Welcome to A Mother’s Thinking Love: Living Ideas, Lovingly Shared! In nearly nine years of homeschooling, we have found that, even in summer, we do best to keep a daily routine or rhythm. The heart of this year-round rhythm has been: Morning Time. In today’s post, I will share a little about our Morning Time journey, and our current Morning Time routine. Join me for: “Awake the Dawn: In Praise of Morning Time & A Look at Morning Time in Late Summer”!

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Begin How You Mean to Go On

Each day we awaken, roll out of bed, and are greeted by morning at our windows. What a beautiful and precious sight: a new day filled with life, wonder, and anticipation of adventures to come. It’s my experience that these first moments set the tone for the rest of the day. Waking up late sends us into a rushing whirlwind that follows us until we crash into bed that night. Waking up to work left over from the day before makes us feel behind before we get started. But waking up in the quiet, peaceful moments before the world rushes in and taking hold of the time gives us a chance to get our bearings.

“Begin as you mean to go on, and go on as you began, and let the Lord be all in all to you.”

― Charles H. Spurgeon

We Mean To…

So, just how do we mean to go on? In short, in our family, we hope to walk in love, light, truth, goodness, humility, patience, and peace to name a few. This means that we need to begin each day with that end in mind. Although I didn’t have a name for it for many years, we found the best way to do so was in Morning Time. Our Morning Time started with prayer and Bible reading. Eventually, thanks to Ambleside Online, we added in hymns, picture study, poetry, and other beautiful, life-giving pursuits. Now, our morning time has a life of its own. It’s truly the richest part of our day. We feel inspired to begin a new day well and, sometimes, that seems like half the battle.

The Practicalities of Morning Time

As I said previously, I did not have a name for Morning Time when we began. Actually, to this day, Morning Time is only a name I use in my mind. We still don’t have a name for it and maybe we never will. And that’s just fine. I started Morning Time without any real intention. I was just trying to help us steward our time well.

In recent years, I came across the work of Cindy Rollins. I’m not sure where I first heard about Cindy, likely from Charlotte Mason connection, but I was absolutely thrilled to find that she had Morning Time in her homeschool for years. In many ways, her testimony strengthened my resolve that this was a worthy endeavor. Her work also helped me to get a bit more organized.

Three of Cindy’s books have been my constant companions since I found them:

• Mere Motherhood – This book is about much more than just Morning Time. Honestly, it’s a fantastic read for any mother, especially if you homeschool. Cindy’s writing style is so inviting. It feels as though she is a friend, further along on the journey, cheering you on.
• Morning Time: A Liturgy of Love – This book will be a valuable Morning Time resource for years. In it, Cindy provides a birds-eye view of Morning Time and does a deep-dive into the specifics. If you want to learn about Morning Time and how to implement it in your home, I commend this book to you.
• The Morning Time Student Anthology – This is a new addition to our Morning Time this year. I put off buying it for awhile, as its contents are also found in the “Morning Time: A Liturgy of Love” book. In the end, I decided to buy it as a keepsake for my daughter. As we go through each song, poem, and piece of memory work, I thought, how lovely it would be for her to write a date and note beside it. I hope she will look back on it with fond memories some day.

Morning Time in Late Summer

Again, without real intention, we have found that we keep up with Morning Time year-round. We do so about four days each week, no matter the season. While there are similarities all year long, there are differences too. In Summer, we often have a shorter Morning Time. This helps us have more time for getting outdoor chores finished before the heat of the day sets in. Also, we more frequently have outings during this time of year.

As summer break comes to a close, and the calendar quiets down a bit, we slowly add parts of Morning Time back in. Little by little, we piece the puzzle back together. By the time we begin our first “official” school day of the year, Morning Time tends to be back in full-swing.

Here is a picture from a recent Monday Morning Time in late Summer:

• Family Worship Guide – You can find my free Family Worship Guides here.
• The Voice of the Martyrs magazine
• Handbook of Nature Study – We have used this book for seven years. I imagine I will continue to use it even after our homeschool days have come to an end.
• Who’s Got Mail? – This has been a fun read for commemorating the 250th anniversary of the USPS.
• Riders of the Pony Express – This one often leaves us on the edge of our seats.
• Draw the USA – We are not natural artists, but this book breaks down the drawing of our country into manageable step-by-step chunks. There are also others in this series. We plan to purchase those as we need them.
• 101 Famous Poems – A solid collection of wonderful poems

I hope you have enjoyed reading: “Awake the Dawn: In Praise of Morning Time & A Look at Morning Time in Late Summer”! Do you have a version of Morning Time in your home? If so, share your ideas below!