Five Simple Homeschool Morning Basket Ideas

Alex Resch shares how to create a homeschool morning basket by including these five simple elements.

What is a morning basket for homeschool? 

A morning basket or morning time consists of a predictable and enjoyable routine for the entire family to partake in at the start of the day. And guess what? You don’t even need a basket! You can think of it as a routine or rhythm to start your homeschool day off on a peaceful foot. Just keep the materials near your homeschool space. A bookshelf works great. 

The term and concept “morning basket” was originally created by Catholic homeschool mom Jen Mackintosh. Pam Barnhill is also an extremely well-known Morning Basket source. 

Here are my five simple essentials for you to compile for your morning basket or morning routine. Some people also use the term “morning menu” to describe the components that they will choose for their morning time. Think of it as a wonderful spiritual and intellectual feast for your entire family to penjoy together! Feel free to gather from resources or books that you already own.

My five morning menu components are: 

1. Prayer 
2. Scripture 
3. Catechism 
4. Something beautiful 
5. Read-alouds 

Simple Homeschool Morning Time Ideas in 5 Easy Steps 

Prayer 

Any day should immediately be directed toward the Lord. This truly makes a huge difference in the tone of our day. If you offer your work toward the Lord right away, your day will be rightly ordered! 

You can gather at your breakfast table or home altar for prayer. Light a candle to create a prayerful and peaceful space. Some ideas for morning family prayer are: 

• The Morning Offering
• Prayer to your Guardian Angel 
• Hail Mary, Our Father, and Glory Be 
• A decade of the Rosary 
• A prayer to a patron saint 
• A novena 
• Morning Prayers from the Divine Office 
• any other seasonal prayers or other prayers you want to learn as a family 

Scripture 

Next, you can read Scripture. Here are some options for morning time Scripture: 

• Read a children’s Bible. Simply start at the beginning and read a story every day. 
• Read the daily Mass readings from your bible or from a publication like Magnificat. 
• Listen to the daily Mass readings on a free app such as the Amen app from the Augustine Institute. I love this option because mom can also listen and meditate. Simply open the app on your phone as everyone is finishing breakfast and have everyone quietly listen. If you have toddlers and babies strapped in high chairs during this time, that will help it go even smoother! Also, this specific app has a brief lectio divina after you hear the Scripture. There is also a separate daily reflection to listen to from Dr. Timothy Gray. 

Catechism 

At this point, a change of scenery for the little ones can help. Consider doing parts 1 and 2 at your altar and/or breakfast table and now move on to the couch. You could spread a cozy blanket on the floor for your little ones or have small tables and chairs. You could also gather in your homeschool room around your homeschool table if you have one. 

Part 3 of our homeschool morning routine is catechism study. Similar to bible study, you can choose a catechism to read cover to cover. Our favorite options are the St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism (No. 1) or The St. Joseph First Communion Catechism (No. 0). Focus on one chapter per week or spend longer on each chapter if you want to dive deeper. If you have a child preparing for First Holy Communion or Confirmation, you may want to focus catechism instruction on these particular sacraments. 

Something Beautiful 

After you start your day directed toward God, everything truly falls into place pretty well after that! 

For this next section, you may rotate what resource(s) you use. This is the section that I call “Something Beautiful” (in addition to the beautiful prayers, Scripture, and catechism that you already shared). You may choose one or more of the following for this part of your morning time routine: art, poetry, literature, foreign language, and/or hymn. 

It works well to pull these from any curricula you already use or pick and choose your own for each.  

Read-alouds 

This last section, again, is super flexible! Pick some classic seasonal picture books for your family to enjoy. A great resource is the Read Aloud Revival website. 

You could also choose picture books that correlate with your science and history lessons. If your science and/or history curricula are book based, then just grab those books and read them together as a family! 

Does your family have a morning basket routine? If so, please share yours in the comments! 

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Copyright 2025 Alex Resch
Images: copyright 2025 Alex Resch, all rights reserved.
This post originally appeared on www.oraetschola.com, and has been edited to improve brevity and clarity.