Cycle 1 Week 5 Tutor Ideas for Classical Homeschooling
Looking for fresh Cycle 1, Week 5 tutor ideas for Classical homeschooling? This post offers a variety of engaging ways to to introduce the memory work. If you’re a few weeks behind me, see my posts with tutor ideas for prior weeks:
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 5.
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.

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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 5 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 5 Prepositions
In Cycle 1 Week 5, we learn the next five 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 five 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 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.
Once the kids are finished writing, I have them stand up and show them the hand motions to this week’s prepositions:
- Between: stay in squat, one hand to middle of face
- Beyond: stand up and point beyond
- But: finger over lips
- By: hand out, like referring to something by you
- Concerning: head tilt, hands over heart





Check out this handout for stick figure drawings of each of the hand motions for the ENTIRE Preposition song.
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 4-6 year old 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 5 Timeline
Everyone sits on the floor in a circle. I give one or two timeline cards (depending on how many kids I have in the class) to each kid and we go over the timeline events in order.
I say this week’s first timeline event, “Judah Falls to Babylon, Temple Destroyed,” and I ask, “what letter does “Judah” start with?”
A child answers, “It starts with the letter “J.”
I say, “Correct! Who has a card with the letter “J” on it?”
The child who has this card holds it up and I show the hand motion for it. I have that child place the card in the center of the circle, on the ground FACE UP.
Then I say the next timeline event and the child who has that card holds it up. We go over the hand motion for it and the child places it face up in the center of the circle. We repeat this until all the cards are laid out on the ground in the center of the circle.
I spread out the cards so everyone can see all of them. The kids all close their eyes and I take one of the cards away and put it behind me. I tell the kids to open their eyes and guess which card I took away. The child who guesses which card is missing correctly gets to put the card up on the wall in the correct spot on a piece of painters tape. Just for fun, we sing this tune together as the child “hops” over to the wall to put the timeline card up.
“Timeline hop, timeline hop, hop, hop, hop. Timeline hop, timeline hop, hop, hop, stop.”
Once all the timeline cards are taped to the wall, we go over the timeline motions again quickly. We sing the song together, trying to do the hand motions at the same time. See my video below which includes the hand motions for this week in the timeline section:
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.
During class I hand out a prepared map to each child. I also give them a minature lego figure to use to point to the different places on their map.
Cycle 1 Week 5 Geography: Egyptian Empire
This week we are learning about the Egyptian Empire. I tell them to first find Egypt which is the outlined in blue. Next I ask them, “Do you think the green is Upper Egypt or the Orange is Upper Egypt? We talk about how this is tricky and the green is actually lower Egypt, while the orange is upper Egypt. Then I point out to them the Nile River in pink and the Nile River Delta in purple.
I have 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.
Then I teach the kids the tune I have made that will help them remember these places. This song is to the tune of Baby Beluga. See my video below:
Depending on time, I give each child a few different colored dry erase markers and let them color in all the places we talked about. Or if you need to move on to the next subject because of time, you definitely don’t have to do this.
I encourage the children to sing the tune with me several times as they finish up coloring their maps.
Math
This week in math we are skip counting the 9’s and the 10’s. We start with the 9’s and I first sing a song to the tune Do Lord to them while pointing to the 9’s on my board. Then I have the kids sing with me while:
- lying down
- sitting on the ground
- kneeling
- sitting on their chairs
- standing up
For the 10’s we chant these. The kids first turn to the person to one side of them and give double high fives (high tens) while we chant. Then they turn to the person on the other side of them and do the same thing. After this they chant the 10’s while giving:
- high tens
- low tens
- soft tens
- hard tens (not too hard)
History
We learn about the Romans 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:
The Roman Republic became the Roman Empire when Augustus was crowned emperor in 27 BC. This was followed by the Pax Romana. In AD 286, the empire divided into the western and eastern empires until Germanic barbarians defeated the western empire in AD 476.
Here is the history sentence with silly words:
The Ronald Republic became the Roman Hamburger when Augustus was round emperor in 27 BC. This was followed by the snacks Romana. In AD 286, the umpire divided into the western and acorn empires until Germanic baboons defeated the windy empire in AD 476.
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 spoken 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 2nd Declension Noun Endings. See my tutor video for the tune we sing these to.
I get out my movement cards (get these for FREE below) and big die to roll. I let the kids each have.a turn to roll the die and choose a movement card. We assign the number they roll to the movement card. For example, if a child rolls the number 1 and chooses the “hop on one foot” movement card, then #1 is assigned to this movement. I write on the board which number is assigned to which movement.
Then I let the kids switch off rolling the die again and we sing the latin song to the movement which matches the number they rolled. We keep doing this until we have sung the song to all of the assignment movement cards.
Free Silly Voice and Movement Cards
Science
This week in science we learn about the major groups of invertebrates. I teach the kids some hand motions and we sing the song to the tune of Bingo.
- Sponges: Twist fists together like you’re wringing out a sponge
- Flatworms: Clap hands together
- Stinging cell animals: Poke arm with a finger
- Roundworms: Make a circle with your hands
- Mollusks: Open and close hands together like a clam
- Segmented words: Divide the air with your hands
- Sea stars: Touch eyes and then make fingers go out
- Arthropods: Act like a bug is climbing up your arms
See my video of tune below.
Then I hand out a silly voice card (get these here) to each child and we sing the song in different silly voices. The kids love doing this! It’s a fun way to make them laugh and keep them engaged, especially when they are getting tired.
For review time this week, we play this BINGO game. Here is an editable template of the game if you want to customize it a bit. The kids switch off rolling two dice (one with the subjects and one with fun actions). I ask a review question about the subject rolled and the child tries to answer while doing the fun action rolled. For example, if a child rolls “hop like a bunny” and “science”, they answer a science review question while hopping like a bunny.
I prefer to ask review questions on the fly instead of preparing them ahead of time. Here are some example questions I ask (remember I have the youngest children in my group)
- Tell me some of the prepositions we have learned so far.
- Do you remember any parts of the animal cell? (start singing the song to help them remember)
- 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…”
When a child answers a question correctly, they put a marker (pieces of paper or candy) on the corresponding square on their Bingo board. The first one to get five in a row wins! The children can each have their own Bingo board or you can divide your group into teams.

Printable and Editable Cycle 1 Week 5 Tutor Plans
Here is a printable EDITABLE template of these Cycle 1 Week 5 Tutor Plans. Here is a blank template too!
I hope this helps give you some ideas and songs to use whether you are a tutor or a parent.
How have the first few weeks of tutoring been so far? Comment below and share some of the best moments and any questions you might have.
Cycle 1 Week 5 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!