science activities on kitchen table

Cycle 1 Week 8 At Home Activities for Classical Homeschooling

Are you searching for engaging ways to make Cycle 1, Week 8 memory work more fun at home? Join me as I share the activities, games, and books that have enriched our homeschooling week.

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Last week we finished up Cycle 1 Week 7. My girls enjoyed going on an archaeological dig out in our sandbox. I buried some of their toys under the sand and gave them paint brushes to uncover what they found. As they dug, I told them that this was how archaeologists discovered the Indus River Valley’s two large cities in 1875. This was where Buddhism and Hinduism were thought to have originated. We also learned different ways animals reproduce and played a fun board game that I made. Read more about what we did at home during the previous weeks of Cycle 1 here: Week 1 , Week 2Week 3Week 4Week 5, Week 6, and Week 7. You can also get a peek into our first couple of homeschool weeks here.

If you missed it, we also played FOUR different fun review games recently that helped us practice the memory work we have learned so far in Cycle 1. Read more about these review games and download them to play with your kids here.

homeschooling review games and materials spread out on table

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 nine weeks of Cycle 1 below:

  1. Cycle 1 Week 1 Tutor Ideas
  2. Cycle 1 Week 2 Tutor Ideas
  3. Cycle 1 Week 3 Tutor Ideas
  4. Cycle 1 Week 4 Tutor Ideas
  5. Cycle 1 Week 5 Tutor Ideas
  6. Cycle 1 Week 6 Tutor Ideas
  7. Cycle 1 Week 7 Tutor Ideas
  8. Cycle 1 Week 8 Tutor Ideas
  9. Cycle 1 Week 9 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 8. If you are thinking past the eighth week, I also have a video for Cycle 1 Week 9 and more coming soon! Visit my channel for tutor ideas for future weeks and other videos with homeschooling tips and encouragement.

Cycle 1 Week 8 Tutor Ideas

Practicing 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 practice the Cycle 1 Week 8 memory work (new grammar) at home throughout the week.

Morning Devotional Time

I 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 study 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.  We follow along with the Bible readings and study that corresponds with the Bible memory work we are learning. 

bible study materials set out on kitchen table
Foundations of the Bible study and Children's Bible laying out on top of table.

Bible Study

What Bible study am I doing you might ask? I love using the Foundations of The Bible study from @drivenbygrace. This Bible study goes along with Bible memory work. Lindsey, the author of the study, matches the stories from TCICB that go along with the Bible study and Bible memory work for that week.  If there aren’t enough Bible stories for each day of the week, then I find others that go along with the theme.   After I read, I try to ask my kids a few questions about it to see how much they understood.  My five year old is pretty sharp at this. 

If you’re curious about more of what I do in our morning devotional time, read my post about it here.

This week, I read Lesson 8 from the Foundations of the Bible study about Job. The Bible stories from TCICB that I read each morning either correspond to the Bible study or part of this week’s memory work. See the end of this post for my PRINTABLE lesson plans with details of what I read each day.

girls coloring family way coloring page at kitchen table

The 24 Family Ways

As I read to my kids from the Bible Study Lesson, I have them either color their 24 Family Ways coloring book or one of the activity pages from the Foundations of the Bible study activity book. This works well because they can concentrate on coloring and listen to me read.

bible study materials and coloring page on kitchen table

After I read the part of the Bible study lesson to them and we talk about it, I go over the Family Way (from Sally and Clay Clarkson’s 24 Family Ways) we are learning about this week. We also work on memorizing the Bible verse that goes with that Family Way. I write both the Family Way and the Bible verse on chalk boards that I have hanging up by our kitchen table so we can see them often. 

Our 24 family ways book and coloring books laying on table
mom pointing to family way written on chalkboard in kitchen

I also have found songs that match with each Bible verse that I play after we eat breakfast.  Songs 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.

24 Family Way Devotional plan and books.

Singing Hymns

Then comes my kids’ favorite part, SINGING HYMNS!  I stumbled over this gem of a book called My First Hymnal by Karyn Henley and it is AWESOME!  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.

This week I also sing My Jesus I Love Thee with my kids. This hymn isn’t in My First Hymnal but I play it for them. I love reading about the history and author of each hymn to my kids using these beautiful Hymn Study Cards. I also show my kids one of these Attributes of God letter cards from @drivenbygrace.

Math and Language Arts

Each day I try to do at least a little math and language arts with my oldest daughter. This year she is working through The Good and The Beautiful Level 1 math curriculum. Read here why I decided to switch from Saxon math to The Good and The Beautiful (TGATB). TGATB is very open and go and a good mix of lessons and activities. It’s beautiful too! I try to do a lesson with her after our morning devotional time. She is usually the freshest then and if I wait until later in the day to do it, I’m not as consistent.

The Good and the Beautiful math curriculum laying out on table.
handwriting book opened up on table

I also have this Handwriting without Tears for my oldest daughter the first level for my younger daughter. Sometimes it works out to have my girls do some of this in the mornings. If we don’t have enough time the, I have my older daughter do a bit in the afternoon when it’s quiet time. I don’t do it every day with her, just a few times a week.

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. See my playlist of Cycle 1 Week 8 songs for English, Science and Geography below.

Cycle 1 Week 8 English, Science and Geography songs

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):

Weekly subject focus schedule

Geography

This week in geography, we learn about the Indus River Valley. First, I show my girls where the Indus River Valley is on their placemats.

geography maps of the roman empire and picture book

Then we enjoy playing this geography dice game that I made. The girls switch off rolling the die and try to identify the location on their map that matches the number rolled. Each number they roll corresponds to a location in the Indus River Valley. For example, if they roll a 4, they try to identify the place on their map that is labeled with a number 4. You can get this for free with my other Cycle 1 Week 8 Memory work activities from the Resource Page on my blog.

mom helping daughter identify places on map
girl playing geography game

We sing a song together to the tune of Row Row Row Your Boat. This helps my girls remember these locations in the Indus River Valley. See my video below.

Cycle 1 Week 8 Geography Song

History

This week in history we learn about the Age of Imperialism. We enjoy reading the book Mahatma Gandhi by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara.

history game and materials out on kitchen table

Age of Imperialism Board Game

We enjoy playing this Age of Imperialism board game I made that helps us review the history sentence. We switch off drawing a card and moving our marker to the next matching spot on the board. Then we try to sing the history sentence up until the spot where we landed. By the end of the game my daughter can sing the entire history sentence! After playing, I decide to make the game longer since it goes pretty fast for us. You can get this updated game for free with my other Cycle 1 Week 8 Memory work activities from the Resource Page on my blog.

girl playing history board game
age of imperialism history board game and cards

Timeline Image Coloring Page

Each week I also give my kids the Timeline Image from Scribblers in ccconnected.com. My daughter enjoys coloring Gandhi this week with her colored pencils.

gandhi coloring page and age of imperialism card

Science

This week in science we learn about some types of seed plants. My daughter colors the Science coloring page from Scribblers Cycle 1 Week 8 in ccconnected.com. I read to my girls from several books we checked out from our library about seeds. We really enjoy From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons, Seed to Plant by Kristin Baird Rattini, and Miss Maple’s Seeds by Eliza Wheeler.

science activities, game and books on kitchen table

We have a great time playing this monocot, dicot, and conifer card game I made. It is such a great way to learn about different foods and plants that are these different types of seeds. You can get this game for free with my other Cycle 1 Week 8 Memory work activities from the Resource Page on my blog.

girl coloring science coloring page
types of seed plants card game

We sing a song together to the tune of Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone. This helps my girls remember these different types of seed plants. See my video below.

Cycle 1 Week 8 Science Song

Lesson Plan Templates

Click here to download an EDITABLE template of my detailed lesson plans for Cycle 1 Week 8. Here is a blank template you can download too.

Here are all the picture books we enjoy during Cycle 1 Week 8:

  1. Mahatma Gandhi by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara.
  2. Where is Jumper by Ellen Stoll Walsh
  3. Out the Door by Christy Hale
  4. From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons
  5. Seed to Plant by Kristin Baird Rattini
  6. Miss Maple’s Seeds by Eliza Wheeler

Cycle 1 Week 8 Memory Work Activities

Here are activities to help practice the remaining memory work. You can sign up below to receive these AND the activities I mentioned above for geography and science.

  • Preposition card game
  • Latin Bingo game
  • Skip counting the 14’s game

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.

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