Before my oldest was born I read Cindy Rollin’s Mere Motherhood (couldn’t recommend more). In her book she coins the term “Morning Time” referring to a set time that the family would gather and work through subjects they can complete together, especially surrounding truth, beauty, and goodness. Oftentimes these subjects include Bible, Scripture recitation, poetry, hymn, artist study, composer study, fables, and so on. I can recall my family’s version of this when I was homeschooled as a child; we would do devotions, read books about missionaries, and many living books together. I loved how my mother taught my sisters and I together as often as she could. It absolutely impacted my relationships with my sisters for the better, and I enjoyed school so much more because of it.
I’m not planning to begin formal homeschooling lessons until my children turn six (my oldest is almost 4), but I loved the idea of enjoying a paired down version of Morning Time together with my children before formal lessons began. When my oldest son was around 1 and half, I started small, by setting about 10 minutes aside each day for our simple morning time. At the beginning it was just a Bible story, a hymn or two, and a special picture book. I had chosen two hymns that I would sing to him consistently each day, “The Doxology” and “All Things Bright and Beautiful.” Over a couple months my son was so familiar with the songs he began to sing with me. When he could sing each hymn all the way through, I’d started switching them out for a new one every so often. We continued with this for a while, and around when he turned 2 we slowly started adding Scripture verses that I would repeat for him and he would eventually memorize and say them with me. You’ll be surprised what a two year old is capable of!
Over the next year I slowly added poetry, catechism, and a rotating loop of fairy tales, animal stories, and folktales. Over that year and a half, I’ve watched my son get so excited to read poems, sing hymns to himself in bed, talk to others about Bible stories he’s heard, and reach for living books daily. Now, don’t get me wrong, there were many days that we just didn’t fit it in, or he just wasn’t feeling it and we would stop in the middle. But a little bit of consistency can build to something beautiful overtime.
When we started this my second son was just a newborn baby, and as he grew he would join us for the Bible story or the picture book and then go off to play with his toys. Now he is almost two and he joins us for most of our Morning Time, often while playing with Magna-Tiles or little animals on the ground. I don’t expect the same from him as I do from his older brother, but he’s already learned his first Scripture verse (1 John 4:19), has a favorite poem, and joins in our hymn singing with us. It all started very slow and simple, with a lot of grace along the way, but it’s turned into one of our favorite parts of the day.
If you’re interested in a quick little outline of how we spend our morning time, here’s what it looks like right now. You’ll see the amount of items read vary each day, based on how much time we had and their attention levels. This can take anywhere from 15-30 min depending on your preference.
- 1 Bible Story
- Sing 1-2 hymns
- Repeat 1-3 Scripture verses
- Repeat 1-3 Catechism questions
- Read 1-3 poems
- Loops one of the following
- A special picture books
- A fairy tale
- A folktale
- An animal story
If you’re just starting out, start small and slow, with 5-10 minutes and one or two activities. As you and your child(ren) get more comfortable, you can make additions one at a time, and before you know it you’ll have a beautiful Morning Time.
If you’re looking to start a simple morning time with your little ones, here are the books my boys and I have (and still) used and love. You can see a long list of some of our favorite living books under the Resources tab to find some special picture books to include as well!
“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today." - Matthew 6:34
