A New Way to Morning Time

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, this means that I will make a small commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you.

Morning Time is the Anchor of our Day

Once breakfast is cleaned up and morning chores are done, we gather together as a family in our living room. Everyone seats or kneels in front of our family altar to offer and entrust our day to the Lord.
After a short break (because everyone already needs water or to go to the bathroom), most of us return with a handcraft or project. Then Morning Time starts.

Historically, I believe Cindy Rollins coined the term for the general homeschooling community, but I personally encountered the principle through Jen Mackintosh’s Morning Basket. But somehow I have always called it Morning Time, not sure why, lol.
I have always thought this time to be sacred for our family. If we do not get anything else done that day, at least our basics are covered by Morning Time. 
Morning Time is a time to explore truth, goodness and beauty. It is a time to slow down and enjoy learning without any pressure.

What is our Morning Time?

During this time we are all gathered from baby to high schooler, this is our time as a family to create our family culture, to create memories and to learn together. The content of our Morning Time changes with the seasons, but right now our routine is pretty set: we explore our Faith, A Daily Picture Book, and our current read aloud. Most people have a handcraft or are drawing, anything to keep hands busy and tongues still. Then Mom reads and we all discuss what we have been reading. Truly very simple.

Faith (truth)

First we read the story of the saint of the day based on the Catholic liturgical year. 
Some days we have A Daily Picture Book, but most days we read from a compounded book: Saints for Young Readers for Everyday Volumes 1 and 2. These books have been republished under Our Friends In Heaven, Volume 1 and Volume 2. 

From reading the saint of the day we move on to our catechesis, as I strongly believe in family catechesis. We have varied our family catechesis from sacramental preparation to Fulton Sheen’s Your Life is Worth Living and the study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This is one part of our morning where we linger into discussion and take our time. It is frequently very fruitful, but not always. Or we Read from one of the wonderfully illustrated compilation listed here.

A Daily Picture Book (truth, goodness and beauty)

A Daily Picture Book has a tendency of broaching all three ideals.
Truth, as the books we read are about relate to historical persons and events.
Goodness, as we often see obstacles overcome or challenges conquered.
And beauty, because each life is beautiful, each act of heroism is beautiful.
But also beauty through the creations of these people be they architects or poets, painters or composers.

All the choices!

Many families fit many, many topics under the umbrella of Morning Time. And there is nothing wrong with that. It is just that, to me, it quickly became overwhelming. How could I fit it all in one week?  There are so many subjects I want to cover!

How am I supposed to do all these things, everyday or every other day or once a week, keep track of them and remember what was for each day??? I am pretty organized but I am also lazy. My planner might look well put together, but sometimes it is just a pain to pull it out and check what’s on the schedule for that day, you know?

A Daily Picture Book to the rescue

But A Daily Picture Book fits that niche to a T. It was perfect! No more overthinking it! I just had to find the day’s celebration (birthday or anniversary) and go from there. So every week we generally cover all the topics, but without it being overwhelming to me, or keeping us in Morning Time for hours.

Being able to read a picture book about an artist, an architect, a historical figure, a poet, an athlete or an inventor almost every day makes Morning Time a much anticipated time of our day. Who or what will we read about today? Will we discover a new friend or renew our relationship with an old one? It also helps broaden our horizon, deepen our knowledge and think of things from a different perspective, it even helps us cover current events.

A Daily Picture Book: Activities and Food

A Daily Picture Book comes with wonderful activities, which can literally be endless, and take us down rabbit trails that might last weeks! Yes, I am looking at you Saving the Countryside, the Story of Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit! (I might have gone overboard and turned it into a 6 weeks Beatrix Potter study…)
But I digress, usually the activities are pretty short and ready to go. On some topics, we might choose to be more inquisitive than on others. Sometimes a child will take a special interest in one topic while no one else is really interested. And sometimes, we skip the activities altogether, it was enough to read the book, this usually happens with athletes for us.

I always try to have an appropriate food related to our story, sometimes it is perfect for a snack, other times (my favorite) it will cover dinner. Either way, this is usually done later in the day by Mom and volunteers.

Read Aloud (goodness and beauty)

The goodness of a well written text and the beauty of a beautiful story are usually present in all living books. 
Our read alouds come and go, they usually cover the historical period we are studying or just some good old classics. Mom usually reads aloud, unless we can find a good audio version that appeals to everyone. Again, those are my favorites as I can easily pick up my own handcraft if we are all listening. We usually read a chapter a day or 10 pages, whichever comes first.

How long does Morning Time take?

Morning Time does not take very long. It usually takes us from an hour to an hour and a half if we are very invested in either our faith or our Daily Picture Book. Some days, we go through it quickly, as we are pressed for time, and some days we just linger and enjoy the process.

What handcrafts can be done during Morning Time?

Another portal into beauty, handcrafts have always been a highlight of our Morning Time. Each person brings their own crafts and projects. The younger set will usually enjoy a coloring page, a sticker book or just some free drawing. As they grow older, more diverse crafts are brought to the couch: crocheting, sewing, knitting, leatherwork, painting, wood burning, knife sharpening, etc… Something for everyone and every hand busy.

We banned legos and building blocks early on, it is amazing how noisy they are! Playdough is doable if you are not reading on the couch but around the table. Basically anything that keeps your hands busy but allows your mind to focus on what is read and discussed. I ban books unrelated to the subject at hand, as the book the toddler is looking at becomes a distraction.

To anchor our day, I strive to keep Morning Time sweet and simple. The simpler it is, the better it is to be enjoyed by all from baby to high schooler. It is a time we share together, where we create memories and deepen our knowledge.