Morning Time

Every time I am thinking about curriculum choices and how I want the school year to go (like now), I have this nagging feeling that I'm missing the boat.  I'm missing the joy and beauty.  Where is it?  How can I capture it?


I occasionally get a glimpse of it during poetry teatime when we are having fun and reading beautiful words.  It is found on our nature walks.  It is found when I read aloud and the kids are captivated.  It is found during one-on-one discussions of a history chapter or a oral narration.  It is found during our current morning time when we sing a hymn, say a family prayer, and read scriptures.


I want more of this and less of "school work."  I want to plan a Morning Time.


So currently our Morning Time goes like this:


*Sing a hymn (same one until all verses memorized).
*Family Prayer
*Read scriptures (the ones made "For Latter-Day Saint Families" is divided up into short sections with definitions, quotes from General Authorities, and art work.  We read a section a day, everyone taking turns reading or repeating after me.)
*Gospel Principles (I just added this in a few weeks ago and it is going great.  We take turns reading a paragraph and discuss.  For school kids only)


I want to add in a poem a day, picture study, composer study, gospel for the preschool kids like maybe a picture from the gospel art box to read and discuss (I started doing this.  Zach and Caroline like it.  They listen.  It's short, then they go play.  I've caught Caroline coming back to look at the pictures again.  I'm going to hang them on the wall), memory work, Shakespeare/Plutarch, Homer, history, and literature.  My problem is the different ages.  Maybe I should save the older stuff for an Evening Time, that hour after the Littles are in bed, and save Morning Time for things the whole family can enjoy.  Gospel Principles, Shakespeare, Homer, Plutarch, history and literature would need to be moved to Evening Time.


That would leave for Morning Time:


Hymn
Prayer
Scriptures
Gospel Art
Poem
Art Study




***going to update my thoughts on this as I have time**


I've been reading For the Children's Sake again.  Here are some of my notes:


"We are limited to three educational instruments -- the atmosphere of environment, the discipline of habit, and the presentation of living ideas."


"A child's mind is a spiritual organism, with an appetite for all knowledge." --which includes physical exercise, nature, handicrafts, science, art, many living books.'


Have a daily routine.  Make time for the most important things: scriptures, family prayer, read-alouds, game night.


work on habits of character: attention, truthfulness, self-control, unselfishness, concentration.


"Life is sustained on ideas.  Ideas are spiritual.  Ideas are a soul's food."