I can’t stop raving about the way that loop scheduling and a morning basket have completely changed our home school mornings around here. It’s only been two weeks since we made this change and already I know that this is IT. This is what works for us.
So what is IN our morning basket? It’s not a simple answer of a particular curriculum or collection. I pulled from all different places but mostly I pulled from my curriculum shelf. I looked at all the things I purchased with such good intentions that we’d FOR SURE use that and then life gets crazy and schedules go off course and we’d quit. But that’s why loop scheduling is helping us now, because when you loop, you are never behind. You just pick up where you left off and keep on rolling.
Latin
Getting Started with Latin by William Linney
This is a great little book that introduces everyone to basic Latin vocabulary and concepts in a very gentle way. There are about 130 lessons. I don’t actually keep a copy in our morning basket–I use the Kindle edition on my phone and the lessons are generally only 1-2 pages on my iPhone screen. There are also little notes on how Latin connects to English that are generally fun to read.
Great Artists Picture Study
I wanted to include some Charlotte Mason style art and music appreciation in our morning basket. Even though I am 100% on board with the classical model, I think Charlotte Mason has so much to offer that it would be a crime to ignore her ideas on taking time to appreciate beauty. To keep it in line with our Classical Conversations studies, the artists I chose are the ones that will be discussed in Cycle 1 next year. I went online and just quickly searched each of the six artists and printed screen shots of six of their most famous/interesting works each. You really don’t have to print them because you could just look them up on the computer screen, but I didn’t want to have to rely on that. When we do a picture study, they have to look at the painting for five minutes and take it in and then tell me about what they noticed. I believe Charlotte actually recommended that adults take the time to look at just one painting for a full hour to really take it in and get the full affect of it. I have never tried that but probably should.
History
We use Story of the World for history because I think it’s the best history curriculum available. Because we are heading into Cycle 1 at Classical Conversations, this year we are reading Story of the World Volume 1 (Ancient History). We are also using the student activity book. I recommend buying the digital version because then you can easily print as many copies of the coloring pages and other projects as you need for your family. You are allowed to make copies out of the printed book for your family but it’s a whole lot easier to just have the digital version and hit print. I’m planning another post in the future about how I plan out using the activity book, but for now it’s enough to know that Story of the World is a huge part of our morning basket.
Drawing
We spend a little time every time the loop comes around to drawing with the Usborne Step by Step Drawing Book. I bought a copy a long time ago but it’s mostly sat on the shelf unused, so I put it in our morning basket. So far we drawn cars and cats and bunnies. The instructions are simple enough for my four year old but anyone who is not a natural artist can benefit from the book. I like that it lines up well with the way we teach OiLS in Classical Conversations (the O represents open circles, the i represents straight lines and the dot on the i is colored in circles. The L represents bent lints and the S is curved lines. The concept is that all drawing really only needs these basic shapes).
Hymn Study
I like hymns and we hardly ever sing them at my church. I don’t want my kids to be hymn-illiterate (I wish there were a specific word for that!) so we are going through a set of hymns. Every time our loop comes back to hymns, we listen to one. I am sticking to the same one five times in a row, then moving on. I chose the hymns from the Simply Charlotte Mason website.
Math Games
We are rotating through a list of games. We play National Number Knockout, Quick Flip (playing card math), and I made a matching game out of Classical Conversations math memory work. For inspiration on which math games to play with the playing cards, I use a Classical Conversations book called Quick Flip Arithmetic. It has all kinds of game ideas. Each time we come back around to math games, we play one round of one game. For my youngest child, I just flip the cards over and have him tell me which letter or number is on the card–you can make this work for everyone!
Composers
When we get to this, I just open YouTube and whichever composer we are on that day, I find a youtube video of an orchestra playing something by that person and we listen to it as we go through our other work. I used the Classical Conversations Cycle 1 composers list for who we’d listen to this year. But Simply Charlotte Mason also has recommendations.
First Language Lessons
Published by the same people who make Story of the World, this is another favorite. It is very, very basic English Grammar. It is great for introducing my 4 year old to concepts like parts of speech. It is perfect for my ten year old who needs to really understand these concepts at this point. And my nearly 13 year old gets a solid review of things she should already know. We are using Level 1, which leads many people to believe it’s meant for first graders, but that’s really not the case at all. It’s a great family book to work through together even when everyone is at different stages. It introduces concepts when they are little, helps them really understand them as they get older, and is great review when they are older. It’s also very classically done, weaving in many other subjects as it goes. Remember we want to connect every subject to as many other subjects as we can!
Bible Memory Work
This one is pretty simple. I went to Simply Charlotte Mason and picked some of their recommendations for Bible memory. I typed them in a list and stuck the printed page in a folder and tucked it in the morning basket. We are sticking with one verse at a time until we have done it five times, then we move on. When we get to the end of the list, we just start at the beginning again to review. I think I picked ten verses.
Science
We are reading through The Usborne Complete Book of the Microscope and doing the recommended microscope projects. This may not work for everyone but truthfully, I’ve had this book and a microscope sitting on the shelf for at least five years and finally decided we should try using it. Remember, I’m using what I’ve had lying around so I can erase the guilt of never using all that stuff! This book is broken into colorful two page chapters with lots to look at and simple information. We are enjoying it so far and have actually used the microscope!
Supplies
I keep dry erase markers, crayons, pens, pencils, erasers, etc, in the pockets of our “basket” (I use a 31 tote). I try to make sure everything we need is right there so I don’t have to worry about it when it’s time to do school.
So that’s it! I know that it may sound like a lot or super overwhelming but remember, we do NOT do every subject every day. We do ONE thing from each subject and if we start at History and only get to Language, then the next day we pick up with Bible. Today, all we did was a two minute Latin lesson, a picture study, and then for history it was a painting project so once they started painting, we didn’t come back to do more school. Because loop scheduling gives us the freedom to start and stop based on our day, we don’t have to feel guilty for not getting through every subject every day. And remember, this is our family time together in the morning. Each kid has their own age-based curriculum to work on the rest of the day.