Cycle 3 Musical Memory - All Resource Links

This post has all the links mentioned in the Musical Memory Cycle 3 Morning Time Guide. The guide & this link list are a buffet, not a checklist. Use the resources that make sense for your season of life and follow rabbit trails that are most interesting to you and your children.

Pinterest graphic for Musical Memory Cycle 3 Links with open-and-go homeschool morning time ages 4 to 12 subtitle — Open-and-go homeschool morning time ages 4–12

Cycle 3 Hymns

Our morning time guide includes a hymn of the month. The curriculum book has the hymn lyrics, sheet music, coordinating scripture references, and little tidbits about the composer or song. Of course you can listen to any recording you want, or accompany yourselves if you have musicians at home!

These playlists are set up in order of how we’re using them in our Cycle 3 guide; we have the first one starting in September (as the November & December hymns coordinate with Thanksgiving and Christmas).

Cycle 3 Folk Songs

These playlists are set up in order of how we’re using them in the Cycle 3 guide.

Cycle 3 History Video Links

These video links are meant to give families an easy supplemental “watch alongside the song” option for the Musical Memory Cycle 3 Songs. You don’t need to watch every single one – they are just an extra resource, not a checklist. Please preview videos or watch them with your kids, especially for the more sensitive historical topics involving slavery, war, famine, genocide, civil rights, apartheid, and modern political conflict.

If a link below is NOT a video link, but rather a link to another supplemental resource, it has an emoji ☺️

Haitian Revolution – Crash Course: Haitian Revolutions
Lewis & Clark – Lewis and Clark • 📜 National Archives: Authentic Documents
Mexican Independence – Mexican War of Independence for kids
End of the Transatlantic Slave Trade – Abolition of the transatlantic slave trade (1) • Why Did Britain Abolish Slavery?
Trail of Tears – Trail of Tears for kids
The Alamo – The Alamo
California Gold Rush – The California Gold Rush
Japan Opens to Trade – The Meiji Restoration and the Empire of Japan
Abraham Lincoln & the Civil War – Abraham Lincoln for Kids
Canada’s Self-Governance – The Story Behind Confederation: How Canada United
The Steam Engine – James Watt’s Steam Engine
The Suez Canal – Suez Canal: History and Facts for Kids
Ireland’s Great Famine – The Irish Potato Famine
Korea Caught Between Empires – How did the Empire of Japan annex Korea?
United States Westward Expansion – Westward Expansion and the Oregon Trail • The Oregon Trail for Kids • 🐂 Oregon trail game (Laura has died of dysentery…)
The Middle East, The Great Game – The Great Game, 3 Minute History
World War I – How Did World War 1 Start? • How World War I Started: Crash Course World History
Gandhi & Indian Independence – Mohandas Gandhi, the Power of Nonviolence
Chinese Civil War – Chinese Civil War
Stock Market Crash / Great Depression / New Deal – What is the Great Depression for Kids? • The New Deal: Crash Course US History
World War II – World War II for Kids
Israel Established – How the State of Israel Was Born
Mao Zedong & the People’s Republic of China – Communists, Nationalists, and China’s Revolutions: Crash Course World History
The Cold War / Space Race – The Cold War for Kids • Apollo 11: The First Moon Walk
Martin Luther King Jr. – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Biography for Children
The Vietnam War – The Vietnam War, Animated History
The Berlin Wall – The rise and fall of the Berlin Wall
Nelson Mandela & Apartheid – The Nelson Mandela Story for Kids

Note for parents: Some weeks cover difficult history. Use these videos as optional supplements and preview for your children’s ages and sensitivity level.

Cycle 3 Science Video Links

Note for parents: These links are optional enrichment. For younger children, the “for kids” searches usually surface shorter animated explainers from channels like SciShow Kids, Smile and Learn, Dr. Binocs, and Homeschool Pop. For older children, Amoeba Sisters, Crash Course Kids, KidsHealth, TED-Ed, and Khan Academy-style videos may be a better fit.

Month 5: Bones & Nervous System

Major Bones of the Skeletal System
Younger: Skeletal system and major bones for kids
Older: KidsHealth / skeleton for kids
Major Bones Review
Younger: Major bones song/review
Older: Skeletal system review
Bones of the Axial Skeleton
Younger: Axial skeleton for kids
Older: Axial vs. appendicular skeleton
Preview note: this one may need a diagram in addition to video.
Nervous System
Younger: Nervous system for kids
Older: KidsHealth: nervous system

Month 6: Senses, Excretory, Digestive & Circulatory Systems

5 Main Senses
Younger: Five senses for kids
Older: How the senses work
Parts of the Excretory System
Younger: Excretory system for kids
Older: Urinary system: kidneys and bladder
Parts of the Digestive System
Younger: Digestive system for kids
Older: KidsHealth: digestive system
Parts of the Circulatory System
Younger: Circulatory system for kids
Older: KidsHealth: heart/circulatory system

Month 7: Respiratory, Endocrine, Tissues & Muscles

Major Parts of the Respiratory System
Younger: Respiratory system for kids
Older: KidsHealth: respiratory system
The Endocrine System
Younger: Endocrine system for kids
Older: Hormones and glands for students
Preview note: this topic is a weaker Usborne match, so a supplemental anatomy video helps.
Four Types of Tissue
Younger: Four types of tissue for kids
Older: Amoeba Sisters / tissue types
Preview note: this one may need a supplemental chart for exact vocabulary.
Three Types of Muscle
Younger: Three types of muscle for kids
Older: Skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscle

Fine Arts Links

These are the artist study, composer study, listening, and art-project links referenced in the Cycle 3 guide.

Month 1: John James Audubon

Audubon bird drawing tutorials – Audubon / David Sibley bird-drawing tutorial
Free printable Audubon bird coloring page – Art Projects for Kids: Audubon coloring page. Younger children can color it and older children could trace or copy it to paint.
Art project: crayon-resist watercolor – Art for Kids Hub video

Month 2: Antonio Vivaldi

Listen: “Spring” from The Four Seasons – Watch on YouTube
Watch: “Summer” from The Four Seasons – Watch on YouTube
Read-aloud / biography video: I, Vivaldi – Watch on YouTube
Art project: Suminagashi Japanese water marbling – Tutorial
Younger option: Four Seasons tree coloring page – Print page

Month 3: Beatrix Potter

Art project: watercolor butterfly – Watercolor butterfly tutorial

Month 4: J. S. Bach

Listen: “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” – Watch on YouTube
Watch: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 – Watch on YouTube
Art project: foam relief printmaking – Foam relief printmaking tutorial

Month 5: Leonardo da Vinci

Art project: one-point perspective – One-point perspective tutorial

Month 6: Ludwig van Beethoven

Listen: Symphony No. 5, first movement – Listen on YouTube
Art project: 3D planets in chalk pastel – 3D planets in chalk pastel tutorial

Month 7: Winslow Homer

Art project: positive and negative space – Positive & negative space tutorial