If you’ve been in the homeschooling world for any amount of time, there is a good chance you have heard of a Morning Basket. A Morning Basket is a time the family learns together. It can look about a million different ways and can be catered to your families needs, wants, and lifestyle.
We recently began doing a Morning Basket three times a week. It has been a lovely time my kids and I share reading and discussing various books and subjects. I’m going to share what it looks like for us and ask some prompts to get you thinking if a Morning Basket is right for your family.
Morning Basket
Where?
My biggest reason in implementing a Morning Basket is curating more time for us to learn together in a comfy atmosphere. We do our Morning Basket time on the couch. The boundary is the kids can sit anywhere on the couch or on the rug.
Where is a cozy spot you would like to learn together with your kids? Where would you all fit? Is there a place you know your kids would like to spend time with you?
What?
When I decided to do a Morning Basket, I knew I didn’t want to add more to our day. Instead, I shifted when and where we did portions of our day to our Morning Basket time. Our basket consists of our read alouds, poetry, history and science.
Currently in our Morning Basket: Jesus Calling for Kids, Chicken Soup with Rice, Uncle Wiggly’s Story Book, 50 States cards, My Story and the World Around Me, A Child’s First Book of American History, Jan Brett books.
What things do you already do that could go in your morning basket? What is something you have been wanting to do that doesn’t seem to have a place? Are there books you have been wanting to read, but never find the time?
How?
We do not read everything in our Morning Basket everyday. Many times I assess my kids and choose what I think would be interesting and beneficial for each day. We always do a few read alouds (currently reading all the Jan Brett books and Uncle Wiggly’s Story Book) and have been learning about one state a day with our 50 States cards. We rotate everything else: some days we do social studies, some days we read poetry from Chicken Soup with Rice, and some days we sing a few songs (currently Amazing Grace). Catering it to the needs of my kids and the atmosphere of the day allows the time to be pleasant and for learning to occur.
How do you want your Morning Basket time to look? Do you want lots of options to choose from or just a few? Do you want to let your kids choose the books or will you have a plan ahead of time? Will you do everything everyday or choose a few books and activities to do each day?
The Morning Basket is still something we are experimenting with and learning what works for our family as we go. Tell me: does your family have a Morning Basket?