As the name of my blog indicates, I spend a lot of time thinking about home. Of course, my Heavenly Home is the one that is eternal, so that’s where I need to lay up my treasures, and that’s the one I’m striving for. But in the meantime, I have been given this tiny piece of the here-and-now—this home on the edge of town, this family, this neighborhood—in which to serve Him. And, though this is in the earthly realm, I want the things that happen here to be investments in the Heavenly realm.




Thursday, January 12, 2012

Morning Time: Winter 2012

Wintertime is a great time for collecting our little grains of sand. Life slows down just a bit, and so Morning Time can be more consistent.  It continues to be one of the most gratifying parts of our day, a time that enriches 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 continue to read through the passages listed in the Daily Bible Reading Plan for Children, found ~here~ , which features Bible stories and truths that every child should know.  Bekah is enjoying this walk through the Bible, and sometimes presses me to read a longer passage, or the next passage...which, of course, I usually do.  Why would I say no to more Bible reading?

BIBLE MEMORY
We will learn more verses in Romans 8.  Our goal is to memorize the entire chapter this year.  We have memorized the first six verses, and we memorized the last five verses last year, but there's a quite a chunk in the middle, so I'm not sure that we'll reach our goal (this year). 

SING A HYMN
We are learning “"Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus”, by Louisa Stead, a lovely hymn for year's beginning.

POETRY RECITATION
Bekah: “The Country Mouse and the Garden Mouse” by Christina Rosetti 
Mom: “Who Shall Deliver Me?” by Christina Rosetti  (Yes.  Again.  The ~ahem~ older brain has difficulty with memorization, but I love this poem and its message, and so I am determined to keep on with it, in lieu of choosing another poem to partly memorize.)

POETRY EXPOSURE
We're taking a somewhat different tack this term, and instead of concentrating on the works of a single poet, we are reading poems with an animal theme.  We are using the book Poetry For Young People: Animal Poems as a springboard, but may also choose some from Favorite Poems Old and New

LISTEN TO A PIECE OF CLASSICAL MUSIC
We are continuing to listen to the music of Johannes Sebastian Bach.  Although we typically study three composers each year, this year we may only get to two.  The fact that we often missed Morning Time over the holidays, combined with the fact that there is so much music by Bach, and also combined with the fact that Bekah is serious about music, causes me to think that we will benefit by another term with Bach.  

ART APPRECIATION
We are studying the works of the popular American artist/illustrator Norman Rockwell.  Rockwell was not one of the artists I had selected to cover this year. But we began our December with Norman (we had picked up an advent calendar at an after Christmas sale at Barnes and Noble last January), and then I came across some other resources in ~this post~.  Kati brought out of her thimble collection one with Rockwell's painting of Tiny Tim, and we were reading A Christmas Carol as a family read aloud.  So...Norman Rockwell it is!  We are especially enjoying Norman Rockwell: Storyteller With a Brush, a delightful read. 




 Norman Rockwell's Tiny Tim, 1934
(image from allposters.com)


 Would you like to hear about our Morning Time reality?  Join me tomorrow for Confessions Regarding Morning Time. 


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For more reading about "Morning Time":

An introduction to our own "Morning Time"
What Is Morning Time? by Cindy Rollins
Cindy's Inspiration for Morning Time
Kathy's "Morning Stack"

6 comments:

  1. Cheryl!

    I LOVE Christina Rosetti's poems... and just found out she wrote "In the Bleak Midwinter," which has become one of my favorite Christmas songs.

    Had to go "Amazon-ing" for that Norman Rockwell book...

    :-D

    Kim :-)

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  2. This is a good idea, I will have to think about how to implement something along these lines. You always have such good practical ideas!

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  3. It's fun to teach and return to school again oneself! Wonderful classical studies, too.

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  4. You redeemed yourself with that final invitation. I was almost a puddle until I read that. Today, I'm dealing with a nasty headache which had me barely able to manage an mmm hmmm when my daughter rejoiced over a math victory this morning.

    Suffice it to say I'm not feeling very 'with it' right now. Not that YOU shouldn't be excelling... it's just that I'm not sure I'm in any position to watch! ;)

    ~~ Debbie

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  5. Loved your little grains of sand, Cheryl. To start the day with Bible reading is setting forth an example that will last a lifetime,a beautiful hymn as well. Norman Rockwell is probably one of if not my favorite artist, He indeed told a story with his brush!
    Enjoy your weekend.
    Hugs,
    Sue

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  6. I love your morning time! I am ready to add in our musical studies and I want to add in poetry, too, so this would be a perfect way to do it.

    Have a wonderful day!

    Deanna

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