries. They have puzzles for the other parts of the world as well! We have also enjoyed putting together South America this year.

girl putting together Africa puzzle on the floor
Africa puzzle put together with box next to it

We also made up a fun song to help us learn all of these African countries!

Science

This week in science we learn about each continent’s highest mountain. During my prep time the week before, I print out these photographs of different mountains with their continent on the back. I cut them out and laminate them so I can use them again in the future. On the world side of the trivium table maps I use for geography, I draw a little upside down “V” (each in a different color) for each mountain.

I do science right after geography this week because I want the children to keep their trivium table maps out. I have them all turn their maps over to the world side and I give them each a bag of seven Hu chocolate gems. You could also use Hershey Kisses. I tell them to place a chocolate “mountain” BESIDE each colored mountain on their map. It’s important that they place the chocolate gems beside the mountains so they can still see the colors.

trivium table map with highest mountains marked with dry erase marker and chocolate gems next to each one

I teach the children the song to the tune of She’ll Be Comin Round the Mountain to help them remember these and we sing it together several times. See my video below:

Cycle 1 Week 15 Science song

I encourage the children to point to each of their mountains as we sing the song. After we sing the song a few times, I tell the children to put Aconcagua in S. America back into their bag, then Denali in N. America, then Kilimanjaro in Africa, etc. until we get to Everest in Asia. I explain to the children that Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the entire world! They get to eat this chocolate gem and give the rest of the chocolates in their bag to their parent for later. (Make sure you check with the parents before to make sure it’s ok for their kids to have chocolate!)

mountains marked with chocolates on map with mountain pictures

Then, I tell the children that we are going to go on a mountain adventure. I have the children turn around so their backs are facing the front of the room and I tell them to close their eyes. Then I quickly stick the seven mountains up on the wall with painters tape. I stick them close to each other and at a height that the children will be able to reach them.

While I’m doing this, I have a few parents help me tie blind folds around each of the children so they can’t see. I use small masks or these child-sized bandanas, but you could obviously use different things you have around your house.

I tell the children to slowly walk up to the front of the room and see if they can find a mountain on the wall. The first one they touch, they get to pull off and hold onto. Then, the second child walks up to the front and feels on the wall for a mountain. We keep doing this until all the mountains are off the wall. You might need to print a couple copies of a few of the mountains if you have more than seven children in your group.

tallest mountains in each continent pictures that are labeled.

When all the mountains are off the wall, I have the children take their blind folds off and guess which mountain they have. They can look at the continent on the back of their mountain to help them.

Cycle 1 Week 15 Math: Metric Measurements

This week in math we are learning about metric measurements. I bring a meter stick in and show the children how big a millimeter is, a centimeter, and an entire meter.

Then, I teach the children a song to the tune Ten Little Indians to help them remember these. See my video below:

Cycle 1 Weeks 15 Math song

I give each child a silly voice card and we switch off singing this song in the different silly voices. You can download these silly voice cards for FREE below!

Free Silly Voice and Movement Cards

You can also make these silly voice sticks. These are large popsicle sticks that I painted and wrote some silly voices on.

silly voice popsicle sticks

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

History

We learn about Prince Henry of Portugal 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:

In the 1400s, Prince Henry of Portugal founded a school of navigation.  His work advanced European exploration and trade, including the slave trade.   

Here is the history sentence with silly words:

In the 1400s, Prince Harry of Dugal founded a pool of navigation.  His stork advanced Korean exploration and parade, including the cave trade.    

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.

holding miniature guitar
miniature guitar on table

Then I hand out these cute miniature guitars to each of the children and encourage them to strum their guitars as we sing the history song a few more times.

Latin

In Latin this week we are learning the 1st Declension Noun Endings. See my tutor video for the tune we sing these to. I bring in my cookie monster puppet because he has big eyes and we pronounce the noun ending “-ae” the same way we say “eye.” He also has to go to the dentist a lot because he eats too many cookies, so he has to say “ahh” which is the same way we say the noun ending “-ā.”

woman holding cookie monster puppet

We play “Duck, duck, cookie” (or Duck, duck, goose). I have the children sit in a circle and rotate using my cookie monster puppet to gently tap on each person’s head as we sing the noun endings together. I encourage them to tap on a different person’s head ONLY when we say a different noun ending. The child who is being tapped when the song ends is the next person to use the puppet. I make sure each child gets a turn using the puppet.

For review this week, we play “Four Corners.” I tape up a number in each corner of the room. You use these numbers and laminate them or just write numbers on sticky notes.

Four corners number cards in different colors

I tell the children to find a corner of the room to go stand in. I encourage them to spread out so there is at least one person in each corner.

Then I roll a big foam die and tell everyone what number I roll. I ask a review question and anyone standing in the corner of the number that I rolled can answer. If they get the answer correct, that team gets a point.

If I roll a 5, I roll again. Rolling a 6 means that it’s a free-for-all and anyone can answer the question!

When I’m done asking questions, I have a parent help me total the score for each team and we see who won!

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):

  1. Do you remember what 8 fluid ounces is equal to?
  2. What is one part of the geosphere that you remember?
  3. The Kush mined gold along what river?
  4. What is a location in Western Africa that we learned about?
  5. Do you remember the name of one of the places in Ancient Africa?
  6. Do you remember any of the compound prepositions?
  7. When we sing the noun cases song, what word comes after “nominative…”?

Printable and Editable Cycle 1 Week 15 Tutor Plans

Here is a printable EDITABLE template of these Cycle 1 Week 15 Tutor Plans. Here is a blank template too!

cycle 1 week 15 tutor plans editable template pages

Cycle 1 Week 15 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. One of the activities I enjoy doing with my children at home this week is making a Prince Henry of Portugal ship out of paper towel rolls. Get the templates and see how to make it here!

ships made out of paper towel rolls

Blessings to you on this homeschooling journey!

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