Morning Time Notebook

Whether you are doing a morning meeting or circle time in your classroom or doing morning time or morning basket in your home, having handy resources to make it run smoothly is a must. We slowly jumped back into lessons last week after a couple week break for the holidays and are kicking off this week getting back to our normal routine around here.One of the things my kids were eager to get back to was using our Morning Time Notebooks. 

Morning Time Notebooks

I created these for the kids several years ago because I was wanting an “all-in-one” resource that we could grab and do to start our lessons that would allow us to go over a variety of different important learning and calendar skills each day that I would otherwise tend to skip over. The kids simply grab their bound books from our homeschool cart and get started working on them right away. While I am working with one of my kids on their lessons for the day, the other one is working through their morning time notebook and then we switch. 

Our morning time notebooks are perfect for not only a homeschool family, but are the perfect addition to any early elementary classroom as well. As a former teacher, some of my most favorite memories with kids was when we did our morning meeting time. Circle time or morning meeting would be spent on our carpet going over things like the calendar, skip counting, counting, making 10 etc. I only wish I had this hands on resource that the kids could do alongside our calendar time when I was teaching. 

Each day we go through each part of the date and practice writing it, look at the weather, season, and temperature, practice money and time concepts, practice one of the skip counting charts, trace and spell some words (color, number, shapes etc.) and then the kids fill in the next day on our calendars. As I mention below, I laminate everything except the calendar pages and use vis-à-vis pens on them so that they are reusable. The calendar pages I print and bind on regular copy paper and the kids use a pencil to write on them.

How I Prep Them

(These prep resources include Amazon Affiliate links for your convenience, so that you can find and reference the materials easily and quickly. This just means that my blog receives a tiny compensation if you click on these links- at no extra charge to you.)

For our notebooks, I laminated all of the pages, except the calendars/traceable calendars, and then bound them using my Proclick Binding machine. Friends, if you don't have a binding machine you NEED to get yourself one. This is one of my most favorite homeschool/classroom purchases to date. I love how easy it is to add pages or remove and reorganize pages when I need with the easy to use binding spines. I bind anything I can with this things because of how low profile it is and the binding saves TONS of space compared to using big bulky binders. We then use Vis-a-vis pens to complete the pages in the notebook each morning.While I absolutely love using my binding machine for things, this may not be an option for you. You can use a regular binder and page protectors or they make menus (the same ones that restaurants use) that you can print and slip the pages down into. All are great options. Use what works best for you!!! 

Circle Time Calendar Board

I created the Morning Time Notebook to coordinate with our Circle Time board which is by far one of my most favorite resources I have ever created and used with my kids. I still remember sitting on the couch cutting out all of the pieces for this one night when my husband was away. I remember thinking about how much I had poured into creating and preparing the resource, but how much I looked forward to using it with my then 2.5 year old daughter. She LOVED and still loves doing learning activities. While we have switched to primarily just using the Morning Time Notebooks for our morning time, my kids still talk constantly about our “big colorful calendar board.” 

The pieces for the calendar board are sized to fit on a large trifold board, but can be used in a variety of capacities.

READ MORE ABOUT OUR CALENDAR BOARD HERE.

Both of these resources, either used together or separately, have been a huge help in our homeschool and in many classrooms and homes around the world. 

Bundle & Save

Because both resources coordinate and can be used together, I have added a discounted bundle option in my shop. Grab both the Morning time Notebook and Circle time board and get started with a more organized and engaging morning time. 

 Or Bundle with our Math Fact Fluency Notebooks for even more savings. Read more about my Math Fact Fluency Notebooks here.

BUY THE BUNDLE & SAVE

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