Morning time is the part of a homeschool day when the whole family sits down together, before the children split up for their own work. Some families call it circle time or a morning basket. Five minutes of it is enough for music. This page gives a routine with one piece a week and one small job each day.
The routine at a glance
| Day | The job |
|---|---|
| Monday | Meet the piece. Say the title and the composer, and listen |
| Tuesday | Sing the song of the month |
| Wednesday | Listen again, for one thing |
| Thursday | Sing the song again, and learn one fact about the composer |
| Friday | Name the piece, and write it down |
One piece lasts a week. One composer lasts a month. One song lasts a month.
Minute by minute
On a listening day
- Half a minute. Say the title and the composer. Everyone says them back.
- Three minutes. Listen. No one talks. Hands may draw. With a long piece, play the first three minutes and stop.
- One minute. Ask one question, and take one answer from each child.
- Half a minute. Tick the day off on a chart.
On a singing day
- Sing the song once, all the way through.
- Teach one new verse. Sing a line, and have the children sing it back.
- Sing the whole song once more.
The five jobs
Monday: meet the piece. Say the name of the piece and the name of the composer. Show a picture of the composer from the composer cards. Play the piece. Ask nothing.
Tuesday: sing. Choose one folk song or hymn for the month. Read folk song study for homeschool and hymn study for homeschool. Both pages list songs to start with.
Wednesday: listen for one thing. Name it before the music starts. It could be an instrument, a loud moment, or the place where the tune comes back. Afterward, ask who heard it. Each listening guide on this site has a section called “What to listen for.”
Thursday: sing, and learn one fact. Sing the song again. Then tell one fact about the composer. Find the birthplace on a map, or find the composer on the composer timeline.
Friday: name the piece. Play ten seconds and ask for the title and the composer. Each child writes or draws on a listening journal page. Add the piece to a list on the wall.
A sample month
The composer is Vivaldi. The pieces come from The Four Seasons.
| Week | Piece | One thing to listen for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Spring,” first part | Three violins that chirp as birds |
| 2 | “Summer,” third part | The hail, in fast notes from the whole orchestra |
| 3 | “Autumn,” third part | The strings that copy hunting horns |
| 4 | “Winter,” second part | The raindrops, plucked by the strings |
The song for the month could be “Simple Gifts” or “Alouette.”
Print the Four Seasons listening page for the Friday job.
What to keep in the basket
- A speaker, and a playlist made on Sunday
- The composer of the month poster
- The composer cards
- Listening journal pages
- The composer timeline, and a map or a globe
- Paper and crayons for children who like to draw while they listen
Twelve pieces that fit in five minutes
- “In the Hall of the Mountain King”, by Grieg
- “Morning Mood” from the Peer Gynt Suite, by Grieg
- Hungarian Dance No. 5, by Brahms
- “Flight of the Bumblebee”, by Rimsky-Korsakov
- “The Swan” from The Carnival of the Animals, by Saint-Saëns
- “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from The Nutcracker, by Tchaikovsky
- Humoresque No. 7, by Dvořák
- Für Elise, by Beethoven
- Gymnopédie No. 1, by Satie
- Rondo alla Turca, by Mozart
- Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka, by Johann Strauss II
- Radetzky March, by Johann Strauss Sr.
Several ages at one table
- Babies and toddlers listen from the floor with a shaker.
- Children of five to eight do the jobs as written.
- Children of nine and up run the speaker, read the fact aloud, and keep the wall list. On Friday, an older child can choose the piece for next week.
When a morning goes wrong
Skip it, and carry on the next day. There is nothing to catch up on, because the piece plays again tomorrow.
Where the routine comes from
Short, regular listening and one composer at a time are both ideas from the Charlotte Mason approach to home education. Read Charlotte Mason composer study.
Next steps
For a full year of pieces, use the free 36-week music appreciation curriculum or the 36-week composer study schedule. To plan a year by composer, read composer study for homeschool and try the composer study planner. For more to do each month, read composer of the month ideas. For music at other times of the morning, read morning classical music for kids.
More from this guide
This article is part of Composer study for homeschool: how to plan a year in ten minutes a week.
Charlotte Mason composer study: how it works and how to start
How composer study works in a Charlotte Mason homeschool: one composer a term, about six pieces, short and regular listening, and children telling back what they heard.
Classical music lesson plans for elementary teachers: 10 ready to use
Ten ready-to-use classical music lesson plans for elementary teachers, each with a piece, one skill, three steps, and a free printable.
Composer of the month: ideas for home and classroom
Composer of the month ideas for home and classroom: a 12-month calendar tied to birthdays and seasons, a weekly routine, and what to put on the wall.
Composer study for preschool and kindergarten: a simple routine
A gentle composer study routine for children aged three to six: one composer a month, one short piece a week, with movement, drawing, and a page to print.
Composer study schedule: 36 weeks of listening, one piece a week
A free 36-week composer study schedule for homeschool: six composers, six weeks each, with one piece to hear each week and one small thing to do.
Folk song study for homeschool: how to start with one song a month
How to start folk song study in a homeschool: what a folk song is, a one-song-a-month plan, songs to begin with by country, and ways to link them to composers.
Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.