Classical Conversations Cycle 3: Week 5 Recap

In this recap, I am going to share what we did at home for more hands-on learning related to Classical Conversations Cycle 3 Week 5: Bible, History, Geography, and Science memory work. At the end of this post, I will also share some of the favorite read-alouds we grabbed from the library this week.

Let's dive right into what we did for Week 5! 

Bible:
Resource: Foundations of the Bible vol.3  |  Bible Memory Songs  |  Hymnology Cards

My favorite part for Bible study this week was seeing the CC timeline song line up with what we were learning in the study. The timeline sone sings about Judah falling to Babylon and the temple being destroyed. All of those details are covered in the Lesson 5 study in the Ezra overview! We also learn about the wall being rebuilt in Nehemiah, and gain a better understanding of the Persian Empire. It was a great full circle connection this week. 

We learned about the following books this week: 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and Job!

If you are new here, we learn the optional Bible memory work for Classical Conversations each week and we dive deeper by using my Bible study Foundations of the Bible. It's been such a blessing for our homeschool and many others! You also do not need to be in CC to use the study. Any Christian family can use it!

We are still learning about a new hymn each week using the hymnology cards linked above. This week we sang and read about "It Is Well." I was reading through tears as I was learning about the story that inspired the song. A man lost is 4-year-old son, then two years later lost his 4 daughters in a shipwreck. His wife survived the wreck, and as he sailed over the Atlantic to meet her in England, he sailed over the very spot his daughters drowned. It's believed that is where he penned the words to "It Is Well." I'm so grateful that my friend Kim put together this hymnology study. It's such a blessing to me and inspires me and my faith. 

History:
Resource: Story of the World Book (Match Up List)
Activity: Draw the Washington Monument (Tutor may do this in class)

I'll be honest, I was struggling with a hands-on craft this week. I try to do a craft each week for history and science, but some ideas are just a little too young for my kids or just don't interest me. I tried the CC Sandbox craft, but it just didn't hit home with my kids. I did have the kids try walking on ice packs to replicate what it may have been like for the soldiers to march around in the snow with worn out shoes or no shoes at all. That was funny to see them try and they got a laugh out of it.

Overall, I think just having them color while reading from Story of the World is plenty. However, if your tutor doesn't do the Washington Monument for fine arts in class, then I recommend using that for your craft this week! It's super easy, and you can watch it on YouTube (linked). It's a great way to incorporate fine arts and history all in one. The Washington Monument was built in honor of George Washington. I did this for my class for fine arts and shared fun facts about the building.

Another idea is to watch Art for Kids Hub and draw George Washington.

Science:
Resources: Science with Friends Year 3 Bundle |  CC Connected Sandbox File
Activity: Five senses illusion tricks with Science with Friends unit

You can do so many fun things to help learn about the five senses. We did the activities suggested from our Learning with Friends unit. The experiments in the unit tried to trick the kids’ senses by forming illusions. It was simple and kept the kids engaged and entertained. They especially loved the water temperature experiment.

Geography:
Resources: CC Sandbox Geography page |  Drawing the USA  | Eat Your Way Through the USA Cookbook
Activity: Make a meal from one of the states we are learning each week. 

Each week we color and find the states using the CC Connected map printouts that are located in the Sandbox e-zine file. We then draw the states using the geography book Drawing the USA. It's super simple and easy to follow.

This week, we learned about Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. We are trying as many recipes as we can for the states each week. This week we tried a meatloaf for Michigan, corn pudding for Indiana, and buckeyes for Ohio. Oh my goodness, buckeye treats are so good! All the recipes we made this week were from the Eat Your Way Through the USA Cookbook. We just nixed the paraffin wax on the buckeye treats in the melted chocolate. Apparently, that's an old school way of cooking to make the chocolate smooth and harden, but we don't need wax in our food. We just melted the chocolate like normal and dipped the peanut butter balls in it. I guess you'd describe them to be similar to Reese's Pieces. Also, a native Ohioan told me we had to use Jif smooth peanut butter, so I grabbed that to make them as traditional as possible. 

My daughter presented the buckeyes for her presentation and they were hit! My son decided to finish drawing all the U.S. states for his map and presented that to his class. We are really working on shifting away from "show-n-tell" and doing a thoughtful presentation each week. 

Library Books:

As always, we grab a ton of books from the library because I love picture books. I especially love trying to find picture books that take place in the specific geographical regions we are learning about. For Kentucky, we read “Happy Birthday” which is about the writers of the Happy Birthday song and how it came to be. They both came from Kentucky. 

• Happy Birthday to You! by Margot Theis Raven (Geography - KY)
• The House that George Built by Suzanne Slade (History)
• Ten Ways to Hear Snow by Cathy Camper (Science)
• Let it Begin Here! by Dennis Fradin (History - This can even be for week 4 as well)
• The God Contest by Carl Laferton
• Esther and the Very Brave Plan by Tim Thornborough
• David and the Very Big Giant by Tim Thornborough

 

YouTube: Week 5 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. I also think this is a great resource for other tutors to use to build their plans for the week. 

If you are a parent and not tutoring, the "best practice" for CC is to let the tutor introduce the memory work in class for the first time on community day. You then review the week's memory work with your child until the next CC community day. You ideally use the methods you saw the tutor use in class at home with your child. 

 

 

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