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So, I've been encouraging more "masterly inactivity" in our home recently. We are only on unit 3 in Beyond now and this is our first year with HOD! My dd7 has not seemed to think of poetry as one of her favorite parts, but as we start adding in the hand motions and such that Carrie has planned, she has come to rather enjoy it So much so, that she began writing her own poem yesterday!! With NO prompting from me whatsoever! This from my child who runs from the pencil! It's not that she doesn't like the creativity of writing, but the physical act of writing. Anyway, here's her original writing (spelling, punc., caps and all):

A Sinful Jorney

I took the esey path, wich leadeth me astray,
Until God reached out and put me the right way.

I just get tickled at her word choice sometimes...she used "leadeth" and "astray" all on her own. Our Bible doesn't even use words with the "-eth" on the end...lol.
She has also learned the sing the entire nat'l anthem and begun teaching it to her brothers. She LOVES to sing. AND, get this, she has started wanting to change diapers (wet only!) and put her littlest brother in his PJ's, and lay with him at night (sometimes reads a story to him if he'll sit still). SHe's also offered to bathe him for me or clean the kitchen for me while I bathe him.

Thank you Carrie for a wonderful curriculum that has my daughter growing up before my eyes in a matter of 3 weeks! We are HODies for life!

That is one of the most precious things I've ever read! So sweet! Make sure you keep that and put it in her babybook or scrapbook. You will treasure that someday.
Laura

I am feeling warm and fuzzy ! Thanks for sharing one of your precious sweet moments.

That is so precious! Thanks for sharing!

That is so sweet!! Thanks for sharing...I love stuff like that.

Mom2Monkeys,

What a precious poem! The meaning in it is the most precious part.

I cannot take credit for the fabulous benefits of reading good poetry, but it is a wonderful thing that we've discovered from a using a CM-style education with our own boys as well. Another side benefit we've discovered from reading great literature is the descriptive wording kiddos automatically begin using in their writing and their speaking.

Thanks so much for sharing! I am so glad that you and your daughter are enjoying Beyond and learning as you go!

Blessings,
Carrie

Tamara - What a great poem your dd wrote! I second the pp who said to save it for a scrapbook! She did a great job - and captured an important truth!

Carrie - I have to admit that when I was first looking at HOD for my ds, I saw that it included poetry, and my reaction was "Poetry? Yuck!" My husband and I both had experiences with poetry that were incredibly boring and non-productive. So I figured I'd just skip that box. As we started Bigger this year, it is definitely one of our favorite things! We love the poetry!! You must have made great choices in your selections, Carrie, because I don't ever remember enjoying it before. Thanks!

Kathleen

Kathleen,

I, too, had a terrible opinion of poetry prior to reading the more classic poets. But, as my kiddos and I have now read poetry for years, I have realized that not all poetry is "good" poetry. The Jack Prelutsky, Shel Silverstein, funny-type poetry we read in the public school is what I would now consider "twaddle". There is SO much good poetry and many great poets out there that I'd never read before. My boys have become poetry lovers too!

Blessings,
Carrie

I have to admit I intended to skip the poetry box too. I'm so glad I didn't. My 10 year old likes it and is actually enjoying writing his own using the writing assignments in the LA box. My 6 year old has declared the poetry his favorite part of school! I couldn't believe it. Every week he copies one line a day (he's not ready for the amount of copywork it would take to copy the whole poem usually) and then illustrates it. He loves it! He regularly goes back through his poetry section of his notebook and wants me to reread the poems. Again, I'm so very glad I didn't skip that box.

I have to confess something else, too, though. We actually like the funny poems like Shel Silverstein at our house. There's one of those kinds of funny poetry books called "Don't Mess with Moses" that my boys absolutely love.

mamas4bugs,

I agree that some of Shel Silverstein's poetry is pretty cute, but after 11 years of it in the public school system, the spark wears off! I meant that it just doesn't have that enduring quality that the classic poetry has, and I'd never read ANY classic poetry prior to homeschooling my kiddos. It was like opening up a whole new world to me!

Blessings,
Carrie