Welcome to the Autumn Morning Time Session!
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Schedule
Recommended Books
Prayer & Scripture Memorization
As parents, we have an immense responsibility to train our children in the Word of God. They must be taught all of the powerful truths contained within it. This is not my suggestion; it is the
commandment of the Lord:
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (AMPC) says, “And these words which I am commanding you this day shall be first in your own minds and hearts; then you shall whet and sharpen them so as to make them penetrate, and teach and impress them diligently upon the minds and hearts of your children… “
Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom…” And Psalm 119:11 says, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”
There are many, many more scriptures that command us and show us the benefits of putting the Word of God in our hearts on a regular basis. So in all of the memorization that we have our children and teens do, Bible verses and passages are the most important. For this reason, we include copywork for scripture memorization in our sessions.
This session, we will learn the Colossians Prayer and focus on writing and memorizing the first Psalm.
Artist Study
This session’s featured artist is Gustav Klimt. We’ve included four art selections for your kids and teens to use for picture study. They are:
- Two Girls with an Oleander
- Portrait of Helene Klimt
- Schubert at the Piano II
- The Kiss
Composer Study
Our featured composer is Franz Schubert. We’ve included four of his pieces (with links to each) to listen to. They are:
- Fantasy in C major – “Wanderer”
- Piano Sonata A minor
- String Quartet No.14 D minor
- Der Hirt auf dem Felsen
Listen to each piece below:
Fantasy in C major – “Wanderer”
Piano Sonata A minor
String Quartet No.14 D minor
Der Hirt auf dem Felsen
Hymn/Folk Song
Hymn
The hymn “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come” was written in 1844 by Henry Alford. He was a clergyman in the Church of England and an accomplished pianist, organist, and composer. Interestingly enough, he had no formal musical training; rather, he was self-taught.
Alford wrote the verses while he was living in London with his family. It is said that he wrote it as a way to express gratitude for all of God’s blessings after coming through a difficult illness that nearly took his life.
The first verse is a celebration of the harvest, and calls for people to give thanks to God for all of nature’s beauty and abundance. The next two verses are about the Parable of the Tares (or weeds) from Matthew 13:24-43, which speak of the last days harvest at the Second Coming of Jesus. And finally, the last verse sings of living forever in the “glorious harvest home” of Heaven.
Today “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come” is still a popular hymn around the world. It is often sung at Thanksgiving services or other religious gatherings where believers express their gratitude and appreciation to God. It reminds us that we should always be grateful for God’s blessings and his goodness towards us.
Listen to the music and sing along with it below:
Folk Song
Our folk song for this session is, “Autumn Comes,” also known as, “Under the Harvest Moon.” It is a traditional 16th-century English folk song.
It celebrates the appearance of the “harvest moon” (also known as the “barley moon” or “full corn moon”), which is the full moon nearest to the autumnal equinox (September 22 or 23). A 1710 edition of The Oxford English Dictionary also states that “The country people called this the Hunters-Moon.”
Traditionally, the harvest moon marked the last chance to gather crops before the days became too short.
In some versions of the song, the singer laments that they will never see their true love again.
This folk song is a reminder of the changing of the seasons and the impermanence of life. It is a reminder to enjoy the moment, because time slips away all too quickly.
Listen and sing along with it below:
Poetry
This session’s featured poet is Robert Frost. We’ve included four poetry selections for your kids and teens to read, listen to, memorize, and recite. They are:
- Gathering Leaves
- After Apple Picking
- October
- The Road Not Taken
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:
- October
- The Road Not Taken
Copywork
Tea Times
In this session we are giving you five recipes for our hospitality tea: Apple Cake, Apple Butter, Apple Crisp, Pumpkin Bread, and Pumpkin Pizza. (You can never have too many apple or pumpkin recipes in autumn!)
We will also have two Storytime teas, a Mythology teatime, and a fable teatime:
Storytime Tea 1: Winnie the Pooh, Chapter II: “In Which Pooh Goes Visiting & Gets into a Tight Place” by A.A. Milne
Storytime Tea 2: Anne of Green Gables, Chapter XVI: “Diana is Invited to Tea with Tragic Results” by L.M. Montgomery
Mythology Teatime: A Wonder Book, “The Gorgon’s Head, Tanglewood Porch” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Fable Teatime: Aesop’s Fables, “The Fox and the Crow,” and “The North Wind and the Sun” by Aesop
Shakespeare
For our Shakespeare selection, we have chosen the Bard’s pastoral comedy, “As You Like It,” since it is set in the Forest of Arden (to go along with our woodsy, autumn feel).
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 “As You Like It” by Rice University.
Watch a performance of As You Like It by Rice University 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, we will be doing “leaf printing.” This is a simple activity that all ages can enjoy — from your younger children (with a bit of help with steadying their hands and helping them press their leaves carefully onto their fabric), to teens who can print and embellish their fabrics until they are fully satisfied with their artistry!
Bring back leaves of all shapes and sizes from this week’s nature walk and have fun creating these practical pieces for yourself or to give as gifts!
Art Lesson
In this lesson, we are going to create our own fall scene inspired by Impressionist painter, Camille Pissarro’s Autumn Poplars. This is a super-simple lesson, but it does take a while because it’s all about layering the various colors over and over. You may want to split the lesson up into two or three sessions.
Supplies needed:
- Watercolor paper (or canvas)
- Acrylic paints (blue, green, red, yellow, orange, brown, and white)
- Paint brushes (large flat & small flat)
- Paper plate, paper towel, jar of water
Autumn Woods, Part One
Autumn Woods, Part Two
History & Geography
There is no history or geography lesson for this session.
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:
