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I really, really WANT to love Circle Time but...


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…I almost always end up frustrated and then dreading it the next time!

 

I LOVE the idea of Circle Time / Morning Basket / Symposium / Whatever you want to call it… I've read Teaching from Rest and listen to all the podcasts- Readaloud Revival, Your Morning Basket, etc etc. It sounds like such a cozy and important time.

 

In reality, I find that I am frustrated with the lack of order (admitted control freak), short-fused when kids interrupt or don't listen, overwhelmed with all the choices and what I feel like we need to do, impatient when kids don't know their memory work and on top of all that, I don't particularly like reading aloud… I get headaches when I do so for longer than 10 minutes...

 

So right now, we do lots of audiobooks during meal times and in the car, listen to our memory work CD's and my husband reads aloud 2-3 evenings a week...

 

So should I just let the dream of Circle Time go? Is there something I can do to make it more enjoyable? Has anybody else struggled with this?

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First thing I'd do is get it down to three core things you want to do. Keep it simple. 

I don't do it now, because we are very comfortable covering just what we need to do with school time now. But it was a very useful thing to do when my kitchen was one huge remodeling mess and the usual way of doing school was simply not going to work.

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I think what you're doing now is great.  If you're happy with the simplified routine, then stick with that with no guilt.

 

If it helps any, I have ALWAYS planned morning time.  I cannot do a basket full of choices that I decide on at the spur of the moment.  And, when the kids were younger I sometimes lost my temper with the lack of cooperation and canceled morning time for the day.  Sometimes I shortened it because all of a sudden I wasn't in the mood for the resources I had planned for whatever reason.  The best thing morning time has done for us is give us one time during the day when most of us are together for prayer and Bible, and to give my teenagers a line in the sand for when they must be up and report to me.  It forces us to start the day at a decent time.   

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Why do you do Circle Time?  Can you meet those goals in another way?

 

 

The general purpose is to foster a family culture built around wonderful books, art, music, and ideas.

 

 

You do not have to do that at 9am.

 

You can spread "Circle Time" out over the course of the day, and be minimal about what you cover.

 

There are many great ideas out there.  You need to sift through to fit in the ideas that fit your particular family.

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I'd take a different approach:

 

1, choose ONE thing to start your day with. (for us, that would have been devotions--read the Bible, pray, and maybe sing a song.)

 

2, do memory work separately. Then there won't be shenanigans. We always did things like that one on one, rather than in a group.

 

3, audios books are really fine. Keep it up! If you can read to them a little, do so--I think it's great for kids and important. But maybe consider a different time since they are squirrely first thing in the morning. Maybe it would be to read something for science or history, with them sitting on either side of you, looking at pictures and talking about each one.

 

4, maybe they need to run around or do something active for 30-60 minutes before they are ready for school in the morning.

 

Hang in there!

Edited by MerryAtHope
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If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

FWIW, our morning time is a basket of books that I pull 2 or 3 from every day and read from. There's currently an Aesop's fables collection, a fairy tale anthology, a couple Childcraft encyclopedia volumes, some saint books, a Bible, and I don't know what else. Sometimes we just read a bunch from one of them. Sometimes we read 1 short section from many. 

The only problem I have found so far is that the books change frequently, as the kids are always pulling them out to look at on their own and reshelving them elsewhere. So I just choose different ones and move on.

This does not include the other RA we do (chapter books, Bible at bedtime, random picture books, etc...).

My relaxed attitude about this may change as they get older (our oldest will be 6 soon.)

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You may be doing too much or expecting too much from your children. Your circle/ morning time is going to look different from anyone else and listening to audio books may be sufficient. It's supposed to be enjoyable, if it isn't, don't do it.

 

Your Morning Basket episode 9 is a Q&A session that may be helpful to you. A couple things brought up in that episode that may be useful to you: playing a specific song when morning time is about to start. It gives kids a chance to wrap up breakfast or whatever without mom having to find everyone. Another thing was practicing the memory work together but not worry about testing the kids on it. I'm bad about wanting all my kids to say everything perfectly before we move on. With the memory system we use, I can move on a week or so after something new is introduced.

 

I'm one of those people that could have an hour long morning time everyday, but my kids aren't. Slowly I'm learning how to meet all our needs. I think you can find a way to make it work if you want to, but it may not be the right thing or you and your family.

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1) Let them do something while they listen. I present Morning Basket from across the breakfast bar while kids eat breakfast. They fidget and fiddle with things (draw, craft, quiet toys, etc) if they are done eating. I don't think it would work if we were on the couch or there wasn't opportunity to do something simultaneously. And we have had plenty of times when inattention, interrupting, or distraction has pushed me over the edge and I canceled the rest of that day's Morning Basket.

 

2. Don't worry too much about getting to everything - it's the time for Mom's choice. Our Morning Basket has some routine to it, but I feel complete freedom in doing whatever I want. It may fill the whole hour (or go over) or it may be shortened or canceled (like today because of extra play practice this week). I may only read from various sources, or I may have the kids play a vocab game or watch a web clip. I use audiobooks a lot, and finish dishes while they make peeler bead designs and we all listen. The whole time might be taken in an impromptu discussion (or lecture). Whatever I feel moved to do - it's an hour of complete control for me!

 

3. It's a great time to connect. While doing Morning Basket squeezes in some of the truth, goodness, and beauty I am seeking, that is not the reason we persist in it. We persist because of the tone it usually sets, the way we all connect for that hour, and the relationship building it provides.

 

But if it doesn't work at your house then don't persist in it. We tend to pass along practices and curricula as if they are magic bullets for all homeschooling situations. They aren't. The universal truths are in the things we study, and the way we find those truths is multifaceted and varied. Circle Time is just a practice, which helps some but it isn't THE only way to restful teaching.

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I could never do Morning Basket. It's not a fit for me. BUT... there's more than one way to create the homeschool culture you want.

 

We seem to do better when we flip the order around, so we start with the most get-to-the-point-and-do-the-next-lesson subject there is in my book -- Math. We simply MUST begin with Math. Why? No idea, but that's what works here. I suppose we want it behind us for the day? Anyway, we start with Math. It's a wonderful feeling each school day, to wrap up that CLE lesson, with the flashcards and mastery/speed drill, and all those lovely We Remembers and Skill Builders and Mental Math. :001_wub:  When the girls complete a Light Unit, I print them a pretty purple certificate to add to their wall.

 

After Math I think, "Now, if I drop off the planet in next forty minutes, what would I want to have finished before I go?" So after Math, that's likely to be Grammar, both levels. There will be no Grammar happening at 2:30 pm at my house. By then, my brain is too fried for prepositional phrases that modify the object of the preposition of the previous prepositional phrase. KWIM?

 

Next is Composition, especially for the 5th grader, or Spelling for the 3rd graders. What else takes the most out of me? Latin, perhaps? So we do that. Math + Grammar + Something Englishy + Something Else = My "Morning Basket."

 

We work on the "hard" stuff first, then gradually wind down to the fluffier things, like Composer Study or History or Chapter Book Read Aloud. We alternate their independent work with their tutor times. The mornings (here) are usually not for warm group coziness, deep spirituality, or cultivation of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. No, the mornings (here) are for Academic Grunt Work.

 

By the mid-afternoon, we might be tired, imagine! I like to keep "Morning Basket" types of thing for this sleepy afternoon time, between being done with the core work and sending them off to play (or nap). Science, History, Bible, chapter book read alouds, then listening to music, poetry recitation, working on art projects or handicrafts, playing board games -- these are things that we reserve for the afternoons (and evenings or weekends).

 

I've tried, but I just can't be all Wicker Basket of Eternal Beauty in the morning. Seriously. I wake up with one daily purpose -- to get Math done. If that works here, well then. I'm not exactly saying "Beauty can wait," but... yeah, it can wait. We do get to it, eventually, but there is a core of academic endeavor that (for me) requires the first fruits of each day. If I wear myself out doing Poetry and Art Pictures with these (occasionally unappreciative, interrupting) children, and then still have to face that mountain of Core Subjects, I start to ask myself, "Why?"

 

At least with my kids, I've found that they appreciate time spent amongst the lovely things much more when they have done some heavy lifting in the morning. Plus, we derive from this the daily satisfaction of thinking, "Math is done. Grammar is done. Composition is done. Latin is done. Spelling is done. At last, time for Poetry Tea." We feel we've earned it, if that makes sense.

 

So I start the day by saying, "Open to your Math lesson...." HTH.

Edited by Sahamamama
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I'm right there with you. I have 4 ages 7 and under and getting any kind of order is just hard right now. So I usually try to do Morning Time in the playroom where they can play quietly and the baby can crawl around. It isn't much right now.... I read a poem or two, we sing our hymn of the month, go over our Bible passage, recite our poem of the month, and then look at our artist prints. We do catechism with our kids so I'll put the catechism set to music on my Spotify app and we'll sing along for that for about 5-10 minutes. But that's about it. Sometimes I'll read a picture book but usually I'll leave that until later. I figure as they all get older it will get a bit easier but I'm just trying to start a routine of it now.

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My kids are 8, 6, 2, and 2 months. I do morning time while they finish breakfast... I'm a faster eater and usually by the time they are done eating we've read the Bible and prayed and we jump right into memory work. Then they statt drawing in their journals while I read aloud from a poetry book, art book, and whatever else we have going. It's pretty geared to the older two, the youngers are just present.

 

This time works for us because the toddler is contained in his high chair and everyone what is already present and their hands are occupied. I don't get to it if we scatter first. Sometimes I cut it shorter than others, depending on how everyone is doing.

 

I remember various iterations of the morning time routine from when I was homeschooled... I think it's great to run with what's working for you in a particular stage.

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Circle Time/Morning Basket was always more challenging for me at the end of a pregnancy. I see you're due in June. For me the last trimester of pregnancy was always a good time to embrace one-on-one tutoring. You could try picking up your circle time again later when you're more likely to enjoy it and to pass that enjoyment on to your children.

 

Edited by Jane Elliot
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I have the opposite problem - I love our "circle time" and my kids groan about it!  They are (nearly) 9, 11, and 13 and they seem to be outgrowing what they used to love.  I like to do poetry, devotions, memory verse, and, some days, a missionary story.  They like the missionary story and always ask for it to be last (save the best for last!) but otherwise they look at circle time as an interruption and a waste of time because they are thinking of the other seat work they still have to accomplish.

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…I almost always end up frustrated and then dreading it the next time!

 

I LOVE the idea of Circle Time / Morning Basket / Symposium / Whatever you want to call it… I've read Teaching from Rest and listen to all the podcasts- Readaloud Revival, Your Morning Basket, etc etc. It sounds like such a cozy and important time.

 

In reality, I find that I am frustrated with the lack of order (admitted control freak), short-fused when kids interrupt or don't listen, overwhelmed with all the choices and what I feel like we need to do, impatient when kids don't know their memory work and on top of all that, I don't particularly like reading aloud… I get headaches when I do so for longer than 10 minutes...

 

So right now, we do lots of audiobooks during meal times and in the car, listen to our memory work CD's and my husband reads aloud 2-3 evenings a week...

 

So should I just let the dream of Circle Time go? Is there something I can do to make it more enjoyable? Has anybody else struggled with this?

  Nope, my kids are angels and sit super still and don't interrupt.  :P :D

 

Okay, so in real life, I sit them by people who don't tempt them to talk and fiddle.  And they do know "criss cross applesauce, hands in your lap."  I do re-focus  them, as in, " Hush.  Let's do this.  Don't interrupt."  Generally it is our 4y and 6yo.

 

Memory work is fun.  Don't think of it as drill but more as essentially singing or reciting together.  I do not call for recitations in Circle Time.  No.  This is the time for us all to recite together and work together in a fun way - by going super fast or super slow or deepening our voice or high.... you see the point.  I will tell you I think reading aloud is the single most important thing I did for my kids' education and moral development.  I really believe it's that vital.  

 

I can't picture audiobooks during meals (because mealtimes are my most stressful times) but I can see how  you could get the same pleasant family togetherness through audiobooks as long as parents are really present and checked in, ie, not on a phone or gadget so there can be discussion.

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I never did anything like that.  I did read aloud to my kids a lot and still do.  Those are some of my best memories/times with homeschooling.  But trying to make it some sort of production with a circle or what not..nah.  Not my thing.

 

 

Circle time is more of a movement - "growing your family book culture" kind of a thing through read alouds more than a literal, sit in a circle, type of a deal. ;)

 

Er, OP, that is what you're doing right - you mean that essentially you're carving out a little niche of space to be together, read aloud and do recitations in one "block" of time?  This is how we do it... Not a literally circle or a cute rug with colored spaces to sit on, or holding hands, or ..... ya know. ;)

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I've tried, but I just can't be all Wicker Basket of Eternal Beauty in the morning.

 

:lol:

 

I've never done the basket, but when mine were younger, it once seemed like the Right Thing To Do to begin the school day by gathering around the piano and singing songs from a vintage primary music textbook.   That lasted a couple of weeks.  The children liked it, and DH seemed to be impressed as he passed by on his way out the door, but I just couldn't keep up the placid and cheerful enthusiasm.  I never want to hear those particular songs again! 

 

I do sometimes read aloud at breakfast, but it's usually more along the lines of "something a bit different and conversation-starting" than "eternal beauty."   Travel writings, a funny sketch, a poem about some historic event.  Mostly, though, I'm with you in being more down to business at that time of day.  :001_smile:

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:lol:

 

I've never done the basket, but when mine were younger, it once seemed like the Right Thing To Do to begin the school day by gathering around the piano and singing songs from a vintage primary music textbook.   That lasted a couple of weeks.  The children liked it, and DH seemed to be impressed as he passed by on his way out the door, but I just couldn't keep up the placid and cheerful enthusiasm.  I never want to hear those particular songs again! 

 

I do sometimes read aloud at breakfast, but it's usually more along the lines of "something a bit different and conversation-starting" than "eternal beauty."   Travel writings, a funny sketch, a poem about some historic event.  Mostly, though, I'm with you in being more down to business at that time of day.  :001_smile:

 

It was a bit hyperbole, of course, but that is the basic gist of our day. I love your Vintage Music Textbook story, especially that your husband was impressed on his way out the door, LOL. ;) Totally get that. We do begin our days with hymns sometimes, I suppose that's worth something?

 

For me, the placid and cheerful enthusiasm manifests in abundance after we have finished Math, Grammar and/or Composition, and Spelling and/or Vocabulary, Latin and/or French. I am a Happy Camper then!

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I could never do Morning Basket. It's not a fit for me. BUT... there's more than one way to create the homeschool culture you want.

 

We seem to do better when we flip the order around, so we start with the most get-to-the-point-and-do-the-next-lesson subject there is in my book -- Math. We simply MUST begin with Math. Why? No idea, but that's what works here. I suppose we want it behind us for the day? Anyway, we start with Math. It's a wonderful feeling each school day, to wrap up that CLE lesson, with the flashcards and mastery/speed drill, and all those lovely We Remembers and Skill Builders and Mental Math. :001_wub: When the girls complete a Light Unit, I print them a pretty purple certificate to add to their wall.

 

After Math I think, "Now, if I drop off the planet in next forty minutes, what would I want to have finished before I go?" So after Math, that's likely to be Grammar, both levels. There will be no Grammar happening at 2:30 pm at my house. By then, my brain is too fried for prepositional phrases that modify the object of the preposition of the previous prepositional phrase. KWIM?

 

Next is Composition, especially for the 5th grader, or Spelling for the 3rd graders. What else takes the most out of me? Latin, perhaps? So we do that. Math + Grammar + Something Englishy + Something Else = My "Morning Basket."

 

We work on the "hard" stuff first, then gradually wind down to the fluffier things, like Composer Study or History or Chapter Book Read Aloud. We alternate their independent work with their tutor times. The mornings (here) are usually not for warm group coziness, deep spirituality, or cultivation of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. No, the mornings (here) are for Academic Grunt Work.

 

By the mid-afternoon, we might be tired, imagine! I like to keep "Morning Basket" types of thing for this sleepy afternoon time, between being done with the core work and sending them off to play (or nap). Science, History, Bible, chapter book read alouds, then listening to music, poetry recitation, working on art projects or handicrafts, playing board games -- these are things that we reserve for the afternoons (and evenings or weekends).

 

I've tried, but I just can't be all Wicker Basket of Eternal Beauty in the morning. Seriously. I wake up with one daily purpose -- to get Math done. If that works here, well then. I'm not exactly saying "Beauty can wait," but... yeah, it can wait. We do get to it, eventually, but there is a core of academic endeavor that (for me) requires the first fruits of each day. If I wear myself out doing Poetry and Art Pictures with these (occasionally unappreciative, interrupting) children, and then still have to face that mountain of Core Subjects, I start to ask myself, "Why?"

 

At least with my kids, I've found that they appreciate time spent amongst the lovely things much more when they have done some heavy lifting in the morning. Plus, we derive from this the daily satisfaction of thinking, "Math is done. Grammar is done. Composition is done. Latin is done. Spelling is done. At last, time for Poetry Tea." We feel we've earned it, if that makes sense.

 

So I start the day by saying, "Open to your Math lesson...." HTH.

Love this post! Made me laugh because it's so true for our family too.

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