Thursday, February 23, 2012

Morning Basket

I first read about this here and it took me here and I liked what I saw.  We've never really done 'circle time' or 'mat time'.  Generally I've got the kids ready for the day and started on something, then while they are occupied I've got myself ready and the house in order.  That's not to say that I drag my feet in the mornings, it's just how the day went.  Up until recently everyone has needed help with something and that has left me until last, and not wanting to loose their attention I just started them on a lesson and went about my business.

Over the summer however we have worked on independence and morning chores.  Whilst we still all eat breakfast together the kids are now able to dress, tidy their rooms, brush hair, empty the dishwasher, start the washing, feed the cat and get the table ready for the mornings lessons.  It keeps them busy whilst I am getting Possum and myself ready for the day.

Next we grab a cushion and make ourselves comfy on the floor in the learning area.  I choose 3-4 things from the basket and we enjoy them before moving on to anything else.  We've got some lovely things in our Morning Basket :)


Here is what is in the basket -

All About Spelling phonics cards & rules
IEW Poetry
Parables from Nature
Picture books from our Playschool shelf
Guide to the Wildlife of the Perth Region
Birds of the Greater South West (Western Australia)
Nature notebooks
Banjo Patterson A Children's Treasury
James Herriot's Treasury for Children
Can You Find It, Too?
The Children's Book of Virtues

Here is what is on the iPad but for the Morning Basket -
(these are all available free online)

The Fairy-Land of Science
The Insect Folk
Seed-Babies
Wasps and their Ways
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare
Among the Farmyard People
Among the Forest People
Among the Meadow People
Among the Pond People
A Collection of Beatrix Potter Stories
The Story Hour

Occasionally i will throw in something extra like -

Sing and sign a nursery rhyme
Skip counting
Sing Advance Australia Fair
Count to 100
Sing and sign the alphabet
Australian Money
Menu planning
Clock reading
Singing from the Sing books
Map work - states of Australia, continents etc
Stretching, dancing, yoga, running, bouncing, something physical

The children have responded well to the Morning Basket.  In particular they LOVE drawing after reading from Birds of the Greater South West.  Here are some of their drawings.


Chicky's Brown Quail


Flossy's Stubble Quail


Bugsy's Emu

If you need a new way to start your day i'd encourage you to try the Morning Basket.

Warm wishes
Amber

4 comments:

  1. What a wonderful way to start the day! And a great list of resources to check out.

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  2. Hello Amber!
    I'm a new follower...recently found your blog. I love your morning basket idea! I might have to steal it :) Do you like the IEW poetry memorisation? We use IEW for writing and absolutely love it. I've been thinking of buying the poetry book for some time now.
    April :)

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  3. Hi April :) Welcome to Feather on a Breeze!
    Feel free to set up a Morning Basket, i hope your kids love it as much as mine do.
    We only started IEW Poetry this year and so far we are all really enjoying the selections and the kids are doing an amazing job with their memory work.
    Amber

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  4. Thank-you for such a detailed list. It's nice to see a Western Australianised version of the contents. Never heard of the IEW poetry - must look it up.

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