Welcome to the Winter Morning Time Session!
Click on the button above to download the entire PDF,
or download only the sections you want below.
Schedule
Recommended Books
Prayer & Scripture Memorization
For Bible reading, we will make suggestions for your morning time reading. However, if you’d prefer a more in depth schedule, we recommend checking out various plans that will help you read the Bible through.
For a one-year plan, we recommend YouVersion’s One Year Bible: https://www.bible.com/readingplans/60. You can also listen to it being read aloud on the app.
Download a two-year reading plan from the Gospel Coalition here:
https://media.thegospelcoalition.org/static-blogs/tgc/files/2010/12/TGC-Two-Year-Bible-ReadingPlan1.pdf
If you prefer to go even slower, Ambleside Online offers three, four, and five-year Bible reading
plans: https://www.amblesideonline.org/L/Lbiblesch.html
This session, we will learn the Ephesians 3 Prayer (Eph. 3:16-21), and focus on writing and
memorizing Isaiah 55: 6-11.
Artist Study
This session’s featured artist is Childe Hassam. We’ve included four art selections for your kids and teens to use for picture study. They are:
- Rainy Day in Boston
- Snowstorm, Madison Square
- Late Afternoon, New York, Winter
- The Victorian Chair
Composer Study
Our featured composer is Frédéric Chopin. We’ve included four of his pieces (with links to each) to listen to. They are:
- Étude No. 11 in A minor, ‘Winter Wind’
- Fantaisie Impromptu Op. 66
- Waltz in A minor B150
- Nocturne in E flat major, Op. 9 No. 2
Listen to each piece below:
Étude No. 11 in A minor, ‘Winter Wind’
Fantaisie Impromptu Op. 66
Waltz in A minor B150
Nocturne in E flat major, Op. 9 No. 2
Hymn/Folk Song
Hymn
“‘Tis Winter Now, The Fallen Snow” is a hymn written by Unitarian minister, Samuel Longfellow,
brother of the famous American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, in 1864. It was first published in Longfellow’s collection, Hymns Of The Spirit.
The lyrics focus on the quiet beauty and solemnity of winter, as well as its connections to
Christian themes of death, rebirth, and resurrection.
Listen to the music and sing along with it below:
Folk Song
The origins of “The Snow, It Melts the Soonest” are unknown, but it dates back to at least 1821 when it was published in a collection of English folk songs in Blackwell’s Magazine, contributed by 19th century English author and politician, Thomas Doubleday (under the pseudonym of Mr. Shufflebotham).
In the 1880s, the melody was again recorded in a book of English folk songs and music called,
Northumbrian Minstrelsy. It was noted that Doubleday, “gave some verses adapted to the melody which he had heard from a street singer in Newcastle, and describes it as ‘An air that has been familiar to me since I was penny can high.’”
Rich with the imagery and metaphor of the transition from winter to spring, the lyrics tell the story of a cheeky, self-assured fellow who is confident he can change the mind and win the heart of the lass he is wooing. Perhaps he thinks he can melt her iciness towards him just as the springtime melts the snow.
Listen and sing along with it below:
Poetry
This session’s featured poet is Christina Rossetti. We’ve included six poetry selections for your kids and teens to read, listen to, memorize, and recite. They are:
- Winter: My Secret
- There’s Snow on the Fields
- I Dug and Dug Amongst the Snow
- Who Has Seen the Wind?
- In the Bleak Midwinter
- Winter Rain
For copywork, we have included Zaner-Bloser style handwriting sheets for primary, elementary, and cursive, as well as college ruled for older students. The poems we have chosen are:
- Winter: My Secret
- Who Has Seen the Wind?
- Winter Rain
Copywork
Tea Times
In this session we are giving you four recipes for our snow-themed tea: Snowballs, Snowflake Scones, Snow Cookies, and Snowflake Pretzels!
We will also have a Storytime tea, a Fairytale tea, and two Poetry teatimes (with an optional Mystery teamtime).
Storytime Tea 1: Winnie the Pooh, Chapter III: “In Which Pooh & Piglet Go Hunting & Nearly Catch a Woozle” by A.A. Milne
Fairytale Tea 2: The Snow Queen, by Hans Christian Andersen
Mystery Tea 2 (Optional): Older students may prefer to read the Sherlock Holmes short story, The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet, by Arthur Conan Doyle, which is available to download inside the membership.
Poetry Teatime: “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost
Poetry Teatime: “London Snow” by Robert Bridges
Listen to Robert Frost reading his poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” below:
Shakespeare
For our Shakespeare selection, we have chosen
Read it from Charles & Mary Lamb’s Tales of Shakespeare in the following pages. But we also recommend reading the actual play together as a family if you can.
Your older kids and teens may enjoy watching a movie adaptation (please pre-screen these first). And if you can take in a live performance, your family will never forget it!
We are including a link below to watch a pre-recorded stage performance of “
Watch a performance of The Winter’s Tale by Heritage Theater and the Royal Shakespeare Company below:
Nature Study
Each Friday morning, you will go through two of our nature cards. They are labeled in the upper right corner with the corresponding week. These are short, factual cards with images to help your child become familiar with objects in the natural world.
As you progress through our sessions, you may find it handy to keep your past nature cards in a binder for easy reference when your children come across a familiar object. These seeds you are planting will grow into a wonderful garden of knowledge for your children in years to come.
As you explore nature outside your home, watch and listen for newly discovered delights.
Handicraft
For our handicraft lesson, Lara has created a fun “Snowflake Embroidery” project. Let your students choose their favorite colors and pattern (or create their own), and sew these quick and easy pieces. These would make lovely gifts to give to others as well.
Art Lesson
For our winter art lesson, we will recreate Metcalf’s painting, The White Veil.
Supplies needed:
- Canvas panel (or watercolor paper)
- Acrylic paints (light blue, white, green, and brown)
- Paintbrushes: large flat for background and a medium flat
- Old toothbrush
- Spray water bottle
History & Geography
For geography, we have included a link to C.C. Long’s Home Geography on Project Gutenberg. The session readings are in your schedule. Please feel free to use your own books to study winter/snow if you’d like something more modern.
Solfa
Charlotte Mason incorporated solfa lessons twice a week for about 10 minutes each. These lessons are intended to be repeated and you can stay on any lesson for as long as you like. Here is the YouTube channel Lara and her boys enjoy and recommends for practicing solfa, Children of the Open Air:
Brush Drawing
Brush drawing builds motor and observation skills. We have included a link to videos by Bestowing the Brush below which are great for all ages to learn together:
