Our Morning Basket - Introduction and Autumn Term

(My bookworm and a few of our current morning read alouds)

This year we began the homeschooling practice of Morning Time. I fill a "Morning Basket" with readings, prayers, memory work and other activities that we engage in each morning, usually around the breakfast table. Our morning basket is always changing, but I try to keep the four "R"s always in rotation (Ritual, Recitation, Reading, Relationship). This practice has proved to be a beautiful way to begin the day and a blessing to our life, schooling and relationships.

Our Autumn-Term Morning Basket Plans (September-November):

First, I light a candle in the middle of the breakfast table and we recite Psalm 27:1 "The Lord is my light and my salvation". (Sometimes I use this time to talk to the kids about what it means that God is our light and what it means that he also wants us to be lights.)

Mom: "The Lord be With You"

Levi and Magnolia: "And also with you." 

Next we write in our prayer book; we list what we are thankful for and what requests we have for ourselves or others. Then we pray about these things. I am working on creating a photo prayer book of our friends and family that we will pray though, one by one. 

Levi attends AWANA at our previous church and he has one memory verse to memorize every other week. We spend a few minutes learning his new verse and reviewing the verses he has already mastered.

Next, we read one devotional reading from "Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing" by Sally Lloyd Jones and a story (or more) from a children's Bible. 

At the beginning of each month, I read a poem from "A Child's Calendar" By John Updike and we talk about what is special about the month that we are currently in (holidays, nature etc.)
We also use this time to look over a nature calendar that we get from the Audubon society quarterly magazine. This lists things that we might see in nature during the month on our nature walks. 

Next, we practice a poem and/or prayer that we are memorizing. They just finished memorizing "Day by Day" by Richard of Chichester. I try to come up with hand motions to help them memorize, which they love.

We are learning/singing a hymn each month. In November, we learned "To God be the Glory" by Fanny Crosby. Usually, I sing it, Maggie hums happily and Levi drums a beat. :P

Each month I choose a new artist to study. We read a book about the artist (as an art teacher, I have MANY to choose from) and then I choose 2-3 paintings that we spend a few moments looking at each day. We look at it, describe it, find the beauty in it, become "friends" with it!

To end morning basket time, we sing "The Doxology" with our hands open and facing up. 

Next, depending on how the kids are doing, we do a little or a lot of reading aloud of classic stories, poems and books. This part of our morning time varies, but we try to choose living books that encourage goodness, truth and beauty. We read until someone falls apart or we have something else on the schedule. :)

For more inspiration on the practice of morning time:

Morning Time and How it Can Change Your Homeschool

Your Morning Basket Podcast

Morning Time Moms: 31 Days to Morning Time

(post-morning time, grinding Mama's coffee beans) :)