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We are getting so much out of the poetry section in Preparing! I never imagined that a simple 5-10 minutes a day with the same poem for a week would be so fruitful. My daughter happened to see Robert Louis Stevenson's name on Treasure Island at the library, and wanted to check it out since that's the poet we're studying. So dad is reading it to everyone each night before bed, and dd is relating his writing style in the book to his poems. She notices the same descriptive phrases in his different writings, and I am so excited!!

Wow, that IS exciting! I think that is so neat that your dd was interested in reading Treasure Island and also special that your dh is reading it to her. Finding the parallels between his poems and his books must really bring up some fun discussions. Your dd will truly remember Robert Louis Stevenson. My ds grew to love the poetry last year in PHFHG too. In fact, he is still reaping the benefits of it. Yesterday, he had to describe something while looking at it for his R & S English assignment. He chose a flower outside our window. Here's what he wrote (please know beforehand it was a gray, icky, rainy day outside) :

The half-dead purple flower hangs on to the plant. It swirls in the breeze. Rain pelts it from above. The cold nips at it from the side, and through it all, the purple flower hangs on!

I thought this was pretty good for a run-of-the-mill grammar paragraph about an object. He definitely learned a ton from Robert Louis Stevenson's poetry last year, and continues to from Robert Frost's poetry this year. I am SOOOOOOOO glad to hear you are jumping into the poetry whole-heartedly and encouraging your ds so much with it. I believe this kind of enriched schooling will help the next generation to hold on to the beauty of writing, and perhaps, new classics will be written someday by these budding writers.

In Christ,
Julie

Maria,

We're with you! We're just loving the poetry in Preparing this year. It's great!

Kathleen

That is so neat! We are enjoying the poetry in Bigger this year too. In fact, both my dc say it is one of their favorite subjects. Who knew? We've read poetry before but they have never enjoyed it like this. I think reading the same poem each day for a week, and focusing on a different element each day, really makes the difference.

Glad to hear it only gets better in Preparing!

my3sons wrote:The half-dead purple flower hangs on to the plant. It swirls in the breeze. Rain pelts it from above. The cold nips at it from the side, and through it all, the purple flower hangs on!

Excuse me for saying, but this is far beyond "pretty good!" This is wonderful poetry! Wow, it's amazing what a children are able to express when they are exposed to great work.
Just wanted to boast for you since you are way to modest to boast yourself!

lmercon wrote:

my3sons wrote:The half-dead purple flower hangs on to the plant. It swirls in the breeze. Rain pelts it from above. The cold nips at it from the side, and through it all, the purple flower hangs on!

Excuse me for saying, but this is far beyond "pretty good!" This is wonderful poetry! Wow, it's amazing what a children are able to express when they are exposed to great work.
Just wanted to boast for you since you are way to modest to boast yourself!

Oh, thanks! I'll pass this on to Wyatt. I can't tell you how much it means to me that he is beginning to bloom as a writer. He is not creative like this by nature, so if it is possible for him, it is truly possible for all. I am so proud of him - thanks so much!

In Christ,
Julie

my3sons wrote: The half-dead purple flower hangs on to the plant. It swirls in the breeze. Rain pelts it from above. The cold nips at it from the side, and through it all, the purple flower hangs on!

Julie, WOW! What a wonderful paragraph! Thanks for sharing! You should be very proud of him!