Our Morning Basket

It started with this small idea; a beautiful notion. Then, it quickly snowballed and became something much bigger. Bigger, and better!

Earlier this week, I mentioned our family’s desire to spend more time in purposeful group reading of good literature. We’ve set aside our morning time for this goal, starting our day contemplating beautiful books.

What started off as a basic notion of reading a few chapters a day soon spiraled into something more. If we were already going to be sitting down reading a chapter or two of our current read and select poetry, why not use this opportunity to transition into Bible time? And, since we’re doing Bible time, this might be a great opportunity to start making our way through that awesome devotional we picked up at a homeschool conference. Once we finish our current read, this would be an excellent opportunity to walk our children through the “Story Coaster“, sharing the five key components of good literature.

You see where this is going, don’t you? What I envisioned taking us only a half hour or so is now taking us a little over an hour. But, you know what? I don’t mind at all! Together, these items constitute our “Morning Basket“, an incredible concept put forth by Pam Barnhill.

What is a “Morning Basket”? Exactly what it sounds like! It’s a basket of goodies your family goes through each morning before starting your day. There are no rules about what has to be in your basket or what should not be in your basket. Only that you fill your basket with great reads and inspiration to start your learning day off on the right foot.

So, what’s in our Morning Basket? I’m glad you asked!

• Current Read – Sometimes this read corresponds to the era of history we’re studying and sometimes it’s just a great piece of literature I feel would benefit our family.
• Poetry – Again, usually this selection reflects the era of history we’re studying, but we’ve also been known to pull in a few poets we enjoy just for fun. These selections are for exposure and to teach various forms of poetry.
• Story Coaster – We use this as a wrap up for all of our current reads.
• Bible Reading – We read through one chapter a day, plus the Proverb of the day.
• Devotional – A pointed, inspirational devotion to encourage us in our spiritual walk.
• ‘Artist of the Week’ – Each week we take time to do a brief study of a particular artist. Usually the artist will somehow correspond to the era of history we’re studying; if not in direct connection to the time period, at least by influence. While each of us takes turns reading, the rest of us attempt to create our own renditions of the artist’s work.

This has definitely advanced beyond my original imaginings. But, as I mentioned, I believe this is a move in the right direction. Thus far, we’ve learned a lot and enjoyed this quiet, gentle start to our day.

Time to Chime In: What’s in your morning basket?

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