dsbrack Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 I am planning on adding a morning basket routine to our school days next year. I'm envisioning a time to focus on all the true and beautiful things that slip through the cracks in trying to get through all the curriculum: scripture, poetry, Shakespeare, hymn study, artist study, composer study, nature journals, memory work, etc. If you already do a morning time or have pieces of these types of things in your day, what are your favorite resources to have on hand? I'm browsing and planning and dreaming so I would appreciate recommendations for anything you really love, that adds joy to your day, that connects you and your children to something outside of yourselves. Thanks in advance! Edited to add: I am also interested in resources for character development, morals, virtues, etc. Thanks! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Some resources that I got for the fall are: A Child's Introduction to Art A Child's Introduction to Poetry Meet the Great Composers I plan to start accumulating the Poetry for Young People series Last year, one of our favorites was Story of the Orchestra There are beautiful Shakespeare books by Bruce Coville; love these I love The Nature Connection; makes nature study very practical And my absolute favorite books are the K.Y. Craft illustrated fairy tales....LOVE these Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.Ivy Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 I have: -- God's Great Covenant teacher's manual and a Bible. -- How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare, and from the library, a corresponding Shakespeare book for children on the play we are studying. Last year, it was a binder of the poems were were memorizing that I'd printed off the internet. -- A binder with printouts of the National Standards for Civics and Government and the National Content Standards in Economics, for discussion when we have time or I'm in the mood. -- My tablet, with my Youtube channel of hymns, to cast to our TV and sing along with. Also on my tablet, an app for the Westminster Shorter Catechism. -- An alphabet chart for the under 5 crowd -- The Hey Andrew! Greek Reader, to keep fresh on the Greek alphabet -- FAN-Math Math Express, for mental math practice (the kids like competing with each other) Ours seems kinda boring, but it is what it is. We actually like it. I know this might be Classical Homeschooling Hersey, but my kids get their composer and art study from watching Little Einsteins on Netflix. :leaving: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3girls4me Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 I use several of the above. But I also wanted to add that we love the artist portfolios by Simply Charlotte Mason. We also had a great year reading through the Chronicles of Narnia. Occasionally we added in a splash of American history and government using Red, White, Blue and Uncle Who. They were just short little stories we could read in less than five minutes. My kids always found them pretty interesting. For some reason, my kids favorite thing during morning time was states and capitals flashcards. I just got them from rainbow resource center. Lastly, another favorite was the book For such a time as this by Angie Smith. Great stories about women in the Bible. Sorry I don't have the links posted. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethel Mertz Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Here's what we did for 6th grade Morning Time: Religion: Read through the Kingfisher Children's Bible, had a Psalm of the week (whichever one was assigned in the lectionary for the upcoming Sunday), and an opening intercessory prayer Poetry: alternated weeks with memorizing a poem and using MCT's materials on poetry Shakespeare: using a combination of Ken Ludwig's book (How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare), Simply Charlotte Mason materials, and a variety of youtube videos. History: short readings from 101 Changemakers, or George Washington's World or Lives of Extraordinary Women (this is in addition to our regular history lessons; we alternate weeks with history readings and science readings) Science: short readings from Heroes of the Environment or The Lives of the Scientists or Enrichment Studies materials on famous scientists (this is in addition to our regular science lessons) Philosophy: We used Philosophy for Kids. More literature: folk tales from a number of sources: From Sea to Shining Sea, HerStories Composers: use materials from Enrichment Studies, Opal Wheeler's books, Mike Venezia's books, and a lot of youtube. Artists: materials from Enrichment Studies and we love the artist portfolios from Simply Charlotte Mason Person of the Day - using a number of resources Song or hymn of the week (for the latter, often one that will be scheduled the following Sunday) - sometimes it will be a piece that DS is working on in voice lessons (we did Bach's Bist Du Bei Mir for weeks and weeks) We adjusted the length of MT depending on what else was happening that day. Most days, we lingered in MT mode for an hour or hour and a half. I also adjusted content during Advent, but that's another thread. Note: this was for a 12 year old very eager student. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventuresinHomeschooling Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 We mainly just do devotionals, but I want to add more. One resource I like is A Children's Treasury of Virtues, Heroes, etc. by Bill Bennett. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mswin15 Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 We review memory work (history and science sentence songs related to our studies, poetry, speeches etc.). Also: Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans Burgess Bird Book Ergermeier's Bible Story Book Blue and Red Fairy books. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 These are some of the selections we have on the list for next year (range of age two through eighth grade): Scripture memory a la Simply Charlotte Mason Vos and other children's Bibles Susan and Richie Hunt Bible exploration books (mostly for the younger sister but still applicable to all) Narnia and other family lit Science vocab and U.S. Geography vocab (state capitals, abbreviations, and land features) Fifty Famous Stories Retold (James Baldwin) Mr. Pipes hymn stories (Douglas Bond and YouTube) Famous Men of Greece and Famous Men of Rome (Memoria Press) The Children's Book of Virtues (William J. Bennett) various from Poetry for Young People series English From the Roots Up (Latin and Greek vocab cards -- my kids LOVE these) Evan Moore Word-A-Day vocabulary and Wordly Wise vocabulary An etiquette book by Ron Clark called "The Essential 55" -- another WTM mom recommended it, and it looks like an entertaining and informative read to use with the older set, stuff like how to behave at a job interview and such. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsbrack Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 Thanks everyone for the responses. I'm off to explore these titles and see what might work for my little brood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mystie Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Oh, these are some great resources! We've done Morning Time in our homeschool since my oldest was 5, and now he's 12. :) I've been working on listing out all the things we've used over the years on my blog, here's the list so far: http://www.simplyconvivial.com/memory I also have a printable with 5 steps to start a morning time that fits your family and a video of a real, live action Morning Time in our house. :) Morning Time is an essential in our homeschool. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolamum Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 We always have a poetry book going for the year, but it's generally the one picked with our SL Core. Bible wise we read through either OT or NT. This year it's OT while we do 90 Days In Matthew from AIO. Great Composers is a book we have that we'll be adding in shortly. Following along for some lovely Nature resources.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peplophoros Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 I was overwhelmed with piecing together all the memory work I wanted (Mystie, you are amazing!!), but was so happy to find Living Memory: A Classical Memory Work Companion, which did most of the work for me (with the exception of catechism). It is truly amazing! There is memory work in there I never would have thought of! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 (edited) . Edited September 6, 2023 by SilverMoon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Greenleaf's Guide to the OT - Bible for older kids Youtube links for music...classical, folk, and even some "classic" pop/rock (gotta introduce them to Ice Ice Baby and Bye Bye Miss American Pie if they are going to be well-adjusted young American people :coolgleamA: ) CNN Student News Poetry Plutarch Bulfinch Shakespeare (Lamb or Nesbitt or the Arkangel Audio) FLL 1/2 or Our Mother Tongue for a quick review of the definition noun or the list of helping verbs, etc... Picture Books - Yep, even when they are bigger. Art books - Vivian Maier is going to make her debut in my Morning Time Basket in September. Can't wait! Dover Coloring Books and Paper/colored pencils for drawing and coloring while I read and while we listen. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mystie Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 I was overwhelmed with piecing together all the memory work I wanted (Mystie, you are amazing!!), but was so happy to find Living Memory: A Classical Memory Work Companion, which did most of the work for me (with the exception of catechism). It is truly amazing! There is memory work in there I never would have thought of! Mine has built up gradually over seven years - it's not all from scratch! :) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peplophoros Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Mine has built up gradually over seven years - it's not all from scratch! :) Sorry if this is hijacking the thread, but Mystie, I'm curious as to how you choose hymns to sing. Do you have a dvd/mp3 player to help you out? (I admit I'm only halfway through your posts so I apologize if you've answered this on your blog). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mystie Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Sorry if this is hijacking the thread, but Mystie, I'm curious as to how you choose hymns to sing. Do you have a dvd/mp3 player to help you out? (I admit I'm only halfway through your posts so I apologize if you've answered this on your blog). I choose hymns our church sings regularly so the kids are familiar with them and can participate better in service. :) I do also buy accompaniment CDs and put the tracks on a playlist on the iPod, because our singing does need help! :) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Targhee Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 I'm on a phone so I'm sorry I cannot provide links. We do some daily, and others we read portions from as I feel moved to do so. - scriptures - Marie's Words (vocabulary cards) - Memory work box (index card file, set up a la SCM, one for each child) - Poetry for Young People series (we have Dickinson, Poe, Frost, and Whitman but there are many others) - Usborne Book of Famous Artists - Millennium Masters CD set (I've hade these for 15 years, 12 CDs each of a master composer's works) - The American Story: 100 true tales from American History - Shakespeare's Stories for Young Readers by Nesbit - Mathematicians are People, Too (and vol 2) - 7 Habits for Highly Effective Kids - 365 Manners Kids Should Know - The Children's Plutarch - Aesop's Fables - whatever our current read aloud is As far as character, morals, virtue, etc, I think biography, fable, and much classic literature lend themselves to this in a very natural way. By using questioning you can help children come to know and understand these values without overtly teaching "diligence is good, sloth is bad," etc. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 We've expanded morning time considerably this year and it is going SO beautifully. I think it's everyone's favorite part of the homeschooling day. We do: Novel read-aloud (currently Little House on the Prairie) Nonfiction read-aloud, currently going through the nonfiction pieces in my large collection of 1970s-era Cricket magazines, which are wonderful. History of science (once a week only, Aristotle Leads the Way by Joy Hakim) Poem of the day - selections I happen to like from a variety of poetry anthologies Classical music piece of the week, using http://www.marciawashburn.com/BeethovenWho.html (this week was Bach's Fugue in G Minor) Artist of the week, using two books: Usborne Introduction to Art and The Art Book for Children. (this week was Andy Warhol) Friday art project from Discovering Great Artists Song of the week - from one of the Unitarian-Universalist hymnals or a folk song. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommy5 Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 I love this idea. Years ago I started with charlotte mason type of homeschooling and over the years added more and more "stuff" and sometimes I feel like I'm trying to squeeze so much in that I'm failing at what the beauty of Charlotte Mason homeschooling is. I really like this and will have to try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiac Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 For memory work, I just stumbled across a British titled called The Faber Book of Useful Verse . You could also use many of the verses and proverbs for copywork. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimk3 Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 Our family has enjoyed the following. Some of them have been mentioned already, but I'd like to second those. A Child's Introduction to Art A Child's Introduction to Poetry The Story of the Orchestra Shakespeare retellings by Coville Poetry for Young People SCM Laying Down the Rails A Smart Girl's Guide to Manners Dude That's Rude Cricket, Ask, and Muse Magazines Poetry by A.A. Milne Knock Knock Jokes and other joke books picture book biographies Spotify (free) custom playlists of composers and folk songs Our memory work categories are: Bible Poetry Shakespeare Need to Know (address, phone number, etc.) Phonogram Review Spanish 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethel Mertz Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Thanks for the Cricket, Muse, Ask, etc magazine suggestions. Now I know what to do with that big pile we have! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsgardCA Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Great suggestions! For those of you that read aloud, for example, Fifty Famous Stories, are your children expected to summarize or draw a picture of what was read? Do you discuss? Sadly, my kids don't enjoy anything read aloud as much as I'd like, so I'm trying to figure out how this should work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItoLina Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Great suggestions! For those of you that read aloud, for example, Fifty Famous Stories, are your children expected to summarize or draw a picture of what was read? Do you discuss? Sadly, my kids don't enjoy anything read aloud as much as I'd like, so I'm trying to figure out how this should work. I just read and answer their question as they naturally come up. Sometimes I will ask them a question if there is something in particular I want to point out to them. They are usually playing with Legos, rolling around on the couch, making bead necklaces, etc while I read. They rarely just sit, but they often ask me good questions or have comments related to what I am reading, so I know they are hearing me. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparrowsNest Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Great suggestions! For those of you that read aloud, for example, Fifty Famous Stories, are your children expected to summarize or draw a picture of what was read? Do you discuss? Sadly, my kids don't enjoy anything read aloud as much as I'd like, so I'm trying to figure out how this should work. Whether we discuss an individual day's reading or not depends on 1: my mood ;) 2: how the kids are doing attention-wise, 3: whether I have anything interesting to say about the text, 4: whether any of the children have anything interesting to say about the text, and 5: how quickly I need to get us through Morning Time that day. I do often choose read alouds with a guide, just for the ease of use in finding comprehension and discussion questions. And after we're done reading a book or what not, I'll give us a day or two just to discuss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Right Now our basket contains: Memoria Press Art Cards The Barefoot Book of Classical Poems Gotta Have God: Cool Devotions for Guys Mistakes that Worked (Probably our favorite book of the year and one of the best ways I've found to talk about perfectionism, failure, and the importance of trying) Anne of Green Gables I'm also adding Winston Grammar starting this week because it is active and we can analyze a couple of sentences per day with cards and review grammar painlessly. I like to keep it simple. If I add too many pieces it gets long and starts to take over our morning and I end up skipping Morning Meeting to get to the "real" work, so I try to keep it minimalistic and fun for everyone. Achieving the balance can be tricky and sometimes resources I like have to go because they just don't fit in and the balance of the whole is more important so that it actually gets done. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 We spread our "morning basket" type books throughout the day. Our favorites: Scripture: SCM's Scripture Memory System (we add catechism to this). We also have a 2 year Bible (Today's Light) which breaks the readings into about 15 minute segments. I do 2 days OT and 2 days NT. The fifth day is a "Sunday reading" and we use an assortment of books for this. We just started doing this at the beginning of the summer and I really like this reading schedule. We've also gone through dozens of children's Bibles over the years! Poetry: Favorite Poems Old and New, Random House Book of Poetry, Dover Thrift classics, Joyful Noise, and Poetry for Young People are our favorites. AO Year 1 poetry selections are also great because they are divided by month. I have a printed binder of these that we often read through. We sometimes read silly poems like those from Shel Silverstein or Jack Prelutsky. Shakespeare: I like the Young Reader's Shakespeare series. Hymn Study: Our church (we're Lutheran) has a My First Hymnal book/cd that I love because it's full of hymns we often sing in church. We've tried other materials for this, but the lyrics and tunes were often different than what we are familiar with. We did like Hymns for a Kid's Heart. Artist Study--We have a big book of famous paintings that I found at a garage sale. It only has one by each artist, so we just pick one and use it for our study. Next year we'll be using ELTL which has it's own picture study lessons so we won't be doing this as a family subject. Composer Study: I have a set of classical CDs that my mom gave us. We also use an old Childcraft Encyclopedia (from the 50s). The music book has short biographies of several different composers. This has been my favorite source for composer study. We went through an Opal Wheel biography on Bach, but I decided I didn't want to spend quite so much time on each composer. We did enjoy the book though. Character: We use SCM's Laying Down the Rails for Children. It has lots of Bible verses, public domain stories and poems, activities, etc. for each character trait. It was a great investment since we'll be using this for years to come! Choice Stories for Children is another great book. Nature Journals: Natural Science Through the Seasons by James Partridge has been a great resource. It has activities for each month. It is geared toward a classroom setting, but it has a CM feel to it. I've found nature study to be more successful when we have a specific topic to focus on. Literature: I try to have a timeless classic going. Over the years, we've read Narnia, Little House, A Christmas Carol, Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, EB White books, etc. Aesop's Fables has been a great book to work on narrations with. The stories are very short and it's great for building confidence with narrations. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsbrack Posted June 22, 2015 Author Share Posted June 22, 2015 Thank you everyone! I'm so pleased that so many have commented. I'm more excited about the morning basket for next year than any other area I'm planning and I can't wait to try some of this out! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arliemaria Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 I think I am going to try to assemble a basket for morning time (breakfast). Right now I've been contemplating reading from Volume 1 of My Book House (which I own) and possible alternate with Journey's Through Bookland Vol. 1 on google play. There is so much that can go into morning time, but I really fear I would make it too long and lose attention of my young student. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arliemaria Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 I have: -- God's Great Covenant teacher's manual and a Bible. -- How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare, and from the library, a corresponding Shakespeare book for children on the play we are studying. Last year, it was a binder of the poems were were memorizing that I'd printed off the internet. -- A binder with printouts of the National Standards for Civics and Government and the National Content Standards in Economics, for discussion when we have time or I'm in the mood. -- My tablet, with my Youtube channel of hymns, to cast to our TV and sing along with. Also on my tablet, an app for the Westminster Shorter Catechism. -- An alphabet chart for the under 5 crowd -- The Hey Andrew! Greek Reader, to keep fresh on the Greek alphabet -- FAN-Math Math Express, for mental math practice (the kids like competing with each other) Ours seems kinda boring, but it is what it is. We actually like it. I know this might be Classical Homeschooling Hersey, but my kids get their composer and art study from watching Little Einsteins on Netflix. :leaving: I just found this via google. Could you tell me how you use it? Just read through the questions and answers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrousel Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 I have: -- -- My tablet, with my Youtube channel of hymns, to cast to our TV and sing along with. Also on my tablet, an app for the Westminster Shorter Catechism. What app are you using for Catechism? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.Ivy Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 What app are you using for Catechism? Apparently the one I got a couple of years ago isn't available any more, but there is this one that looks good I actually may switch to this newer app, too, because it has the creeds with it. Sometimes we recite a creed during Morning Time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.Ivy Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 I just found this via google. Could you tell me how you use it? Just read through the questions and answers? I ask the kids one of the questions, and lead them through a Socratic discussion or give some scenarios to help them understand the main points. The kids really enjoy these discussions! I think that covering the Standards, however loosely, helps round out our "social studies." We use Story of the World for history, but the Standards gives us some other things to think about. I don't really have a desire to do a full "social studies" or "government" curriculum, since there isn't really much to cover in elementary school. They pick a lot of it up from our evening family discussions of current events and elections, anyway. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arliemaria Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 I ask the kids one of the questions, and lead them through a Socratic discussion or give some scenarios to help them understand the main points. The kids really enjoy these discussions! I think that covering the Standards, however loosely, helps round out our "social studies." We use Story of the World for history, but the Standards gives us some other things to think about. I don't really have a desire to do a full "social studies" or "government" curriculum, since there isn't really much to cover in elementary school. They pick a lot of it up from our evening family discussions of current events and elections, anyway. Thanks! I think I am going to print the K-4 Standards and put into a three prong folder for our Morning Basket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbes Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I have a young 1st, a 2nd, and a toddler. We've been doing morning time for about three years. I begin as soon as I'm done eating breakfast (which is generally much sooner than the kids!). I get going while they eat. We: - read a bible chapter, then discuss or not depending on the day. - one of them prays (they like to), referencing a little photo album I put together of people/countries/missionaries/concepts/etc to pray for. - we do memory work (hopefully by this time they are done eating). We are always working through a Bible chapter, then there is poetry and sometimes other tidbits. This can be short (work on one new phrase) or long (review long sections of past work) depending on the day. - 'thankfuls' - each of us lists something we are thankful for and we add it to a notebook list. - read alouds. Current favourites are biographies from the Christian Heroes: Then and Now series. These are amazing for acquainting them with examples of godly men and women AND for the discussions they open up about history and geography, depending on the events of the book. - journals. They each draw a picture then dictate to me, or write their own entry. I often give them prompts unless they know something they want to write about. This generally takes about an hour. I found that if I didn't start when we were all around the table, I had a hard time getting everyone together again and I kept doing 'just one more thing' first. The toddler stays in high chair at least through Bible and prayer, then either continues to eat/play with his food or gets down and goes to play independently. I like that it's teaching him to be quiet and respectful for a period of time. There is always more I'm tempted to add, but then I end up avoiding it because it gets too long. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love-my-babies Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 I know this is an old thread, but I recently created a hymn study because this is something I was wanting for my own family. If you are looking to incorporate a new study in your homeschool or for family devotions, I’d love for you to check it out. You can follow me on Facebook and/or Instagram at Deeply Rooted Days. You can find the hymn study at my Etsy shop: https://deeplyrooteddays.etsy.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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