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Summer is here and we are ready for all the summer FUN! While most of our days will be spent outside, we have decided to continue our daily rhythm by doing a summer homeschool morning basket!
During the school year we incorporate a Morning Basket into our daily rhythm. We value this time because it sets the tone for our day. The ”basket” lives on a rolling cart in our kitchen and we start the contents of the basket over breakfast. It usually continues throughout the morning. We decided we love our morning basket time so much; we would continue to do it over the summer!
Setting Up Our Summer Homeschool Morning Basket:
The basket is always changing- I’m always adding things and taking things a way. So, for our summer homeschool morning basket I took inventory of what we wanted to continue to do, and then added some fun summer things as well. I didn’t want this basket to be so packed full of things that we were overwhelmed. My goal was to stick to the things that were important to us and add value to our day. I added some things that would be good for my boys to do if they were ”bored” in the house. I also added a few activities that my boys can do if my husband and I are in the kitchen and the boys want to hang out in there with us.
Before I officially get into it, I want to note that everything in our morning basket does not get done or completed every day. I would actually go as far as to say that we never do everything in our basket. The basket is just there as a guide for what we can do each day depending on what time allows. Also- a morning basket is something that is VERY customizable! It can be tailored to the exact needs of your children and family! So, I encourage you, if you are reading this and do not already use a morning basket- give it a try!! Like I stated earlier, it is a great tool to set the tone for your day!
Here is a look at what is in our Summer Morning Basket:
Holy Bible (Children’s Bible):
We recently found my husband’s children’s Bible that he had as a kid and my oldest was very intrigued. We added it to our basket and have started each morning by reading a few passages straight from the Bible. Bible studies, Bible books, etc. are great, but reading straight from God’s Word has been truly amazing. I was worried at first my boys wouldn’t be able to understand or be able to focus, but they have proven me way wrong. My oldest ALWAYS comes straight to the kitchen for breakfast and grabs the Bible out of the cart.
The Ology | Ancient Truths Ever New by Marty Machowski:
This is ” a stunningly illustrated beginner’s theology book to help kids of all ages understand who God is and how we, as his children, relate to him.” We started this book a while back, but we are just now being consistent with it. My oldest is LOVING it! The illustrations are beautiful, and I love that my boys are getting to understand theological truths at such a young age. We are taking the book slow and usually just read one page a day.
Summer Review Learning Packets:
Kindergarten Summer Review Packet:
This one is for my oldest son Graham who is five. Believe it or not, my boys beg to “do school” just about every day. In the summer I like my boys to be outside as much as possible, so I didn’t personally want to be tied down to our main curriculum. I decided I would find them something they could work on casually and not something that HAD to be done every day. The fact that they are practicing all the skills they have been learning throughout the year so that they don’t have any “summer slide” and forget over the summer all they have learned is something important to me. I bought this packet off Teachers Pay Teachers and I print all the pages I want my son to do, and then I bind it in my binding machine!
Fine Motor Tracing Skills & Fine Motor Dab The Letters by The Moffatt Girls:
These two activity packets are for my youngest son Beckett, who is three. I have not done any formal education with him yet because he is so young. However, he wants to “do school” just as much as his big brother, and literally cries if I don’t have activities for him. So, both of these activities are right on his level, and he can learn along with his brother! I also print these off Teachers Pay Teachers, and then put them together use my binding machine to make a grab and go packet!
Bible Story Coloring Book (similar here):
This is pretty self-explanatory. It is just a coloring book I keep on the cart if the boys decide they would like to color. It isn’t one of our most used items in the basket, but I keep it in there just in case!
“God, I Need to Talk To You” Books:
I keep a handful of these mini “God I Need To Talk to You” Books in our morning basket as well. Some of the ones we have are about whining, hurting others, talking back, etc. Sometimes my boys will pick one out and have me read it. Other times my boys might be having a “talking back” issue, so I will go find the book and we will read it and hopefully correct the unwanted behavior. I love using these books as behavioral resources!
ABC See, Hear, Do Learn To Read & Lower Case CVC Words:
Lastly, I like to keep some letter sound practice (for my 3-year-old) & CVC practice (for my 5 year old) available for my boys! Right now, we are using the ABC See, Hear, Do Learn to Read book and the CVC flash cards. I love the book because it teaches your child the letter sounds with specific motions to memorize for each sound! The CVC flashcards are great too, because they are an easy, on the go way to practice.
That concludes what we currently have in our summer morning basket! Like I stated in the beginning, this basket is always changing so be sure to stay tuned for more Morning Basket posts!
Do you use a morning basket? Do you use it over the summer? I would love to hear what you have in yours! I hope this post has been beneficial and gives you some ideas of what to put in yours!
Love this summer morning basket? Pin the image below for later or share it with a friend!
SHOP THIS POST:
The Ology | Ancient Truths Ever New by Marty Machowski
Kindergarten Summer Review Packet
ABC See, Hear, Do Learn To Read
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