Circle Time...Not Just for Littles

Okay perhaps I wouldn't call it "Circle Time" with my kids. Although I'm not sure they know that's what it's called in elementary school. When we get together as a family for thanksgiving and prayer, hubby calls it "Round Table". {I like that.} 

The first time I can recall really paying attention to another homeschooler's "Circle Time" was through Cindy Rollins posts about their Morning Time. Reading her posts are always encouraging. I read her posts but, uh, I'll admit I don't pay attention to her posts. Does that make sense? Much like I read Charlotte Mason's books but don't pay attention. If I paid particular attention, I would think I'd have the little seeds planted in my brain, ready to bring forth some sort of fruit. I must pay some attention though, because I keep thinking about this thing Cindy calls Morning Time. {And of course I pay some attention to Charlotte Mason *wink*}

We've started something in the mornings that I would like to expand more into a "circle time". We {the kids and I- hubby is off to work hours before we get started} begin our day with prayer. Actually it goes breakfast, Bible reading and then prayer. We are still a little disconnected when it comes to when we do these things. I eat at 6:30, Fox eats at 7:30 and Lee eats about 8:00-ish. Bible reading is done while eating breakfast. The reason for that is that we are all in different places in our reading. We are all following different schedules. {Note to self: might be a good idea to get us all on the same schedule next year.}

Our prayer time is spent praying for our family, individuals we know and prayer requests that have come to us through our church's prayer bulletin. I've found it has really made a difference in our days. We miss our together time at least once a week, unfortunately, and those days just seem to go poorly. 

I want to include more in our Round Table time. More of the things that, as Cindy points out, I want them to not miss. I can't honestly say that I know that CM talked about a morning meeting but this comment has me wondering if I've just missed the references:

"...as a result of my early home school adventures and the reading of For the Children’s Sake (Susan Schaeffer Macaulay) followed by The Original Home school Series by Charlotte Mason, I began a morning meeting with my children as a way to incorporate subjects that were important to me but easily lost in the shuffle of conventional schooling."

I've read Macaulay's book, but it was a library book with a short loan time. I may have read it faster than I would have liked. I have not read all of CM's works either. They are always in my 'currently reading' pile.

I don't know yet what I will include in our Round Table because Cindy's list looks so long and daunting! She does say though that she's built it up to 2 hours. My kids are clockwatchers *sigh* and if our Round Table {read: prayer time} takes 30 minutes they feel it's been a long time. There's a reason they are clock-watchers- they are also addicted to their screen time {ah, as am I}. When school is done, they are allowed to play their video game. Something to work on...living life not playing video games or living in the virtual world. 

Well, this is something I'm going to be thinking more about and probably {hopefully} posting more about. I sure do wish I could have homeschooled from the start but I am so very glad that I can do it now.