Homeschool Table Time

 We kick off each homeschool day with our table time lessons. Our homeschool table time is my absolute favorite part of homeschooling. Table time in the homeschool world has many different names: morning time, morning basket, tea time, morning menus, etc. whatever you choose to call your 'group' homeschool time is personal to each family ~ but we choose to call it 'table time' since that's where we have it. 

 I prefer to do our table time lessons first thing in the morning because that is when our family is at it's 'best'. We are all in best form, present in mind, not distracted, basically 'fresh' for a new day. Since table time is the core of our homeschooling, it only makes sense to do it when we are all at our best. Also, since I practice intermittent fasting, and don't break my fast until 10am, it is perfect for me to begin our read aloud while everyone else is eating their breakfast.

The above picture is a glimpse at part of my homeschool planner. I have scheduled each week of our table time (the top section of the page). These pages tell me what hymn, bible verse, interactive notebook, storybooks, projects, and quiet time boxes to do for each week. Our bible, nature, and nonfiction books are just read as we see fit for each day. This is the first year I have used these personalized weekly planning sheets, and they have been AMAZING!! As this year has progressed it has been easy for me to add, subtract, and make adjustments. We have accomplished more than we ever have and I owe it all to this detailed homeschool planner I created just for our family.

Our table time routine looks like this: I first read aloud from a bible story book (I own several that we have read through over the years). We read from a nature book; sometimes it's a fiction book while other times it's nonfiction. Then we read from a nonfiction book. I really enjoy picking a series so we can follow characters throughout multiple books and storylines. We practice reciting our weekly bible memory verse, then we sing our weekly hymn or praise song. I read our scheduled story books for the day. (I plan these books out before the school year begins). We also do our interactive history and science notebooks and the coordinating read alouds. Table time is also when we do our projects, whether it be crafts or experiments. To wrap up our table time we pray.

To keep the littles occupied and as quiet as possible during table time, I have designated educational activities for them to do. I have been intentional to budget for these educational toys throughout the years, and we have acquired quite a few. 

I've tried to box up the toys into coordinating totes, which are only brought out during supervised play time ~ mostly just table time. Some of these toys were not cheap, and losing pieces typically renders the toys useless, hence the fact that they are put up and only brought out during table time.

 Most of the toys were purchased through Amazon or Learning Resources. My favorite time to purchase educational toys is on Black Friday/Cyper Monday and Prime Day. I can usually find great deals allowing my budget to stretch even further.

The educational toys I purchase have to be quiet toys which means they don't make noises (obviously if they required batteries and made noises that would defeat the purpose of quiet time toys, lol). And yes, even my little bitty ones are required to sit at the table for table time. It's a good lesson for church or other times when they will be expected to sit still and be quiet. The homeschool lessons are not always book lessons, but lessons in behavior and character; from mama all the way down to the baby. 

Does our table time always go off without a hitch? Hardly!! No day is ever void of an opportunity for mama to child train. I've learned that planning and scheduling helps keep those hiccups down to a minimum. My children tend to do best when they know what is expected of them and there's a consistent routine. Every family has to find their own homeschooling groove. It's highly unlikely any homeschool family will look like the next, but we do have a common thread and that is to give our children the best platform for learning; and for us this is what is at the core of our homeschool day and works best for our family.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer