Cycle 2 Week 17 Tutor Ideas for Classical Homeschooling
As always, I’m not affiliated with any Classical education organization—these are simply ideas and routines that have worked well in my own classroom. I hope these Cycle 2 Week 17 tutor plans give you practical inspiration and help your students enjoy learning together!
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 2 material
This year in Cycle 2, we’re learning about pre-Reformation to modern history, ecology, astronomy, and physics; Latin verb endings; English pronouns, adverbs, and conjunctions; skip counting, conversions, and more!
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 2 Week 17 Tutor and Memory Work Ideas
New Grammar
Geography – Central European Countries
This week in geography, we’re learning about the Central European countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, and Switzerland.
Before class, I prepare our trivium table maps ahead of time. You could also print a map and laminate it if you prefer. (This is the printer and laminator I use all the time!) I outline the countries we’re learning about this week each in a different color of dry erase marker so they’re easy to distinguish.
At the start of geography time, each child receives a trivium table map with the countries outlined. I also give them a dry erase marker and have them write the first letter of each country inside its borders. Since each country begins with a different letter, this gives the kids a quick visual cue to help them remember which country is which as we review together.
Once everyone can identify each country, we’ll learn our Central Europe geography song to the tune Buffalo Gals to help them remember the names and locations. We’ll sing through it several times while pointing to each country on our maps, making it both fun and memorable!
English – A Verb
This week in English, we are learning the definition of a noun. A noun names a person, place, thing, activity, or idea.
To help the kids remember this definition, we will sing a cheerful song to the tune of I am a Little Teapot. See my video below for the tune.
As we sing, we will pair each part of the definition with a simple hand motion:
person — point to yourself
place — make a roof shape over your head
thing — pretend to pick up an object
activity — run in place
idea — tap your head like you are thinking
Once the kids know the motions, we will sing the song through normally a couple of times. Then, just like last week, I will hand out silly voice cards such as robot, mouse, opera singer, and monster growl. We will sing the noun definition again using whichever silly voice is chosen. The kids love this twist, and it keeps them engaged while hearing the definition many times in a fun way.
You can download my UPDATED printable Silly Voice and Action Cards for free by entering your email in the form below and I’ll send them straight to your mailbox!
Silly Voice and Action Cards
Timeline
The timeline stays the same each cycle, and this week we continue with the next seven cards.
I often use these Timeline Cards in class: 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 2 Week 17 Timeline
This week for Timeline, we will continue our fun card hunt and ordering activity! Before class begins, I place seven pieces of painters tape on the wall where the timeline cards will go, and I hide all seven cards around the room.
When it is time to start Timeline, I tell the children to quietly search the room and see if they can find one or two cards, depending on the size of our group, and bring them back to their seats.
As they look for the cards, I sing this week’s section of the timeline song. I prefer to sing it myself instead of playing the recording so I can control the tempo and keep everyone together. See my tutor video for this week’s tune.
Once all the cards have been found, we work together to put them in order. I start with the first event and say something like:
“The first card is Napoleon crowned emperor of France. What letter does ‘Napoleon’ start with?”
A child answers, “N!” and I say, “Correct! Who has a card that starts with the letter N?”
The child holding that card brings it to the wall and places it on the first piece of painters tape. We continue this process until all seven cards are placed in the correct order.
After all the cards are up, we review the motions for each timeline event. I have the children stand by their seats where they can clearly see all the cards as we practice the motions together.
Next, we play a memory game. I tell the children to close their eyes while I turn one of the cards around so the front is hidden. When they open their eyes, they try to remember which card is missing. After someone guesses correctly, we repeat the game again, turning over more cards each round. This becomes a fun challenge as they try to remember two, three, or even all seven events in the correct order!
To finish, I invite the children to stand in front of the timeline cards along the wall. I place spot markers beneath each card so each child knows where to stand. Then we sing this week’s timeline section together with the motions. This final run-through helps them cement the order, the names, and the motions of all seven events.
See my video below for the motions and song for this week’s timeline section:
Math
This week in math, we’re learning about the area of a square! Before class begins, I like to use painter’s tape to create a couple of large square on the floor. These become our “learning mats” for an active review.
When it’s time for math, I first draw a square on my tutor board and introduce the area formula: length of the side squared. We talk briefly about how area tells us how much space is inside the shape. Then, I teach the next part of our geometry song to help the kids remember the formula. See my “Weeks 16–20 Geometry Song” video below!
We’ll continue singing this same song for the next few weeks, adding a new formula each time as we build on what we’ve learned.
Next, I divide the class into two groups, each gathered around one of the taped squares. As we sing the song together, the kids take turns doing fun movements:
- 🚶 Walk along the edge of the square
- 👣 Tiptoe carefully along the edge (they must stay on the tape!)
- 🦶 Hop on one foot along the edge
- 🦶 Switch feet and hop on the other foot
- 🕺 Jump from inside the square to the outside
This simple, movement-based activity helps the children connect the concept of area with a hands-on visual, all while reinforcing the song and keeping energy high!
History
This week our history sentence is: World War II Axis leaders were: Hitler of Germany, Tojo of Japan, and Mussolini of Italy. World War II Allied leaders were: Churchill of England, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and MacArthur of the United States, and Stalin of the USSR.
To make this lesson hands-on and visual, I will give each child picture cutouts of the different leaders we are studying.
Before we begin the sorting activity, we will briefly talk about which leaders belonged to each side:
Allied Leaders: Franklin D Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, Dwight D Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur
Axis Leaders: Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Hideki Tojo
Then the children will sort the leader images by placing or gluing them into the correct column on a simple page labeled Allied Leaders and Axis Leaders.
As they sort their pictures, we will listen to this week’s history song together and sing along to help reinforce which leaders were working together during World War II (see my tutor video for this week’s tune).
This activity helps the children clearly see the two sides of the conflict and build memorable associations between each leader and his role in the war.
You can download the PDF of this activity here!
Science: Newton’s Second Law of Motion
This week in science, we’re learning about Newton’s Second Law of Motion — Newton’s second law of motion states that force equals mass times acceleration. F = ma.
To help the kids remember this concept, we’ll sing a lively song to the tune of If You’re Happy and You Know It. As we sing, we’ll use different action cards to act out the motions — running, spinning, hopping, tiptoeing, etc. You can download these action cards from free HERE.
But there’s a catch… when we sing the word “acceleration,” everyone has to speed up the action they are doing! So if the action is “popping like popcorn,” then when we sing “acceleration,” everyone has to start popping faster!
We’ll sing the song several times, switching action cards each round so everyone gets to move in a new way. This helps reinforce the idea that if there is more acceleration, we go faster!
See my video below for this week’s science song.
Latin
This week in Latin, we’re learning the first conjugation endings in the future tense — bō, bis, bit, bimus, bitis, bunt.
See my tutor video for the tune we use to sing these! Before we begin, I write the endings clearly on my tutor board and review them with the children.
To make it extra fun and engaging, we will use our silly voice sticks. These are large popsicle sticks that I painted and wrote some silly voices on such as robot, mouse, opera singer, baby, monster, or cowboy. You could also use the silly voice cards, I’m just going to make it a little different with the kids this week with these sticks instead.
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
First, we will sing the future tense endings together in our normal voices so everyone hears them clearly. Then I will draw a silly voice stick, and we will sing the endings again using that voice. I’ll give each child a turn to draw a different silly voice stick and we will repeat the song in the different silly voices.
For review this week, we are going to play Lovebug again! This is a fun Valentine’s Day review game, similar to the Stinky Feet! review game we played earlier this year.
Before community group, I cut out and laminate this love bug sign and heart cards. You can download these for free! You can also just draw a heart on a white board and use sticky notes as the cards if you don’t want to print anything out.
The heart cards have either a positive number on the back or a negative number with a bug. The numbers are from -2o to +20 in increments of 5.
I split my class into teams. I ask the first child a review question from any subject and after they answer they get to pick a heart card off of the board. If they don’t know the correct answer, I let the rest of their team help. They turn the card over and see it’s a “love bug” card or not. A “love bug” card is a negative number with a bug on it.
Whatever point value is on the back of the card gets added or subtracted from the team’s score.
The game ends when all the heart cards are gone! Whichever team ends up with the most points wins! Or you could switch it up and have the team with the least points win.
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):
- Can you name one of the countries in World War I?
- What do you remember about the Industrial Revolution?
- Who remembers one of the states of matter?
- What is one purpose of a sentence?
- What is one form of energy?
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.
NEW 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.
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!
Cycle 2 Memory Work Activity Book
If you’re looking for a fun way to review the memory work at home with your kids this year, check out our NEW Cycle 2 Memory Work Activity Book. I created this notebook to give kids a fun way to practice their memory work, without adding extra prep for mom, dad, or grandma.
Inside, there’s one short activity for each subject for all 24 weeks of Cycle 2. When we do geography on Monday, they do the geography activity for that week. When we get to Thursday, they do the science page. It’s so easy to match to whatever we’re focusing on that day.
I love that it keeps things simple and fun. It’s NOW available in digital and printed form, and there is a sample page you can take a peek at if you would like too! Check it out below!
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!
Cycle 2 Geography Passport
We also have a fun addition for geography review — the Cycle 2 Geography Passport! Whether you’re a tutor or a homeschool parent, this printable resource helps kids track their Classical Conversations Cycle 2 geography week by week with full-color maps and matching cut-and-glue stamps.
Each page highlights that week’s memory work with clearly labeled locations, making it easy for young learners to connect what they’re memorizing with what they see on the map. Kids love collecting stamps as they “travel” through the world. You can also print these stamps on these sticky circular labels which makes it even more fun!
You can use the Geography Passport at home with your own children, or print it out for use in class. A group license option is available if you’d like to use it with your tutoring class or community group.
It pairs perfectly with the Cycle 2 Memory Work Activity Book, giving your students or children a hands-on, engaging way to practice their memory work all year long. If you’d like both resources, be sure to check out the bundle option available in my shop!
Memory Work Meadowland
Another one of our favorite ways to review is with fun, themed board games. I created a set of Candyland-style games that make memory work review exciting and interactive for kids. These games can be used with any cycle and are a great way to practice all of the memory work subjects together.
We’ve been playing Memory Work Meadowland, a Spring/Easter-themed review game. 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 they 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 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 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.
Printable and Editable Cycle 2 Week 17 Tutor Plans
Here is a printable EDITABLE template of these Cycle 2 Week 17 Tutor Plans. Here is a blank template too! If you want the plans as they are, here is a PDF version (filled out) and a PDF version (blank).
Cycle 2 Week 17 Memory Work Games
Also check out the FREE activities and games that you can use at home to help your kids practice the memory work this week.
I hope this helps give you some ideas and songs to use whether you are a tutor or a parent. Please comment below if you have any questions about anything.
Blessings to you on this homeschooling journey!
