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Mackfam
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Non Nobis
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| Posted: June 28 2011 at 10:00pm | IP Logged
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I found a delightful book that was intended to be used with young children as a part of morning exercises done daily. Written in 1914, Morning Exercises For All the Year: A Day Book For Teachers by Joseph Sindelar.
Where to find this book:
Amazon - Morning Exercises For All the Year: A Day Book For Teachers by Joseph Sindelar
Free ebook - Morning Exercises For All the Year: A Day Book For Teachers by Joseph Sindelar
Each morning exercise introduces a good habit or virtue for the day. Following the listed good habit/virtue there are various offerings which can be shared in a very little amount of time; they're very bite-size and not overwhelming, perfect for the short lesson. Sometimes there is a little poem, other days there is an excerpt from literature that can be read aloud. There is a morning exercise for every day of the months of the school year -- SEPTEMBER - JUNE.
From the Preface of the Book:
Quote:
Through concrete examples presented in story and verse the children learn to appreciate and admire nobility of character and deed and their best aspirations are thus aroused. But it is better to allow the child to make his own inference than to force the moral upon him.
The arrangement of this book, it is believed, will be found convenient and the plan novel. It is truly a day book for the teacher, correlating as it does, memory work, narrative, songs and music, birthday and holiday commemorations and those of the seasons, together with nature, literature, science and art.
Five lines of thought have been kept constantly in mind. First: The teaching of common virtues through memory selections culled from the best in literature. There can be nothing better than the learning of these golden gems. Second: Through the story which is related to the quotation and the daily topic. Third: Through biography, using famous characters of history and literature to arouse ideals, to kindle ambition, and to nourish a belief in one's power to do something and cultivate a sense of worth and a feeling of self-respect. Fourth: Through the song, which conforms daily to the thought of the lesson. Fifth: Through the references which allow an enlarging upon the subject at hand. These consist of songs, additional stories and poems, Bible readings, birthdays and special days. |
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How to use this book:
** In a short lesson format.
** The author intended this book to be used as a morning exercise so that the noble thoughts would underpin the day and that's how we'll use it. I introduce the little exercise during our Morning Basket. It's a short little bit of reading and I find it fits in a lovely way. Having said that, the little selections could be shared at any time of the day.
** You can either open the book, find the day of the month, and read aloud for 5 - 10 min and be done....OR...
** You can look ahead and try to prep some additional sources to use for your little morning exercises. It probably wouldn't take a lot of legwork to do this. The book provides suggestions for additional resources on many (but not all) days, but of course most of the books recommended are oop now. Still, in looking ahead you might see that the character trait for the day is PATRIOTISM, and you can plan on America, the Beautiful, or another song for accompaniment. And, not all books are oop. For ex., there are sometimes suggestions for Scripture reading. The point is, you *COULD* spend a little time and prep a little more for the lessons if you want to have a little more to offer.
** This book was written almost 100 years ago, therefore, the song books recommended are all oop and there are so many wonderful song options recommended which tie to the day's exercise. I do hope that I can find some/all of these older oop books on gutenberg or archive.org (there is a list of reference books in the index of the book). I'd like to come back and link them here on this thread so they can be used to accompany this Morning Exercise book.
** The book assumes its use in a school setting, therefore the months of July and August are not included. I've just been going back through May and June choices and using those since we don't usually school too much during those months.
** I can already tell that the poetry offered will be wonderful for either memorization and copywork.
** Many days offer birthdays or significant figures that really embody the character trait listed for the day. I can see this spring-boarding rabbit trails for the older children.
I'll update this thread with more links to books as I find them and have time.
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: June 28 2011 at 11:23pm | IP Logged
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That looks really neat! You are finding some real treasures in that internet archive!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: June 29 2011 at 6:46am | IP Logged
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This looks like a wonderful resource, Jen! Man, I need a home binding system so I can print off all these wonderful free ebooks and bind them for our use! Thanks for sharing.
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God bless,
Krista
Wife to a great guy, mom to two boys ('04, '06) and three girls ('08, '10, '12!)
I blog at http://kristacecilia.wordpress.com/
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: June 29 2011 at 7:57am | IP Logged
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I really like it. It looks like a good source for copywork as well!
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Grace&Chaos
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| Posted: June 29 2011 at 9:08am | IP Logged
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Looks like a wonderful book, Jen! Keep us updated 
After reading your morning basket post, I'm curious about a few things:
Do you change your resource selections every year or does your seasonal change mean within the same resources according to season?
If you do, is it based on what your learning focus is for the year or do you give this it's own theme or maybe no theme at all?
I have the same areas included in our week, just sprinkled through out, making a break in abilities and assigning a different title according (for example I had my 7 yr old read the Pierson books and my oldest the Seton-Thornton last year) and say for poetry this year the girls will start with Dickenson and the boys A.A. Milne once a week.
So, I guess I'm also wondering if your selections in these areas are meant for everyone?
Or do you also assign nature studies, poetry, faith elsewhere and just use the morning basket for quick selections enjoyed by all?
Will this book replace most of your resources in the basket since it includes poetry and adds virtues/habit? (I added a virtues/habits to our schedule weekly this year: Goops & Manners in God's House for the boys and my younger dd, Beautiful Girlhood for my oldest dd)
What else is in your basket this year?
So sorry if I have a ton of questions. It will really help me organize my thoughts and how I want to present these wonderful areas to my dc. I do realize that there are bigger age spacing with your kids than mine, but my oldest's learning level is probably about 5 years ahead of her next sibling. I've tried to pair her up with her younger sister in some subjects really expecting younger dd to just tag along but now that the boys are starting to do more, I see the natural thing to do is pair my 7 yr. old with her brothers  .
As I add students and developing skills to our year, I'm trying to find ways to make our days flow smoothly. Your morning basket idea intriques me and I'm trying to get my mind around how it might work here  .
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Blessings,
Jenny
Mom to dds(00,03) and dss(05,06,08,09)
Grace in Loving Chaos
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Chris V
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| Posted: June 29 2011 at 11:18pm | IP Logged
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This book sounds like a real treasure to have at home! I'm glad you posted about it.
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Chris
Happy Wife with my Happy Life
Mama to My Five Girls ('04~'07~'09~'11~'11)
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jawgee
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| Posted: June 30 2011 at 7:22am | IP Logged
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Thanks!! It's on my Kindle now.
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Monica
C (12/2001), N (11/2005), M (5/2008), J (8/2009) and three angels
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Mackfam
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Non Nobis
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| Posted: July 02 2011 at 8:01am | IP Logged
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I knew you all would like the idea of this book of Morning Exercises!!
Grace&Chaos wrote:
After reading your morning basket post, I'm curious about a few things:
Do you change your resource selections every year or does your seasonal change mean within the same resources according to season? |
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Yes to both. Each year, we're reading something unique and fresh in the Morning Basket, and each new term or season, I may consider its contents anew in light of the upcoming liturgical or natural season.
Grace&Chaos wrote:
| If you do, is it based on what your learning focus is for the year or do you give this it's own theme or maybe no theme at all? |
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No theme at all, except to say that the liturgical year and the natural year set the tone a lot. I really just choose books and things that I want to include in our family's common time - and that can be anything, really.
Grace&Chaos wrote:
I have the same areas included in our week, just sprinkled through out, making a break in abilities and assigning a different title according (for example I had my 7 yr old read the Pierson books and my oldest the Seton-Thornton last year) and say for poetry this year the girls will start with Dickenson and the boys A.A. Milne once a week.
So, I guess I'm also wondering if your selections in these areas are meant for everyone?
Or do you also assign nature studies, poetry, faith elsewhere and just use the morning basket for quick selections enjoyed by all? |
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I do the latter right now, but there was a time a few years ago that this Morning Basket could take care of things like Poetry and Nature Studies all on its own. I now have a very wide age disparity here - from high school to pre-school, and the Morning Basket is a common time for everyone, but for the older children I also add resources to round out their day. So, I may be reading aloud from a natural history book during the Morning Basket, but my oldest daughter has a naturalist whom she focuses on for the year in addition to that natural history reading (this year it's Gene Stratton Porter) and that would be elsewhere on her lesson plans. We read poetry during the Morning Basket, but each older child also reads from another book of poetry which is assigned on their lesson plans.
Grace&Chaos wrote:
| Will this book replace most of your resources in the basket since it includes poetry and adds virtues/habit? (I added a virtues/habits to our schedule weekly this year: Goops & Manners in God's House for the boys and my younger dd, Beautiful Girlhood for my oldest dd) |
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It is really just meant to be a starting point for us. There are always a variety of other books being read at various ages (that are assigned on their individual lesson plans) that emphasize and nurture virtues, and of course, my preference will always a be a Catholic source.
Grace&Chaos wrote:
| What else is in your basket this year? |
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PRAYERS:
We are using Child's Treasury of Daily Prayers this year.
SEASONAL:
I like to look through Victorian Family Celebrations by Sarah Ban Breathnach for seasonal ideas, and I consult a good liturgical calendar and choose a picture book or short reading on the saint for the day, or perhaps a particular aspect of the Liturgical Year.
MUSIC/CHANT:
We're really focusing on learning the Ordinary of the Mass in chant this term (maybe year....but the kids are amazing me this week, and are learning quickly, so...we'll see!), so that's holding a place in our Morning Basket. Also, my oldest daughter has taken over all music/singing lessons, so those live on the Morning Basket because that sets a time aside for her to lead these lessons this year without disrupting her independent work.
NATURE WALK:
I'm letting the older two kids model nature walking skills (quiet observation, gathering specimens, etc) to my 2nd grader. So, I included special time for it on the Morning Basket this year along with a special time for a nature sketch. My kids have always liked having special time set aside for this written down somewhere!
STORY STARTERS:
Story Starters by Karen Andreola - I wrote a review here which explains how we use this resource.
CHARACTER/VIRTUE:
Courage Stories Every Child Should Know selected by Helen Ferris, illustrated by Marguerite de Angeli - lovely stories for reading aloud.
...and the Morning Exercises... book.
POETRY:
A variety...from Lois Lenski to a new favorite based on a suggestion of JennGM's --> Helen Perry Eden's String of Sapphires, which my oldest really enjoys!
NATURAL HISTORY:
We usually read from a natural history selection, but I didn't include one in our Morning Basket this term. We'll probably begin reading aloud in The Burgess Animal Book for Children because I found that we had extra time during our Morning block this past week.
You can see our current terms' Morning Basket here:
2011-07-02_074656_morning_basket.pdf
Grace&Chaos wrote:
So sorry if I have a ton of questions. It will really help me organize my thoughts and how I want to present these wonderful areas to my dc. I do realize that there are bigger age spacing with your kids than mine, but my oldest's learning level is probably about 5 years ahead of her next sibling. I've tried to pair her up with her younger sister in some subjects really expecting younger dd to just tag along but now that the boys are starting to do more, I see the natural thing to do is pair my 7 yr. old with her brothers .
As I add students and developing skills to our year, I'm trying to find ways to make our days flow smoothly. Your morning basket idea intriques me and I'm trying to get my mind around how it might work here . |
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It has worked here in varying ways from year to year. Sometimes I really spread it throughout the day more, doing some reading aloud after lunch. And other times, we have more work/variety in our Morning Basket...particularly during seasons of our life that might be especially busy or stressful. During these times, I might need to just call the Morning Basket *IT*, and just add a little math or a little something else to round out a day for an older, and be able to call it good enough for the day. In those seasons, the Morning Basket would contain a much richer and more varied offering each day. So, the Morning Basket has functioned for me in different ways throughout the years, and I quite enjoy its flexibility in being able to address the particular family needs we have at the time. Its underlying idea and purpose was to serve as a home and time set aside for common time, family work, and it still does that very well for us.
Hope this is a help in seeing *the idea* so that you might consider how it could be molded and shaped to fit your family, Jenny. I REALLY do need to update my blog post on our Morning Basket for this year! Thanks for inspiring me!
__________________
Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Grace&Chaos
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| Posted: July 02 2011 at 8:41am | IP Logged
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Mackfam wrote:
| Hope this is a help in seeing *the idea* so that you might consider how it could be molded and shaped to fit your family, Jenny. I REALLY do need to update my blog post on our Morning Basket for this year! Thanks for inspiring me! |
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 You are very gracious to take the time and answer all these questions. I love to read how others with varying ages and abilities embrace CM in their homes. My youngest is only 18 months and I know I have a very long journey, I want to make sure we all enjoy and benefit from it. I'm looking forward to your post, this is all most helpful and enlightening
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Blessings,
Jenny
Mom to dds(00,03) and dss(05,06,08,09)
Grace in Loving Chaos
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: Morning Exercises - Character & Habits
