Homeschool Better Together with Pam Barnhill

Sarah Mackenzie is a mother of six, the author of Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakable Peace, and the host of the Read-Aloud Revival. She joins us on the podcast to discuss Morning Time as a key tool that can help us order our children's affections, turn our attention to things of utmost importance, and ground ourselves in state of rest, avoiding that place of frenzy and worry that we are not doing "enough."But Sarah doesn't stop there. She also throws in some of her best practical tips, like ideas for how to wrangle a houseful of toddlers and simplify Morning Time as needed during key seasons of family life. There is something for everyone in this interview, so sit back and enjoy!Mentioned in this episode:Spring Curriculum Showcase – Fresh Deals Every Week at PamBarnhill.com!Say goodbye to overwhelm and hello to joyful learning! The Spring Curriculum Showcase at PamBarnhill.com/shop is live, featuring weekly spotlights on our most-loved and brand-new resources for the 2025–2026 school year. Discover open-and-go language arts bundles, brand-new middle school resources, geography notebooks, a new photography course for teens, and more! Each week brings a new special you won't want to miss—shop now and find flexible, family-friendly curriculum that fits your real life.Shop

Cindy West is a homeschooling mother of three and the author of the NaturExplorer series. She joins us on this episode of the podcast to share her contagious enthusiasm for nature study.She discusses the importance of this sometimes-neglected subject--how nature study helps us develop keen observation skills, teaches us important truths about our Creator, and gives us opportunities to make connections to  subjects like science, geography, and math.Cindy has an impressive list of simple, meaningful ways to spend just a few minutes of Morning Time on nature study. So, whether you are a seasoned nature enthusiast or someone who prefers to enjoy the great outdoors from the comfort of your air-conditioned living room, you will be sure to find some great ideas in this episode.Mentioned in this episode:Spring Curriculum Showcase – Fresh Deals Every Week at PamBarnhill.com!Say goodbye to overwhelm and hello to joyful learning! The Spring Curriculum Showcase at PamBarnhill.com/shop is live, featuring weekly spotlights on our most-loved and brand-new resources for the 2025–2026 school year. Discover open-and-go language arts bundles, brand-new middle school resources, geography notebooks, a new photography course for teens, and more! Each week brings a new special you won't want to miss—shop now and find flexible, family-friendly curriculum that fits your real life.Shop

In this interview, Sonya Shafer of Simply Charlotte Mason demystifies the practice of narration, or reading living books and then having children "tell back" in their own words what they remember.She shows how narration is not so much a method of quizzing our children, but rather a powerful tool for promoting attention, comprehension, and retention as the children make the books their own.This conversation is full of step-by-step instructions for how to get started, ideas for moving beyond the basics with older kids, and plenty of trouble-shooting advice.For shownotes and episode downloads, please visit https://pambarnhill.com/ymb10.Mentioned in this episode:Spring Curriculum Showcase – Fresh Deals Every Week at PamBarnhill.com!Say goodbye to overwhelm and hello to joyful learning! The Spring Curriculum Showcase at PamBarnhill.com/shop is live, featuring weekly spotlights on our most-loved and brand-new resources for the 2025–2026 school year. Discover open-and-go language arts bundles, brand-new middle school resources, geography notebooks, a new photography course for teens, and more! Each week brings a new special you won't want to miss—shop now and find flexible, family-friendly curriculum that fits your real life.Shop

Pam and her good friend Mystie Winckler of Simply Convivial wrap up this season of the podcast with an entire episode devoted to answering listener questions. They share inspiration, practical tips, how-to’s, and amusing anecdotes from their combined 12 years of practicing the discipline of Morning Time in their homes. Whether you’re a seasoned Morning Time veteran or a newbie wondering how to get started, there is something in this episode for you. Enjoy!For show notes and downloads please visit https://pambarnhill.com/ymb9.Mentioned in this episode:Spring Curriculum Showcase – Fresh Deals Every Week at PamBarnhill.com!Say goodbye to overwhelm and hello to joyful learning! The Spring Curriculum Showcase at PamBarnhill.com/shop is live, featuring weekly spotlights on our most-loved and brand-new resources for the 2025–2026 school year. Discover open-and-go language arts bundles, brand-new middle school resources, geography notebooks, a new photography course for teens, and more! Each week brings a new special you won't want to miss—shop now and find flexible, family-friendly curriculum that fits your real life.Shop

Nicholas Ireland, a father of three, teaches humanities to middle schoolers at a classical school in Alabama. On this episode of the podcast, he tackles the subject of poetry.Why is poetry important? What poems should I start with? What makes good poetry good? What if I don’t understand poetry? What questions should I ask my kids when we talk about the poems we read?Nicholas answers all these questions and more, plus gives us enough recommendations to keep us busy reading excellent poems for a long, long time. Enjoy!To access the podcast downloads for this episode including transcripts, time stamps, discussion questions, and more go to https://pambarnhill.com/ymb8.Mentioned in this episode:Spring Curriculum Showcase – Fresh Deals Every Week at PamBarnhill.com!Say goodbye to overwhelm and hello to joyful learning! The Spring Curriculum Showcase at PamBarnhill.com/shop is live, featuring weekly spotlights on our most-loved and brand-new resources for the 2025–2026 school year. Discover open-and-go language arts bundles, brand-new middle school resources, geography notebooks, a new photography course for teens, and more! Each week brings a new special you won't want to miss—shop now and find flexible, family-friendly curriculum that fits your real life.Shop

Mary Prather is a music educator turned homeschool mom and the creator of the music appreciation curriculum SQUILT.  On this episode of the podcast, she shares simple and effective ideas for adding beauty to Morning Time through music. Mary has fantastic recommendations for composers and pieces, and she speaks from experience about no-fuss, practical ways to teach music appreciation and enjoy great music with our children. Treat yourself to a little dose of beauty today.To access the podcast downloads for this episode including transcripts, time stamps, discussion questions, and more go to https://pambarnhill.com/ymb7.Mentioned in this episode:Spring Curriculum Showcase – Fresh Deals Every Week at PamBarnhill.com!Say goodbye to overwhelm and hello to joyful learning! The Spring Curriculum Showcase at PamBarnhill.com/shop is live, featuring weekly spotlights on our most-loved and brand-new resources for the 2025–2026 school year. Discover open-and-go language arts bundles, brand-new middle school resources, geography notebooks, a new photography course for teens, and more! Each week brings a new special you won't want to miss—shop now and find flexible, family-friendly curriculum that fits your real life.Shop

Jennifer Mackintosh has been practicing Morning Time in her home since her oldest, now a homeschool graduate was a 4th grader. At her blog Wildflowers & Marbles, she has written extensively about how she creates her Morning Time plan and about how she develops thoughtful book lists for read-alouds.She joins us on this episode of the podcast to tell us a little more about choosing those great books, but she doesn't stop there. She also divulges some of her best time-tested tricks for wrangling energetic toddlers while reading aloud, as well as some helpful advice for continuing to draw teens into the Morning Time conversation.Jen shares about how Morning Time has been a place for her children to develop and practice important habits like attentiveness and describes the fruit she has seen as those habits have been shared and passed down from older children to younger children in a natural, organic way.Perhaps most importantly, Jen urges us moms to be attentive ourselves during Morning Time and to learn alongside our children as we wonder at the natural world, at beautiful poetry, and at living books together.For links and downloads visit pambarnhill.com/ymb6Mentioned in this episode:Spring Curriculum Showcase – Fresh Deals Every Week at PamBarnhill.com!Say goodbye to overwhelm and hello to joyful learning! The Spring Curriculum Showcase at PamBarnhill.com/shop is live, featuring weekly spotlights on our most-loved and brand-new resources for the 2025–2026 school year. Discover open-and-go language arts bundles, brand-new middle school resources, geography notebooks, a new photography course for teens, and more! Each week brings a new special you won't want to miss—shop now and find flexible, family-friendly curriculum that fits your real life.Shop

Angela Boord has eight (soon to be nine!) children, so she knows all about making life work in a large family. She joins us today on the podcast to talk about creating and sustaining a Morning Time routine that is meaningful and worthwhile for everyone, from teens to toddlers.Angela shares some great advice for keeping little hands busy, accommodating teens and their packed schedules, and tackling important subjects in a way that meets the needs of big kids and little kids alike.She also shares how Morning Time has helped build a shared culture and sense of belonging in her family. Angela's wisdom is both practical and inspiring, making this an interview not to be missed.Mentioned in this episode:Spring Curriculum Showcase – Fresh Deals Every Week at PamBarnhill.com!Say goodbye to overwhelm and hello to joyful learning! The Spring Curriculum Showcase at PamBarnhill.com/shop is live, featuring weekly spotlights on our most-loved and brand-new resources for the 2025–2026 school year. Discover open-and-go language arts bundles, brand-new middle school resources, geography notebooks, a new photography course for teens, and more! Each week brings a new special you won't want to miss—shop now and find flexible, family-friendly curriculum that fits your real life.Shop

If you've been following along with the last couple of interviews here at Your Morning Basket, you know that Pam has been walking us through the "3Rs" that make up a rich Morning Time: recitation, reading aloud, and ritual.Now it's time to tackle the third R, ritual. So often I find myself wanting to slow down and give my children time in our day to think, explore, and reflect. I want our Morning Time to be about more than checking off items from our list of things to do, but I'm not sure how to develop a meaningful liturgy that will help us begin our day. And then I find myself wondering if any ritual can really be restful and refreshing when energetic, chatty young children are involved.Today's episode addresses these issues and so much more. Pam talks with Dr. Christopher Perrin of Classical Academic Press, who introduces us to the concept of scholé, or restful learning. Dr. Perrin encourages us to develop liturgical practices for Morning Time that can set the stage for scholé in our homes, and he provides us with examples of restful learning that can work in real life, even with wiggly, noisy kids like mine. There is so much to take in from this interview; I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. For downloads and links visit the show notes at https://pambarnhill.com/ymb4Mentioned in this episode:Spring Curriculum Showcase – Fresh Deals Every Week at PamBarnhill.com!Say goodbye to overwhelm and hello to joyful learning! The Spring Curriculum Showcase at PamBarnhill.com/shop is live, featuring weekly spotlights on our most-loved and brand-new resources for the 2025–2026 school year. Discover open-and-go language arts bundles, brand-new middle school resources, geography notebooks, a new photography course for teens, and more! Each week brings a new special you won't want to miss—shop now and find flexible, family-friendly curriculum that fits your real life.Shop

Welcome to another episode of Your Morning Basket. You may remember that, early in episode 2, Pam introduced us to the "4 Rs" that make up a rich Morning Time: recitation, reading aloud, ritual, and relationship. (And if you happened to miss that one, be sure to check it out!)In today's interview, Pam talks with Brandy Vencel of Afterthoughts about the second of those Rs, reading aloud. They discuss the subtle ways that reading aloud during Morning Time can differ from the reading we may do with our children at other times during the day.This interview is packed with great book recommendations and insightful conversation about how reading aloud can help shape our children's imaginations, give them opportunities to grapple with big ideas, and enrich their learning by pairing content with captivating stories. So sit back and enjoy!Mentioned in this episode:Spring Curriculum Showcase – Fresh Deals Every Week at PamBarnhill.com!Say goodbye to overwhelm and hello to joyful learning! The Spring Curriculum Showcase at PamBarnhill.com/shop is live, featuring weekly spotlights on our most-loved and brand-new resources for the 2025–2026 school year. Discover open-and-go language arts bundles, brand-new middle school resources, geography notebooks, a new photography course for teens, and more! Each week brings a new special you won't want to miss—shop now and find flexible, family-friendly curriculum that fits your real life.Shop