“I dwell in Possibility/A fairer house than Prose,/More numerous of windows,/Superior of doors.” Emily Dickinson, “I dwell in Possibility”
Poetry is a flexible area of study. It can be studied on its own, and for its own merit. On the other hand, born of cultural, historical, and personal experience, poetry can enhance the study of any subject. For me, the trouble with poetry is how to narrow it down. There just seems to be so much of it to choose from.
The Poetry for Young People series provides an excellent introduction to a number of poets. Each volume contains the poetry of a specific poet or area of poetry. The poems are chosen for their suitability to a young audience, and as poetry representative of the poet’s body of work. Illustrations accompany the poems. A short biography, also sensitive to the needs of a young audience, opens each book.
I have found this series useful in two ways. It has been a simple task to browse these pages to find a poem to enhance a particular study. As the poems have been chosen because they are appropriate for children, I need only choose the poem that best suits my needs.
More often, however, I choose a poet to study for a month or six weeks. As a family, we read several poems each week until we have finished the book. The Poetry for Young People series makes this process very simple, as each volume contains a nice number of poems. Each book serves as a gentle introduction to the work of a poet.
This may be the year for poetry study at your house!
Raid your local library for the Poetry for Young People series.
-Most days find Susan on the couch reading to her children, in the floor “playing” math, and generally in the middle of a
good-sized mess. A love for the Lord, a love for her little ones, and a love of learning have led Susan and the wonderful man she married to an educational philosophy that is Well-Trained Mind-inspired classical and Charlotte Mason,
with a touch of the traditional.
Susan currently home educates a third grader, a first grader, and a nearly Kindergartner. Her background is public school-traditional, but she and her husband are drawn to the classical emphasis on order and the logical accumulation of knowledge. They have added in Charlotte Mason’s emphasis on living books, nature study, and artist and composer study, since it offers such a beautiful complement to the sometimes heavy feel of classical. They even do a little lapbooking and notebooking at their house. Finally, they have covered all of this knowledge-acquiring with prayer, asking the Great Teacher to lead and instruct their family in His Way.
Love this..Thanks for sharing this with us!
Thank you for sharing about these! Poetry is dear to my heart and while I had seen some of these prior to this post, it’s nice to see this review and hear more about them.
My 7th grader Tess read Poetry For Young People: Emily Dickison 1st semseter and is now reading Poetry For Young People:Maya Angeluo. It’s a great complement to all of the novels she is reading.