heartofdakota.com

I have to share this, because I am just about hopping up and down with excitement here! My ds has not been interested in creative writing of any sort, which has saddened me. I had just about resigned myself to the thought that he would never truly want to write creatively, and now along has come Preparing Hearts...(PHFHG) to prove me wrong. He has come to enjoy the poetry we do in HOD. Robert Louis Stevenson's poems are featured in PHFHG, and the creative writing goes along with these poems. He really liked the poem "My Shadow", and this lesson was on personification. We worked on this together, but the ideas were all pretty much his own - I did help him a bit with the rhyming because he wanted to rhyme this time. Still, he really did almost all of the work. Here it is:

Wind the Bully

Look out! Here comes the wind,
Running fast around the bend.
He chases little boys and girls,
As he sings a song and twirls.

He knocks the leaves down at dawn,
He breaks the sticks on the lawn,
He pushes me while walking by,
Before I can even say goodbye!

He opens his mouth and tastes snow,
Before he makes up his mind to go,
He knocks little Emmett down,
Before he blows in to the next town!

By: Wyatt James Grosz

Just had to celebrate this moment with my favorite HOD gal pals! For all of you that have dc not so interested in writing - I hope PHFHG can awaken the joy of it in your dc as it is beginning to with mine!

In Christ,
Julie

P.S. Emmett is his baby brother.

You should be proud of Wyatt. That was very descriptive and I could feel the wind in a lot of the stanzas. Somethings just come natural to us and others we have to work diligently at them. Sometimes I wonder which one we get more satisfaction out of...those we easily do because it is just a natural part of who we are and comes out in our talents, or those things we really want to do and struggle to overcome obstacles because they are not naturally inherent in us and we end up succeeding or even surpassing our goals.

I wish I liked poetry.... *sigh* I am more of the straight-talkin' kind of gal. Imagery and flowery language goes over my head mostly. I am not creative at all in that aspect. I think when the time comes to teach poetry, I'll be right there writing my own poems along with my kids, just to force myself to do something I am not good at, in the hopes I'll learn to love it.

That is so cool! We are on the same unit--nice to be making the journey with you. My poor dyslexic boy has HATED writing of all kinds, but he has really blossomed this year. His poem is short, but he did it entirely on his own, so I was extremely proud. I love sharing this stuff.


The Wind

His icy breath is blown on us
His freezy fingers clutch me on the bus
Though he is a nice old chum
When he's around I feel so glum
And when we all have gone away
That's when the wind comes out to play!

Oh Jessi - that is soooo true - good point! It is definitely the things that have been harder for me that I take the greatest pleasure in finally accomplishing (if that happens ) - I'm sure our dc are much the same way. I didn't learn to like poetry very well until about our second year into doing it in HOD. "Back in the day", I'd kind of learned all of the poetic devices, but never the actual art of enjoying reading poetry. I'm glad my ds started off with just enjoying it first with HOD, and now in PHFHG, he's more ready to actually try his hand at writing it. Thanks for sharing in my happy moment today! I'm wondering if I will get to read a poem by Jessi when you do PHFHG? I think I'd really enjoy reading that.

In Christ,
Julie

mamas4bugs wrote:That is so cool! We are on the same unit--nice to be making the journey with you. My poor dyslexic boy has HATED writing of all kinds, but he has really blossomed this year. His poem is short, but he did it entirely on his own, so I was extremely proud. I love sharing this stuff.


The Wind

His icy breath is blown on us
His freezy fingers clutch me on the bus
Though he is a nice old chum
When he's around I feel so glum
And when we all have gone away
That's when the wind comes out to play!

What a neat poem! I had to take out the trash today in the wind, and I am telling you, your ds's description of old Mr. Wind sure fit today! I like the "freezy fingers" part, the "chum" part, and I agree with your ds - that wind did make me feel glum. This is so fun, thanks for sharing.

In Christ,
Julie

Julie,

I love Wyatt's description of Wind the Bully! He's sure been tormenting us this last week!! My ds has never tried any creative writing...so we have lots to look forward to next year. (I loved your son's poem about wind, too, mams4bugs. )

I'll add my own little stanza from our real-life experience last spring. (It would fall into the "Wind-the-Bully" category for sure! )

He threw the trampoline on the ground
No more happy kids jumping up and down
Now that it's twisted like a pringle chip
I'm sticking out my bottom lip

After hours of work to get it straight
We used that present - a little late
Now it's tied up tight to the post and clothesline
We're ready, Mr. Wind, when you come next time!

See, Wyatt, you inspired me!
Thanks for sharing your fun!

Kathleen

Kathleen -

Wyatt and Riley say to tell you they like your poem too! Wyatt thinks you are a good poem writer, and Riley thinks you "like to think up poems". They also liked the picture on your blog - Wyatt thinks it "looks like a wonderful place to go exploring". Riley says it looks "beautiful, and it looks like a good place to explore". Riley also likes your blog! Thanks!

In Christ,
Julie, Wyatt, and Riley

Julie,

What wonderful imagery Wyatt used in his poem! I loved reading it. Shaw is loving the poetry writing in Preparing. He really took off in this area at the end of Rod and Staff 2 in Bigger Hearts (last year) when they did some poetry writing. It's great to see them budding as little poets! (Especially since I was NOT a poetry lover and had very little exposure to it during my school days).

Blessings,
Carrie