Morning Time Planning in 5 Minutes a Week (or Less)

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Morning time is a special time for our family.

On a normal day, we gather together at the table and all of us from baby to adults enjoy breakfast along with a rich serving of beautiful and good ideas, words, and sometimes even art and music.

I am well aware of the thoughtful morning time plans that are available for free or for purchase. Although I've read through some of the free samples, I can't ever imagine using them because they seem so much more complicated than what is already working for our family.

What is my simple, quick, and delightful method of morning time planning that takes only a few minutes a month? In a nutshell, I read several different types of books slowly and replace them as they are finished. That's all. Here is exactly how morning time works for me.

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I keep my morning time books together in a small basket.

My basket is a very cheap plastic one that I may have purchased at a dollar store. The basket doesn't matter, it is just a place to keep all the books we are reading together in one place. I pull it out and set it next to my chair every morning.

I began with a few different types of books and have added more as I got a sense of what worked for us.

Our very first morning time included a poem which I read every day for one week. Then I just picked another poem. Next, I added a collection of folktales. Eventually, I added some history readings and then a picture book and then a nature book.

At first, I read a little bit from every book every day, unless the kids lost interest. Slowly, over time, I added some other pieces of our homeschool day, like composer study and artist study, to morning time, and I didn't do them every day.

Instead, every morning, I would start with a poem and a chapter from a book or a folk take and then just read a bit out of several books in the basket Some things were read every day, some things were read a few times a week or less, and some short picture books were read once and done.

I store future morning time books in another basket.

If I buy a new collection of mythology at a used book sale, I put it in my future morning time basket, which I keep on a shelf out of the way. I also add to this basket by shopping my own home library shelves. If I happen to see a favorite from a few years ago that hasn't been read in a while or that fits the current season or a current interest, I put it here so I won't forget to add it to morning time at some point.

As books are finished, I look to my basket of future morning time books for inspiration. If we haven't read a science or history or biography in a while, I add one.

If a book crosses my path, I might throw it in my morning basket and start it immediately.

Recently, my kids got into the I Survived series and brought home a couple books in the series from the library. I put them in my morning basket and just read 2-3 chapters a day until they were finished.

Likewise, if I see an interesting book in my public library's new books feed, I request it and put it in my basket. If a holiday is coming or I want to add something to supplement a current interest in our homeschool or our family, I see what my library owns, put in a request, and add it to my basket.

I plan a few parts of my morning basket when I do my homeschool plans.

Every year, I look ahead and choose the artists, composers, and poets will we focus on each term. Then I choose the books and materials we will use to study them. And I make sure to put them in my basket during that 12-week term.

I do not make a schedule for these selections. Instead, I keep doing the next thing.

For example, for each poet, I select and print about 12 well-known poems.  During the first morning time of our new term, I start with one of the poems, which I read every day for a week. When it is done, I pick another one. We never get through all of the poems because I always add in a few poems by other authors.

Each term we study 6 paintings by a single artist. First, we read about the life of the artist, then we study one painting every other week or so to get 6 done in 11-12 weeks.

Each term we study a composer. I read a few pages a week about the composer's life at morning time and my students narrate the reading. Sometimes we also listen to short works by the composer or podcasts about the composer as well. We include more music by the composer at other times of the week.

But what about planning meaningful connections between all the readings and ideas?

If you pick great books, the magic will happen with no planning needed!

I cannot tell you how often one living book will mention an idea, famous author, landmark, or word that we have just read about in another living book.

Even more often, the unplanned morning time books complement the formal lessons I have planned for my students, which are also based on living books and ideas. It happens weekly, if not daily, all year long.

So while beautifully designed plans--which might include a poem about tulips, a story that takes place in Holland, and a Dutch painter's artist study, for example--might be a great learning experience, they are not necessary. The connections will happen without any conscious planning at all.

And there you have it! 

In a few minutes a week, or realistically a few minutes a month, we have a beautiful morning time "plan." No schedule, binder, or purchases required. And you can too!

With a library card plus books you already own plus any free ebooks you care to print out or read from a phone, computer, or tablet, you too can share a beautiful feast of ideas with your children on a daily basis. Even if you don't have time for planning or money for extras.

Do you do morning time or circle time with your family? How do you plan for it?