Teaching the Art of Poetry to my children has always intrigued me, but quite honestly it was a bit overwhelming to me.

I never had a strong foundation or love for poetry as a child, but wanted my children’s literature experience to be exceptional. If you can relate, than keep on reading.

Our family has been quite poetic this last month.  And it has been truly interesting and entertaining for all of us.

The Art of Poetry Program is an excellent addition to any household whether your children attend public school or a homeschool environment.  The program is designed for middle and high school students, but can easily be adapted to suit younger children.  The program is made up of two parts: The Elements of Poetry and The Formal History of Poetry.  The Teacher’s Edition is very easy to use and to implement.  It contains ideas and tips to teach each chapter.  Each chapter includes selective poetry, discussion questions, vocabulary, and a vast array of different types of activities to enhance each chapter.  Also, included are short biographies of each poet.

You can easily hand your student the student text and he can complete the program independently if desired.  There are quizzes that can be offered to the student for comprehension.

The Art Poetry Program teaches the child many of the most important poems in American and British poetry. It teaches the student to read a poem closely and how to make room for different understandings.

It makes them think!

How it Works For Us

We have been using The Art of Poetry Program  in many different ways this past month.  Initially, I just wanted to introduce my children to the art of poetry and to simply enjoy it.  We read several poems from different time periods.  I usually had them close their eyes while I read the poem out loud.  The younger children were allowed to draw what they believed the poem meant to them while the older children and I discussed the questions orally that were provided in the teacher’s edition and student book.

After a few days of simply reading poetry and discussing the meaning, I started going through Chapter One Images with the children.  We orally talked about the various definitions that pertained to imagery that are located at the end of the chapter.  We took turns reading the different poems and the short biography about each poet. There are various activities that are fun to enhance each chapter.I had the children complete (1) activity of choice after we finished discussing the chapter.  It was fun watching them all work on their projects at the school table.

I now understand the importance of studying poetry.  Before I considered poetry more of an elective course, but there are so many benefits to memorizing poetry, such as, increasing metaphoric thinking  to subjects as writing, speaking, business, and even science.  My 8 year old has really grown to love the beauty of poetry and I find him reading different poetry books in our library.  It’s truly exciting.

There is so much flexibility in this program that you can make it work perfectly for your family.  It’s a very in depth study, but you can tweak it to fit your younger children’s needs.  Itt would be a great family activity to do together several times a month.  You can discuss the meanings of the poems and complete an activity together while sipping on tea and some goodies.  We will be continuing our poetry study on Fridays afternoons.

This is a resource that we will use for many years in our home.  In fact, I want to encourage my husband and I to work on the book together during our home dates.

It’s a gem for all families!

Buy It!

You can purchase the Art of Poetry Program at Classical Academic Press .  If you don’t want to buy the entire program, you can buy the individual products separately. If you are only going to buy (1) item, I suggest purchasing the Teacher’s Edition, but the entire program is worth the extra cost.