By popular demand comes a post for all of my Classical Conversations friends.
I love to share what we are using on Instagram in the Facebook community - someone asked the other day if I could write a post with all of my "favorite goodies" for CC Cycle 3.
Ask and you shall receive.
Now, I am a firm believer in LESS IS MORE. There are, however, several resources that we have collected over the years that are good to have on hand and that enhance our studies in Foundations (and really through Essentials and Challenge, too - I love how CC works like that!).
Everything on this list we have and love. I hope it is helpful to you!
I am including games, videos, and a few miscellaneous resources in this post.
(Looking for other Cycle 3 resources, be sure to visit my Classical Conversations page!)
Games for Cycle 3
Everything is better when you make it a GAME --- I find that geography and math lend themselves especially well to game, but we have honestly used games in all subject areas!
Geography
Scrambled States of America - great for younger ones - learn names, capitals, nicknames, and shapes of the 50 states
10 Days in the USA - especially good as kids look towards Challenge A, but any age can play this awesome game, too
Sequence States & Capitals - another great one for learning states, capitals and locations
USA Geo BINGO -- would make a GREAT review game for Foundations time, but also great to use with a group of kids any time. Who doesn't like BINGO?
Electronic Map of the United States - a SERIOUSLY great resource that includes over 500 quizzes for your kiddos!
American History
American History Memory Game - We LOVE the card games from the Classical Historian - this memory game has gotten much use in our home
Ticket to Ride USA -- This is probably the most popular game I've heard of amongst CC folks -- if you don't have it you should get it!
Catan Histories: Settlers of Trails to Rails - another one that ranks up there with Ticket to Ride
Constitution Quest Game - comes with a free copy of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence
Professor Noggin's History of the United States Card Game -- all of the Professor Noggin card games (including the US Presidents, too) are wonderful!
Top Trumps (no this isn't about President Trump!) -- this card game is for all of your little triva buffs who want to learn facts about the presidents - very good!
Math
Math Dice - these dice make learning all kinds of math concepts fun... we use them during morning time and also sometimes before our Saxon Math lesson to get those brains moving!
24 - My daughter's Challenge I tutor introduced us to this game -- great for playing with numbers!
Ocean Raiders Addition Board Game - this is wonderful for your younger students who are working on addition facts - the game is simple and ensures easy success and fun
Mega Fun Card Game Math - the card games in this book are quick and fun - I have learned to keep a deck of cards in my purse because it helps pass the time when we have to wait somewhere! I learned about this book at Practicum four years ago!
Head Full of Numbers - make equations with this game that REALLY gets kids thinking - a favorite in our house!
Science
(The following are games, puzzles & other resources for science)
Melissa & Doug Magnetic Human Body - for all of the learning about the human body in weeks 1-12, this is great for your younger learners
Magic School Bus Journey Into the Human Body - we used this the last time through Cycle 3 and it was really good - it had a life size poster of the human body we put up in our school room and we also read the book that goes along
Human Body Jigsaw Puzzle - excellent for those kids that are tactile learners - my youngest has always been a puzzle guy and he LOVED this! I would love to get the 5 Senses Puzzle, too!
Periodic Table Connecting Color Tiles - I really purchased this for my Challenge B daughter at the time, but found that my Foundations age child used it a lot, too - this one will do double duty.
Periodic Table Blocks -- I must admit, we don't have these, but I have always wanted them! They are beautiful!
Science Ninjas - Valence Card Game -- This is an excellent game for expanding on the periodic table - great for kids that want to go the extra mile!
Fine Arts
Go Fish For Modern Artists Card Game - I picked this up once on a visit to the Met in New York City... it exposes kids to many different modern artists!
Meet the Instruments -- of course I am going to recommend the resource I developed to introduce kids to the orchestra - I think it's beautiful, effective, and economical!
SQUILT Music Appreciation -- to see how my music curriculum lines up with Cycle 3, read "Using SQUILT with Classical Conversations"
Instrument BINGO - I have this and play it with my Foundations class -- a GREAT Bingo game that definitely cements the sounds of all of the instruments!
Musical Pairs Note Matching Card Game -- when children start learning note names while studying the tin whistle this game comes in very handy!
Compose Yourself Music Card Game - a more advanced game for kids with some musical knowledge
Movies for Cycle 3
(a.k.a. Momma Needs a Break! -- but these are just wonderful resources, too!)
Geography
Great American Landmarks --> available for free streaming with Amazon Prime - we loved to use these kinds of videos during lunch time!
Tour the States --> excellent resource! Kids will memorize the capitals in no time flat
50 Nifty United States --> we used this in my classroom when learning all of the states in alphabetical order. We would sing it during morning time in our homeschool -- GREAT!
States and Capitals Song by Musical Stew --> very cute - shows state shapes, too
American History
Liberty's Kids --> these were watched OVER and OVER in our home! Such a great deal for these history videos, too.
Disney's American Legends --> we always enjoyed learned about Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, John Henry, etc...
This is America, Charlie Brown --> my son went through a Peanuts phase where he LOVED these videos!
CrashCourse US History --> these YouTube videos are very informative - be sure to watch with your children because sometimes they might slant slightly liberal, but still worth the watch
Free School --> a great YouTube video resource - search around and you can find a lot of topics, not just history!
Math
(Sorry -- no big goodies for math. My oldest learned her times tables with Hap Palmer's CD, Multiplication Mountain. My youngest simply learned with the Foundations CD and drill and repetition.... we don't get fancy with math and video.)
Science
Human Body Rock n Learn - this is even helpful for your older kids (especially Challenge A) because it is for grades 4-8
The Magic School Bus Human Body -- all time favorite in our house!
How Your Body Works series from Kids Health -- these YouTube videos are a bit silly, but my kids liked that about these videos. There are many of them for all different parts/systems of the body
The Periodic Table - Crash Course Chemistry --> love this video - it provides a great overview of the entire Periodic Table
Fine Arts
Tubby the Tuba -- a classic video - with Dick van Dyke and Pearl Bailey - great for teaching kids about orchestra instruments
Let's Go to the Symphony -- YouTube video from the Nashville Symphony
Peter & The Wolf - Vancouver Symphony
Tchaikovsky Discovers America --- an audio resource, but a FANTASTIC story about Tchaikovsky -- you must listen!
Miscellaneous "Goodies" for Cycle 3
Notebooking Pages
Patriotic Copywork Pages -- I loved giving my children copywork in the grammar stage. It allowed us to work on handwriting and to also model beautiful writing!
US Presidents Notebooking Pages
USA Study Notebooking Pages -- we have created a 50 states notebook in the past - it took us all year, but now we have a beautiful finished product!
Pin It! Maps
These maps are GORGEOUS! If you can invest in these maps you will make your homeschool a more rich place. I promise.
Geography Drawing Books
We have recently collected all of the Draw books -- Draw the USA is perfect for Cycle 3. You will be amazed at how easily your children can learn to draw our country with this step by step guide. It's perfect!
LEGO Landmarks
LEGO White House-- because we give educational gifts for Christmas, we gave my son this for Christmas the last time through Cycle 3. He LOVED it! Each of these also comes with a beautiful picture booklet with information about the landmark.
LEGO Lincoln Memorial -- another gift (I think birthday!) during Cycle 3
I hope this has been helpful --- remember, in our first year of CC the MEMORY WORK WAS ENOUGH! We enjoyed each other, read aloud a lot, and played a lot, too. As we got more comfortable with classical education (and Classical Conversations) we began to add other resources to supplement the memory work.
You might also like:
Classical Conversations: 10 Tips to Prevent Being Overwhelmed
5 Ways to Supplement Foundations: Simple Additions to Your Homeschooling Day
