Every morning, as the children nourish their bodies by eating breakfast, we also nourish our souls with the gospel. Here’s a little peek into morning routine at our home in this current season.
A little over a year ago, I fell headlong into the world of Charlotte Mason and classical education. Perhaps one day I’ll share more about that, but right now I’m still a newbie with much to learn, so I’ll hold off on writing on that topic just yet. It suffices to say that it helped me answer the biggest question that I had been asking at that point: how does the gospel tie into my everyday parenting? I want to give my children a Christian upbringing, but what does “Christian upbringing” really mean?
As I worked through various ideas and thoughts, one practice that stood out as particularly attractive for my family in our current season was that of Morning Time. The idea of Morning Time was a dedicated time (usually in the mornings) where a family would sit together and read the Bible and other books, sing hymns, enjoy art and music, talk about discussion topics, and more.
As parents, we have primary responsibility for our children during their growing years. We seek to nourish them as whole persons, feeding all aspects of their being – their bodies, minds, and spirits. There is a lot of information out there on how we can set up healthy rhythms for eating (regular mealtimes, for example) and for mental health (daily conversations over family dinner). How about spiritual health?
Our Christian faith is the cornerstone of our family; both the guiding light and motivation that compels everything that we do. If indeed it is so important, our actions should reflect our intentions. What would that look like in the ordinary, crazy days of young children?
Cultivating appetites, tuning hearts
“Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;”
Lyrics from Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Robert Robinson)
When we weaned our children onto solid food, we offered a variety of tastes and textures, and allowed them to explore without passing judgement on what they appeared to accept or reject. Over time, this cultivated their physical appetites and helped them develop a palate for good food. They know that fresh hot bread with crunchy crusts and pillowy centres are good, and that soggy bread leaves much to be desired. We develop a taste for what is good when we are familiar with the good.
In the same way, I want to set Beauty before them. While it’s true that kids naturally tend toward beautiful things, the world also does a lot of un-doing of their natural instinct. In the wrong environment, they are quickly taught to be drawn to garish cartoony depictions of animals and humans, and fast-paced sounds and flashing images that pass off as music and film. They lose their capacity for wonder. How will they know what is beautiful if they have not seen it before?
Just as we do with food, we lay the feast and let them test and experiment, deciding for themselves what is good. We trust that the Holy Spirit is at work, and that they will be captivated by the One who is the source of all truth, goodness and beauty. This process takes time. Even as an adult, I’m still in the throes of the process.
The starting note of the day
“We don’t wake up daily and form a way of being-in-the-world from scratch, and we don’t think our way through every action of our day. We move in patterns that we have set over time, day by day. These habits and practices shape our loves, our desires, and ultimately who we are and what we worship”
Liturgy of the Ordinary, Tish Harrison Warren
Rhythms are helpful for all of us. In the parenting of littles, we are often advised to keep to consistent routines to help reduce toddler meltdowns. Knowing what comes next, and where they are in the melody of the day helps little ones feel secure and brings freedom to enjoy the moment.
We all have rhythms to our day, whether intentionally or unintentionally set. Perhaps it’s the habit of queuing up for a Teh C before heading to the office. Or it’s your toddler’s habit of changing shoes three times before you decide that that’s enough and you carry her out the door.
There is much to be said about rhythms throughout the day (and night!). But for me, at the start, that was too overwhelming.
The starting note determines how the rest of the symphony is played. Before an acapella group begins to sing, a note is played so that every singer can take reference to that same note, and be in tune together. In the same way, how we start our days can have a powerful effect on the rest of the day.
To me, our morning time is like that starting note. We come together to be in tune, before we separate for our day’s activities.
What do we do, exactly?
Our practices will certainly change with the changing seasons, but right now, this is what it looks like in our home. Our kids are almost 4 and almost 2, and both of us adults hold full-time jobs outside the home. The kids attend a kindergarten during the day. They share a bedroom, and we pick them up from their room at 7.15am every morning, and by 8.10am, they are out the door to school.
After washing up, they sit at the dining table to have their breakfast. We serve breakfast according to the menu that I draw up each Sunday night and is written on a small board on the fridge.
At their age and stage, it’s unrealistic for me to expect them to sit quietly and listen attentively for anything longer than a few minutes. Therefore, our morning time is conducted over breakfast, while they are seated at the table.
We have a few parts to our routine that we shift around, and these are:
- Reading from the Bible straight
- Reading from a Bible storybook
- Saying prayers together
- Learning catechisms and singing the accompanying songs
- Singing hymns
- Reading other books
Reading from the Bible or a Bible storybook is the only fixed part of the routine. The other pieces fit in if there is more time and attention span for that activity on that particular morning.
Our morning time can be anything from 5 to 15 minutes long. In this season, it is enough. I see it as a slow process of sowing into their lives. As they grow older, we will get to read more, discuss more, and perhaps even continue beyond breakfast. What they are learning is the centrality of God’s Word to our day and in our daily rhythms, and the practice of turning to God each morning before we start our day.
Resources for morning time
Here are some of our favourite resources for morning time.
Bible storybooks
- The Biggest Story Bible Storybook (Kevin DeYoung, Don Clark)
- The Beginner’s Gospel Story Bible (Jared Kennedy, Trish Mahoney)
Prayers for children
- Little Prayers for Ordinary Days (Tish Harrison Warren, Katy Hutson, Flo Paris Oakes, Lilta Forsyth)
Catechism
- The New City Catechism for Kids (Gospel Coalition)
- Songs that accompany – on Bandcamp (for purchase), on Spotify (for streaming)
Other books we read at morning time
- Children’s Book of Virtues (William J Bennett)
- The-ology: Ancient Truths, Ever New (Marty Machowski, Andy McGuire)
