Cycle 3 Lesson Planning

What should CC look like at home?  Do I need to supplement?

Keep it simple!! Practice the memory work and get it into your brains.

Here are some ways to enhance that learning and to make connections with the memory work.

LATIN

The Latin memory work will make for good copywork and/or spelling.  It is also an opportunity to review previous cycles of CC English Grammar topics.  

Week 1 - Students write four English words and four Latin words.  Review what is a preposition from Cycle 1, if you have already done CC before.  Even young students can copy words and learn to spell prepositions.  (If your students are pre-K or K, writing is not necessary.  Auditory learning is fine!)  

Most Latin weeks of this cycle lend well to just auditory repetition and copywork or writing from memory for older students.

GEOGRAPHY

• Sing states and state capital songs.
• Trace the states.
• Do USA puzzles.
• Create a USA notebook
• Find books related to various areas of geography - Week by Week, I will recommend any that we have liked.

The pace for the states is super fast - 5 a week for 10 weeks.  This makes studying each one in depth challenging.  My recommendation is to memorize the geography through pointing, tracing, coloring and puzzles.  Then, throughout the year, do activities and read books about different parts of the country.  These things can be added to your USA notebook throughout the year.

MATH

Younger students - have fun with numbers, learning to skip count.  Pre-K and K students need to learn to write and recognize number and practice counting.  Older students, this is probably easy, and frees up time to work on their grade level math curriculum.

ENGLISH 

Weeks 5-17 make for good spelling practice, especially for younger students or struggling spellers. 

All the other weeks of English Grammar memory work will greatly help in Essentials program when  your students are in 4th-6th grades.  This information is the exact same as the charts they will be memorizing then.  Just practice the memory work.  If you want to add more, keep it simple - not a lot of grammar worksheets.  Instead, just point out these pieces of grammar in whatever story books you are reading with your kids.  They can recognizing "ing" words or the subject or an infinitive.  

If I come across any different or fun ways to incorporate the memory work,  I will list them out on the Week by Week page.

SCIENCE & HISTORY

Read books and make observations and watch videos and have discussions.  When appropriate, present what you are learning at presentation time, in an essay (either written or just dictated to an adult by the student), or through creative outlets - such as making up songs or chants or hand motions, drawing, making posters, doing experiments or other art.

I will list out specific book and project ideas in the Week by Week section.  Don't feel like you need to do tons of activities - but a few are definitely helpful to enhance learning.

TIMELINE

See the separate Timeline section, where I list out books that go well with Timeline or with other activity ideas.

Memorize the timeline through song and motions.  Read or listen to the audio of Story of the World.

Have conversations with your children about Timeline events to help them piece it together with events in the Bible or with your History sentences or with whatever shows you watch or books you read.