If you are looking for ways to foster connection with your kids, cover developmental skills, and leave space for kids to create and explore their interests, I highly recommend starting a homeschool morning basket or morning time.
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The beautiful photos in this blog post were taken by Kristen Dickens. In the photos, her daughter is using my Summer Homestead Morning Basket Bundle.
What Is Morning Time?
According to Treehouse Schoolhouse, “Morning Time is a coming together of all of the children in a home education setting, enjoying subjects that span across a wide age range. You may know this as Morning Basket or Circle Time.”
Although my children are still young (4 and 2), we do morning time most mornings as a way to connect and learn despite age differences. I hope to continue morning time as my kids get older. It is a point of connection and way to cover subjects that can span across various ages seamlessly.
How We Implement Our Homeschool Morning Basket
My oldest is in preschool, and our morning basket time intertwines with our preschool lessons. We use The Peaceful Preschool curriculum and I supplement it with our morning basket.
I have been doing morning time with my kids for several years now. It’s a special time to practice developmental skills while also encouraging creativity and connecting over literature.
Morning time doesn’t have to happen in the morning, but for my kids–morning, right after breakfast, is the best time.
Subjects to Cover in Your Homeschool Morning Basket
Many homeschooling families use morning time to cover poetry, art, history, and biblical studies. Sometimes, it is a time to focus on enjoyable literature or read-alouds.
There are no set rules for morning time. It is a time to foster connection with your family.
You can use it as an opportunity to cover subjects that you normally wouldn’t have time for during the day. Or, you can use it as a time to dive in to your children’s interests as opposed to sticking to a set curriculum.
Differentiating Morning Time by Age
Morning time can be a special way to cultivate connection with your whole family—regardless of their age. Although I am a new homeschooling mom, I can already tell that it can be difficult to balance multiple ages.
Morning time is a way to put curriculums, to-do lists, and state standards aside in order to foster connection and a love for learning with your kids.
I prefer to do morning time after breakfast because we are able to share a meal together and we are already gathered around the table.
At the time I am writing this, my kids are 2 and 4. It is fairly easy to differentiate for them at this stage because they both enjoy similar things. However, I have heard many other experienced homeschool moms talk about how their older kids love morning time just as much as their younger ones!
While your older children may not need to practice early literacy skills, they may enjoy listening to chapter books and playing or building with materials while you read. Childhood is gone all too soon, and morning time can be a way to preserve their youth.
You can also encourage your older children to research topics you are studying and share information they learn with the family. For example, if you’re reading a book about a historical event, give your older children time to research it and share about it.
My Morning Time Structure
Although I don’t stick to this schedule to a tee, here are some things that we do during our Morning Time. After our morning time, I seamlessly integrate our preschool lesson from The Peaceful Preschool for the day.
- Prayer
- Hymn
- Catechism Review
- Scripture Memory
- Poetry + Nursery Rhymes
- Fine Motor Skill/ Sensory Practice
- Phonemic Awareness (Heggerty)
- Read Aloud
- Art
- The Peaceful Preschool Lesson (this often includes our read aloud and art, but sometimes I give my children time to freely create or add in a story that I want to read to them).
As my kids get older, I hope to integrate some other subjects such as art appreciation, theology, and history into our morning time, but for now we focus on the items mentioned above.
Morning Basket Ideas List for Beginners
Here are a few ideas for things to include in your morning basket for morning time!
Basket
Although you don’t have to use a basket, it can be a helpful way to organize your morning time materials. You could thrift a basket, use something you already have, or consider the options mentioned above.
Sensory
For younger kids, you can allow set time for them to work with sensory materials such as those mentioned above. Older children may enjoy working with the materials above while listening to a chapter book read aloud.
Building
I usually pull some kind of building material for my kids to freely create with during morning time a few times a week. You can give them a suggestion for something to create—perhaps that is related to your read aloud.
Art Supplies
- Washable Paint
- Watercolors
- Paintbrushes
- Markers
- Crayons
- Stickers
- Construction Paper
- Dot Markers
- Glitter Glue
- Makerspace (read this post to learn how to set up your own!)
With my preschool-aged children, we use morning time as a time for them to paint, draw, and create. Sometimes, I will play classical music while they work.
You could also integrate a Makerspace into your morning time. Read this post for my top 15 arts and craft supplies for preschoolers.
Bible
- Bible Memory Verses
- Catechisms
- Hymns
- The Ology
For our morning time, we work on catechisms, Scripture memory, and hymns. As my kids get older, I want to begin studying Theology, too. I recommend starting with resources from Meaningful Menu.
Chapter Books + PICture Books
There are countless chapter books to read to your children, but here are a few series that you could start with!
I recommend The Read Aloud Revival for suggestions of other books based off of your child’s age and interests.
Fine Motor Skills
Here are some ideas for fine motor skill practice for young kids. Older kids may enjoy handicrafts such as sewing, knitting, crocheting, cross stitching, or woodworking.
Poetry
I like to read a few poems to my kids. This is a great way to help them develop early literacy skills such as rhyming.
Early Literacy
My morning basket bundles are designed for ages 2-6 and they include early literacy skill practice in the form of interactive games.
I also recommend Heggerty for working on phonemic awareness with preschool students and older.
Early Math
Older students can help younger students if you are teaching multiple ages. My morning basket bundles are designed for ages 2-6 and they include early math skill practice in the form of interactive games.
Art Appreciation
I haven’t gotten into much art study with my kids, but this book is highly recommended for introducing kids to art study.
History
- Read-alouds
- Diorama Projects
Overall, I recommend choosing “living books” as Charlotte Mason called them. You could use morning time to read picture books to your kids about different history events and even encourage them to create a diorama to show what they learned.
Feeling Overwhelmed with the Possibilities? Try My Seasonal Morning Basket Bundles
As a busy mom, it can be overwhelming trying to come up with ideas for morning time. I created seasonal, homestead-themed morning baskets for kids ages 2-6.
Each morning basket bundle contains over 70 pages of early games and activities that cover subjects such as early literacy, early math, fine motor skills, Bible, poetry, art, and more!
If you feel overwhelmed about pulling materials from different sources, try one of my morning basket bundles! You can always add to it over time. However, I designed these bundles to cover most of the subjects mentioned above to help you get started!
Other Related Blog Posts
Here are some other homeschool-related blog posts that you might like.
- The Peaceful Preschool Review
- 10 Books About Homeschooling that Changed My Thoughts on Education
- Tea Time
- Makerspace
- Preschool Arts + Craft Supplies
A Homeschool Morning Basket for Connection
In conclusion, morning time doesn’t have to be a cookie cutter thing. Make it work for your family.
Having a morning basket is such a special time to connect with your kids and create meaningful rhythms for your kids.
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