Morning Routine

Morning routines have always been one of my weak areas. I am not a "morning person" myself. I am much more alive and functional from 10:00-2:00 mid-day and from 10:00-2:00 at night -- oh it would be so great if my children were the same! However, reality is that they are young and are bright, chipper, and focused to learn during the wee morning hours!

Last year, I tried something new. After we got up and ate breakfast, brushed our teeth, and finished the morning hygiene/quick morning tidying routine, the kids would go straight to their "morning journal" folders. These folders have journal pages that are to be completed each morning. It reviews what day/day it is, what the weather is that day, captures how they are feeling that morning, and asks them to record what they would like to learn that day. I added the "what I want to learn today" after a week or two of starting the morning journal. This little bit extra really added a bit more motivation and excitement to learn each day. It also gave them a goal and they seem to really enjoy tackling that goal. It gave them a sense of accomplishment.

You can download the journal pages I use at http://montessoriforlearning.com/Handwriting/TodayIs.pdf. They are located in my Free Download section. I also invited the kids to draw or write about their dreams they had the night before on the bottom or back of the pages.