Morning Time: A Liturgy of Love

by Cindy Rollins

MORNING TIME is a regular gathering focused on remembering—remembering Scripture, songs, poetry, works of music and art, stories—even Plutarch’s Lives and Shakespeare’s plays.

Cindy Rollins shares with readers how to experience the blessings of Morning Time in their own homes and communities. As Cindy gathered her family for Morning Time on a regular basis, she realized that the routine had become a liturgy, a regular practice and pattern that carried love and life to her children. The things that Cindy and her children discovered together in Morning Time were the very best things, and those things have proven to endure in their hearts.

The practice of Morning Time is simple to implement into one’s homeschool, family, or classroom. This book gives readers a practical, road-tested way to make Morning Time a beautiful liturgy of their own. It includes Cindy’s Morning Time Anthology—over 150 pages of poems, hymn lyrics, Scripture passages, catechisms, Shakespeare passages, and other Morning Time selections gathered to make your Morning Time easy to put into practice.

Genres: Education, Parenting, Nonfiction, Christian, Faith, Religion, Christian Living

266 pages, Paperback

Published July 9, 2021

Reviews

[Cindy Rollins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book I truly believe can make a difference.

[forthefamilyssake Hailey White · Rating 5 out of 5]

The pages are filled with practical applications and encouragement for MT, with just the right amount of philosophy. The author has a very conversational writing style and its easy to imagine that we’re friends (even though we have never met!). It made for an enjoyable, quick, and encouraging read. The last half of the book is a treasure trove, one I will keep to reference. I imagine pulling it off my bookshelf for ideas in years to come.

My oldest student is in high-school now and I wondered if it would be applicable to me. It is! My favorite parts were the scenarios of different MT’s and her thought process. I also enjoyed her realistic comments on plodding through, and advice for older students who might need to move on. She gave me fresh ideas for Shakespeare, and helped me to think through a new plan with all my ages (6 kids: 2-15). The author excels at allowing the reader space to dream.

Lastly, I enjoyed her comments on MT in other areas, specifically in Sunday School, as the idea has already been on my heart for quite some time. I am inspired to dream of writing MT curriculum for our Sunday School in the future. While I’m still years away from that, it was encouraging to see that the author thought of the potential too.

Well done!

[Summer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love Cindy Rollins. So, this expanded edition of Morning Time was so fun to read. She has such a great sense of humor and realistic approach to doing Morning Time in a Charlotte Mason education. Her honestly and candor make it encouraging while also strongly cautioning the perfectionist that might have picked up this book.

Her notes on a day in the life of Morning Time for me helped clarify some areas I was unsure of how to implement, and I really appreciated this being included. I LOVED the anthology part of the book. That alone would be worth buying the book. Her wisdom and humility is so refreshing. I laughed out loud at numerous parts of the book, especially when she was asking her boys about Robert Frost. I would without a doubt put this into the hands of a newbie wondering how to homeschool her children.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth the price just for the wonderful anthology, but Cindy’s insights are comforting and inspiring as well.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, as I read I wished I were still homeschooling children. But… I have grandchildren, and I bought copies for daughters and daughters-in-law who homeschool, so they can read and glean ideas to use with their children.

I also spent about an hour online after reading, downloading hymns and folk songs, looking up a few books and poems, and planning to read up on civics because education continues no matter one’s age!

[Alexandra Lafleur · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been blessed by Cindy and her books on homeschooling. This will be a resource that I will come back to often. It is already dog eared and underlined.

[Marissa | storiesinthemeadow · Rating 5 out of 5]

What’s not to love about this book? The first section is about 70 pages long and walks you through what morning time is, how it came about for Cindy’s home, and ideas for what it can include/look like. I particularly loved her two “sample days” where she wrote what the plan was on paper, followed by a narrative of what *actually* happened that day.

The rest of the book (not quite 200 pages) is devoted to Cindy’s anthology: full text of favorite hymns, folk songs, poetry, excerpts of historical speeches and civics questions, as well as an extensive book list with her brief commentary on each title. I have marked a few that I want to be mindful about working through soon. This will be a book to come back to throughout the years to get more ideas.

[Cindyb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic resource for morning time!

[Mary Salas · Rating 5 out of 5]

We’ve been doing Morning Time for many years now, and I’ve only just gone through this incredibly helpful guide! I wish I’d had this when my children were younger, but even so, I think we have done a pretty lovely job piecing things together as we have. Cindy is a wealth of humble wisdom and I appreciate how to-the-point she writes, with moments of humorous reflection. I took some nuggets for consideration as my older kids grow and as I also still have plenty of interruptions for our own littles. I was encouraged to continue plodding on. This book is a practical and helpful guide to implementing Morning Time, and keeping the big picture in mind… I think can be a sweet help to any mother looking for somewhere to start. It’s the perfect tool!

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a masterpiece! The anthology at the back is gold! Thank you, Cindy for getting this in our hands. I'm excited to use it in my homeschool this year!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read/listened to a lot of Cindy Rollins’ work over the last few years so while there wasn’t a lot of new information in this book for me personally I would HIGHLY recommend it for any parent or teacher who
wants to build community in their home or classroom through true, good, and beautiful ideas and methods.

This reads like a conversation with a friend or mentor. The anthology in this book is an incredible resource that I’m going to be pulling from for our remaining homeschool years. Our morning time is much shorter than hers but this book is applicable and adaptable to all learning environments.

[Skye Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Cindy Rollins. I love Charlotte Mason. So this was an extremely helpful, delightful book for me! About a month ago I realized my 3 1/2 year old was starting to act out each day in a non-typical way. I could feel in my heart that there was something that I was failing to give her in our daily routine and started pondering on what I could do better. Then it hit me! Charlotte Mason’s list of three things a child needs every single day. “1. Someone to love 2. Something to do and 3. Something to think about.”

I realized that up until this point (with just two babies/toddlers in my home) I was always so focused on trying to give my daughter something to do that I forgot she needs something to think about. Especially now that she’s getting older and growing. So I immediately pulled out this wonderful book and began implementing morning time into our daily routine and immediately, my daughter resumed being her happy, joyful self. She is seriously thriving with this new addition to our routine. She’s been so curious, so involved, and so enchanted by everything we’ve been learning and reading and it’s been such a beautiful thing to witness. Our tv time has also drastically decreased, and our whole family has been enjoying the fruits of this dedicated time each morning. Increased time in the scriptures, memorization of verses and poems, read alouds of beautiful children’s literature, and art/musc/composer studies have already made our home such a more lovely place. It’s seriously been life changing in our routine and in our home! I am excited to continue to add more aspects to our morning time as my children grow (with Shakespeare, Plutarch etc.) and I can already tell that this is going to be a lifelong liturgy for our family.🩷

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible resource for moms who want to add some kind of family time (whether it is in the morning or another part of the day) when beautiful topics (Scripture, poetry, Shakespeare, hymns, folk songs, art and music studies) are explored. It would be most useful for homeschooling moms who follow the Charlotte Mason and/or classical education philosophies, since they include all these subjects within their curriculum, but it can also be for a mom who has her kids in school, but wants to add some of these during the evening or summers, for example. The first quarter of the book is the Why and How of Morning Time, while the rest of it is a generous and helpful anthology of all of Cindy's favorites in the subjects listed above. I loved reading through the poetry, most of which is too difficult to read to my 4-year old right now, but I loved it for myself. The short blurbs of chapter books she loved reading aloud was great, along with the historical documents she listed as important for students to be familiar with (Declaration of Independence, I Have A Dream speech by MLK, Gettysburg Address, etc). I have been doing Morning Time for several years, adding more as my son grows, and it has been a delight to memorize Scripture, learn hymns and fun folk songs together and poetry together, listen to beautiful classical music and admire classic masterpiece paintings together, so I look forward to using more of her suggestions when my son is older.

Content rating: G

[Betsy Cypress · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not expect to love this book so much. I wish I had this book at the beginning of my Charlotte Mason journey, but am thankful to have it now! It has put fresh wind in my sails.

[Annie Bruza · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book answered a lot of my questions about how to practically set up morning time and I plan to follow much of her advice. I've greatly appreciated Cindy Rollins' wisdom as I've begun homeschooling my preschool-aged boys. I do think this book was a little on the long side due to the bulkiness of the anthology. I would've rather seen most of it in list form without their contents but perhaps with a brief sentence describing it or how it is useful, like how the anthology lists her read-aloud suggestions. Overall, I think this could help a lot of homeschooling moms, especially those like me who are trying to figure out how to center the days around a love of goodness, truth, and beauty, rather than checking boxes and completing workbooks.

[Melissa King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Cindy for making this so practical and usable! I felt like our morning time was lacking this year, somehow not as soul-filling as I wanted it to be. Now I feel equipped and excited to add truth, goodness, and beauty to our daily feast ❤️

[Grace Anne Vrazo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read, substance is 50% of the book and the rest is anthology, which I enjoyed but skimmed.

Nice thoughts, but I don’t understand why it’s beneficial to read Plutarch to your whole family every day.
Edited: actually I think I just plain disagree with reading Plutarch to young children, especially since the author compares it to the book of Judges in that it leaves the moral judgement of whether the person acted correctly or not up to the reader and she advised against leading our children in making these moral judgments. 😬😬

[Bekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love anything homeschool related that Cindy Rollins puts out. She is a gem!

[Bryna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will be returning to this book again and again as I educate my kiddos. Thank you, Cindy!

[Minte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just what it claims to be--a very practical guide to structuring morning reading with a rich anthology. It would be very helpful for someone just starting homeschool, though I think it will be only a good reference for us.

[Kathryn Troyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource for classical/Charlotte Mason education.

[Tricia Knutson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cindy lays out beautifully the richness that can come from a daily morning time with your kids. She gives a huge list of ideas of things to include, and she lovingly gives you the nudge you need to get started! I’m excited to implement some of her ideas into our own family morning time.

[Courtney Shevchenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful introduction to having a morning time/morning basket routine in your school day! In addition to explain the concept, the whole back of this book is packed with lists of resources. I know I'll be referring to this time and time again through our homeschooling journey.

[Bambi Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a gift is Cindy Rollins to homeschooling mothers! As I am preparing to begin our 22nd year of homeschooling, the book left me so very encouraged and I gained much clarity in my desire to keep morning time as the foundation of our homeschool. I also came away with new ideas and simple motivation to keep plodding, not giving up when the day is not ideal (almost never). I feel simultaneously energized AND inclined to be more relaxed in my role as teacher to simply open doors of learning. Through this book I see some educational stumbling blocks I’ve put before my kids. And I’m definitely guilty of over planning and turning morning time into a unit study 🤓. I left many sticky tabs in the book for quick reference. I highly recommend this book! The price of the book is amazing since it’s basically two books in one: Cindy’s advice and a few hilarious and helpful memoirs is the first section and then a huge anthology of everything you would need to do morning time for at least a few years. I gobbled this one up in a week!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. I've been a fan of Cindy Rollins for years, after hearing about her through a podcast and listening to her on a couple of podcasts. I've read her memoir on homeschooling a few times and recommend it to all my homeschool friends. I even pitched and ultimately led our homeschool co-op's first annual Recitation Night after reading about how she and her friends used to do them. My husband surprised me with this a week before we started our 8th year of homeschool, and I devoured it (and drew from the anthology section for this year's memory work in preparation for the year). Highly recommend if you homeschool, or if you want a good anthology of poems, bible verses, and speeches to memorize for your own educational growth and edification.

[Jessica Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read everything Cindy has ever published so when this came out it was an easy choice to order it. Cindy was the original Morning Time mom. Others have spun off of this idea and I’m sure they have lots to contribute, too, but something about Cindy’s voice is exactly what I need to stay on track with my thinking and my doing. So many morning time or morning basket voices point towards over-planning which for many of us leads to under-executing. There tend to be lots of pretty new materials, all connected to their specific curriculum or their affiliate links. There are lots of unit study setups on display which look nice on a social media account but doesn’t get as far in the real world. Not so with Cindy. She stays focused on the long game and the hearts and minds of moms and children, not ways to monetize.

Cindy is so refreshing for me. I tend to over-plan and then give up when it doesn’t work because it’s taking too much time. Cindy reminds in the book that the key is to just do the next thing. Make a simple plan and then just do it! Adjust as needed. And this book couldn’t make it easier, with thorough explanations of each subject, planning sheets, and a giant anthology at the back.

“Getting started with your Morning Time shouldn’t be overwhelming. I strongly believe that Morning Time should not be something so elaborate that it requires enormous preparation. And don’t feel intimidated by all the Instagram-beautiful Morning Times, so perfectly photographed, filtered, and hashtagged…Keep your preparation simple and suitable to your personality…One of the biggest stumbling blocks to Morning Time can be to make it too thematic.”

“Don’t forget: Plodding along, even just a little, will add up to more than you can imagine over time.”

[ᴀᴍʙ🔅 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have heard about and have seen fellow homeschooling moms doing something called a "Morning Time". The idea has always been appealing to me but I never felt I could implement this with my son as I had no idea where to begin - It seemed quite intimidating. I no longer feel that way after reading this book! Cindy Rollins does an excellent, excellent, (and did I say?) EXCELLENT job describing what a "Morning Time" is and why it has proven to be vital in many families' lives, especially her own.

As a classical education mindset Charlotte Mason supplementing Momma (I think so anyway, ha), I appreciated her candor in that her way is not the only way in approach. She demonstrated grace in suggestion that one does not need to implement every single thing she implements. She humbly and kindly suggests resources to glean from and use alongside reasons the idea is beneficial to not just mind but soul as well - both for the student(s) and teacher!

Throughout the book, she has sweet, implicit reminders to trust the Lord through the "Morning Time" process remembering that it is all about the long haul and fruit takes time to grow!

I was encouraged that she is a Christian with reformed theology convictions, so more than likely, I can trust (discerningly, of course) her judgement. I note this because it truly saddens me to see how many "Christian" homeschool moms use worldly philosophies to influence their education approach.

Finally, I was pleasantly surprised to learn new things, myself! The anthology included in this book has been and will be such a blessing to my family and I cannot express how much of a gem this book is.

[Amy Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read Mere Motherhood a few years ago, Cindy Rollins became one of my favorite friends that I've never met. Now, she continues carrying out her Titus 2 ministry by sharing her life's experience in cultivating morning time with her family. This book is a beautifully written and practical guide to beginning a MT with your children. Even if you are a seasoned home educator, there is so much value in this lovely guide. Her selections of hymns, memory work, poems, speeches, folk songs, etc are just a blame for my soul. If your children are grown and out of this house, this is a great book to read through for your own mother culture.

[Julie Baggenstos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I doubt I’ll ever be “finished” with this treasure. A friend gifted it to me and I’m so, so thankful. And so encouraged so do messy/stressed/tired/hungry/beautiful morning time. It has already been worth it & I know as I implement even more hymns and bible and folk songs and the like —- it’ll be even more wonderful!

[Candy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this reminded me so much of my mom teaching me- reading to me. Some of these poems really take me back.
I went to public school, but my love of reading came from my parents. It makes me laugh to think about bedtime at our house over all the years I lived at home and when we all came back for holidays. Every one of us would be laying in bed reading!