Earlier this month, I shared about our family’s Morning Time Routine.
Today, I want to give you a peek at how Morning Time went down at our house during the month of April!
This has been an especially enriching month for us.
Leaning into this routine during the quarantine has given our homeschool lots of structure.
If you’ve never given Morning Time a try, I encourage you to!
You can always start by implementing it once-a-week, or for just five minutes in the morning.
If you’re new to Morning Time, I definitely suggest that you consider reading Better Together, by Pam Barnhill.
Pam is a fellow INTJ woman and homeschooling mom… of course, I like to imagine that we have at least a few things in common. *wink*
I hope you enjoy these Morning Time books and resources for April.
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All of the resources mentioned in this post would be great for any kind of read aloud or devotion time with kids.
(You can check out my favorite devotionals for kids right here.)
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Thanks for spreading the homeschool inspiration! xoxo
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.
Easter Resources:
We enjoyed the following during Passion Week and Easter this month:
“The Last Supper” coloring page
Passion Week “Craftivity” & Timeline
The Easter Story “Alice in Bibleland” book
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.
I can honestly say that this month of homeschooling has felt beautiful and rich.
Maybe part of that feeling is due to the fact that I’m enjoying this stay-in-shelter arrangement a little too much. *wink*
But a lot of my enjoyment in this season is that I feel like I’m sharing what I deeply care about with my kids- not just getting through assignments every day.
The rhythm of Morning Time creates the space for that to happen.
What about you?
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Do you have a “morning time” routine in your homeschool day?
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What are you loving right now?
Here’s to living well-
xoxo,
Kristy
P.S. Thanks a million for sharing this post!
