How to Start the Day

Anna Dusseau | 10th May 2020

The way your morning starts can make all the difference to the kind of homeschooling day you’re going to have. Mine has to start, every time, with a double espresso and a long stretch, usually half closing one eye to block out the sound of one of the children dragging a chair all the way down the hall because it’s ‘their turn to open the blinds.’ So I stretch, take a deep breath, and ask Alexa what’s happening in the news. Every morning is different, but this is how it starts. Here’s how to fill the rest of the time between this blissful moment and breakfast.

  1. Play music from a particular time, region, artist, or genre. Even better, use bluetooth headphones (£15 Amazon) and make it a silent disco.
  2. Go for an early morning nature walk.
  3. Tune in to a child-friendly morning news show like The Week Junior.
  4. Put out a selection of books and let them browse independently.
  5. Make pancakes for breakfast. Together.
  6. Put out paints, cardboard, scissors, string and paper and just see what they get up to.
  7. Have an early morning phone call with the grandparents. (Mwa ha ha!)
  8. Use a large sheet or blanket to create a den under the breakfast table.
  9. Find the activities section in a few magazines and leave them open to see if it grabs their attention.
  10. Find the mini watering cans and spend half an hour in the garden taking care of the herb box and pot plants.
  11. Get the family photos out and let them spend time looking through old pictures in an album or on the laptop.
  12. Morning yoga session with Adrienne or Cosmic Kids, both on YouTube.
  13. The morning bath. Total luxury. My kids ask me for this, like, daily.
  14. Stay in bed reading a bit longer.
  15. Grab a mattress from one of the kids’ beds and put it on the floor. It’s now a trampoline. You’re welcome.
  16. Encourage the kids to help out with some of the morning chores, like unloading the dishwasher.
  17. Put a blank timetable and pencil on the breakfast bar and tell the kids that they can schedule what they want to do today.
  18. Go through the recycling and grab everything that you could use to make a rocket.
  19. Get out a puzzle, activity book, Dobble cards or board game.
  20. Fuck it. Whack on Cbeebies.

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Published by Anna Dusseau

Writer | Educator | Homeschooling Mum

9 thoughts on “How to Start the Day

  1. Great list – lots of great ideas! My kids love to look at their old photos. I stopped printing out photos and filling books, and I really should get back to them because the kids love them!

    Liked by 1 person

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