Our Simple Homeschool Morning Time | FREE PLANNER

You will find homeschool morning time ideas all around the web; most are elaborate and seemingly cover every creative subject out there. Moms and children are reading-memorizing-reciting poetry, learning several languages, studying and recreating art, mastering the art of sewing/crocheting/knitting/etc, all while sipping tea and singing hymns in candlelight! 

Get your own Morning Time Planner to help you create a simple morning time routine that cultivates joy in your homeschool! 

I am not a creative person and don’t have much time for extra activities or crafts in our homeschool … I’m in a season of having 7 young children (two of them with major medical disabilities). That means that focusing on our foundational subjects takes up most of our “school time” (which we call the time between 9 am and 12 pm.).

(This article was first written in 2021)

Keeping morning time simple is a must around here! That doesn’t mean I don’t try, or that I am against others doing all of the above, but I feel like you should know that there are mamas out here that only manage to do a few things during morning time, and that it’s okay if you’re one of them!

Our Simple Homeschool Morning Time

1. After my older children have done the outside/animal chores, we gather for breakfast and start our “morning time”, usually by 8 am.
2. Our main focus every morning is Bible Time and journaling – that’s it!
3. I write the date and Bible text on the chalkboard.
4. I write in my planner and read the Bible (and often do a devotional).
5. My children finish breakfast and start their journals.
6. I read a chapter from the Bible to my children.
7. I require them to write in the date & a picture or written description of the weather, but otherwise, they can journal/draw anything they want while I am reading a chapter from the Bible.
8. Then I read a devotional/character story with a meaningful lesson.
9. Then, IF there is time, I read from a science or “living history book”.
10. We try to finish what I call “morning time” by 9 am.

A simple way to let my kids get creative is to have them do art while I am reading the Bible. This can be done very simply.

In the past, we have read the “What We Believe” series from Apologia for our devotional/character study. There are 4 books in the series, and we have read them all. Use coupon code clarissa10 to save 10% on all Apologia curricula!

I have also used Draw Write Now for a quick, simple art and copywork lesson.

Another great book to add to your Morning Time is Elements of Faith from MasterBooks. This is great for upper elementary and higher.

Our Favorite Morning Time Resources

Who Is God? And Can I Really Know Him?
King Alfred’s English: A History of the Language We Speak and Why We Should Be Glad We Do
Christian Liberty Nature Reader Book K
Hilda the Briton: Or, The Golden Age, The Story of a Roman Slave Girl
The Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel 
Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day

We use any “extra time” we have to continue reading our favorite science and living history books.

• We have a stack of history books to read from Tapestry of Grace, and we slowly work our way through them as time allows.
• We may read from one of the following for science: Christian Liberty Nature Readers, Apologia Zoology series.

Always Striving For Excellence But With Grace

While I allow myself the grace to be as simple as possible with our morning time, I am striving to add more beauty and joy without making it a stressful event. Waking up earlier, starting our day earlier, and giving ourselves more time for “morning time” is a goal that I am always working towards.

I often wake multiple times throughout the night, and so when the actual morning rolls around, I find myself trying to get just a few more minutes of sleep before facing the day. However, I have learned that getting myself going on the day earlier actually gives me more energy the rest of the day and momentum (in homemaking, parenting, homeschooling, homesteading) that just blesses our day so much and is worth the extra effort.

For us, homeschool morning time is really about starting our day together with God’s Word, taking the time to record something about our day/life (plus, copywork, expressive writing, and/or artwork that happens), and then reading an enjoyable read-aloud. I love that all of my children, from toddlers to teens, are gathered around me for that hour every morning!