Cycle 2 Week 15 At Home Activities for Classical Homeschooling
It is Cycle 2 Week 15, and we are settling even more comfortably into our homeschool rhythm. With routines now well established, this week felt peaceful and purposeful as we continued building on what we’ve already learned. I’m so thankful for these steady weeks that allow us to slow down, enjoy our time together, and dive a little deeper into the memory work without feeling rushed.
Cycle 2 Week 14 Recap
Last week we settled into a simple rhythm focused on memory work and our weekly subjects. In geography, we explored Baltic Europe—Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Belarus—using maps, our Draw Europe book, and our felt map, which continues to be one of the girls’ favorite hands-on activities. Singing the new geography song made it even more fun and helped the countries really stick.
For history, we studied World War I leaders using our Cycle 2 Memory Work Activity books, our history placemats, and a memory game that helped the girls match each leader to their country. Science time focused on the states of matter with coloring pages, our science placemats, and a catchy vocabulary song. We wrapped up the week reviewing Latin, English, and the rest of the memory work through songs and activities in our Cycle 2 Memory Work Activity Books. Read more about what we did at home during Cycle 2 Week 14 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 each week here.
Also, I have a youtube channel where I make videos with tutor and memory work ideas each week. Below is my tutor video for Cycle 2 Week 15. Visit my channel for tutor ideas for many other weeks and other videos with homeschooling tips and encouragement.
Morning Devotional Time
We always begin our mornings together around the breakfast table. This is one of my favorite parts of homeschooling life. There is no rush to get out the door. We can take our time to read and talk 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.
Bible Study: Lesson 15 (Prophecy of the New Covenant)
This week we started Lesson 15 about the Destruction of the First Temple from the Foundations of the Bible study by Driven by Grace. We read related stories in the The Complete Illustrated Children’s Bible. The beautiful pictures and faithful retelling help my kids connect with what they are hearing.
My daughters also enjoyed coloring the corresponding activity page from the Foundations of the Bible Activity Book, also from Driven by Grace. We have also been enjoying listening to the Bible memory work song from Driven by Grace. Her songs are really catchy and have helped us remember this Bible memory work.
If you would like to know more about our full morning devotional routine, you can read my post about it here.
Also, here are the Bible stories we read from The Complete Illustrated Children’s Bible (TCICB) that went along with the Foundations of the Bible Study Lesson 15 about the Destruction of the First Temple.
| Day of the Week | Bible Passage | Story Title | Page in TCICB |
| Monday | 2 Kings 25:1-2 | The Fall of Jerusalem | pg. 246 |
| Wednesday | Isaiah 40: 30-31 | Comfort in Despair | pg. 248 |
| Thursday | Ezekiel 1:4-6 | Ezekiel’s Amazing Vision | pg. 250 |
| Friday | Ezekiel 4:1-3 | Ezekiel’s Warning | pg. 252 |
The 24 Family Ways
We also learned our fifteenth Family Way from The 24 Family Ways by Sally and Clay Clarkson. We began memorizing the Bible verse that goes with it, Mark 9:35. I write both the Family Way and the Bible verse on chalk boards that hang near our kitchen table so we can see them often.
While I read, my girls colored the corresponding page from their 24 Family Ways coloring books.
After reading, I played two songs for them. One was our Bible memory work song (from @drivenbygrace), and the other was a song to help us remember the Bible verse. I have found songs that match with each Bible verse and Family Way, and we use them often. Most of the songs I use are from Steve Green’s CDs. Songs are such a powerful tool for helping children memorize Scripture. You can download my matchup of the 24 Family Ways with Bible verses and songs from my Resource Library.
We always end our devotional time with prayer and singing a few hymns from this gem of a book called My First Hymnal by Karyn Henley.
Math and Language Arts
After devotional time, we moved into our daily math work. I’m continuing to use The Good and The Beautiful for math, and it’s been such a good fit for us. My oldest is now working through Level 2, and my 4-year-old is doing their Preschool curriculum, which I’ll explain more below.
Read here why I decided to switch from Saxon math to The Good and The Beautiful (TGATB). I like doing math right after devotional time because everyone is fresh, and it’s easier to be consistent this way.
This year we are starting to do more focused language arts with my oldest, and it has been such a joy. We are using The Good and The Beautiful Level 1 Language Arts and Literature curriculum, and we have been loving it so far.
The curriculum covers everything she needs at this stage—phonics, reading, spelling, grammar, writing, and handwriting—all in one open-and-go program. The lessons are beautifully illustrated and very engaging, which keeps her interested from start to finish. Each lesson takes us about 30 minutes a day, which is the perfect length for her attention span right now.
I also picked up some of the readers that go along with the program, and she has really enjoyed them. They give her extra practice with reading and help her gain confidence as she sees herself making progress. I am so encouraged to see her excitement grow as she realizes how much she is learning.
Preschool with my 4-year old
With my 4-year-old, I am keeping things very simple. She is working through The Good and The Beautiful Preschool Curriculum along with a Handwriting Without Tears book, and that combination has been perfect for her.
I don’t believe children at this age need to be doing formal bookwork yet. I think play, stories, and being part of family life are the most important. But I like having these gentle resources because she often wants to do what her older sister is doing. Having her own activities gives her a sense of ownership and keeps her engaged.
We even call this her “math,” and she beams with pride when she sits down with her workbook. It is such a sweet way for her to join in without adding pressure, and it gives us a fun rhythm we can enjoy together.
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. I either record myself singing or download the CC songs to the Voice Memos app on my phone. Then I make a weekly playlist of all the memory work songs. That way, I can just plug my phone into my car when we drive and we can listen to them! See my playlist of Cycle 2 Week 15 songs for English, Science, Math and Geography below.
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):
Geography
This week in geography, we learned about the Levant, focusing on the countries Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Iraq, and Iran.
It was fun to explore these countries since they’re in a slightly different region than most of the European places we’ve studied so far. My girls colored each country with matching colors in their Memory Work Activity Books and traced the country names to help them remember them.
Geography Passports
We also continued reviewing geography from the first half of the year as my oldest prepares to work toward Geography Master. Using her Geography Passport has been a great way to reinforce what she knows, and she loves adding stamps as we learn new geography each week. I recently figured out how to fit the stamps onto sticky circular labels, which makes stamping even easier and more fun!
We enjoyed reading from Your Passport to Turkey by Nancy Dickmann, Your Passport to Iran by Sara Petersohn, and Syria by Julie Murray. They loved looking through the photos in these books and learning a few unique facts about each country. Be sure to check it out my Cycle 2 booklist! I’ve gathered picture books that connect to every week of the memory work this cycle!
To help with memorization, we also learned a new geography song for this week’s countries to the tune of Who Built the Arc. Singing the countries together always brings so much joy to our lessons and really helps the information stick.
Diving Deeper into Europe!
In their European Countries Workbooks, my girls colored new countries and learned a bit more about each one by reading about a popular dish, an animal, and a fun fact connected to these regions. It has been so fun watching them work through this workbook alongside our Cycle 2 studies and seeing how much their understanding of Europe has grown over time.
We found these countries on our large felt Europe map and my girls took them off and snapped them back on in the correct places.
Pulling the felt countries off and placing them back on together continues to be one of their favorite geography activities and makes the map feel so interactive and hands-on. A few times a week, I take all of the felt countries we’ve learned so far off the map, and my girls work on putting them back in the correct spots. It’s so fun and they are getting very familiar with the European countries! Download paper maps of Europe with all the countries labeled here!
I have the patterns for all the European countries, as well as a tutorial about how to make this kind of map in my shop. Also see my video for how to make this map with a few simple materials. You can find more information and links for these materials here.
We also made up a fun song to help us learn all of these European countries!
European Songs Tonies
Alongside our mapwork, my girls have been listening to their European Children’s Songs Tonie on their Toniebox. It has become a sweet background to our school days and has helped them soak in even more about European culture and music.
Drawing Europe
My oldest also spent time adding more detail to her map using her Draw Europe book by Kristin J. Draeger, carefully sketching additional parts of Europe as she goes. Little by little, she’s building a full picture of the continent, and it’s been such a joy to watch her confidence grow. Geography has truly become one of her favorite parts of our homeschool days this year.
History
This week in history we learned about World War I Countries!
My daughters enjoyed coloring the different World War I countries depending on whether they were allies, central powers, or neutral powers in their Cycle 2 Memory Work Activity Books while listening to the history song.
We also spent time reading through the history placemat together, learning more about the different countries involved in World War I and their roles in the war.
World War I Leaders Memory Card Game
We continued playing the World War I memory game I made for last week, which helped us start to recognize the faces of the World War I leaders and connect each one with the country they led. You can grab this game from the Week 14 game set (from last week) that’s in my resource library.
Finally, we kept reading Finding Winnie by Lindsay Mattick, which gave us a gentle but meaningful glimpse into life during World War I and helped us all better understand the time period. Be sure to check it out my Cycle 2 booklist! I’ve gathered picture books that connect to every week of the memory work this cycle!
I also read from The Story of the World, Volume 4 to my older daughter about World War I countries. The Driven by Grace matchup helps us easily see which chapters tie into this week’s topic.
NEW Cycle 2 History and Science Placemats
These brand-new Cycle 2 History and Science Placemats are designed to make memory work fun and interactive for kids, whether you’re using them alongside Classical Conversations or on their own as a way to dive deeper into history and science.
Each placemat is filled with colorful visuals and simple explanations that bring the topics to life. Just print, laminate, and use them again and again during meals and review time. They’re an easy, no-prep way to dive deeper into the history and science topics with your kids. Get your set for Weeks 13-18 below. The other three quarters are also available HERE!
Science
This week in science, we learned about 2 forms of energy: kinetic and potential!
My girls enjoyed coloring the biking pictures in their Cycle 2 Memory Work Activity Books as I explained the difference between kinetic and potential energy to them.
We also used our science placemat to read more about each of these forms of energy and some examples of each one. These placemats have really helped us to dive deeper into the science and history topics each week!
Energy Sequence Game
We loved playing an energy sequence game I made, which helped us see different examples of potential and kinetic energy. You can grab this game from my resource library below!
Also, to help my girls remember the new vocabulary, we sang a fun song to the tune of John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. As we sang, we pointed to each form of energy on our placemat — kinetic and potential — to connect the words with their visuals. It was such a simple, joyful way to reinforce what we learned while keeping science time lively and fun!
Math, Latin, and English Memory Work
On the last day of our week, we focused on the math, Latin, and English memory work. My girls worked on the activities in their Cycle 2 Memory Work Activity Books, which gave them fun and simple ways to practice each subject.
We reviewed our math metric measurements together and sang both the Latin noun endings and a fun song that helped us learn the four purposes of sentences. We love using these beautiful memory work visuals from @kimberlyvieley. We have them for each subject! I love using songs for memory work. They’re fun, easy to prepare, and incredibly powerful for helping kids remember. Plus, once a song is learned, it’s simple to review again later, whether at home, in the car, or during playtime. See my video below of our adverb song to the tune If You’re Happy and you Know It.
The memory work activities kept things engaging and gave my 6-year-old and 4-year-old extra practice with writing and tracing. Having dedicated time at the end of the week to pull these subjects together worked really well for us, and it gave a sense of closure before heading into the weekend.
Great Artists in Fine Arts
Now that we’re in the second half of Cycle 2, Fine Arts shifts to Great Artists, and it’s been such a sweet part of our homeschool rhythm. Over six weeks, the children are introduced to famous artists, learn to recognize different styles, and create simple projects inspired by their work.
In our community, Great Artists time is kept short and engaging—one artist each week, a few well-known works, a handful of kid-friendly takeaways, and then we jump into creating.
If you’d like to see exactly how we structure Great Artists time (both in community and at home), I shared all the details in a separate blog post, along with some resources that make planning much easier. I also share:
- Free week-by-week artist bios + printable public-domain artwork for poster boards
- Cycle 2 Great Artists Mini Books for home
- Great Artists Showdown (a War-style review card game)
- Great Artists Memory Game (matching artists to famous works)
You can read the full Great Artists post and find everything linked below.
Cycle 2 Weeks 13-24 Review Activity Book
I’m excited to share with you about my brand new Weeks 13-24 Review Activity Book! I designed it to help kids review, connect, and celebrate everything they’ve learned in the second half of Cycle 2 — from geography and history to science, math, Latin, English, and even the timeline.
Inside, you’ll find 50 engaging activities that make review time interactive and joyful. Each page reinforces memory work while encouraging deeper connections and confidence. Whether you use it during a mid-cycle break, after you complete cycle 2, or as part of your regular review time, it’s an easy, low-prep way to keep learning fresh and fun.
You can find the Cycle 2 Weeks 13-24 Review Activity Book in my shop below! I also have a Cycle 2 Weeks 1-12 Review Activity book that review the material from the first have of Cycle 2.
Fun Review Games for Cycle 2
One of our favorite ways to review is with fun, themed board games. I created a monopoly style history review game and a set of Candyland-style games that make memory work review exciting and interactive for kids. Check them out below!
Cycle 2 Historyopoly
One of our favorite ways to review history is with Cycle 2 Historyopoly, a brand new game I created this year.
It is modeled after Monopoly but uses all of the Cycle 2 history sentences. The kids love rolling dice, moving around the board, and reviewing history facts as we play. It turns review into something exciting and fresh, and we will definitely be pulling it out again many more times this year. You can grab this NEW game below!
Memory Work Kingdom (Spring Edition)
We’ve also been playing Memory Work Meadowland, a Spring/Easter-themed review game (since Spring is coming soon!). It works just like Candyland, but with the addition of memory work review built in. Players move along the board by drawing cards with color blocks or picture spaces, then answer a review question that matches the space they land on. Correct answers let them stay put, but if they miss, they move back. The game also includes fun twists with water slides and ladders to keep things lively. The first player to reach the church wins!
The best part is that I now have a fall version, a winter version, and a spring version, so you can rotate them throughout the school year. You can grab each one individually, or get the seasonal bundle with all three at a special price.
These games work for all three cycles and have been such a hit in our home. They are perfect for community review days, family game nights, or just a fun way to end your homeschool week. You can find them all in my shop below.
Planning Our Homeschool Week
Instead of printing out detailed lesson plan templates this year, I have been using my homeschool planner to keep everything organized. It has been such a helpful tool for me as I think through our week.
I use the Cycle 2 memory work pages in the planner to map out how we will practice the memory work together. These pages make it easy to see each subject at a glance and jot down games, songs, or activities that I want to use with my kids. I also use the weekly and daily planning pages to schedule what we will do each day for math, language arts, and reading.
I’ve tried to simplify things this year so I don’t need to spend a lot of time prepping or printing. Having the Cycle 2 Memory Work Activity Book and my Cycle 2 Picture Book List ready to go means I can sit down and plan the week quickly without extra work.
Another part of the planner that I love is the monthly habit tracker. I use it to write down a few habits I want to focus on each month, like improving my health and being more present with my kids. It’s been a great reminder of the small but meaningful steps I want to take.
This planner has truly helped me stay organized so far this year, and it makes planning feel simple and purposeful instead of overwhelming. Get one for your homeschool year here!
Picture Books for Cycle 2 Week 15
Here are all the picture books we enjoy this week:
- Geography from A to Z by Jack Knowlton
- Draw Europe (Draw the World) by Kristin J. Draeger
- Maps and Globes by Harriet Barton
- Finding Winnie by Lindsay Mattick
- The Metric System by David A. Adler
- Your Passport to Turkey by Nancy Dickmann
- Your Passport to Iran by Sara Petersohn
- Syria by Julie Murray
You can see my ENTIRE Cycle 2 picture book list for each week of Cycle 2 here!
Cycle 2 Week 15 Memory Work Games
Here is the science game I mentioned in this post plus a Latin endings BINGO game that you can play with your kids this week to practice the memory work. You can sign up below to receive these FREE games below.
I hope you are having a great school year so far! Please comment below with any questions or share what’s been working well for your family so far!
