Our Morning Basket + Link to Free Printable!

*Amazon links are affiliated*

For my first 6/7 years of school, my mom only had me and my sister to homeschool. Things were simple, we opened our books, did the assignments, and we were done for the day. I spoke on Instagram about my love for history and when that started. It started as my mom started realizing that she could tailor school to fit us, not make us conform to the textbooks. What a revelation! One of the things we changed was having 'morning Bible time' which included a hymn, a read-aloud and character book. We were basically having a morning basket before it was cool!

Why we chose a morning basket

When thinking about what kind of curriculum I wanted for Kindergarten, The Peaceful Press was a go to, as it already had a built in 'morning time'. The Charlotte Mason approach to a morning basket fits in to this 'morning time' we will be doing. 

A morning basket allows everyone (no matter the age) to join in on learning. Everyone does something on their level as they listen to the Bible, a read-aloud, and any other book or discussion that comes out of that lesson. If you missed it, here is what Baby Girl will be doing during our morning basket time!

What is going in our Morning Basket

In the Playful Pioneers their morning time consists of: a hymn, Bible (or Bible book), memory work, read-aloud, narration, science/history. 

I've added a few things and this is how it is broken up.

Music: Wee Sing Bible songs-One song a week out of this book to go along with what we are studying in the Bible. For the first week we are studying how God made everything, so will be singing God Made Me

Songs We Enjoy- This is an old Abeka song book my mom gave me, and it is divided up by month, so we will just start at the beginning and sing folk songs/patriotic/Christmas according to the season. 

The Celebration Hymnal-This is the Hymnal we use at church, so I will be choosing a hymn each week and talk about what the hymn means. 

Read-Aloud: Little House book from The Playful Pioneers. The curriculum has a section where you can ask questions, or have your child write a phrase from the book (which is a part of their printables). Also a part of their printables, are maps your child can color as you read. 

Science/History: For science that may mean to paint a picture of a horse out of the Farm Anatomy book, or for History read a book about the Native Americans. 

How to make your morning basket work for you and your family 

In the Charlotte Mason approach, the most important thing is learning as a family. For a morning basket to work for your family, simply see what is important for your family to learn together. Pick a hymn, passage in Scripture, a book to read as a family. Ask your children questions about what they learned, and see where their interests lie. Honestly, it's hard to get wrong! I don't remember every book we ever read as a family, but I do remember how amazing it was to be together as a family before we got to the 'hard' subjects. 

I will also add that older children (And perhaps even the younger ones!) can do things as books are read aloud. We have crocheted, done drawings, worked on other projects we had started. My son will work on the printable they give, or a handicraft we've started as I read. 

Need a way to organize your morning basket time? Here is where I got my free printable! 

Do you have a morning basket? Let me know below!