Poetry

The Orphan Nature Boy

By Charlie Eaton 

age 6

Living in a hemlock

Wide as a house

Eating nuts and meat

In the fire heat

Drinking wrinkling water

wishing

wishing

wishing

For a falcon

Spring Dancing

By Jane Eaton

Age 8

Spring, first day

Rain on my face

like butterfly wings

Turn my face up

to the sun

Oatmeal on my tongue

Little girl dancing around the pond

To the tune of croaking fogs

in cupped hands.

We worked on some poetry last week. We learned about words like inspiration, writers block, brainstorming, alliteration, onomatopoeia, simile, ode, anthology, limerick, rhythm, repeating, emotion, anonymous, compose, etc.

We read  Fancy Nancy: Poet Extraordinaire! 

We read lots of poems- Jane for some reason loved "Elegy in a Churchyard" By Thomas Gray. It is really long but she memorized this chunk of it (the first and last paragraphs) on her own:

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.
By Thomas Gray

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,

The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea,

The plowman homeward plods his weary way,

And leaves the world to darkness and to me.

Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight,

Here rests his head upon the lap of Earth

A Youth to Fortune and to Fame unknown;

Fair Science frown'd not on his humble birth,

And Melancholy mark'd him for her own.

Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere,

Heaven did a recompense as largely send:

He gave to Mis'ry all he had, a tear:

He gain'd from Heav'n ('twas all he wish'd) a friend.

No farther seek his merits to disclose,

Or draw his frailties from their dread abode,

(There they alike in trembling hope repose,)

The bosom of his Father and his God.

Here are some ideas for learning about poetry with kids:

Ideas for Poetry Study

• Introduce your children to poetry at a young age -- even in preschool.
• Begin your homeschool day with a poem.
• Create a personal anthology of favorite poems in a poetry notebook.
• Organize a poetry contest in your homeschool co-op or through your blog.
• Record audio files (or cassettes) of reading poems aloud. Share them with others.
• Organize a student poetry reading or recitation at the local library, at your co-op, or just at the dinner table.
• Hold a poetry exchange day with poems wrapped as gifts.
• Listen to free audio recordings of poetry.
• Use poems for copywork.
• Use poems for dictation.
• Print out copies of poetry and illustrate all around the text. Add the page to a poetry notebook.
• Use poems for typing or word processing practice.
• Host a Poetry Day.

Poetry Notebooks

Collect your favorite poems in a notebook. It's simple but effective. Use a three ring binder filled with your student's favorite poems. The poems can be hand written or typed. Consider adding illustrations and color to make the pages more interesting. Biographical information about poets could also be put inside.

Teaching Poetry:

More about teaching poetry can be found in these links -- you'll find perspectives of both homeschooling moms and professional educators.

The Charlote Mason Approach to Poetry

Karen Andreola gives a great overview of CM's ideas about poetry.

Waking the Poet Within at Charlotte Mason Help

Linda Fay explains how she came to love poetry and how she incorporates it into her homeschool.

Poems That Work!

Richard Guidone of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute writes this article which is jam-packed with specific ideas about teaching poetry. It's geared towards classroom teachers, but the concepts are applicable to homeschooling.

April is Poetry Month

Nadene at Practical Pages shares how she integrates poetry into her homeschool lessons.