One of the most rewarding parts of this past homeschooling year has been the introduction of the “History Breakfast”.
The operation is really quite simple – we eat breakfast and listen to or watch something that relates to the period of history that we are learning about. We do one a week so a podcast or a tv series lends itself perfectly to this.
I love the Charlotte Mason view on learning through living stories and it would be easy to adapt a history breakfast to reading out loud. Personally we do that a lot with history as it is, so its nice to not be the reader and instead learn alongside the children and through media not books for a change!
I love to try and fancy up our breakfasts so some days will serve fresh fruit with waffles and warm syrup in jugs. Other days History Breakfast is a great chance for something low key or to let one of the children set up while I drink coffee or get some work in quickly (if needed). There have absolutely been weeks where we have had two history breakfasts as no one has slept well & listening to a story while waking up slowly was just what we needed.
The key components to a History Breakfast are really simple and can be as expensive or as cheap and cheerful as you want to make it. You need ;
– A group of willing children (make a little deal of it, you could make invites, write it on your schedule or just declare its happening)
– A Podcast series to follow, a TV show or a film to watch, A book to read out loud.
– Breakfast (I find make ahead is best so that I can field any questions or anything like that. Muffins, Sandwiches & Pancakes work well for us.
That really is it! Would you give a history breakfast a go?
