"Morning Time"

Several years ago, I stumbled across an idea that breathed new life into our homeschool. “Morning Time” has become an anticipated and much-loved part of our day, and I believe that we are all the richer for it.

It is a simple idea, and yet it is profound. I first read about “Morning Time” one summer on Cindy Rollins’ blog, Ordo Amoris (which is always full of mind food). She wrote about the benefits her family has reaped by dedicating a small amount time each morning to learning the things that she had deemed important. Cindy shared this childhood poem to illustrate what she was trying to accomplish:

Little drops of water,

Little grains of sand,

Make the mighty ocean,

And the beauteous land.

She wrote,

My Morning Time is a way to collect little grains of sand. It should not be a way to complicate life but a way to simplify it.

When I read this, I knew that this was something I wanted to do! You see, there were things that I wanted my children to learn (actually, I wanted to learn too!), but they were things that were too often overlooked or put off for another time. I wanted my girls to know the words to “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come”, to recite Psalm 100, to recognize Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, to recite “The Swing,” to begin each day with the Living Word...and “Morning Time” seemed to hold an answer. So come the beginning of our new school year, we gave it a try. And, several years later, it remains an integral part of our day and (I am repeating myself here) we are all the richer for it.

We have tweaked our “Morning Time” inclusions and routine over the years, but this is what it looks like currently.

BIBLE READING

This year we’re reading through all of the Gospels.

BIBLE MEMORY

We began the year with Ephesians 5:15, 16 and then continued to work on Luke 2: 1-20. Now it’s time to select a longer passage. In addition, I am also having Bekah memorize the books of the Bible in order to aid her in locating Scripture passages.

LITTLE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS

Sadly, we finished reading this book last week (after slowly reading through it for about a year). Now I am considering a classic work of Christian fiction to fit into this space (original Pilgrim’s Progress, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe?).

SING A HYMN

We’re learning “Crown Him With Many Crowns.” We aim at memorization, which usually takes 6 to 8 weeks per hymn.

POETRY RECITATION

Each of us recites the poem we’re memorizing. Currently Kati is learning Shelly’s “Ozymandias”, Bekah is reciting Dickinson’s “Hope is the Thing With Feathers”, and I am working on Yeats’ “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”. (Guess who of us has the most difficulty with poetry memorization?)

POETRY EXPOSURE

I choose a poet to study for a time. We read a selected work of our chosen poet three or four days in a row, and often read a biography of him or her. Currently, we’re reading poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning.

LISTEN TO A PIECE OF CLASSICAL MUSIC

Typically, we study a classical composer. This term we are listening to the music of George Gershwin.

ART APPRECIATION

This year we have studied the art of Vermeer, and are now enjoying the works of folk artist Edward Hicks. We keep this very simple. I choose several paintings by that artist, we look at each print for a week or two at a time, and we usually read a simple biography about the artist.

Does this sound daunting? Or would it surprise you to know that our Morning Time is usually only between thirty and sixty minutes (depending on whether we are reading from a biography that day, or how long the passage we're reading).

Fellow homeschoolers, your “Morning Time” could be totally different. Cindy’s is different from mine and mine is different from what my friend Kathy calls her “Morning Stack.” You include the things that you deem important. But as Cindy says:

If you have something that you want your children to assimilate like poetry or scripture or music or Shakespeare, forget the grand schemes, forget what the Konos mom is doing down the street, start giving that thing one or two minutes of your time daily and watch the years roll by.

~ ~ ~

For further reading about Morning Times, visit:

http://morningtimemoms.blogspot.com/2008/09/what-is-morning-time.html
http://morningtimemoms.blogspot.com/2008/09/little-grains-of-sand.html
http://www.restorationplace.typepad.com/restoration_place/the-morning-stack/