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Teach your children poetry

What is the Charlotte Mason approach to theencourages us to give children contact with
study of poetry? Our first step is to seethe minds of thinkers. Education is mind to
that our children enjoy it. Much later theymind,  thought  to thought, person to person.
will probably take the second step for
themselves, reading those poets whose workNotes, commentaries, lectures, long lists of
needs some preliminary study and backgroundquestions, and other middlemen are not
explanations  in  order  to  be  appreciated.needed. Let the poets speak and the children
do  the  thinking.
In Our Present Society Poetry is Almost
Invisible These days poetry seems to haveBiographical backgrounds on the poets serve
been boiled down to the popular "jingle" orto widen a child's curriculum and add to his
an advertisement's "catchy phrase." Doescultural  heritage.
poetry only belong to bygone days when the
average person spent what little leisurelyFor a lighter dose, or to tempt a child who
time he did have reading and reciting?doesn't think he will like poetry, try the
Consider the life of ancient Athens at itsnonsense  poetry  of  Lewis  G.
best-its peace and learned leisure and
poetry. Compare this to the restless,Carroll or Edward Lear. Slightly older
artificial,  luxurious  existence  of  Rome.children won't be able to resist the humor of
Ogden Nash. While "nonsense" poetry is not
Like ancient Rome, today is a day of biggerfull of great insights, it does train the ear
and better things-interstate highways,to delicious sounds and rhythms. What fun
100-acre amusement parks, huge hotels, superjust to repeat, "Jabberwocky" or "The Owl and
supermarkets and bigger and bigger newspapersthe Pussycat!" Humorous poetry can be just as
(so that whatever is hideous in life maymuch fun to repeat ("Telephony" by Ogden Nash
reach our ears within a few hours of itsis a good example), and has a sharper tang,
happening).great for developing those critical thinking
skills! Develop Your Inner Ear A calm stately
Poetry is one of the things that can't bevoice echoes from the past, "Take your time."
made bigger and better. It must remainPoetry will speak wonderful things to those
quietly and unobtrusively and forever itself.who give it time and attentiveness. As
Vulnerable, it may drop unnoticed out of thereading requires an inward eye, poetry
running, leaving us to our steel-girded worldrequires an inward ear. Unencumbered by
of material things without its pleasure. Butmodern media, our great-great-grandparents
despite its invisibility many people stillhad both. They read poetry for pleasure and
read poetry for pleasure today. I'd like mymade  a  regular  meal  of  their  favorites.
children  to  be  among  them.
A really good poem can be read many times
Poetry is Serious Business Poetry is not justover. Your readings increase in pleasure over
a school subject. It is the deepestthe years. This is an old-time method of
expression of thought and feeling of which"studying"  poetry  that deserves mentioning.
certain exceptional minds have been capable.
It includes the full gamut of all humanFrom Shorter to Longer Works In the days
experiences, from war poems and epics, tobefore workbooks, young children in Miss
psalms of worship, to love sonnets, toMason's schools had copy books. Children were
delightful nonsense verse that trips off theto choose some favorite verse and copy it
tongue, to nursery rhymes-anything peopleneatly into these personal books. Thus the
think about or sing about. We can read it asstudy of poetry also yielded better
though we ourselves shared in those thoughtspenmanship,  spelling,  and  vocabulary.
and  those  emotions.
After years of a relationship with poetry,
Poetry has been helping men and women frombuilt on the shorter poems, children will be
all backgrounds and cultures share deepcapable of enjoying and comprehending longer
emotional experiences and insights throughoutand more abstract works. High school students
all recorded history. Hearing a translationcan become familiar with the longer works of
of a remarkably beautiful poem written bytraditional classic poetry just by checking
King Tutankhamen to his wife, I wasout books of poetry from the adult section of
astounded! Chaucer, Shakespeare, and thea public library. This is where some
author of Beowulf also wrote poetry thatbackground explanation, in the form of
still speaks to us today on many differentcritical commentaries or even the ever-handy
levels. They didn't write it for textbooksCliff  Notes,  may  be  helpful.
either.
Along with Beowulf, the works of Chaucer and
Early in this century Vermont farmers wouldShakespeare are commonly studied in high
read poetry beside their fires in winter. Myschool. They contain more adult themes, so
husband Dean and I once knew a heftyuse your discretion. These were included with
Rolls-Royce auto mechanic who loved opera andemphasis in a Charlotte Mason style of
poetry.education. I am unfamiliar with more modern
poetry,  but  the  usual  warnings  apply.
We would admit a child grows up lopsided if
athletic prowess is his only ambition. Let'sPoetry For an Uncertain World It has been
take this idea further and say he'd receive asaid by an educator following Charlotte
lopsided education if he could "make theMason's philosophy, "Literature is the sum
grade" without any love or respect fortotal of the courage and home, the faith,
poetry.delight, and despair of the past, and if we
deny youth this, and give them instead a
With Tact and a Tiny Bit of Enthusiasm Howlittle pale skepticism of our own, a
can we introduce our children to poetry? Youconscientious distrust of the ideals with
can never make a girl or boy like a poemhave sustained other generations and other
against his or her will. You can not bullyages, a belief that the world began yesterday
them into it, or argue them into it. Convertand if we are not careful will end tomorrow,
them  by  indirect  means.because our own idealism is unequal to the
problems it has to face, then we do them a
Infect them by your own interest and gentlepoor service. All our aspirations for the
enthusiasm. Pick out some poetry that appealsyoung are likely to be defeated unless we
to you and simply read it aloud to yourhand them on a certain moral stability, a
children. Eventually they may desire to startbelief in beauty, truth and goodness for
reading some on their own. Don't be surprisedtheir own sake; whereas if we give them
if their tastes are a bit different thanthese-and in giving them these poetry will
yours! If you do not like poetry there is ansurely be included-we have at least the
obvious remedy: introduce the child and theassurance that we have done our best to equip
poem and leave them to make friends forthem adequately for the certain difficulties
themselves. They may, or they may not, butof this uncertain world." Resources For the
you can never make things better by yourYoung Lavender's Blue is a book of nursery
interference.rhymes compiled by Kathleen Lines with
pictures in soft pastel colors by Harold
In introducing people it is generally aJones. It's published by Oxford University
mistake  to  praise  too  much  beforehand.Press.
You may only establish a distaste. In theWe wore out a copy of The Random House Book
same way it is a mistake to praise a poem tooof Poetry for Children (selected by Jack
eloquently. After all, the child is entitledPrelutsky and illustrated by Arnold Lobel) in
to form his own opinion. To drag a poem intoour home. It provides a cute and funny
the glare of publicity is to lose some ofcommentary on life. I suggested it as a
those very qualities which made it precious."first" poetry book for kindergarten through
When you share a poem you can simply say withsecond grade. You may need to remove the few
tact "I like this poem, do you?" In the caseHalloween  pages.
of younger children, try and create a mood of
enjoyment, first by choosing the sort of poemA copy of A Child's Garden of Verse by Robert
they are likely to appreciate and then byLouis Stevenson should be available in every
throwing yourself into reading it aloud withpublic library. We have a copy illustrated by
gusto, or better still allowing them to throwJessie  Willcox  Smith.
themselves into it with zest. If you
introduce them to really good poetry as MissA poetry book with gorgeous full color
Mason advocated, suitable for their age,paintings is A Child's Treasury of Poems
children  will  do  the  rest for themselves.edited by Mark Daniel. It is coffee-table
quality.
Ways to Take a Poetry Break Seasonal Poetry
One way is to choose poems that celebrate theFavorite Poems Old and New selected by Helen
changing of a season. Look in the index ofFerris is a handy anthology that has been
any large poetry anthology for anything thataround since 1957 and is for sale in many
has to do with the particular time of year.homeschool catalogs. I checked this book out
The Book of 1,000 Poems lists poems by seasonof a library so many times that I was happy
in the subject index. There are over oneto see it available at a curriculum fair and
dozen poems per season with more than twobought  a  copy.
dozen for spring-a favorite subject with many
poets. Whether it be winter, spring, summer,The Book of 1,000 Poems is an inexpensive
or fall, you are certain to find an array ofhardcover "no-frills" anthology of over 600
poems. Read a few at a time to savor thepages  which  we  use  a  lot,  too.
season. In between new readings any
previously read poems can be repeated asFor Older Students Treasury of Best Loved
often as desired-a painless way to memorizePoems, illustrated by Eleanor Fortescue
poetry. Seasonal poems can be copied intoBrickdale, is a good introduction to reading
greeting cards by the children or onto largeweightier works. I have used it to acquaint
paper  surrounded  by  children's  drawings.myself with poems by John Donne, Robert
Burns, William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, Percy
By Subject Perhaps a more "schoolish" way toBysshe Shelley, Elizabeth Barrett Browning,
incorporate poetry into the curriculum wouldWalt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost,
be to ask what the poets have to say aboutand  others.
anything with which you happen to be
studying. Nature poetry abounds. I countedAn old book still in print is One Hundred and
fifty short poems about birds in our poetryOne Famous Poems, compiled by Roy J. Cook. It
anthology! There are poems about the sea,has a black and white photograph or portrait
trees, animals of various kinds, the wind,of each poet. The poems do not seem to match
the moon. There are poems about the earlythe staunch Victorian faces, which leads me
morning, unusual people; there are patrioticto believe that in some cases it may be
poems and story poems. Poets write aboutbetter to read the poem without seeing the
honesty, fortitude, chivalry, decisiveness,face. I guess we're more accustomed to the
loyalty, perseverance, hope, faith, and love.modern "cover girl/cover guy" look. Charlotte
Their commentary on any subject as well asMason would deem the poems in this book
their subtle or profound sentiments arerequired reading for every high school
worthy  to  be  woven  into  our homeschools.student.
One Poet at a Time Still another way toFor the Serious Reader of Poetry Five Hundred
acquire a taste for poetry is to becomeYears of English Poetry (edited by Barbara
familiar with one poet at a time. Here are aLloyd-Evans) will satisfy any serious reader.
few favorites for the elementary years:It has 1200 pages of meaty longer (British)
William Blake, Samuel Coleridge, Eleanorpoetry beginning with word-for-word Geoffrey
Farjeon, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, WalterChaucer (1343-1400) and ending with Matthew
de la Mare, Christina Rossetti, WilliamArnold (1822-88). It omits Shakespeare, as
Shakespeare, Robert Louis Stevenson, Lordthe editor assumes you already own his works
Tennyson  and  John  Greenleaf  Whittier.and she felt that including works from him
would inconveniently lengthen the already
This time look in the index under an author'sover-sized  book (high school/college level).
name. Read all of his or her poems you can
put  your  index  finger  on  in  one  week.Biographical Stories for the Young I have
included several biographical stories of
Poetry is strewn with ideas-saturate yourselffamous poets in issues of my Parents' Review,
in these words that can have an intoxicatinga newsletter for home training and culture. A
effect  on  the  intellect.free description of back issues is available
from Charlotte Mason Research & Supply
Ideas to the mind are what nutritious food isCompany
to the stomach. Remember, Charlotte Mason



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