Our Morning Time Routine

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Hi there, Mamas!

Looking for some ideas for your Morning Time routine?

I don’t know about you, but I feel like all the normalcy- and comfort- of life-as-we-knew-it got turned on its head in the past few weeks.

Since there’s no definite end in sight (yet), how are we supposed to manage our lives- and our kids- until “normal” comes back?

I’m an INTJ female and an Enneagram type 1, which translates simply to this:

I need routine.

Badly!

If you’re feeling at loose ends right now, let me share some encouragement: we absolutely CAN finish the school year strong… and sane.

Okay, at least strong. *wink*

I promise!

Today’s post is a peek at a beautiful homeschool routine I love, called Morning Time.

This is a simple solution for any family who is doing school at home right now:

• homeschool veterans
• families whose kids are doing school at home because of the quarantine
• any mom who simply wants more structure in her kids’ day!
  

The beauty of having an intentional Morning Time is that it can be as simple or as structured as you need it to be.

I personally find that some days call for more flexibility, but having a predictable routine in place helps all our homeschool days to go more smoothly.

Let’s have a look!

—> As always, if you feel like this post is helpful, will you please hit a “share” button? Thanks for spreading the homeschool inspiration! xoxo

what it is

In case you’re wondering, What is Morning Time?

—> Morning Time is simply an intentional gathering together with your kids to officially start the day.

Because of my type A personality, Morning Time was just the way I naturally began the day with my kids since they were very young.

(I didn’t really know it was “a thing.”)

A few years ago, I started working from home (which I love to do).

Most mornings, I hit the ground running and had to be on the phone a lot (which I hate to do).

Because of my work schedule, Morning Time kind of disappeared out of our day for a few years.

Eventually, I gave up my direct sales job so that I could continue to homeschool my kids (that’s a story for another day).

But Morning Time didn’t just magically reappear in our schedule.

I felt like my younger kids, especially, were missing out of a beautiful part of our homeschooling. My older kids had memorized Scripture and poetry, and were familiar with books that I had never introduced to my little boys.

But as much as I missed our Morning Time, I never could successfully work it back into our schedule.

why we do it {again}

In January, I decided to make the commitment to having Morning Time with the kids, at least once-a-week.

Simply because-

—> Morning Time is how I’ve been able to focus on goodness, truth and beauty in our busy lives as a homeschool and ministry family.

—> It’s the most simple way I know to streamline my role of educating five kids.

For two months, we faithfully had Morning Time every Monday morning.

(I knew if I jumped straight in for four or five days a week, I’d feel overwhelmed and give up.)

Then, abruptly in early-March, we found ourselves quarantined and with ample time on our hands.

I knew immediately what I intended to do with all the extra margin in our lives:

Morning Time!

I’ve taken advantage of the slower pace during this quarantine and have jumped back in to having Morning Time every school day again.

It feels to good to be back!

What Morning Time Looks Like At Our House

• Lighting a candle and saying “the blessing:” The Lord bless thee and keep thee; the Lord make his face to shine upon thee; the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”
• Someone shares a favorite Scripture. This gives my younger kids a great chance to practice reading the Bible aloud.
• Scripture memory review. Right now, we’re reviewing “The Lord’s Prayer,” which we memorized in January.
• New memory work. Currently we’re learning “The Beautitudes” (Matthew 5:1-12).
• Read aloud. Probably my favorite part! We’re enjoying Alice in BibleLand books and Children’s Book of Virtues.
• Something to Learn. This month, we’re focusing on Latin (I know, I’m such a nerd.) I found these free “Latin roots” worksheets from All About Reading and my kids actually enjoy this part of Morning Time!
• Sing. It’s important to me that my kids are familiar with hymns and songs of the church, so I chose “Doxology” as our song for this month.
  

Here’s how Morning Time happens at our house:

1- I call the kids to the table with, “It’s Morning Time!”

They know what that means!

They also know that “Morning Time” also means “breakfast time.”

Or- for some little hobbits– “second breakfast. *wink*

Just as a side note: my 11, 9, and 7-year old boys are my constant Morning Time audience; my 13 and 16-year old daughters sometimes sit in with us, but I don’t require it due to their heavy school loads. They sat in on lots of Morning Times during their little years.

2- We gather at the table and someone lights a candle.

My eleven-year old son loves to do this.

I love this part too because it feels “official.” (I adore rituals and routines! And candles.)

3- We say “the blessing:”

The Lord bless thee and keep thee; the Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; the Lord lift up His face upon thee and give thee peace.

This “blessing” (taken from Numbers chapter six) has become a beautiful anchor in our days.

I also say this “blessing” to each of my kids at bedtime, and my boys generally quote it back to me.

4- Next, someone shares a favorite Scripture.

Most of the time, one of my kids does this.

It’s a great opportunity for my younger kiddos to practice reading their Bible aloud.

5- Memory review.

Earlier this year, we memorized “The Lord’s Prayer” together. Right now, that’s our Scripture review.

This month, my seven-year old can quote it nearly word-for-word. He would rarely practice it when we were learning it last month, so I was surprissed when he blurted it out one morning.

That’s the power of passive learning (and consistency), friends!

6- New memory work.

In April, we memorized “The Beautides,” from Matthew chapter five.

—> We have enjoyed these pretty “Beautitude” coloring pages from Proverbial Homemaker.

I’m so proud of my boys! Both the nine and eleven year olds have memorized verses one through ten during the month of April.

We only spend about five minutes each morning working on “new memory work” so, again, this is a testament to the power of consistency (and kids’ amazing capacity for memorization).

7- Read aloud Time.

One of the reasons I love Morning Time so much is because it helps me stay consistent with reading aloud to my kids.

In April, we read through many of the “Alice in BibleLand” story books. My seven-year old especially enjoys these books.

April is National Poetry Month, so I chose to make poetry a focus for our reading aloud, as well.

This month, we enjoyed selections of poetry and short stories from The Children’s Book of Virtues, by William Bennett, and A Child’s Garden of Verses, by Robert Louis Stevenson.

We also enjoyed perusing and reading from A Time To Keep, which features the whimsical artwork of Tasha Tudor.

8- Something to learn.

This month, I added “something to learn” to our Morning Time routine and we’re enjoying it!

Currently, our “something to learn” focus in Latin. (I know, I’m a nerd.)

In the past two years since our family joined Classical Conversations, I’ve developed an appreciation for and interest in the Latin language- likely because it helps me understand English vocabulary more fluently.

We’ve been using these “Latin roots” worksheets from All About Reading. (They’re free.)

Most Fridays, we play review games with my boys’ Song School Latin vocabulary cards.

I love seeing my kids make connections as we tackle Latin root words and their English derivatives. Like I said, I enjoy learning this right along with my kids.

9- Sing.

This is another newer addition I’ve added to our Morning Time.

It’s important to me that my kids know the hymns and songs of the church, so we started out learning and singing “The Doxology.”

Honestly, my boys collectively groan every time we sing “The Doxology” at the end of Morning Time. The funny thing is, I hear them quoting or humming it throughout the day.

Recently, my nine-year old asked his piano teacher if he could learn to play a “new song” called “The Doxology.”

I just smiled.

And that’s our Morning Time in a nutshell!

It takes us about thirty minutes to explore each of these areas, and it’s all very laid back.

After Morning Time, the four older kids each start their independent school work and I help our first grade tackle a math lesson.

getting started

So what do you think?

Do you feel like you could use a little more structure in your days as a homeschooling mom- or a mom who is suddenly doing school at home with her kids?

I have a feeling the answer is yes, or you wouldn’t be reading this post.

Let me leave you with a few simple places to start:

—> If you’re completely new to Morning Time, please read this by Pam Barnhill.

I had the privilege of meeting Pam in person- and hearing her speak– at a homeschool convention this year.

Pam’s website, Your Morning Basket, has been my Morning Time inspiration this time around.

Find Better Together on Amazon.

So what about you?

Are you familiar with Morning Time?

How do you start off your homeschooling day?

Want more inspiration?

I’ll be popping in with a post later this month, with links and pictures of how Morning Time looked for us in April.

Would you also like some ideas for how to have Morning Time with preschoolers and toddlers in the mix?

Drop me a comment and let me know what you want to read about this month!

Want to subscribe so you don’t miss a post? (Just be sure you select “homeschooling” from the list of topics of interest.)

—> For now, I’d love for you to check out my ebook, Homeschooling Day By Day, and connect with other homeschooling moms over in my Facebook group.

You can find my ebook on Amazon, and request to join the group right here.

Here’s to living & loving well-

xoxo,

Kristy

P.S. Thanks a million for sharing this post!