I’ve read poetry to my children their entire lives. In the early years we use Mother Goose, A Children’s Garden of Verses, and my personal all-time favorite for the early years- A. A. Milne.
When my children are 6 years old they begin Ambleside Online where a variety of poets are scheduled each year. They love listening to poetry. It doesn’t matter how Morning Time is going, as soon as I start reading poetry aloud everybody stills. It has a calming effect. They listen. It’s always amazing to me how much they grasp. Truth be told, my 9 year old has more than once brought clarity to a poem’s meaning that I wasn’t able to offer. Tennyson is scheduled for her this term. Today we read The Lady of Shallot. They were all mesmerized by the sad story and had so many questions. Why was she trapped in the tower? Who took care of her? Where did the mirror come from? Who cursed her? How did she die? Did Lancelot love her? My 7 year old had the idea of making clay models of the Lady of Shallot floating down the river in her boat. I don’t add crafts like this because I don’t typically think they add much value (and I think Charlotte Mason would agree) but if they come up with the idea themselves and we have the time I try to say yes. We also found the poem on YouTube beautifully put to song.
Every morning we gather around the table (or couch, or floor) for a time of Bible, memory work, recitation, poetry, and enrichment. We accomplish a great deal in a relatively short amount of time. Everyone participates… and most days, everyone enjoys it! It’s a good way to come together before the hustle and bustle of the day begins, and it cuts down on our table time later in the day.
Here is a more in-depth look at all of the elements of our Morning Time. Is this what yours “should” look like? No, it can look very different from family to family. There are no rules and you can add what you like. This is just a look at how we do ours. A good place to learn more about Morning Time is this blogpost by Pam Barnhill and this podcast with Pam Barnhill and Cindy Rollins.They are the real experts on the topic!
Bible & Theology Studies
We start our morning with prayer… the only reasonable way to start! We thank God for a new day, and ask for His help to love Him and one another. We need His help and we know He loves to give it. The kids take turns starting the prayer and I close it. We include prayer for the country we are studying.
Next, we study the Bible. For this, we alternate between usingThe Gospel Story Bible by Marty Machowski and God’s Providence by Sally Michaels. God’s Providence has been so helpful in light of the current events. We are learning that nothing is a surprise to God, that He has a plan, that He is working even when we can’t see it and don’t understand it, that He knows what He is doing, and that it is all for His glory and the good of His children. They have expressed to me what comfort this brings them. It’s amazing how children can so easily grasp deep theological concepts. They understand far more than we’d expect! The Holy Spirit takes our little efforts to teach them Biblical truth, and is so generous in His grace to produce beautiful fruit in their lives. It is one of those things that constantly amazes me.
The children usually color during this time. They often do a much better job at listening when their hands are occupied. (We don’t narrate these readings as they are being used for devotional purposes and not for school. We do narrate all other readings.)
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
Deuteronomy 6: 5-7
Memory Work
Next we recite our catechism and memory verse, and then sing our hymn. We add to our catechism every week. Even my 2 year old is learning to answer some of the simpler questions. We have taken this very slowly, and although we have only learned 23 questions so far, they are pretty solid on all 23. Catechism is a theology lesson all on its own! The concepts are definitely taking root and often pop into their conversations throughout the day. Earlier this week my 4 year old was speaking of my husband’s grandmother. She mentioned that she is alive in heaven and that she’s excited to see her again someday, because God has given us souls that can never die. I love that!
For Scripture memory, we commit one new verse to our memories every week, and also recite a few previously learned verses to keep them fresh. It’s a small beginning, but I have dreams of committing entire books of the Bible to memory in the upcoming years.
We love hymns! I never tire of the rich, beautiful, and Biblically sound language. They are packed full of rich theological truths. We are learning one hymn at a time, adding a new verse every week or so. The most delightful part about having children learn these, is hearing them sing them throughout the day as they play. All of my children do this, even the 2 year old. It’s so sweet to my ears!
Recitation
This is where we transition from the devotional part of our Morning Time to the scholastic part. Recitation is a recent addition to our daily routine. The point of recitation is not memorization, but memorization does tend to happen naturally and with little effort. We recite the same selections for the duration of a 12-week term. Our current recitations are Psalm 1, the Apostles’ Creed, and The Arrow and the Song by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
We also go through our Grammar & Latin chants. (We use Classical Academic Press for Latin, Grammar, and Writing.) Knocking these things out during our Morning Time has nice benefits- one is that we don’t have to do these things later in the day, but get them in while their minds are fresh. Second, we all get to hear the chants. I only require my 3rd grader to actually do her Latin and grammar chants, but all of the kids join in with her. They are memorizing them because they hear them every morning! The same thing is happening with my 1st grader’s Latin songs. It’s so funny to hear my 2 year old singing, “Vale, vale, time to go.”
Poetry
We love poetry! There are always requests for more at the end of the day’s selections. I have been reading aloud poetry since they were wee little. Poetry moves the heart and imagination in a unique way. We are using a few collections- Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson, A Child’s Book of Poems, and A Treasury of Mother Goose. A few others that we have read through and enjoyed (and will circle back to) areWhen We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six, both by A. A. Milne, and A Children’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Riches Rotation
I schedule each of the following “riches” once or twice a week. For our purposes, enrichment includes: Shakespeare, geography/social studies, nature study (science), artist study, composer study, folksongs, and art lessons.
We’re reading through one Shakespeare play each month using Nesbit’s and Lamb’s paraphrases. Having never really read Shakespeare before, I am really enjoying these versions. We’ll get to the originals in a few years as we build familiarity and confidence.
Yes, we include Geography/Social Studies in our enrichment! We are using the literature basedBeautiful Feet Book’s Around the World With Picture Books as our geography this year. (It uses so many good books!) The guide is visually appealing and fun to use. It takes you through the geography, topography, landmarks, nature, and culture (art, folktales, stories, celebrations, cuisine) of the countries it covers. We have been in China for a few weeks now and have read numerous picture books, and I added a few chapter books for my 3rd grader. The highlight has been the Maps book. You could do a year (or more) of social studies using this book alone! Why should geography be dry and boring, especially for elementary aged kids? It is much more memorable when you have peoples and places to form relationships with in the places you are learning about. Suddenly the Yangtze River isn’t just a little squiggle to remember on a map, but a place where a little duck got lost and nearly eaten for supper! Stories bring geography to life and make map work much more interesting.
For nature lore we are reading and journaling through Outdoor Secrets by Margaret P. Boyle. Nature stories are the absolute favorite read-aloud literature around here. We are nearing the end of Outdoor Secrets (which we started late spring) and we’ll start the Burgess Bird Book when done. On Fridays, we observe and draw nature in our yard. Nature study is how we incorporate science in the elementary years.
We follow the Ambleside Online schedules for Artist, Composer, and Folksong. Artist study entails looking at the piece of art, then looking away and describing it. It’s a fun exercise and it amazes me how much detail they can recall. For Composer studies, I usually read a little about the composer and then listen to the composer during the week. I almost always have classical music playing (it’s my preference) so if I enjoy the composer we are studying, I pretty much play his compilations nonstop.
For art lessons we are using Living Art Lessons by Masterbooks. These quick and simple lessons are enjoyed by all of my kids.
See Why We Love Morning Time?
So you can see why Morning Time is such an important part of our day! It takes about an hour and we accomplish so much. The first part of the day is when my kids have the best energy, focus, and enthusiasm to learn. By the time we are done with Morning Time, we basically only have history, Years 1 & 3 Ambleside Online read-aloud books, and skill work (math and language arts) left to complete. There are many ways to do a Morning Time. It’s recommended to start small and slowly add things. We’ve had a Morning Time since my oldest was in pre-K. This is our 5th year! We haven’t always held it in the morning either. There have been seasons when it worked best to do it later in the day. I hope seeing ours inspires you to start a Morning Time in your own homeschool!
Our Lovely Ordinary 