Morning Time & the Moral Imagination: The Heart of our Homeschool
A peek into what we're reading right now
Morning Time.
Some call it a Morning Basket, others use the term circle time, or morning meeting. Since the early days of our homeschool, I have done what we call “morning time” each day, sitting down at the piano to gather everyone together to sing, memorize & recite scripture, read aloud, and just enjoy (and at times endure) learning together. When people curiously ask me how I homeschool so many children, all at different ages, I explain that our morning time is the foundation of our learning, and that it is the time when all of my children, regardless of age, listen to and learn from the same books.
During morning time, I read aloud from books about history, geography, science, poetry, mythology, and literature. We read biographies about composers and memorize passages from Shakespeare. The heart of our mornings spent together, however, is great fairy tales and other stories. Although my perspective is decidedly out of fashion, I believe that a child’s moral education is more important than her intellectual education1, and these stories provide the substance that both awakens and nurtures a child’s moral imagination. As Vigen Guroian wrote:
Mere instruction in morality is not sufficient to nurture the virtues. Instead, a compelling vision of the goodness of goodness itself needs to be presented in a way that is attractive and stirs the imagination. A good moral education addresses both the cognitive and affective dimensions of human nature. Stories are an irreplaceable medium for this kind of moral education—that is, the education of character.2
Our rotation of books is always changing (and this isn’t even all of them), but here is much of what we are reading together right now:
There are a lot of Bible story compilations out there for children/families; this is my absolute favorite. It includes more stories than any other children’s bible, and tells the stories with much of the Bible’s own language without adding unnecessary commentary. The classic illustrations, mostly from the 19th century, pair perfectly with the text, speaking to a child’s imagination and showing the beauty of the details of each story. Highly recommend this one to all families!
Richard Halliburton’s Book of Marvels
The best geography book I have ever encountered, Halliburton’s writing is vivid, personal, and humorous, leading the reader on a journey around the world, visiting places like Mont St. Michel, Niagra Falls, and Machu Piccu. It has taken us nearly the entire school year to finish his first book, and next year we will eagerly begin the second volume (the link above has both books in one). If you find an old edition (mine was published in 1937), you may need to edit as you read, as some details have changed since then (I don’t think you can swim the Panama Canal anymore, for example!).
A basic introduction to philosophy, this was a gift from a friend and my children have enjoyed it. While it is a good jumping-off place for future study of philosophy, I need to search for a children’s philosophy book that is a bit meatier; this book is more for the under-10 set. Includes ideas from thinkers like Aristotle, Socrates, Descartes, and Kant.
First published in 1807, this includes all of Shakespeare’s best-loved comedies and tragedies told in narrative form. Charles and Mary Lamb frequently use Shakespeare’s original language in these re-tellings, which helps when you move on to reading/watching the actual plays.
A compilation of stories and more that illustrate virtues like courage, compassion, loyalty, honesty, friendship, & faith. A lovely mix of poetry, fables, myths, fairy tales, and great speeches, this is a book we dip into regularly and will be using for many years. A powerful book that will strengthen every child’s moral imagination.
Morning Time: A Liturgy of Love
Cindy Rollins, who coined the term “Morning Time,” is a great inspiration to me and many homeschool families (it helps that she educated her nine children at home!). In this book she has sample schedules for morning time, and ideas for troubleshooting as well. It is an invaluable resource, and includes lists of hymns and folk songs, excellent read-aloud ideas, and even tips for reading Plutarch. I refer to it regularly for memory work during morning time as it includes Bible verses, poems, speeches, Shakespeare passages, state capitals, and more.
How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare
Playwright Ken Ludwig masterfully takes his readers through (some of) Shakespeare’s plays, focusing on the value of memorizing passages of each, with 25 passages to memorize. He goes deep into each passage, looking at the imagery, the meter (with a great section on iambic pentameter), as well as insights into just why Shakespeare was such a genius. It also includes a list of film adaptations as well as recommended audio recordings of Shakespeare’s plays. This is a book I will use in our morning time for many years!
This is a wonderful resource which I read from when we are studying a particular composer; over the course of several readings we slowly cover the mini-biography of the composer we are listening to each day. I don’t read from this one every week, but refer to it and read from it more sporadically.
We are always reading aloud at least one work of literature during morning time, and Kate Seredy’s books are turning into some of my favorites. The Good Master is full of striking and memorable descriptions, humorous and well-developed characters, and offers a clear glimpse at what life was like on the plains of Hungary in the 1930s. The characters are deeply human, and perfect fodder for the moral imagination.
We are also slowly working through a Grimm Brothers as well as a Hans Christian Andersen collection of fairy tales. Find the oldest edition of these books that you can, as newer versions can sometimes be altered/updated.
Most of all, I want to enjoy these short years with all of my children at home, reading and laughing and learning together. Reading aloud, day after day, year after year, knits our hearts and souls together, and, in the end, teaches our children how to be human.3
A story is a way to say something that can’t be said any other way….You tell a story because a statement would be inadequate.
-Flannery O’Connor
Keep seeking the virtuous and the lovely,
-Shannon
Charles Dickens’ book Hard Times explores this idea excellently, and gives his idea of what happens when you deprive children of fairy tales and stories, and supply them with “nothing but facts.”
Vigen Guroian, Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child’s Moral Imagination (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 20
Meghan Cox Gurdon, The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction (London: Piatkus, 2019)
Lucky children!
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