In this recap, I am going to share what we did at home for more hands-on learning related to Classical Conversations Cycle 1 Week 2: Bible, History, Geography, and Science memory work. I will also share my tutor plans, library books, and how we do Essentials at home.
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BIBLE:
Resources: Foundations of the Bible vol. 1
For Week 2, we learned about Days 4, 5, and 6 of creation using the Foundations of the Bible study (in our shop). We learned how God filled all the empty spaces He created on Days 1, 2, and 3. When I studied for this lesson, I was amazed by God’s creativity and attention to every detail!
Note: This study pairs with each week of the CC optional Bible memory work, but you can go at your own pace because there is SO much to learn. You can also jump in at any time. Anyone can do this study, not just CC families. Learn more about the Foundations collection here.
HISTORY:
Resources: Story of the World Book Cycle 1 (Match Up List) | Story of the World Series | Real Cool History for Kids Podcast — Chronological episode guide here
Activity: The 10 Commandments Wheel
This week, we learned about Commandments 6-10. We continued filling out the free commandment wheel I have on my website to draw and review the commandments. We also read chapters 3 & 4 of Story of the World. Our goal is to read the entire ancient history volume for this cycle.
SCIENCE:
Resources: Learning with Friends Year 1 Bundle (code GRACEFRIENDS for 10% off) | CC Connected Sandbox File
Activity: Grow fungi on bread
This week, we are learning about the kingdoms of living things. One of the kingdoms is fungi. Our science unit by Learning with Friends had us rub fresh, homemade bread on dirty surfaces in our home. We sealed the contaminated bread in plastic bags and have been watching the fungi grow. We did the toilet, fake grass w/ dog poop, and the outside trash can. After 2 days, the trash can bread already had fungi growing on it.
GEOGRAPHY:
Resources: Trace black line maps from CC sandbox | Drawing Africa | Keppel Trifold Maps on CC Connected
Activity: Trace maps daily, Make a recipe from the region (Crockpot Recipes), Fig Bread Recipe
This week, we learned about the Assyrian Empire. I have binders for the kids and placed the blackline maps in a sheet protector so they can trace over the maps every morning. If you want maps that are already highlighted for you, download the “Trifold Board Printouts-keppel” on CC Connected. We also made Assyrian fig bread and a Persian beef stew. Both were delicious and linked above.
ESSENTIALS AT HOME:
Resources: Q1 Workbook by Kimberly Vieley - This is a free workbook BUT has the option to donate to bless Kim for all the time and effort it took her to create it!
This is our first year in Essentials, and I am enjoying it so much. I want to share how we are doing Essentials at home because I know it can be a scary thing for most families. I used to be nervous about joining the program, but our community has made it a priority to make Essentials fun and approachable. We really emphasize that the first year is primarily teaching the parents, and the following two years it will click for the kids. We can't help our kids too much in their first year!
Here is how we do Essentials at home.
Community Day (Thursday):
We learn all the new info in class. I take notes for my son so he can participate in class and not get overwhelmed by writing. I help him fill in the key word outline that we do as a class so, again, he's not overwhelmed. It's hard for young kids to take notes and participate in class at the same time.
Day 1 (Friday): KWO Day
We reread the key word outline (KWO) from class to make sure it still makes sense. If we can't remember something, we reread the source text and fix the KWO. Then, we finish the KWO for the remaining text. We review the charts and new grammar using Kimberly Vieley's workbook.
Day 2 (Monday): First Draft of Paragraph
We practice vocab words and new grammar with our Q1 workbook. My son then reads his KWO out loud, and I will write or type his narration on paper. I will purposefully add in some errors for him to edit like missing capitalization, wrong end marks, and obvious misspellings.
Day 3 (Tuesday): Editing & Dress-ups
We will review new grammar and vocabulary words. Then, we will edit the paper and add our dress-ups and vocabulary words.
Day 4 (Wednesday): Final Draft
We review new grammar and vocabulary using the workbook. We will write the final draft of the paper and highlight all the dress-ups we added. I can grade it using the IEW point system provided at the end of the student guide lesson.
LIBRARY BOOKS:
Here are some books related to the weekly memory work. Lots of science books this week!
- Bacteria by Jill Keppeler (Science)
- The Variety of Life by Nicola Davies (Science)
- The Beauty of the beast: Poems from the animal kingdom (Science)
- Fungi Grow by Maria Gianferrari (Science)
- Fungus is among us! by Joy Keller (Science)
- How to swallow a pig by Steve Jenkins (Science)
- Mushroom Rain by Laura Zimmermann (Science)
- Grow by Riz Reyes (Science)
- God Made It For You! by Charles Lehmann (Bible)
- This I Know by Clay Anderson (Bible)
TUTOR PLANS:
How to Make a Tutor Board | Week 2 Tutor Plans | Blank Tutor Template
Here is my tutor board for week 2.
YOUTUBE PLAYLIST:
I created my first YouTube channel to record all the songs and hand motions I want to use with the kids. I've compiled each subject's songs into a weekly playlist. I create this primarily to help the parents in my class review the motions with their kids at home. This is a great resource for other tutors to use to build their plans for the week.
PREVIEW: WEEK 3 PLANS
Here's a look at what we plan on doing for Week 3.
Here's the Bingo Card I made that we will use for Greek & Roman god Bingo review.
That's a wrap! Hope you have a great week!
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