How does your "morning basket" fit into your morning "routine"

[macmacmoo]

I've read blog after blog about people using a morning basket or morning circle or start of the morning everyone come together time. While everyone has made that time sound wonderful, they don't every talk about how that time fits into their morning routine.

 

I'm left wondering do they do this before or after breakfast. I know some make mention they do it during breakfast and then seaway into independent studies which then bring up the question: What about the dishes?

 

 

So if you have a moment and are one to do a morning get together could you tell me bout how long it last and how it puzzles with breakfast and morning chores. If you have more time other helpful tidbits like what you eat? What chores are done? and what's in your basket? It's not that I want to do as you do, but I rather gauge how much time.

 

Many thanks

[dsbrack]

We do our morning time after breakfast and morning routine.  I'm up first, shower, and get breakfast going.  We usually do oatmeal, eggs, or cereal.  Then the kiddos head off the get ready for the day.  After they brush teeth and get dressed, they each have one chore.  One wipes down the table and the other cleans the bathroom counter (including all the toothpaste!!)  Then we get started, usually by 9:00, and take 45 minute to an hour. 

 

Daily we do Bible time, sing a song, memory work, and read aloud.  On a rotation of one per day we do artist study, composer study, Shakespeare, and poetry.  I plan one topic for each of these areas per quarter.  It is working well for us now but I'm always open to tweaking if it becomes a burden instead of a joy.

[Zoo Keeper]

Our morning time together is relatively short. 

 

  We read scripture/pray together for  10 or 15 min.  Then I do 15 min. of memory work *or* poetry reading *or* other artsy thing. Never all three. Just. Too. Much.  Then read aloud for around 15-20 min.  This is about the limit for my crew, which is a mix of ages and focus abilities. 

 

In theory, the kids' chores (make beds, brush teeth, etc.) are done before school. If they don't get it done before school, too bad, do it on afternoon break.  Breakfast is before school.  Breakfast is usually self-serve (cereal, toast, hardboiled egg, etc.) so that clean up (clear table, rinse and stack dishes) is quick and done before school.  We save the more involved breakfasts for the weekend.  Our weekday mornings bend around school.

[Holly]

We finish breakfast and chores before doing any school.  Lately we've been doing "morning basket" last, and I like not having to rush through it since ours often involves art projects.  Not to mention, if we get interrupted and need to quit school early, I don't feel as stressed since we completed in our 3Rs first.

[Black-eyed Suzan]

We also eat breakfast, get ready/do chores, then start school. Sometimes we start with our morning time and sometimes we do a subject beforehand. Pam Barnhill's podcast Your Morning Basket gave me a better idea of how people are implementing it.

[reign]

I take a shower and get dressed while my girls are gettingout of bed and playing. They get water, smoothies, and fruit while I make breakfast. Mainly they eat oatmeal or Nutella sandwiches for breakfast. Not much to clean up. We don't have a dish washer and my sink is porcelain so they just scrap their bowls into the garbage and I wash the dishes. They clean up the table/ floor and then go brush their teeth/ wash up. I finish dishes and wipe table.

 

Then we do morning time.

1. Read chapter book

2. Memory work

3. Picture book

4. Wordly Wise done aloud

5. Picture book

6. Latin

 

Then they usually run/bike around the block and move on to the table to start seat work when they get back.

[Hobbes]

I get up, shower, dress. At 7:30, everyone is getting up and dressed, beds made, rooms clean, sometimes laundry put away. Breakfast at about 8. I always eat faster than they do, so I start right in on 'morning basket' stuff while they finish. Bible reading, prayer, memory work, poetry reading, read aloud (currently the Burgess Bird Book). By memory work they are typically finished eating. The table gets cleared once we finish reading and they jump into their checklists, starting with journals.

 

This has worked consistently for us. If everyone gets up and leaves after breakfast, I'm not very successful at regrouping, so getting the ball rolling with breakfast has worked best.

 

ETA: We pile the dishes at the sink and then I do them quickly while they start their work checklists. We school at the kitchen table, primarly because then I can switch between household work and teaching as needed.

Edited March 30, 2016 by indigoellen@gmail.com

[KeriJ]

I've read blog after blog about people using a morning basket or morning circle or start of the morning everyone come together time. While everyone has made that time sound wonderful, they don't every talk about how that time fits into their morning routine.

 

I'm left wondering do they do this before or after breakfast. I know some make mention they do it during breakfast and then seaway into independent studies which then bring up the question: What about the dishes?

 

 

So if you have a moment and are one to do a morning get together could you tell me bout how long it last and how it puzzles with breakfast and morning chores. If you have more time other helpful tidbits like what you eat? What chores are done? and what's in your basket? It's not that I want to do as you do, but I rather gauge how much time.

 

Many thanks

 

The only way it worked for us was to switch it to "afternoon basket". :)  We do it after lunch, right before "quiet time".  My kids are ready to get working on their independent subjects right after breakfast, and would rather get all of that done so that we can enjoy family time later in the day.  It just works out better for us. (and we have a shelf instead of a basket)

[pehp]

I will lay out the details of our morning for you, and perhaps that will help:

 

*I get up earlier than my children...most days....and get dressed etc. 

*they get up around 8

*between 8-9 they have breakfast, I put in laundry, I wash up the dishes, they get dressed, brush teeth, and make beds/feed pets. I might fold laundry, return a phone call, tidy a room, quick-clean a bathroom--whatever! 

*around 9-9:30 our morning chores are done and we gather on the sofa to read books together.  This time typically lasts about an hour, and includes poetry, Shakespeare, history, biography, Aesop, literature (but not all of those subjects every day!!!--for instance, today we just did nursery rhymes, Charlotte's Web, a chapter of CHOW, and a chapter of reading a biography of Paul Revere) and whatever else we're wanting to read.

*then we move to table time (math, copywork, sometimes grammar/spelling, writing....)

 

And that takes us to lunchtime-ish and then we are done, with the exception of piano practice. 

 

ETA: this is the basic setup of our school day right now: http://thejoyfulhouse.blogspot.com/2016/01/on-organizing-charlotte-mason-inspired.html

Edited March 30, 2016 by pehp

[klaw]

We like ours after breakfast too...kiddos wake up slowly and I have breakfast ready at about eight, we all do our chores from 8:30-9, and then have our morning time.  We do a bible lesson, read our history from SOTW on Monday and then read whatever resources I can find that relate other days, talk about them a bit, and then I read some MCT aloud and we talk about that.

 

  What I have found is key for our family is to then have a break before we dive into school work...the kids need 20 minutes or so to run around and grab a quick snack (we just ate!!  why do they need food all the time!! but life is better this way).  After that we settle down to work from 10:30-12 and get it all done.  It's working for us, for right now...

[Targhee]

We do it during breakfast. I expect kids to be to the breakfast bar at 9:00 having done their morning routine (dress, make bed, wash/shower, comb, clean up from doing that). I usually have breakfast ready, but sometimes I am finishing while they quiz each other on vocab cards. They eat while I am on the other side of the bar sharing things from our basket with them.

 

Kids clear their own places and load dishwasher. Someone sweeps, someone wipes the counter. I do most of the other cleanup during an audiobook, or afterwards (if I am reading aloud) while they start lessons (10-15 minutes for me). I don't care if some dishes are left for lunch time.

 

Our basket is an hour long. It's split about 30 minutes of me things from the basket (eg a scripture, new vocab card, new art card/artist bio, one story from anthology or a video to watch and discuss, a bio or historical excerpt) and 30 minutes of read aloud.

 

They all start math after morning basket, each with varying degrees of autonomy. I'm usually just on retainer for math consultations, and after cleanup I work with 4 yr old (mostly getting ready for the day, maybe a book or math activity).

 

Things in our basket past and present:

Scripture

Marie's Words vocab cards

Fairy Tales from Around the World (Andrew Lang anthology)

100 True Tales from Anerican History

Mathematicians are People Too

The Book of Virtues

MP Art Cards

Millennial Masters CD Anthology (one disc at a time)

Poetry for Young People (Dickinson, Frost, Poe, etc)

Shakespeare's Stories for Children

Our Young Folks Plutarch

365 Manners Kids Should Know

Simply Fun "What If?" cards

Real Kids, Real Stories, Real Change

Building Poems

Growing Up With a Bucket Full of Happiness

Aesop (Milo Winter ed)

Usborne Book of Famous Artists

Figuratively Speaking

I also keep a Pinterest board of news articles, video clips, or other things I want to share and discuss with them (just pull them up on my phone).

 

Then we have read aloud/audiobooks. Some favorites have been:

Half Magic

The Sword in the Stone (audiobook)

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (audiobook)

Pyle's Robin Hood (audiobook)

Charlotte's Web

Matilda (audiobook)

Cosmic (audiobook)

The Princess and the Goblin

Currie and the Princess (audiobook)

Sherlock Holmes (sooooo many of them, mostly audiobook)

Winnie the Pooh (audiobook - love it!)

The Wind in the Willows

The BFG

 

I really love audiobooks! We borrow them from the library. The kids keep hands busy with drawing, Lego, beads, small crafts, solitaire games, etc while listening. I listen too (and do dishes or help the youngest with craft) and we stop and discuss vocabulary, character choices, explain historical contexts, etc.

 

ETA: we try to eat whole foods (kind of paleo like) so breakfast might be almond-butter banana cookies, bacon and eggs, pumpkin breakfast cookies, smoothies, frittata, sausage and sweet potatoes, etc. Breakfast is always freshly made, but not extravagant.

Edited March 30, 2016 by Targhee

[Laura Cook]

Everyone is up by 8. We do breakfast and some quick morning chores then start school at 9. We begin with our morning time which lasts about 30 minutes. I read from our current chapter book for about 15 minutes, we do memory work for about 10 minutes and then a quick cursive handwriting page that takes about 5 minutes. Short and sweet is the name of the game here! After that we dive into the rest of our work planned for the day.

Edited March 30, 2016 by bzymama23

[KeriJ]

Our basket/shelf includes:

 

Polite Moments

Geography from A to Z (we draw and define)

SCM Picture Portfolios

Children Just Like Me

Wisdom With the Millers

Maps for tracing

Bible memory verses

Our current literature read-aloud

Classical CD's to listen to while tracing maps

A book of poems

 

We loop through, doing only 1 or 2 per day. Prayer and praise, Bible memory verse, literature read-aloud and singing a hymn are done daily.

Edited March 30, 2016 by KeriJ

[FO4UR]

I gave up on doing Morning Circle in the actual morning.  I have one child that is excessively grumpy at that time of day, and a toddler who is not the typical early riser, and it just turns to chaos if I try to implement the Circle in the Morning.

 

We have a long bedtime routine of reading aloud and touching base with those things that many do in the morning.

 

I do memory work and such in the 1-on-1 times. 

 

I like to have everyone gathered at 7pm (after dinner) so we can get showers and get to bed at a decent hour after storytime. Sometimes life happens though.

[Kristie in Florida]

My unique situation and my stubbornness equals two distinct morning basket times. My daughter is 12 and I have the babies, technically a toddler (almost preschooler) and a baby.

 

My daughter wakes up slowly with a book and my toddler needs an episode or two of Dinosaur Train (hate that show!). Then we start on breakfast (typically yogurt, cereal, and fruit) and their chores. On a good day I did all of mine before the two oldest wake up. That way I can concentrate on teaching the toddler how to make his bed, feed the baby again, etc.

 

My daughter and I do the first morning basket of the day which consists of Bible, a read aloud (currently Sense and Sensibility) and one other thing: we rotate things like poetry, fun Latin reading, and artist study. At this time my toddler is playing with legos or something, hopefully quietly and the baby is where he needs to be. I juggle.

 

She then moves onto her checklist.

 

The second morning basket is with the babies. While the toddler is playing and the baby is probably in my lap I read a Bible story, maybe a few other seasonal board books, and maybe we sing some nursery rhymes. My toddler is probably quite insistent on watching more Dinosaur Train at this time. It was on ALL DAY when I was sick and pregnant so we are weaning him off.

 

I will add things as the babies get older and my daughter and I will probably modify hours as she enters high school. I don't want to give up that time with her but I'm not sure yet how I will make it work either.

[amyc78]

I really really really have wanted Morning Time to work in our school and after the control freak in me ruined many mornings trying to make it look the way it "should", I've given in to scattering what would be in our Morning Basket throughout the day. So, instead of giving you my ideal, this is the actual:

 

I'm normally an early bird but this pregnancy has kicked my tail, therefore our days start a little bit late even though the kids have been up for awhile doing chores, drawing, playing. My DH does Morning Devotions with them before he leaves for work, sometimes I am awake for that :).

 

During breakfast- we listen to 5 Scripture Memory songs, our CC memory work for the week and sometimes classical music (I try to note the composer or era). Sometimes we also listen to an audiobook or SOTW, occasionally we get the iPad out and watch a BrainPop or educational something together.

 

During lunch or in the car- Sometimes I read to them, sometimes we listen to audiobooks or podcasts- selections include poetry, SOTW, Kids AudioBible, Psalm of the Day or current family audiobook

 

During or after Supper- we fill out our Gratitude Journal, DH reads aloud from family reading- something Bible or character focused (right now it's TheOlogy) and something fun (Socks by Beverly Cleary).

 

Every once in a while I send the kids outside with their sketch books for Nature Study. Would really love to add a Hymn Study, Picture / Artist Study and Catechism or Poetry Recitation but it's just not happening. 

 

Next year will be even more scattered as we add a newborn to the mix and 2 days of co-op for the big kids...

[EKT]

We cannot do Morning Time in the morning! I have tried. But I've found that if I don't do math and language arts (the skill work I do individually with each child) first thing when they are fresh, the day turns into a disaster. (Math just does not work after lunch in our house!) So, this is our schedule:

 

• Wake up (a few days a week when DH works from home, I go to the gym and he handles breakfast, but the other days, I do breakfast)
• Girls do chores (get dressed, brush teeth, do hair, make beds)
• Eat breakfast together
• Older DD does her individual skill session with me (math and language arts) while younger DD plays in her room
• Switch! Younger DD does her individual skill session with me (again, math and language arts) while older DD plays in her room
• Lunch
• Quiet Playtime (A.K.A. the girls play quietly in their rooms to give me a mental break. I usually knit or read or check email, etc.)
• "Morning" Time (THIS is when we get out our "Morning" Time stuff. Usually this is our history or science read aloud and random stuff I want to cover; like right now, we're reading our way through all of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales.) 
• Free time (this is independent projects/play time/park time/extracurricular time (such as ballet class), depending on the day and weather)
• Quick house tidy
• Dinner
• Baths and teeth brushing
• Read aloud time (My favorite time of day! I read aloud to the girls for up to an hour while they knit or color or brush their dolls' hair. Right now we are reading the entire Little House series, which is so much fun for everyone!)
• Bed

Is that helpful? Basically, I have tried and tried to implement Morning Time in the morning, but then we are stuck doing the "hard on your brain" work like math and language arts narrations after lunch and by then, my girls are just too tired mentally. I much prefer to do the hard stuff first and then I find that the Morning Time stuff is so much more pleasant and relaxing. Also, right now, I keep it REALLY short. As they grow, I look forward to really extending this time, but at my girls' ages (6 and 8), the individual study time in the morning is already quite a bit of school. So, I keep it short and sweet and try to send them away happily. Good luck to you; you just might have to find a different time of day to do it, if it's not working for you first thing. 

[fairy4tmama]

The only way it worked for us was to switch it to "afternoon basket". :)  We do it after lunch, right before "quiet time".  My kids are ready to get working on their independent subjects right after breakfast, and would rather get all of that done so that we can enjoy family time later in the day.  It just works out better for us. (and we have a shelf instead of a basket)

Yep after lunch is what works for us right now. We also have a little free time before and after lunch maybe 20 minutes on either side and doing our basket work (or power hour) after that has the benefit of bringing everyone back together and marking the start of our afternoon lessons.

[Lori D.]

I was up earlier and showered/had quiet time before DC got up. After breakfast (often pancakes, oatmeal, or box cereal) / morning routine (clean up from breakfast -- everyone rinses dishes/puts into dishwater, I do any breakfast pots/pans while DC get dressed, brush teeth, make beds), we spent about 30-45 minutes doing our morning "together time" -- Bible/devotions, 2-3 critical thinking "brain warmup" puzzles, and a short reading out of some miscellaneous book that didn't fit in anywhere else in our day. (When DSs were very young we also did things like calendar, weather, Pledge of Allegiance, and a patriotic or folk song from Wee Sing America.)

 

After lunch, we eased back into the afternoon work after a secondary together time of 10-15 minutes of some sort of game or fun educational thing. Or, we would just start right into History or Science but with an all together read-aloud.

Edited April 3, 2016 by Lori D.

[ScoutTN]

It doesn't!

It totally messed up our mornings when we tried it, so we read in the afternoons instead!

 

Seriously, my kids are slow at math and if we didn't have math lessons early in the day, they would be never get it done. We do the hardest things and all the nuts and bolts of skill subjects in the morning and keep RA and some content subjects for the afternoon. I read at lunch and afterwards. Then kids play or do chores or occasionally we do a project. 

Once a week or so Dd will have something to finish in the late afternoon - more reading, typing practice, corrections to morning work. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Coco_Clark]

Ours can change depending on school schedules (foster family). But right now...

 

Scattered wake-up but everyone has to be dressed and have eaten by 8:30. I usually give an 8am warning- get dressed and eat!!

 

8:30 morning chores. Everyone's given a job- water the garden, feed the dogs, clean the dishes, pick up all those Legos, what have you. No charts, just me delegating what needs to get done before we can start our day.

 

9:00 Morning time. Starting w/ prayer and ending w/ an outline of our day.

 

Leads into independent work, playtime, or a lesson w/ mom depending on the kid.