Medieval Morning Meetup ~ Our Middle Ages Morning Basket

Every August we start out our new homeschool year with a different unit study in ancient history. I love history. The kids love history. It’s a win-win here. We’ve studied Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome. This year we decided to explore the period between the ancient civilizations and the Renaissance. Since our together time is in the mornings, we’re incorporating our medieval studies into our Morning Meetup. This year we have a Middle Ages Morning Basket.

Our Morning Meetup has several different moving parts. But every morning, we do the following as a family:

• Prayer Journals,
• Daily Clipboards,
• Memory Work,
• Picture Study,
• Brain Exercises,
• Fine Arts, and
• Family Read Aloud

Incorporating a Middle Ages Morning Basket into our morning didn’t actually add all that much to our morning. We just modified some our morning time to fit a medieval theme.

Middle Ages Lesson Plans

As I began to plan our medieval studies, I started compiling information from books and websites. Then I came across Pam Barnhill’s Middle Ages Morning Basket.

The lesson plans were already made out.

The book list was already made.

The links to music and poetry readings were in the lesson plans!

Woa! My planning just got considerably easier! Now, I had time to read a good book with my jar of Nutella!

Now, if you’ve followed me for any length of time you know I have to make every curriculum my own. That means a tweak here or there to fit our lifestyle. Sometimes, this can be very difficult. Other times, it’s simple. This was one of those simple times. Hallelujah!! (More Nutella!) So let’s step through what our Middle Ages Morning Meetup looks like in our home.

Middle Ages Morning Prayer Time, Clipboards, Memory Work and Brain Exercises

These portions of our Morning Meetup didn’t change. We are still writing our days on our calendars as we inch toward that 100 Day party. Our brains are exercised daily with auditory and visual digital spans. And, our morning prayer time and memory work have stayed the same.

Middle Ages Picture Study

We updated our Picture Study time to include medieval artists from the Middle Ages Lesson Plans. Medieval art is quite beautiful and inspiring. On our trip to Italy, we were able to see some of this art in person. So, this was a nice refresher course about some of these artists.

Middle Ages Fine Arts

One of the easiest ways to add a medieval flair to our morning is to add an art course dedicated to the time period. I was so excited when I saw Chalk Pastel’s Medieval Video Art Course in the Middle Ages Lesson Plans.

We absolutely love playing with chalk pastels and these tutorials make it so easy! We’ve had a lot of fun creating and being inspired by medieval art. Last week we each made dragons.

We also incorporated medieval music into our week. I’ve got to say I’m not a fan of most of the medieval music, but it is broadening our understanding of music. And, of course, I love that I just click a link in the  Middle Ages Lesson Plans and the music is right there on my iPad.

Middle Ages Geography

For a while, I knew we needed to amp up our Geography skills. Since geography was a part of the Middle Ages Lesson Plans, I decided to implement it into our Morning Meetup. I purchased Dry Erase Pockets and slid our maps in them. At the beginning of the week, we outline the new countries and review prior ones. At the end of the week, we erase the maps and have a mini quiz.

Middle Ages Poetry Study

Poetry Teatime is an enchanting part of our homeschool. Once a month we can be found at the library with our friends hosting an elaborate Poetry Teatime. But, during the month, Poetry Teatime is a bit more subdued. It consists of one or two poetry selections, tea, and usually, someone is eating breakfast.

We used the poetry selections from the Middle Ages Lesson Plans. One of my favorite parts of these lesson plans is the links to poetry readings. I get to save my voice! (Plus, some of those words are hard to pronounce.)

Middle Ages Nature Study

Nature Study isn’t a part of our regular morning meetup. However, it is a part of our Fun Fridays. And, as luck would have it, our current nature studies lined up perfectly with the Middle Ages Lesson Plans. But, honestly, if they hadn’t, I would have gone along with the lesson plans. Nature Study is my nemesis, so anytime there’s a plan laid out in front of me I’m going to opt for that route instead of my own haphazard method of teaching Nature Study.

Middle Ages Read Alouds

And, now we come to my absolute favorite part of Morning Meetup — the family read aloud. Ahhh, I love a good read aloud. The kids sit cuddled up in their bean bags drawing while I read from our favorite books on history, art, music, well, you get the point. The list for the Middle Ages Lesson Plans is extensive. I found several on our bookshelves already and a few more at the library. And, of course, I supplemented with a few of my own (’cause that’s how I roll). Some of our favorites are the Sir Cumference books that incorporate a little sneaky math into the morning.

And that’s pretty much how we incorporated medieval studies into our Morning Meetup. It’s worked out really well this semester. So well, in fact, that we may add a few more resources and keep going for next semester.

And, if you are interested in other Morning Basket plans from Pam Barnhill, here is a sample that is currently free in her store. Check it out!