Homeschool Better Together with Pam Barnhill

Morning Time planning. I bet there is a good chance you either love it or hate it. Or even if you love it, you might also be one of those people at a season in life -- newborn, toddlers, new to Morning Time, BUSY -- that still doesn't want to spend much time actually doing it. You know, though, it is important.In this special episode Dawn, Jessica, and I chat about Morning Time planning -- why it is important, ways to make it happen, and how we can help you out with a special new product if it isn't something you want to do. Enjoy!For links and resources, visit https://pambarnhill.com/ymbsp1.

We wrap this season of Your Morning Basket up with an interview with Cindy Rollins. Cindy has experienced the joy of Morning Time with all of her now grown children. In this interview, we talk a little bit about Morning Time, a little bit about Mere Motherhood, and a little bit about real family life.Cindy is no stranger to the messiness of homeschooling, and she shares some of what she has learned in a way that is both humble and encouraging for other moms to hear. We delve into using your philosophy of education as a tool, the importance of appropriate education in the little years, and how a remembrance of the past is quite possible the most important thing for your Morning Time.If you need an encouraging look into what it looks like to be towards the end of the long haul of homeschooling or a refocusing on what is truly important in your family life, grab a hot beverage, breath deep and listen. Cindy's warmth and frankness are sure to bless you.For show notes and episode downloads, visit https://pambarnhill.com/ymb27/.

It is a question English Moms and Math Moms both dread, "What about the arts?" How am I going to help my child appreciate and love beautiful art, music, and dance? Why should I even bother? Why is this so important when the crowd is clamoring STEM?Prof. Carol Reynolds is here to answer your questions and more. She is passionate about art, music and how it defines a culture. We are reminded that our children are very expressive beings who naturally find joy in creativity and admire beautiful things. She encourages us with practical advice on how to help our children keep their natural tendency for creative arts, how to integrate the arts into ourShe encourages us with practical advice on how to help our children keep their natural tendency for creative arts, how to integrate the arts into our everyday lives, into every subject we teach, and how to do this all without a strong arts background ourselves.With a gentle reminder that the goal is not to produce an artistic prodigy, but someone who appreciates and can discern the beauty in the arts. She also assures us that this can be done without spending gobs of money on lessons or resources but simply by asking the question, "Why is this beautiful, or ugly." With humor and warmth, Prof. Carol makes the arts sound not only doable for the average homeschool mom but absolutely essential.For show notes and episode downloads, visit https://pambarnhill.com/ymb26/.

Your loving your Morning Time with your kids. You have gathered a feast for their minds with living books, poetry, scripture, and Shakespeare, but something is missing. Where are all the deep meaningful conversations you had hoped to have with your children about the big ideas of life?In this episode, Brandy Vencel joins us to talk about the marriage between facts and ideas, how to draw out big ideas from your living book read alouds using good questions. She encourages us to be patient as we introduce the ideas of virtue to our children.She also talks about more practical issues such as how to introduce virtues without moralizing, how and why to choose the best literature when introducing big ideas, and which ideas might be more accessible for different ages.Join us as Brandy helps us tackle the idea of ideas in our Morning Time.For show notes and episode downloads, visit https://pambarnhill.com/ymb25/.

In this episode of Your Morning Basket we talk with Dr. Kevin Vost about the virtue of studiousness and the value of memorization. In this fascinating conversation, we are introduced to memory methods taught by church fathers that can help us today.In the fast paced, information overloaded world we live in today we sometimes loose sight of the value of holding information in our own heads. Dr. Vost encourages us to work our memories because it is our past memories that guide our future behaviors.For show notes and episode downloads, visit https://pambarnhill.com/ymb23/.

As a child Christin Ditchfield devoured the Chronicles of Narnia over and over again. As an adult she found that she kept returning to the truth's found in Lewis' work for guidance. As a result she created the Family Guide to Narnia, a book that highlights the Biblical parallels in the works, to help families see the connections between Narnia and Scripture.Today she is on the podcast to chat with us about Narnia, what we can learn from stories, and easy ways for us to discuss the deeper meanings of literature in our Morning Time.For show notes and episode downloads, visit https://pambarnhill.com/ymb23/.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is on my Homeschool Field Trip Bucket List. Yours too? I want to share the wonder and awe I felt as I looked at the larger than life paintings for the first time.But how? I am no where near the Met. I know little to nothing about art, except that I do like to look at it. Is this enough? How do I start a picture study with my children? What are we looking for? How can I expect them to respond?Emily Kiser to the rescue! In this episode of Your Morning Basket, Emily answers these questions and more. She gently tells us how we can add picture study to our basket in baby steps; exposure, enjoyment, and analysis.For shownotes and episode downloads, visit https://pambarnhill.com/ymb22/.

Shakespeare. Whatever feelings you have about the Bard, we can all agree that he was the most influential English writer in history. But why should I bother with Shakespearean language for my littles in Morning Time? Won't there be plenty of time for that when they are older? More importantly how would I introduce such a daunting mass of literature? What if I don't know much Shakespeare myself? What if I don't even think I like Shakespeare? Ken Ludwig is a playwright and father who has an infectious love of Shakespeare. He began sharing his love with his children at a very young age. Recently he published How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare, a book detailing this surprisingly simple way to teach the Bard's great works to our children. Come and enjoy as Ken tells us why and how we should teach Shakespeare, as well as how we can handle the harder concepts. Most importantly, Ken encourages us to push past our fear and enjoy Shakespeare in our Morning Times.

Classical music is part of the true, good, and beautiful feast I want to spread before my children. Unfortunately, most days I am at a loss as to how to enjoy it myself. Is there more to classical music than a bunch of strings making, what sounds like to me, just noise? How do I choose which pieces and composers to introduce? What if we don’t like a piece? Why should I even bother when my child enjoys other types of music? In this episode of Your Morning Basket, Pam interviews Bonnie Simon, creator of Maestro Classics. Bonnie has found memories of her parents playing the violin and cello as she went to bed, and Saturday classical music concerts on the radio. She gently explains how you can give your child found memories of classical music through stories. By using stories and listening to classical music together, we can help our children develop a relationship with classical music that will stay with them their whole lives. Come listen and learn how to make musical memories with your children.

We're starting off a new season of Your Morning Basket with an episode all about planning and preparing for Morning Time. Pam and her good friend Dawn Garrett, who is the coordinator for the Your Morning Basket online community, discuss everything from the first ingredient of a solid Morning Time plan to how to pull ourselves out of those Morning Time slumps. Whether you are brand new to Morning Time this year or a seasoned vet looking for a little inspiration, enjoy!