Teach your children poetry

What is the Charlotte Mason approach to theencourages us to give children contact with the
study of poetry? Our first step is to see that ourminds of thinkers. Education is mind to mind,
children enjoy it. Much later they will probably takethought to thought, person to person.
the second step for themselves, reading thoseNotes, commentaries, lectures, long lists of
poets whose work needs some preliminary studyquestions, and other middlemen are not needed.
and background explanations in order to beLet the poets speak and the children do the
appreciated.thinking.
In Our Present Society Poetry is Almost InvisibleBiographical backgrounds on the poets serve to
These days poetry seems to have been boiledwiden a child's curriculum and add to his cultural
down to the popular "jingle" or an advertisement'sheritage.
"catchy phrase." Does poetry only belong toFor a lighter dose, or to tempt a child who doesn't
bygone days when the average person spentthink he will like poetry, try the nonsense poetry
what little leisurely time he did have reading andof Lewis G.
reciting? Consider the life of ancient Athens at itsCarroll or Edward Lear. Slightly older children won't
best-its peace and learned leisure and poetry.be able to resist the humor of Ogden Nash. While
Compare this to the restless, artificial, luxurious"nonsense" poetry is not full of great insights, it
existence of Rome.does train the ear to delicious sounds and
Like ancient Rome, today is a day of bigger andrhythms. What fun just to repeat, "Jabberwocky"
better things-interstate highways, 100-acreor "The Owl and the Pussycat!" Humorous poetry
amusement parks, huge hotels, supercan be just as much fun to repeat ("Telephony"
supermarkets and bigger and bigger newspapersby Ogden Nash is a good example), and has a
(so that whatever is hideous in life may reach oursharper tang, great for developing those critical
ears within a few hours of its happening).thinking skills! Develop Your Inner Ear A calm
Poetry is one of the things that can't be madestately voice echoes from the past, "Take your
bigger and better. It must remain quietly andtime." Poetry will speak wonderful things to those
unobtrusively and forever itself. Vulnerable, it maywho give it time and attentiveness. As reading
drop unnoticed out of the running, leaving us torequires an inward eye, poetry requires an inward
our steel-girded world of material things withoutear. Unencumbered by modern media, our
its pleasure. But despite its invisibility many peoplegreat-great-grandparents had both. They read
still read poetry for pleasure today. I'd like mypoetry for pleasure and made a regular meal of
children to be among them.their favorites.
Poetry is Serious Business Poetry is not just aA really good poem can be read many times
school subject. It is the deepest expression ofover. Your readings increase in pleasure over the
thought and feeling of which certain exceptionalyears. This is an old-time method of "studying"
minds have been capable. It includes the full gamutpoetry that deserves mentioning.
of all human experiences, from war poems andFrom Shorter to Longer Works In the days
epics, to psalms of worship, to love sonnets, tobefore workbooks, young children in Miss Mason's
delightful nonsense verse that trips off theschools had copy books. Children were to choose
tongue, to nursery rhymes-anything people thinksome favorite verse and copy it neatly into these
about or sing about. We can read it as though wepersonal books. Thus the study of poetry also
ourselves shared in those thoughts and thoseyielded better penmanship, spelling, and vocabulary.
emotions.After years of a relationship with poetry, built on
Poetry has been helping men and women from allthe shorter poems, children will be capable of
backgrounds and cultures share deep emotionalenjoying and comprehending longer and more
experiences and insights throughout all recordedabstract works. High school students can become
history. Hearing a translation of a remarkablyfamiliar with the longer works of traditional classic
beautiful poem written by King Tutankhamen topoetry just by checking out books of poetry
his wife, I was astounded! Chaucer, Shakespeare,from the adult section of a public library. This is
and the author of Beowulf also wrote poetry thatwhere some background explanation, in the form
still speaks to us today on many different levels.of critical commentaries or even the ever-handy
They didn't write it for textbooks either.Cliff Notes, may be helpful.
Early in this century Vermont farmers would readAlong with Beowulf, the works of Chaucer and
poetry beside their fires in winter. My husbandShakespeare are commonly studied in high school.
Dean and I once knew a hefty Rolls-Royce autoThey contain more adult themes, so use your
mechanic who loved opera and poetry.discretion. These were included with emphasis in a
We would admit a child grows up lopsided ifCharlotte Mason style of education. I am unfamiliar
athletic prowess is his only ambition. Let's take thiswith more modern poetry, but the usual warnings
idea further and say he'd receive a lopsidedapply.
education if he could "make the grade" withoutPoetry For an Uncertain World It has been said
any love or respect for poetry.by an educator following Charlotte Mason's
With Tact and a Tiny Bit of Enthusiasm How canphilosophy, "Literature is the sum total of the
we introduce our children to poetry? You cancourage and home, the faith, delight, and despair
never make a girl or boy like a poem against hisof the past, and if we deny youth this, and give
or her will. You can not bully them into it, or arguethem instead a little pale skepticism of our own, a
them into it. Convert them by indirect means.conscientious distrust of the ideals with have
Infect them by your own interest and gentlesustained other generations and other ages, a
enthusiasm. Pick out some poetry that appeals tobelief that the world began yesterday and if we
you and simply read it aloud to your children.are not careful will end tomorrow, because our
Eventually they may desire to start reading someown idealism is unequal to the problems it has to
on their own. Don't be surprised if their tastes areface, then we do them a poor service. All our
a bit different than yours! If you do not likeaspirations for the young are likely to be defeated
poetry there is an obvious remedy: introduce theunless we hand them on a certain moral stability,
child and the poem and leave them to makea belief in beauty, truth and goodness for their
friends for themselves. They may, or they mayown sake; whereas if we give them these-and in
not, but you can never make things better bygiving them these poetry will surely be
your interference.included-we have at least the assurance that we
In introducing people it is generally a mistake tohave done our best to equip them adequately for
praise too much beforehand.the certain difficulties of this uncertain world."
You may only establish a distaste. In the sameResources For the Young Lavender's Blue is a
way it is a mistake to praise a poem toobook of nursery rhymes compiled by Kathleen
eloquently. After all, the child is entitled to form hisLines with pictures in soft pastel colors by Harold
own opinion. To drag a poem into the glare ofJones. It's published by Oxford University Press.
publicity is to lose some of those very qualitiesWe wore out a copy of The Random House
which made it precious. When you share a poemBook of Poetry for Children (selected by Jack
you can simply say with tact "I like this poem, doPrelutsky and illustrated by Arnold Lobel) in our
you?" In the case of younger children, try andhome. It provides a cute and funny commentary
create a mood of enjoyment, first by choosingon life. I suggested it as a "first" poetry book for
the sort of poem they are likely to appreciatekindergarten through second grade. You may
and then by throwing yourself into reading it aloudneed to remove the few Halloween pages.
with gusto, or better still allowing them to throwA copy of A Child's Garden of Verse by Robert
themselves into it with zest. If you introduceLouis Stevenson should be available in every public
them to really good poetry as Miss Masonlibrary. We have a copy illustrated by Jessie
advocated, suitable for their age, children will doWillcox Smith.
the rest for themselves.A poetry book with gorgeous full color paintings is
Ways to Take a Poetry Break Seasonal PoetryA Child's Treasury of Poems edited by Mark
One way is to choose poems that celebrate theDaniel. It is coffee-table quality.
changing of a season. Look in the index of anyFavorite Poems Old and New selected by Helen
large poetry anthology for anything that has toFerris is a handy anthology that has been around
do with the particular time of year. The Book ofsince 1957 and is for sale in many homeschool
1,000 Poems lists poems by season in the subjectcatalogs. I checked this book out of a library so
index. There are over one dozen poems permany times that I was happy to see it available
season with more than two dozen for spring-aat a curriculum fair and bought a copy.
favorite subject with many poets. Whether it beThe Book of 1,000 Poems is an inexpensive
winter, spring, summer, or fall, you are certain tohardcover "no-frills" anthology of over 600 pages
find an array of poems. Read a few at a time towhich we use a lot, too.
savor the season. In between new readings anyFor Older Students Treasury of Best Loved
previously read poems can be repeated as oftenPoems, illustrated by Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale,
as desired-a painless way to memorize poetry.is a good introduction to reading weightier works. I
Seasonal poems can be copied into greeting cardshave used it to acquaint myself with poems by
by the children or onto large paper surrounded byJohn Donne, Robert Burns, William Wordsworth,
children's drawings.Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Elizabeth
By Subject Perhaps a more "schoolish" way toBarrett Browning, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson,
incorporate poetry into the curriculum would be toRobert Frost, and others.
ask what the poets have to say about anythingAn old book still in print is One Hundred and One
with which you happen to be studying. NatureFamous Poems, compiled by Roy J. Cook. It has a
poetry abounds. I counted fifty short poemsblack and white photograph or portrait of each
about birds in our poetry anthology! There arepoet. The poems do not seem to match the
poems about the sea, trees, animals of variousstaunch Victorian faces, which leads me to believe
kinds, the wind, the moon. There are poemsthat in some cases it may be better to read the
about the early morning, unusual people; there arepoem without seeing the face. I guess we're
patriotic poems and story poems. Poets writemore accustomed to the modern "cover girl
about honesty, fortitude, chivalry, decisiveness,cover guy" look. Charlotte Mason would deem the
loyalty, perseverance, hope, faith, and love. Theirpoems in this book required reading for every
commentary on any subject as well as theirhigh school student.
subtle or profound sentiments are worthy to beFor the Serious Reader of Poetry Five Hundred
woven into our homeschools.Years of English Poetry (edited by Barbara
One Poet at a Time Still another way to acquire aLloyd-Evans) will satisfy any serious reader. It has
taste for poetry is to become familiar with one1200 pages of meaty longer (British) poetry
poet at a time. Here are a few favorites for thebeginning with word-for-word Geoffrey Chaucer
elementary years: William Blake, Samuel Coleridge,(1343-1400) and ending with Matthew Arnold
Eleanor Farjeon, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,(1822-88). It omits Shakespeare, as the editor
Walter de la Mare, Christina Rossetti, Williamassumes you already own his works and she felt
Shakespeare, Robert Louis Stevenson, Lordthat including works from him would inconveniently
Tennyson and John Greenleaf Whittier.lengthen the already over-sized book (high school
This time look in the index under an author'scollege level).
name. Read all of his or her poems you can putBiographical Stories for the Young I have included
your index finger on in one week.several biographical stories of famous poets in
Poetry is strewn with ideas-saturate yourself inissues of my Parents' Review, a newsletter for
these words that can have an intoxicating effecthome training and culture. A free description of
on the intellect.back issues is available from Charlotte Mason
Ideas to the mind are what nutritious food is toResearch & Supply Company
the stomach. Remember, Charlotte Mason