"Morning Time" (or circle time, or table time, or what-have-you) seems to be all the rage among homeschooling families right now. I've probably seen a dozen blog posts on the topic, each with her own master plan of what subjects to cover at the start of each school day.
It probably comes as no surprise that my current routine is very simple. After all, I can only hold them at the breakfast table for so long, at their current ages! On our best days -- probably three times a week, if we don't have anything extra going on -- our list looks like this:
1. Bible story, with optional Bible song. This is most often taken from the ABC Jesus Loves Me two-year-old curriculum. I read from a variety of sources (a different one each day, when I can) -- first the Beginner's Bible, but sometimes from the "real" Bible, or the Jesus Storybook Bible, or a storybook of parables we have if one of them happens to correspond. Depending on how full little mouths are (I read the Bible while they eat), we often sing some old church-camp favorite like "This is the Day" or "Rejoice in the Lord Always," or a kid-standard like "Oh Be Careful Little Eyes" or "Jesus Loves the Little Children."
2. Bible memory. We're working systematically through the Foundation Verses again (since it's been five years since I learned them with Levi!). The ABCJLM curriculum also includes memory verses, usually set to familiar tunes ("Are You Sleeping," "I'm a Little Teapot," etc.), so if there's time, we learn those, too. We've been doing this (with varying degrees of consistency) for about eight weeks now, and all of the boys can confidently quote Genesis 1:1, Matthew 6:24a, Psalm 23:1, and Colossians 3:23. This week we're tackling Proverbs 3:5.
3. Catechism work. I already explained this in detail.
4. The Prayer Jar. (If you're new to my blog, do click that link to find out all about it!) It's been so long since we did this last that Toby didn't even have a stick in the jar! Our prayer life is definitely a work in progress, but I try to have the boys think of one thing to be thankful for and one thing to ask for the person they pick each morning.
And that's it! I think we're generally at the breakfast table for 30-40 minutes, which is about how long it takes some of my children to eat a meal anyway. I'd really like to add in some language learning (counting in Spanish or something simple like that), but for now this is all we can manage. It's all going to be up in the air when the baby comes anyway. When the crowd is a bit older, I can see us studying missionaries and their corresponding geography during this time. Hopefully, the habit will be well-enough ingrained it can grow along with the children!
It probably comes as no surprise that my current routine is very simple. After all, I can only hold them at the breakfast table for so long, at their current ages! On our best days -- probably three times a week, if we don't have anything extra going on -- our list looks like this:
1. Bible story, with optional Bible song. This is most often taken from the ABC Jesus Loves Me two-year-old curriculum. I read from a variety of sources (a different one each day, when I can) -- first the Beginner's Bible, but sometimes from the "real" Bible, or the Jesus Storybook Bible, or a storybook of parables we have if one of them happens to correspond. Depending on how full little mouths are (I read the Bible while they eat), we often sing some old church-camp favorite like "This is the Day" or "Rejoice in the Lord Always," or a kid-standard like "Oh Be Careful Little Eyes" or "Jesus Loves the Little Children."
2. Bible memory. We're working systematically through the Foundation Verses again (since it's been five years since I learned them with Levi!). The ABCJLM curriculum also includes memory verses, usually set to familiar tunes ("Are You Sleeping," "I'm a Little Teapot," etc.), so if there's time, we learn those, too. We've been doing this (with varying degrees of consistency) for about eight weeks now, and all of the boys can confidently quote Genesis 1:1, Matthew 6:24a, Psalm 23:1, and Colossians 3:23. This week we're tackling Proverbs 3:5.
3. Catechism work. I already explained this in detail.
4. The Prayer Jar. (If you're new to my blog, do click that link to find out all about it!) It's been so long since we did this last that Toby didn't even have a stick in the jar! Our prayer life is definitely a work in progress, but I try to have the boys think of one thing to be thankful for and one thing to ask for the person they pick each morning.
And that's it! I think we're generally at the breakfast table for 30-40 minutes, which is about how long it takes some of my children to eat a meal anyway. I'd really like to add in some language learning (counting in Spanish or something simple like that), but for now this is all we can manage. It's all going to be up in the air when the baby comes anyway. When the crowd is a bit older, I can see us studying missionaries and their corresponding geography during this time. Hopefully, the habit will be well-enough ingrained it can grow along with the children!
We provide training programs (BBC dance mat typing) for kids typing. All the learning progress on our website is easy and fun, there are 4 levels to play, including 12 stages. Kids can start by learning the home row keys. Each stage is based on previous ones, introducing new letters as you progress. There are some also other fun typing games and a resource page.
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