A Delightful Dose of the Dailies for Teens
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Last week my daughter had her 13th birthday, and now I have two teens in my home. On the day before her birthday she said, “This is the last day that I’m a child.” I felt that big time. It’s a hard juxtaposition: I’m enjoying who they are becoming, but missing the children that they once were. But, the Dailies give me a moment to pause with them as they are right now, to slow down and enjoy them.
What Are The Dailies
Dailies are the small things your teens love to do to start off their day with you, and obviously, you do it daily. Keep it short. They are teens and have other interests and ideas of how they want their day to go. See it as about 10-20 minutes to grow together, a time to nurture character development, and a time to laugh together. It’s a time to discuss big topics about life. It’s a time to remember that life is short and relationships are to be treasured.
Our Dailies used to include a gratitude journal, Mad Libs, a word of the day, and question of the day. Now it’s just two things, a poem from my favorite Morning Time book and a question of the day that we’ve kept for about nine years. I cannot recommend these two books enough (shown and linked below).
How to Do the Daylies
This first part is most important: Show your teens it’s a good morning! You are delighted to spend time with them, so show it. Greet them with hugs and smiles and positivity. No matter how you are feeling (happy, tired, overwhelmed, or excited) and no matter how they respond (contented, bored, complaining, enthusiastic), when it’s time for the Dailies, you put on your happy face. Choose to be the positive force in their life in this precious moment in time.
Start with prayer, a song, a quote, scripture, a thankful...whatever you want to direct their hearts to.
Share the reading, the questions, the “would you rather” scenarios, poetry, famous speeches, renown works of art, riddles, etc. Ask discussion questions, goal progress, relationship talks, and more. Sometimes our discussions require some Bible reading to answer the harder questions.
Keep it short, flexible, and fun. Be willing to dive deep into discussions when they are engaged, and able to end it earlier than expected when your teens seem distracted.
End with sharing and praying for prayer requests for yourself, family, and friends.
When To Do It
Do it daily! We typically have dailies four times a week depending on our early morning schedule. While we also have a similar moment at dinner or bedtime (sharing highs and lows with prayer time), it can make a big difference in your day when you start it with connection, thankfulness, and fun.
When the Dailies are over, we move on with our day. Whether it's jumping on the trampoline or into a subject, finishing homework, working on the weekly checklist, running an errand, or driving to a field trip, etc. it begins the day right. Whether you get a lot done in your day or only get a few things done...
…at least the Dailies happened.
Do you have a daily ritual in your homeschool?
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