I recently shared what a typical day in our homeschool looks like, and when I sat down to write this post, I had planned on sharing the details of what our morning time actually looks like, but I realized that first and foremost I just wanted to talk about this idea in general just in case it's a new idea for anyone. It really is that important to me and has been such a game changer for not just our homeschool, but for our family culture.
When we first chose to homeschool, I knew nothing about this wonderful thing called "morning time." What I was noticing, however, was that meal times were important and I wanted to utilize them to their full potential. I knew I wanted to do something, but I just didn't know what. We had dabbled in different family devotionals together during breakfast, but I knew I wanted something more consistent and meaty.
When we first chose to homeschool, I knew nothing about this wonderful thing called "morning time." What I was noticing, however, was that meal times were important and I wanted to utilize them to their full potential. I knew I wanted to do something, but I just didn't know what. We had dabbled in different family devotionals together during breakfast, but I knew I wanted something more consistent and meaty.
So when I did eventually discover and explore this whole "morning time" concept, everything came together and it has now become one of my favorite parts of the day.
If I was still a full-time classroom teacher, I would like to think that I would use morning time on the weekends and during the summer with my own kids. Even though kids may be getting the majority of their academic or even spiritual learning from outside the home at school or church, morning time is a chance to capture their hearts, fill their minds and souls with things that are true, good, and beautiful, and focus on things that your family prioritizes.
I really feel like all families could utilize the morning time concept regardless of what their school choice is and I feel very passionately about sharing this idea with anyone who will listen!
Before I go any further, please know that I am by no means a morning time expert and our morning time can often turn into more of a hot mess than a beautiful Instagram-worthy sight. Despite being a novice and having oh-so-much to learn, I wanted to get this message our there anyway.
So, what is it?
Moring time, very simply, is a time for everyone to gather and learn together.
Yup, that's it.
It's that simple.
Morning time isn't just for homeschooling families or just for school days for us, but just a sweet time of gathering the whole family together (meaning the kids and me, although sometimes Jeff is included if he's home during the week or on the weekends) to build relationships and learn together. It's very much like the "morning meeting" or "calendar time" in a classroom if you are familiar with those. Some families actually call it "morning meeting" or "symposium" or "power hour." Regardless of the name, it serves the same purpose.
You most likely are already doing something that resembles morning time or an activity that can be either incorporated into a morning time routine or would serve as an excellent starting point for one (like eating breakfast 😉).
Why would you want to start a morning time, especially if you aren't a homeschooling family?
If you've ever wanted to do something with your kids- like read aloud, memorize scripture, etc. but you just can't figure out when during the day to do it, morning time is a great place to start.
Just for some background...
There are two huge names in the homeschooling world who have largely contributed to spreading and making popular the concept of morning time. Cindy Rollins is known as the mother of morning time and now, even though all of her kids are grown, is still dedicated to the practice and encourages moms to create a morning time routine of their own.
Pam Barnhill is most known for taking the idea of morning time and creating a "morning basket" to use during that time. This doesn't have to be a literal basket, but the idea of gathering resources together and having them on hand is very useful and definitely makes morning time run more smoothly. She shares lots-and I mean LOTS!- of practical information, resources, and even ready-to-use morning time plans (some for free) on her website.
If you're curious about this idea and want to learn more, I HIGHLY recommend looking into all the wonderful things these ladies have to offer. Pam wrote a fantastic post describing the concept of morning time and answering lots of the basic questions. Read that post HERE.
Well, at the very minimum it brings the family together. Regardless of the ages of your kiddos, whether you have all really young kids or all teenagers, having everyone together in one place and participating in the same activities is a great way to build relationships and family culture.
These days everyone is so busy. All. The. Time. We run from one thing to another, we spend a lot of time in the car, and even though the family may be all together physically in one place, like at a sports game or at church together, there is something so special about everyone being mentally together, either at the table or in the same room and focused on the same thing without any outside distractions. I feel like now more than ever it's important for families to carve out and make family time a priority. The structure morning time provides is really useful and helpful.
If you're a mom of kids who are home from school during the summer, morning time is an especially great way to build in some structure to your days and start the day off on the right foot.
And one important note- "morning time" does not HAVE to be only in the morning. It could be any time of day that your family can gather together. It's just the term that has stuck.
I don't have any great pictures of the kids and me actively engaged in morning time because no one else is here to witness it! But here's a picture I just happened to take after one random morning time so you can get a general idea of the kids of things we do. The picture at the top of the post was another one I took on a random day.
Pam Barnhill published a beautiful coffee-table-style book that has fabulous pictures of families during their morning times, so I recommend looking into that to see the variety of styles. Keep in mind that every family does things differently, and our morning time looks different day to day.
I'll have to do a separate post about the resources I use during morning time because it varies so much. But you can use morning time to accomplish all kinds of goals that you may have for your family.
Here are some ideas for things you could do during your morning time:
-pray together
-read aloud
(I believe VERY strongly in the power of reading aloud to kids who can already read themselves, and how it's actually MORE important to keep reading to them after they can already read, but that's a whole other post! There are entire books and podcast series devoted to this topic as well!
You can find a ton of booklists on a wide variety of topics from Read Aloud Revival)
-read and appreciate poetry (of all kinds)
(Great post about this topic HERE)
-memorize scripture
(Pam Barnhill provides a great starting point HERE)
-read Bible stories
-learn hymns, folk songs, or patriotic songs
We are about to start working on some patriotic songs in June in preparation for July 4th but we have been learning the lyrics to "A Few of My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music this week just because it's something we want our kids to know and it's beautiful. 💙
Other ideas HERE
-do some art appreciation or music study
Maybe you really want your kids to learn some basic classical composers and pieces or know some famous artists and be able to recognize pieces of art. There are really simple and easy ways to do this.
-do some nature study
-discuss important historical events, people, or read famous speeches
(That list Pam Barnhill put together includes some ideas for this)
-fit in some academics
If you have kids who are school-aged you can also use morning time as a way to review things they have already learned or learn new things together. Grammar, math concepts (not skills) like geometric shapes, coins, graphing, etc., and science topics are things that kids of all ages can learn about and practice together. Play math games, read fun picture books about academic subjects, etc)
There are so many possibilities of things to do during morning time, but the entire point is just being together, having shared learning experiences, and strengthening relationships.
It's hard to see the real value in morning time just by reading through those ideas, but if you can imagine the beauty of everyone laughing over a silly poem, reading a beautiful picture book together, learning some crazy facts about the smelliest flower in the world, and hearing your kids reciting a scripture verse you all worked to memorize, then you'll start to see just how valuable it can be.
Can you see it? Can you imagine it?
I can tell you that after doing morning time pretty consistently for almost a year now, I am seeing the fruit, albeit small. And it's so rewarding. My kids know the names of several poetic devices, can name some composers and artists and recognize some famous paintings, recite a few short scriptures and psalms, appreciate beautiful music, locate countries around the globe, and know that sloths only come down to eat once a week, 🤣 among lots of other random interesting facts about all kinds of things.
I'm most looking forward to how our morning time will shift and morph as the years go on and the kids get a little older and capable of handling more. Lots of exciting things to come!
Ready to learn more?
Pam Barnhill posted an awesome podcast recently and she shares some great tips on how to get started. You can listen to that podcast HERE.
It really is a wonderful thing. I promise.
Hopefully I'll be back soon to share some of the nitty-gritty about our morning time and what it actually looks like, but you know how that goes!! I just happened to look at Amazon today and I noticed that the Sing a Song of Seasons nature poem anthology we LOVE and use almost every day just happens to be on sale right now (5/28/23) on Amazon! I can't recommend this beautiful book enough.
Until then, if you're intrigued by the idea of morning time or want to take what your family already does up a notch, I highly encourage you to look into the resources I linked all throughout this post and jump in!
You won't regret it!!
Here are some quick link in case you don't want to scroll back up:
