A Catholic Morning Basket For Teens

Bykmantoan

Morning baskets have become a huge thing since I started homeschooling. Even though my kids always learned certain subjects together, we used to cover them all one day a week (either Wednesdays or Fridays). In 2017 I transitioned to a morning basket (or I called it a morning meeting) and those subjects were done every morning, or most recently, at tea time in the afternoon. I actually don’t have a lot of experience doing a morning basket with really little kids, because I adopted the practice when my older kids were already in late elementary or middle school, and the younger two were in school. So despite the association of morning baskets with preschoolers, I’m here with some ideas on how to successfully bring a Catholic morning basket for teens into your homeschool.

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Goals

First, what do you want to accomplish during your morning time? Do you want to cover core subject matter, or is it a time to cover “extras” for which there is no formal grading or evaluation? We’ve always used our morning meeting to ease into the day with some fun extras that otherwise would get over-looked. When we held meetings in the afternoon, it was a relaxing way to break up the day, or unwind after tackling the more serious subjects. I’m a fan of a more laid back approach. It’s a great way to talk to your kids about substantial things, world events, big ideas – you’ll be surprised where the conversation will go! And for me these discussions are one of the best parts of homeschooling older kids. Carving out morning time exposes younger kids to more advanced ideas and older students learn how to clarify their thoughts for everyone present. It also gives teens who would rather study alone in their room all day a good reason to interact with the family.

And what if your teens aren’t interested? I never gave my kids a choice, though I asked for their feedback on the materials I selected. I always found as much as some complained, they all seemed to enjoy it, though not always at the same time! And I think the conversational nature of it helped the information stick. I’m still amazed how much they recall about various Shakespeare plays or artists we studied (the latter became more apparent on our European vacation last summer). So if your kids aren’t open to the idea, maybe start with afternoon tea (the addition of snacks definitely helps!) two or three times a week as a “trial period”. I think in time you’ll win them over!

Content

Next you need to decide what to include in your Catholic morning basket for teens. Through the years we’ve included a wide variety of content. You don’t need to do everything every year! And you can alternate what you do each semester, or even morning, ie Shakespeare everyday but music appreciation on Tuesday and art appreciation on Wednesday. Here’s some ideas:

  • History
  • Music Appreciation
  • Art Appreciation
  • Shakespeare
  • Poetry
  • Geography
  • Memory Work
  • Foreign Languages
  • Math Fact Review
  • TED Talks
  • Religion

Once you’ve selected what you’d like to include, gather your materials and keep them in one location. (Pretty sure that’s why it’s called a morning “basket” because ideally everything fits within one basket.) During the year you can add or remove materials, but unlike morning baskets geared towards younger children, you won’t be swapping tons of picture books in and out for every holiday, feast day, and season.

At the beginning of the year, I set goals for how far I’d like to get in each subject (ie one poem a week, one composer a semester) and roughly break down chapters, sections, etc. over the approximately 36 school weeks. I also make note of any special feast days/ holidays at this point in case I want to toss in something extra. We’d don’t usually get to everything, but we cover a lot! Even if we move at a slower pace, I always know what we’re moving onto next. If we decide we really don’t like a certain composer, poet, etc., we will skip and move ahead, so there is benefit to having some extra choices for each subject.

Specific Resources by Subject

These are resources we’ve used; obviously not all of them at the same time! Pick a few and get started. If your morning meeting is going too long cut back. If you feel you could add more, tack on another subject.

History

Music Appreciation

Art Appreciation

Shakespeare

Poetry

Geography

Memory Work

  • The Harp And Laurel Wreath – We’ve never done a lot of memory work, and its usually tied into other subjects vs. being a stand alone subject, but this book has a lot of good material for memory work if you’re uncertain where to start.

Foreign Languages

Math

TED Talks

Religion

Example Morning Basket Schedule

  • Prayers
  • Review Confirmation catechism questions.
  • Listen to Bible in a Year podcast.
  • Read Shakespeare for 10 minutes.
  • Monday- Study a painting and discuss.
  • Tuesday- Review geography facts.
  • Wednesday – Add cards to history timeline.
  • Thursday – Listen to music appreciation podcast.
  • Friday- Listen to music/ composer mentioned in podcast.

If you do a morning time with older kids, let me know what resources and advice you would add! And you can check out more homeschooling posts HERE.

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