YMB #30 Tension in Morning Time: A Conversation with Jennifer Dow
You know you love Morning Time but there is something that pulls at you each time you sit down to do it — especially if your time is short or your day hasn’t gone exactly according to plan. We are often faced with the temptation to skip the true, good, and beautiful so we can get on with the “real” learning — the math, handwriting, and science. But why?
Join Jennifer Dow and me as we talk about this tension that so many of us feel. In this conversation we discuss that and the meaning of real education.
Links and resources from today’s show:
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- SPONSOR: Maestro Classics
- Jennifer Dow’s Blog, Expanding Wisdom
- The Classical Homeschool Podcast
- The 5 Elements of Classical Homeschooling
- Mendeleyev and His Periodic Table
- The Mystery of the Periodic Table
- Richard Haliburton’s Complete Book of Marvels
- Plutarch’s Lives
- The Living Page: Keeping Notebooks with Charlotte Mason
- School of the Woods
Plutarch’s Lives (Modern Library Classics)The Living Page: Keeping Notebooks with Charlotte Mason
School of the Woods
Mendeleyev and his periodic table
The Mystery of the Periodic Table (Living History Library)
Complete Book Of Marvels
Pam:
This is Your Morning Basket where we help you bring Truth, Goodness, and Beauty to your homeschool day.
Hi everyone, and welcome to episode 30 of the Your Morning Basket podcast. I’m Pam Barnhill, your host, and I’m so happy that you are joining me here today. Well, you might have noticed that the name of this episode is Tension in Morning Time and no, we’re not really talking about the tension from your kids squabbling with each other, though if your Morning Time is anything like mine, it happens quite a bit. Instead, we’re actually talking about the tension that arises within ourselves as homeschooling mothers. Many of us were brought up in the public school system with a more utilitarian view of education and I know, for myself, and other moms I’ve spoken with, sometimes there is a tension between doing Morning Time and these other subjects that we feel we need to be checking off our list each day. And so our guest today is Jennifer Dow and she is from The Expanding Wisdom blog and she writes a lot about classical education and I thought she was a great person to speak to us about the learning that we do in Morning Time versus or even in addition to or how it’s different from the learning we do at other times of day to maybe help relieve some of this tension that we might be feeling within ourselves about this different kind of learning or at least to discuss it a little bit and see maybe why it’s there. So I think you’re really going to enjoy this conversation and we’ll get on with it right after this word from our sponsor.
Key Ideas about Tension in Morning Time
- Morning Time is an opportunity to nurture humility, grace, and a heart attitude of being willing to learn. During Morning Time, we practice being part of a community as we come together with our first community, the family.
- Family circumstances, academic struggles, sibling discord, busyness, and even laziness can all contrive to leave us reaching for a stack of worksheets rather than a basket of books. We must ask ourselves what true learning is, and patiently seek after the long-term fruits of education, rather than the short-term satisfaction of a completed checklist.
- Tension is an inevitable part of life. Our homeschool days may not look much like what we grew up thinking school should look like. We wonder if we’re on the right track and worry about getting behind. We have lofty plans, but have to reconcile those plans with the realities of everyday life. As we move through different stages of homeschooling and family life, we need to be able to cope with and respond to these tensions, making adjustments as needed and persevering with what we know is worthwhile for our families.
Find what you want to hear:
- [4:40] Jennifer’s Morning Time
- [10:12] why Morning Time doesn’t happen every day
- [14:35] traditional schoolwork vs. Morning Time
- [17:10] utilitarian view of education contrasted with classical view
- [20:07] Morning Time sets the tone for learning
- [22:56] education and humility
- [24:16] learning to be part of a community
- [34:03] the fruit of education
- [36:00] asking ourselves, “What is learning?”
- [36:57] not being a slave to Morning Time (or anything else)
- [37:22] being comfortable with tension; reconciling “the real” with “the ideal”
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Thanks for your reviews
This podcast is amazing and has helped me so much as recovering perfectionist homeschooling mama! Pam gives so much great insight into so many aspects of life and focusing on homeschooling. This podcast has been so great. It’s so practical and encouraging without being overly preachy or narrow. It gives ideas in a take-what-fits kind of way. I have used many of the recommended resources and ideas mentioned and been inspired by many others. Even the episodes that I found less relevant to me specifically, often had tidbits that I could use.
Pam’s podcasts, books, and resources have been a godsend to me in my beginning years of homeschooling, helping me discover my own way to teach my kids in a way that prioritizes what is most important to us. Pam,
My children are almost 11 and 13 and I never sent this review in! I found it sitting here. This is testimony that I am still so blessed by this podcast years later. So here it is:
I wrote you an email when I first felt it placed on my heart to homeschool my now 6 Love your content and the guests you have visiting the show! I am a huge believer in using the morning hours well. Thank you for your direction and products! I enjoy listening to tips on starting and using morning time as I am just starting it this year. We have kind of done it in the past, but when you only have one child you tend to just call it bible, story time, etc… but now that my second one is old enough to join we’re going to have more of a true morning time.
I did notice Pam mentioned CNN ten in one episode. CNN can be pretty liberal biased in the main news, I’m not sure if they curb that in the “CNN ten”, but thought I would mention the Daily Wire, which is from a conservative viewpoint (and often covers indoctrination in public schools) and could be fun to compare and contrast with CNN. Our family also recently discovered Daily Citizen from Focus on the Family which has a very Christian perspective, which has been refreshing as news can be so depressing sometimes! Just thought I’d throw that out there… but really do appreciate the perspectives and insights of these women who have been doing this for awhile! I have listened to many episodes of this podcast and have highly recommended it to others. It has been a wonderful source of inspiration and encouragement. Pam has a great voice and presence and I love that she does not interrupt or talk over her guests.
Thank you for your hard work! Pam always has great great guests who bring great insights and encouragement! I so appreciate her down to earth style and ability to ask great questions! Keep up the great work!! As a homeshool mama of four (Ages 2-9), Pam's podcast has been an increidble encouragement to me. Not only that, but I have discovered so many helpful resources for focusing on what is lovely and true during our homeschool days. I love that it is not overwhelming in nature, but instead a gentle help for moving forward one day at a time in our homeschooling adventure. I love this podcast for so many reasons.
(1) Pam is friendly, funny, humble and kind
(2) She covers a multitude of topics (one at a time)- I have learned about nature notebooks, classical music study, narration, living books, Shakespeare and so much more. Whenever I have a question about a new (to me)HS term or practice, I come here to listen to Pam interview someone about it. Her interviewees have all been all-in on their respective areas of interest/expertise and I love the way she interviews/asks questions to really let the guests shine as they speak. I have changed the structure of my homeschool, found books for my kids and me, purchased materials, and found inspiration due to this podcast and I can’t recommend it enough! This podcast has shaped my homeschool in so many positive ways, most of which I probably can’t even articulate yet, as the changes have been done inside of me. Thanks, Pam! I love the variety of things that are talked about on this show for homeschooling - things that I would never even think about including or doing - with easy ways to do them. Very much recommend this podcast I am listening to the past episodes and loving it. This podcast has helped me develop my own homeschool. So many ideas!!
I love morning time so much, we do a nightly family time so my husband and public school attending son. We do all the things instead of watching tv, playing ps4, and YouTube. My kids hang around me every evening asking if we are doing family time. I can tell they love it but don’t want to admit it. I am so excited Pam is back to her morning time focus for 2020. Our homeschool has been shaped by the rich ideas and practical wisdom shared here. I was so happy and excited to learn that Pam is shifting her focus back to Morning Time for 2020! I’ve missed the morning time exclusive podcast and can’t wait to hear her back in my earbuds. I absolutely LOVE this podcast and was so disappointed when I realized you were not actively producing it! I’m NOW relieved to know there is a whole year of episodes ahead!
I’m beginning my homeschool journey with 4 little ones very close in age and my style falls somewhere in the Classical and Charlotte Mason.
I found your podcast by chance via Instagram recommendation as I was doing research on “morning menus.”
Your content is beautifully philosophical but at a level most parents will be able to grasp and appreciate. Filled with truth, beauty, and goodness! Your episodes fill me up and leave me feeling inspired personally and in regards to my children’s education. Everything is so good! Please don’t stop producing ever again! I’ll be grateful forever! So glad to have the morning basket podcast back! Thank you for bringing it back!! This podcast is awesome! It was recommended to me a few years ago by a very wise and experienced homeschool mom but I didn’t start listening until I saw it come up a few more times on Facebook, recommended in various groups (in particular, episode number 41). I wish I had picked it up years ago! So much great information, I’m learning so much! Be careful though, I was so interested listening to this podcast that I didn’t notice how low my gas tank was getting! I ran out of gas and as I write this review I’m stranded on the side of the road waiting for a friend to come rescue me!
Happy listening! I’ve just been eating up every episode of this brilliant podcast over the past few months. The guests are stellar and Pam’s interview style is wonderful. She gets each guest to the meat and potatoes of their topic but it’s anything but a plain meal. This is a feast for the homeschool mom’s mind. I know I’ll be revisiting many of my favorite episodes again and again. Feeling so inspired by each guest! Mind blown! I’m listening to the myth podcast and it’s absolutely perfect. It is answering so many questions I’ve struggled with my whole life. It helps me to view our curriculum and informs my teaching so much more. I can’t speak highly enough about this podcast. It has been a huge inspiration and a practical help to my homeschool! Thank you so much Pam Barnhill and everyone else who contributes to this. It has been an amazing blessing to me and my children… And possibly generations to come! Not only am I inspired by each episode of this podcast but I have actually put so many of the ideas into practice in our own morning time. Such a huge help as I seek to inspire my non-stop boys to truth, goodness and beauty. We are now memorising poetry as they jump on the trampoline and they love Shakespeare. That's a parenting win in my book! Thank you, Pam! I’m now bursting with inspiration and can’t wait to start our 2019 school year with a strong morning time routine. My heart is enriched and I can’t wait to learn more. I was looking for morning basket ideas—simple ones. These podcasts are giving me a picture of a good morning basket. This is truly life changing information for me as a homeschool mother. Thank you Pam for this amazing series. I love all of Pam’s podcast but this one is prob my favorite. I love to listen to all her guest and see the different ways a morning time can be done