September marks the first full month of our new homeschool year. Storyteller is now in 4th grade and Comedian is in 1st grade. One of my favorite routines in our homeschool culture is our Morning Basket. Even though we call it Morning Basket, we actually bring out these books and activities at different points throughout the day. Some people prefer to call it Book Basket time. Regardless of what you name it, this is simply a collection of beautiful books that we share as a family throughout our homeschool day.
What is a Morning Basket?
There is only one rule that I follow. Morning Basket is a collection of books that bring to life a wide variety of subjects throughout the year. Each month I include books about history, biographies, poetry, nursery rhymes, art, music, nature study as well as a game or two. Some families add in devotionals and memory work too. I trade out most of the books each month although there are a few that we will read over several months. Some books come from different curricula that we use, some are ones we own that tie into topics we’re studying that month, and some are gems we find at the library.
Here’s what is in our Morning Basket this month with a little tidbit about each book and why I chose to include it.
Related Post – Morning Basket Tips to Get Started
September Morning Basket Science and Nature
Nature and Science Books
Inside the Lives of Scientists- Experiments, Explosions (and What the Neighbors Thought) – One thing I love about the Bookshark curriculum is how they weave in biographies into the history and science. It helps bring the lessons to life. I just wish the science program included a bit more of it. We’ve done levels K-2 (just started 3), and so far they each have included one biography. This year, I’m adding in a few more books that are collections of short biographies of scientists. Young kids don’t need to dig really deep into any one person unless there’s someone that really sparks their interest. This book covers 18 scientists. We’ll stretch this book out through the first half of the school year by reading about one scientist each week.
The Magic School Bus – Inside a Hurricane – We love Magic School Bus books and have many on our shelf. I will be including those that tie into the subjects that we’re doing in science. Comedian (my 1st grader) is covering weather this month so we’ll take a closer look at hurricanes.
Oh Say Can You Say What’s the Weather Today (Cat in the Hat) – another one from our bookshelf. We have several Cat in the Hat books (love them!) that I’ll be incorporating into our Morning Baskets this year.
Girls Who Looked Under Rocks: The Lives of Six Pioneering Naturalists – This is a collection of short biographies that we are using this year as part of our nature study. There’s only six so it’s tempting to do one a month and make the book last longer but we may end up reading one a week. Avoiding a strict schedule for our book baskets gives us the flexibility to change things up and not feel guilty about “getting behind”.
A Seed is Sleepy, How a Seed Grows, and The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds – We’re doing Exploring Nature with Children this year to add a structured element to our nature study activities. September is all about seeds. I chose these three books for our reading list this month for this curriculum. Morning Basket is a perfect place for these. I only picked three short books because my kids will be learning more about plants through the Jr. Master Gardener program this year in addition to what they already do in our gardens at home.
Related Post – How to Plan a Morning Basket
September Morning Basket Poetry
Poetry Books
A Child’s Introduction to Poetry – Poetry geared toward Storyteller’s age (4th grade). This comes with Bookshark’s level 3 and will be used throughout the year. I’m really excited about this book! It starts with the different types of poetry and then moves on to highlighting different poets. It includes not only a poem or three from famous poets but it also has a page about the poet.
A Child’s Garden of Verses – This is such a highly recommended children’s poetry book. I can’t believe we haven’t read it yet. I’m excited to jump into this with the girls. We’ll use this with Morning Basket and also with our Poetry Tea Times this month.
The Arnold Lobel Book of Mother Goose – I always include some Mother Goose or Aesop’s Fables. This is meant for Comedian but Storyteller still loves to listen in on these too.
The Llama Who Had No Pajama – Poetry geared toward Comedian’s age (1st grade). This comes with Bookshark’s level K and will be also used throughout the year. This book is a well known and well loved children’s poetry book. Comedian remembers it well from when we read it for Storyteller’s 1st grade year and she is really excited to read it again.
September Morning Basket Read Alouds
Chapter and History Books
The Sign of the Beaver – This is a read aloud book from Bookshark’s Reading with History 3. This year all of the read alouds tie into the history portion of the curriculum which help bring the lessons to life. Storyteller has been so excited to jump into early American History and she is really eager to dig into this huge stack of books. All the read alouds this year will be part of our Morning Basket. We’ll also be doing the Brave Writer Arrow for this book. I love when books can serve two purposes…history and language arts.
The Witch of Blackbird Pond – We’ll finish up The Sign of the Beaver towards the end of September and so the next read aloud from Bookshark will start in this month’s basket and continue with next month’s Morning Basket. This has a Brave Writer Boomerang which is normally recommended for an older age but I think we may give it a try and alter it to fit where Storyteller is now.
North American Indians – This is a picture book that introduces the cultures and traditions of 12 Native American tribes. This is part of Bookshark’s level 3 curriculum. I’m including it as part of our Morning Basket because it’s a history book that isn’t a textbook or encyclopedia.
Dolphin Adventure – This is a read aloud that is in Bookshark’s level K that Comedian is doing this year. I’ll be trading out most of the read alouds because she actually remembers quite a bit about them when I did this level with Storyteller 3 years ago. Comedian has an amazing memory so I’m letting her be the guide as to which books get replaced. This is one she wants to read again. What little girl doesn’t like books about dolphins?
My Father’s Dragon – This is another read aloud from Comedian’s book list this year. I really want to swap this out but she is insisting that we read it again. Last year our homeschool group saw the play of My Father’s Dragon so the story is fresh in our minds. I’m trying to talk her into the next book in this series but so far she is set on reading this again.
September Morning Basket Music and Art
Music and Art Books
The Usborne Classical Music Reference Book – We have two Usborne music books that we’ll be using throughout the year with both kids. This book goes through the history of classical music. Once we finish this book, we’ll move on to Usborne’s Famous Composers Reference Book. Check out Amazon Music playlists for classical music to play during quiet activities such as LEGOs, coloring, or Play-Doh.
The Usborne Book of Famous Artists – This is one of two Usborne art books that we’ll be using throughout the year. It highlights 35 artists and some of their most well known paintings. Once we finish this book, we’ll move on to Usborne’s Book of Famous Paintings which goes into more detail about 35 paintings. I pair up cards from Usborne’s Famous Paintings card deck to match with the artists and paintings we talk about in the two books.
Games and Fun
Wildcraft – I actually got this game as a bonus for an herb course I bought from Herb Mentor a few years before even having kids. This is one of my favorite family games and the kids really enjoy it too. This ties in well with our focus on nature study. Our garden is really taking off again now that we’re getting out of the 110+ degree days. I like to play this game in the fall and spring so we can go out and experience the herbs we learn.
More Best of Mad Libs – We include Mad Libs in every Morning Basket. This is one that we’re almost done with and the girls have already picked out this one with cats to kick off our year. If only I could find one with sloths. They’ve been obsessed with slots for a few years now.
Whew! That’s it for our September Morning Basket. Morning Basket is a fantastic way to share so many beautiful books with your kids throughout the year. Enjoy!
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