Morning Time and Memory Work Plan January 2021

Hi friends! This blog post is really more like a personal letter to each of you, a behind-the-scenes sneak peek into the Sloan family Morning Time plans for January 2021. I just finished typing everything up and getting it ready to print out for our first day back-to-homeschool, and I thought you might enjoy seeing what we’re doing this month!

Not included on the list is our daily viewing of WORLD Watch News. We typically watch that at 8am with prayer and the rest of Morning Time to follow.

You’ll notice that I’ve typed up the Bible memory verses in our preferred responsive reading format. We’ll take turns being the one to read the light print, and everyone else will reply with the dark print. We’ve found this hugely helpful in keeping us focused during our Scripture memory work time!

We’re transitioning from Ancient Greece to Ancient Rome in our history studies which influences what we’re reading and memorizing. You can read more here about how to choose the best memory work in your own homeschool, or head to the Year of Memory Work for a year’s worth of free printable poems, speeches, and other beautiful pieces for recitation!

And of course I have lots of book list suggestions to help you choose just the right read alouds for your family!

You may also note that this Morning Time is a bit shorter than our previous Morning Times. Now that my oldest is in dual-enrollment courses and my teen daughter has a regular work day outside the home each week, we’re having to keep our all-together-time more focused. I will still spend probably another hour or so with the younger 3 kids in our own history reading times and other group activities following this Morning Time routine.

I’m going to add a free downloadable printable pdf of the below Morning Time plans to my email subscriber page. Make sure you subscribe to my email list for access to this and other freebies. (Already on my email list but have forgotten the password? Email me and I’ll send you a reminder!)

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Morning Time January 2021

Prayer
Bible Reading: Proverbs
Bible Memory: Psalm 1 and Psalm 2
Read Aloud: Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, How to Lie with Statistics
Memory Work: Virgil, Horace
Hymn: “How Firm a Foundation”
Prayer

Minimum Viable Morning Time:

Prayer
Bible Memory
Memory Work
Prayer

Psalm 1

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Psalm 2

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying,

Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

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Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Aeneid 1.1-1.11
Virgil

Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam, fato profugus, Laviniaque venit
litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
vi superum saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram;
multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem,
inferretque deos Latio, genus unde Latinum,
Albanique patres, atque altae moenia Romae.
Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso,
quidve dolens, regina deum tot volvere casus
insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores
impulerit. Tantaene animis caelestibus irae?

Arms, and the man I sing, who, forc’d by fate,
And haughty Juno’s unrelenting hate,
Expell’d and exil’d, left the Trojan shore.
Long labors, both by sea and land, he bore,
And in the doubtful war, before he won
The Latian realm, and built the destin’d town;
His banish’d gods restor’d to rites divine,
And settled sure succession in his line,
From whence the race of Alban fathers come,
And the long glories of majestic Rome.

O Muse! the causes and the crimes relate;
What goddess was provok’d, and whence her hate;
For what offense the Queen of Heav’n began
To persecute so brave, so just a man;
Involv’d his anxious life in endless cares,
Expos’d to wants, and hurried into wars!
Can heav’nly minds such high resentment show,
Or exercise their spite in human woe?

Dryden translation

Horace’s Ode II, 10

Licinius, trust a seaman’s lore:
Steer not too boldly to the deep,
Nor, fearing storms, by treacherous shore
Too closely creep.

Who makes the golden mean his guide,
Shuns miser’s cabin, foul and dark,
Shuns gilded roofs, where pomp and pride
Are envy’s mark.

With fiercer blasts the pine’s dim height
Is rock’d; proud towers with heavier fall
Crash to the ground; and thunders smite
The mountains tall.

In sadness hope, in gladness fear
‘Gainst coming change will fortify
Your breast. The storms that Jupiter
Sweeps o’er the sky

He chases. Why should rain today
Bring rain tomorrow? Python’s foe
Is pleased sometimes his lyre to play,
Nor bends his bow.

Be brave in trouble; meet distress
With dauntless front; but when the gale
Too prosperous blows, be wise no less,
And shorten sail.

Horace. The Odes and Carmen Saeculare of Horace. John Conington. trans. London. George Bell and Sons. 1882.

How Firm a Foundation

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

“Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.”

“When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.”

“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.”

“E’en down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And then, when grey hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.”

“The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no, never, no, never forsake!”

Sing to the tune “Foundation

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6 thoughts on “Morning Time and Memory Work Plan January 2021”

  1. Thank you for sharing; I have enjoyed your blog for years and have incorporated some of your poems and scripture into my own homeschool memory plans. My children have learned a lot of passages and poems, but the thing they seem to struggle with is retention. Even with review, they struggle to remember much of what they’ve spent hours memorizing – it seems such a shame since they’ve spent hours on those special passages over the years. Do you have any tips for this problem? Thanks in advance, and thank you for sharing high-quality content!

    1. Thank you so much for commenting and for your kind words! I have a few thoughts in reply.

      This first thing might be shocking. 😉 I think it is actually ok if they forget much (most?) of what we learn/memorize. This applies not only to the poems we memorize but even to the books we read and discuss. I’m a 2nd-generation homeschooler whose parents did an amazing job laying out a rich feast of words and ideas. Even so, there is SO MUCH I have forgotten. But while this used to make me upset, I’ve come to realize that the process of learning and reading and reciting actually made me the person I am…even if I don’t remember the details. I wrote more about that here in my post “Why Bother.”

      Second, I think there are some simple ways to incorporate review. In previous years I used the Simply Charlotte Mason memory box routine, although we do not currently use this method. But it was fantastic in those first few years!

      Currently, I periodically announce, “Today is a review day! Pick at least one of your favorite previous pieces of recitation to share!” Then we each bring something old to share and review as a group.

      Finally, I’m finding this to be one of the joys of having multiple children. Because we switch up our memory work every month or so, it gives me opportunities to review old material several times a school year. Last fall, for example, we included Ozymandias and a few other “old” poems in our memory work routine. Review for my older kids was completely new to the younger children (even the ones I thought might remember it). So don’t be afraid to bring back out an old Shakespeare passage, a favorite poem, or a previously learned Scripture passage a few years down the road!

      Oh, this can also be something fun to do during the summer! Instead of picking new things or having an “officaly” MT time, you could have summer as a review period for all the old memory work. Just loop through and read it aloud together, pressure free.

      Have a lovely, blessed new year! 🙂

  2. Thank you so very much for sharing this.! I really appreciate it. I have been wanting to implement a morning time routine but didn’t know how so this was extremely helpful! Thanks!

  3. This is so great. Last week in our homeschool co-op we were talking about this exact topic but the conversation sort of fizzled because no one had a good grasp on a consistent morning schedule. Hoping your post brings the topic back up next week. Thank you!

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