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My dc are combined in Preparing and this week on Unit 28 of the Creative Writing, they had to choose an animal, make an outline of how it grows, and then write a poem or several paragraphs to describe it in an interesting way. They both chose a poem and most the time do. To be honest, I would choose a paragraph, as I always had a hard time writing poetry. My dc on the other hand look forward to writing poems. They are totally different too in the way that they learn so this surprises me on some level, so I'll I can say is that HOD has given them a love and understanding of poetry that I never got in school.

Ds (age Ten)
Butterfly Babies

Tiny eggs lay on a leaf
As white as snow;
They will break out of the egg
And soon will grow.

The baby caterpillars
Will eat and eat;
They move very, very slow
On their small feet.

In a cocoon they will sleep
And pop right out;
The beautiful butterfly
Will fly about.

Dd (age Eight)
Frog Babies

On pleasant summer days,
I go to the pond to gaze,
Upon the mother frog.

I watch her lay her eggs,
Soon they hatch and grow their legs.
The tadpoles are so nice.

Their tail becomes their body.
Soon they hope away with glee,
And have their own babies.

What I am really happy about is that both of them really took time to make sure that their rhyme and rhythm patterns match throughout. Thanks for letting them share.

Very nice!

It is so exciting to see our children grow. My ds is in Preparing as well. A few days ago he wrote a poem/paragraph about his lego that got lost and ended up all "smooshed to smithereens" It had me in stitches from laughing so hard, but I let him know I was so pleased. He has come a LONG way in his writing skills since we first began Preparing. Thanks for sharing about your kiddos!

Great job! My kids have been blowing me away with their poems from Preparing writing days. I love how the program has walked them through it all year.

So wonderful!! to your kiddos!!

Starla wrote:It is so exciting to see our children grow. My ds is in Preparing as well. A few days ago he wrote a poem/paragraph about his lego that got lost and ended up all "smooshed to smithereens" It had me in stitches from laughing so hard, but I let him know I was so pleased. He has come a LONG way in his writing skills since we first began Preparing. Thanks for sharing about your kiddos!

Would love to read what your ds wrote. I am sure my kiddos would too.

We loved the poetry creative writing too. This particular unit was a favourite for sure. Your children wrote beautiful poems.

Okay - so you wanted to see what my boy wrote about his lego... It's not rhyming or anything - BUT I was encouraged that at least he was writing, which just 2 months ago, he was struggling big time. Here is what he wrote:

My Lego
Once when I was 9 years old -
I lost a lego brick in the trash.

It has lived a little short life -
in the toy box
Then to the trash can -
out to the garbage truck.

It has seen the dirty diapers -
and the broken toilet
And the dead kitchen sink –
all in the smoosher and the dump.

In the noise it has heard -
a big fat smoosher
And the big fat burner -
smooshing it to smithereens.

(By the way he is 9 now, but that is how he wrote it....) Hope you enjoyed it.

Oooh, I like!

I especially like the slow, easy feel of the caterpillar poem and then- POP!- out comes the butterfly. It changes the mood of the poem to reflect the excitement of change. Cool!

And the tadpole's tail becoming his body, I like that part a lot too.

Good job!

Haha, I enjoyed that Lego poem too! Great!

We are perfectly placed in LHFHG, but I am looking forward to experiencing these other guides.

Starla, thanks for sharing your ds' work. I think he was very creative thinking through the steps that the lego would have gone through once it was in the trash. We need a thumbs-up smiley. My dc aren't here right now, but I will share with them when they get home.