There is Beauty All Around

The next day there was a note like this one only it had one dollar with it and it said, 

Please take it! You guys have done lots for me. Love Jane"

Seriously one is my favorite so far. It warmed my heart.

to Mamma

The Sunshine Sunflower

The sun wakes up and shines on the sunflowers

first because their named 

after the sun and

because I am my mamma's girl I will 

love my mumma forever 

like the sunflower

love, the Sun

Our Christmas Poetry gift by Charlie

The leaves are falling every color

What could be so beautiful.

But then there’s something round and cold and white

Thousands of them falling slowly to the ground.

After that little buds are coming and little animals are getting born.

Then the animals are big.

Apples are so ready, waiting for someone to eat them off their tree.

Seasons of Change

This was a blustery fall morning. The girls packed all kinds of things (dolls, limes, Despereaux, notebooks) in their bike baskets, then went for a ride. 

Scarlet got a wand in her workbox one morning and changed Timmy into "a freckle, and a pig."

Scarlet loves to hold a blanket and suck her thumb- she'll often show me a part of her blanket to smell. The last time she did this I said, 

"What does it smell like? 

I don't smell anything, it just smells clean to me." 

Scarlet answered, "It smells like chocolate and marshmallows."

Autumn 

by Rainer Maria Rilke

The leaves are falling, falling as if from far up,


as if orchards were dying high in space.


Each leaf falls as if it were motioning "no."



And tonight the heavy earth is falling

away from all other stars in the loneliness.



We're all falling. This hand here is falling.


And look at the other one. It's in them all.



And yet there is Someone, whose hands


infinitely calm, holding up all this falling.

Poetry in the Park

We are having a "Poetry in the Park" day this month for recitation. Jane is going to do her Elegy in a Churchyard by Thomas Gray. Jacob learned four verses or "All Things Bright and Beautiful" (I like how it is all about nature) and Scarlet learned the first verse (she loves doing her poem at recitation- I wouldn't have been caught dead doing that when I was three). Charlie is going to recite "The Arrow and the Song" by Longfellow. This poem is great for him because it's story like and he's interested in bows and arrows right now, but the best part is how it reminds us of our dear friend Milo. Milo used to visit and recite Longfellow to us. So we always think of Milo when we read this poem because he inspired us to love Longfellow. Charlie is planning a little visit to his house soon so he can recite a poem for him in return.

The Arrow and the Song.

"The Arrow and the Song," by Longfellow (1807-82)

I shot an arrow into the air, It fell to earth, I knew not where; For, so swiftly it flew, the sight Could not follow it in its flight. I breathed a song into the air, It fell to earth, I knew not where; For who has sight so keen and strong That it can follow the flight of song? Long, long afterward, in an oak I found the arrow, still unbroke; And the song, from beginning to end, I found again in the heart of a friend.

Henry W. Longfellow.

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.

If you were coming in the Fall

Emily Dickinson

If you were coming in the Fall,

I'd brush the Summer by

With half a smile, and half a spurn,

As Housewives do, a Fly.

If I could see you in a year,

I'd wind the months in balls --

And put them each in separate Drawers,

For fear the numbers fuse --

If only Centuries, delayed,

I'd count them on my Hand,

Subtracting, till my fingers dropped

Into Van Dieman's Land.

If certain, when this life was out --

That yours and mine, should be

I'd toss it yonder, like a Rind,

And take Eternity --

But, now, uncertain of the length

Of this, that is between,

It goads me, like the Goblin Bee --

That will not state -- its sting.

"She Was a Phantom of Delight"

By William Wordsworth

She was a Phantom of delight

When first she gleamed upon my sight;

A lovely Apparition, sent

To be a moment's ornament;

Her eyes as stars of Twilight fair;

Like Twilight's, too, her dusky hair;

But all things else about her drawn

From May-time and the cheerful Dawn;

A dancing Shape, an Image gay,

To haunt, to startle, and waylay.

I saw her upon nearer view,

A Spirit, yet a Woman too!

Her household motions light and free,

And steps of virgin-liberty;

A countenance in which did meet

Sweet records, promises as sweet;

A Creature not too bright or good

For human nature's daily food,

For transient sorrows, simple wiles,

Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles.

And now I see with eye serene

The very pulse of the machine;

A Being breathing thoughtful breath,

A Traveller between life and death;

The reason firm, the temperate will,

Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill;

A perfect Woman, nobly planned,

To warn, to comfort, and command;

And yet a Spirit still, and bright

With something of angelic light.

Bunny Eater?

Look what we found lurking in our neighbors' tree. 

A great horned owl. 

It played with a magpie, deep in the tree, all morning.

What a thrill for the kids. They were describing his every movement to me,

 in detail, with such exuberance. 

"Listen, everyone has a chance. 


Is it spring, is it morning?

Are there trees near you,


and does your own soul need comforting?


Quick, then - open the door and fly on your heavy feet; the song


may already be drifting away."

by Mary Oliver

Mommies.

Mother's Day always catches me off guard. I guess I just have my own mom and Gail on my mind and forget that it applies to me to :0)

This year might have been my best Mother's Day yet. The kids were so cute about everything. Can you see at the bottom of Jane's folded snowflake that she cut out the letters M-O-M. How cool is that! I think I got enough drawings and homemade jewelry to last me until next Mother's Day :0) Timmy put together the sweetest little treats for me and made a splendid salmon dinner and and the kids took care of breakfast in bed. 

A Fragment By Theo Marzials

Stanza 1 and 3

And then it seem'd I was a bird

That dipt along the silent street.

In that strange midnight nothing stir'd,

And all was moonlight, still and sweet.

And lower yet by flower-set still,

And close against her window-bars

And still the moonlight flowed, and still,

The still dew lit the jessamine stars

Wildly Beautiful

Even in just this texted picture you can see that baby Isabelle is the loveliest baby. She is the calmest, sweetest, darlingest baby. Her parents must be magical. I LOVE her.

Sweet And Low

   by Lord Alfred Tennyson   

Sweet and low, sweet and low,

Wind of the western sea,

Low, low, breathe and blow,

Wind of the western sea!

Over the rolling waters go,

Come from the dying moon, and blow,

Blow him again to me;

While my little one, while my pretty one, sleeps.

Sleep and rest, sleep and rest,

Father will come to thee soon;

Rest, rest, on mother's breast,

Father will come to thee soon;

Father will come to his babe in the best,

Silver sails all out of the west,

Under the silver moon:

Sleep, my little one, sleep, my pretty one, sleep.

        

Poetry in May

Never the Time and the Place

by Robert Browning
(1812-1889)

Never the time and the place

And the loved one all together!

This path--how soft to pace!

This May -- what magic weather!

Where is the loved one's face?

In a dream that loved one's face meets mine,

But the house is narrow, the place is bleak

Where, outside, rain and wind combine

With a furtive ear, if I strive to speak,

With a hostile eye at my flushing cheek,

With a malice that marks each word, each sign!

O enemy sly and serpentine,

Uncoil thee from the waking man!

Do I hold the Past

Thus firm and fast

Yet doubt if the Future hold I can?

This path so soft to pace shall lead

Thro' the magic of May to herself indeed!

Or narrow if needs the house must be,

Outside are the storms and strangers: we

Oh, close, safe, warm sleep I and she, --

I and she!

Every Spring I Shall Post This Poem

Spring still makes spring in the mind

            When sixty years are told;

Love wakes anew this throbbing heart,

            And we are never old;

Over the winter glaciers

            I see the summer glow,

And through the wild-piled snow-drift

            The warm rosebuds below.

~Emerson

Wordsworth wrote this beautiful poem. The sentiment is so C.S. Lewis-ish.

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home.