Morning Time ~ Autumn 2017

Another school year, a new season...and we continue collecting our little grains of sand.

I first wrote about Morning Time here on my blog back in 2010. Kati was a junior (as Bekah is now) and Bekah was a little third grader, and we had already been doing Morning Time for several years. These many years later, Morning Time remains a foundation of our day. It is a time that has enriched us, one that is well worth the minutes that are sown in exchange for the bounty that is reaped.

Morning Time currently looks something like  this...

BIBLE READING

We are reading and studying the book of Colossians. We read a chapter to get an introductory glance. Then we go back, breaking that chapter down into smaller portions to read again with some discussion. A third time we read, this time also reading corresponding thoughts from Believer's Bible Commentary by William MacDonald. After we have completed our study, we will listen to a series of messages on Colossians by Dave Hunt. 

BIBLE MEMORY

We are learning Malachi 3:16, 17.

Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them. So a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name.  

"They shall be mine," says the Lord of hosts, "on the day that I make them my jewels. And I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him."

SING A HYMN

Our hymn for the month of September is "When He Cometh (to Make Up His Jewels)" by William Cushing. My daughter-in-law introduced us to this song when she taught it to my grandchildren and they sang it for us. The words are beautiful, the thoughts born of the verses from Malachi that we are memorizing.

POETRY STUDY

We're reading the works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. We began with "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." If you haven't read this in a while, you'll be amazed at how many commons phrases come from this poem!  We will read more Coleridge poems, read some biographical information about him, and perhaps choose a poetic passage to memorize.

COMPOSER STUDY

This term we are listening to the music of British operatic composers Gilbert and Sullivan. Bekah read H.M.S. Pinafore, a retelling by Opal Wheeler. Then we watched, over a period of days, a concert performance of H.M.S. Pinafore from the BBC Proms in 2005. (Following a rabbit trail, we also read about the Proms.) Next, we'll look for a performance of Pirates of Penzance.

ART APPRECIATION

After a couple of brief dabblings (because as homeschoolers, we give ourselves the permission to leave something that doesn't bring "shining eyes" in search of something that does), we settled on Rembrant as the artist for our fall term. 

The Night Watch (de Nachtwacht)
Rembrant van Rijn, 1642

We watched a fascinating video from Khan Academy in which we overhear art historians discussing Rembrandt's The Night Watch while we are looking at the painting in the Rijksmuseum. Special effects highlight and outline the details on the painting while we listen. (Sound boring? Not at all! We felt like "experts" after we listened. We'll be looking for more of these videos!)

HISTORY READING

This is a new addition to our Morning Time line-up. Certainly not a new thing for us to share a history book together, simply a new place in the schedule. After a couple of years of Morning Time in the afternoon 😉, we have returned to gathering in the morning and it makes sense to do all of our "togethers" when we're . . . well . . . together, rather than carving out a separate time later. Simplify!

Our current history book is The World of Columbus and Sons by Genevieve Foster (love her books!) which covers the years 1451 to 1522. We read ten to fifteen pages a day as we are immersed in the world of Renaissance and exploration, wars and kingdoms, enlightenment and discovery, spiritual darkness and persecution.

Morning Time continues to be a wonderful way to find joy in the journey of homeschooling!

For more reading about "Morning Time":

An introduction to our own "Morning Time"
Cindy's Inspiration for Morning Time
Kathy's "Morning Stack"
Confessions Regarding Morning Time
Morning Time