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Maggie
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| Posted: April 14 2012 at 9:46am | IP Logged
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Mine are almost 7 and 5...
So far, I have read a lot of great poems to them, and we "talk" about them...but that lasts all of 30 seconds.
I don't want to "kill" the poem. I think high school and college did that for me.
So...how do you make it interesting and rich for littles?
I tried looking this up online...and found just base, yucky ideas...I don't want "humor" (or someone's base attempt at it) or animation...or rap...(sigh).
Just the classics.
I have a great Child's Garden of Verses, the Harp and Laurel Wreath and Favorite Poems Old and New...
Good resources...just don't know what to do with them. 
Ideas?
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: April 14 2012 at 11:03am | IP Logged
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Rose Where Did You Get That Red is a good book on teaching great poetry to children. It's all about NOT dumbing down the poetry and how kids will "get it".
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Maggie
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| Posted: April 14 2012 at 11:32am | IP Logged
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Thank you, Jodie!!
I just put it on hold at our library! The Amazon reviews look fantastic!
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Wife to dh (12 years) Mama to dd (10) ds (8), dd (1), ds (nb) and to Philip Mary (5/26/09), Lucy Joy (12/6/09), and Margaret Mary (3/6/10) who entered Heaven before we had a chance to hold them.
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stellamaris
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| Posted: April 16 2012 at 6:34am | IP Logged
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Maggie,
I love poetry, and so do my children. I've been thinking about how I instilled that love so I could answer your question. As I have mulled this over, I have come up with a few thoughts:
1. I love poetry myself. I think that to communicate a love of poetry, you first need some familiarity with and affection for poetry yourself. So my first suggestion is that you open those books you have and begin to just read and enjoy the poems. Find your favorites, read them many times so they become "friends".
2. Begin exposing your children to poetry when young as part of the natural day. Poetry as a "subject" comes later. Read a poem at lunch. Look for opportunities to relate a poem to another event. We went to a baseball game, and the next day I said to my younger children, "Hey, listen to this! It's about baseball!" Then I read "Casey at the Bat" to them. They loved it. Other lovely poems for the young are simple prayer poems and some of the funny poems like "I've Never Seen a Purple Cow." I realize you might think these are silly, but a few silly poems goes a long way to helping children enjoy and feel relaxed around poetry. One book I've especially liked with the littles is Poems and Prayers for the Very Young (get it used!).
3. Remember hymns are poetry, too. So introduce a few favorite hymns. This is easiest during the Christmas or Easter seasons.
4. As you read a poem the first time to the children, I think you should read it without comment. Read it again several more times over the course of several days and during some of those readings you might explain antiquated or unusual words or phrasing. Children get the general idea of the poem even if they don't quite understand each word or turn of phrase. This regular reading could be part of a morning gathering time or during lunch or breakfast. They will learn a short poem surprisingly fast if you read it several times to them. When they are older, you can work more deliberately on memorizing poems.
5. Story poems are very interesting and dramatic for slightly older children (say 7-8 and up)--The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, The Ballad of East and West, The Destruction of Sennacherib. Also along these lines, there are many picture books that are actually poetry. Some are funny (Wild About Books or The PIggy in the Puddle), some are classic (Green Eggs and Ham, The Tyger, or The Children's Hour--I haven't seen the illustrations to this one, fyi), some are historical (Paul Revere's Ride). Browse your library poetry shelves and see what you find!
6. The Book of Virtues has several poems that correspond to virtues, some of which are very funny and my children loved when they were 5-10, such as Godfrey Gordon Gustavus Gore or Rebecca Who Slammed Doors for Funny and Perished Miserably (of course, these show that poetry doesn't always have to be serious!) Also, funny books that teach manners are always a hit around here with the 6 and up crowd. One such favorite is Manners Can Be Fun.
7. Slightly older children really enjoy parodies. I believe there is a section of humorous poetry in Favorite Poems and some of these are parodies. To introduce a parody poem, the children need to be acquainted with the original poem. So, first read the original with them several times until they are familiar with it. Then, introduce the parody. Here's a serious poem by Longfellow and its corresponding parody by Holmes: A Psalm of Life.
7. Charlotte Mason emphasized that education is all about relations. This is the heart of poetry. You must have a relationship with the poem itself, and each person will have relationships with different poems based on their own interests and emotions. So read a variety of poems yourself, share your favorites with your children with enthusiasm, and allow them to select their own favorites.
8. There is plenty of time later to analyze and study poetry. When your children are small, just enjoy!
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Caroline
Wife to  dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: April 16 2012 at 10:20am | IP Logged
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I have that Rose book and had forgotten about it! Time to get it out again :)
We started with reading a LOT of Psalms and other poetic verses from the Bible; then we have a set of books called "Poetry for Young People" - complete with Edgar Allan Poe. They are the full poems, but they feel more accessible in this format (thin books, some paintings, just a few poems).
My son loves poetry - we just naturally discuss it, but I can't quite describe what we do or how we do it. We did talk a lot about rhythm I remember, and would say poems to different rhythms to see how it changed the mood or even the message.
Just have fun with it. :)
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claireg
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| Posted: April 16 2012 at 1:06pm | IP Logged
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I just found this link with a lot of ideas for teaching poetry to littles:
http://simplekids.net/poetry-projects-for-kids/
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AmandaV
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| Posted: April 16 2012 at 4:32pm | IP Logged
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One of my FAVORITE books from when I was a child!
My mother and I loved: (first page, I think!)
I wake in the morning early,
And always the very first thing,
I sit up in bed, and I poke out my head,
And I sing, and I sing, and I sing!
Especially as I was in choirs and musical theatre all through school. :)
Okay, I have to get that book again! (my mom has our original)
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Amanda
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: How to teach poetry to littles?
