Inside the Guide: Beyond Little Heart’s Poetry Box of Plans
This “Inside the Guide” series provides a quick snapshot of Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory! It’s a handy “how-to” reference, just one box of plans at a time. So, here’s your quick-start “Inside the Guide” for…Beyond Little Heart’s Poetry box of plans!
Quick Start Info
Time It Takes: 10-15 minutes on Days 1-4; 5 minutes on Day 5
Days It’s On: Days 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
Description: Beyond Little Heart’s Poetry box of plans can be found on the “Learning the Basics” right side of the plans. Day 1 of each week of plans introduces a new classic poem, and each poem connects with the weekly history theme. Poems are written by various famous poets, who are simply the best of the best! Though poetry finds its place on the “inspirational” side of a Charlotte Mason education, in this study, it also eases its way over to the “disciplinary” side via Heart of Dakota’s own lovely Copy the Classics! Children find “inspiration” through shared poetry readings, lively discussions, and rotating activities; however, they also carefully copy lines of poetry, focusing on the “discipline” of producing neat, quality writing. I think Charlotte Mason herself would have loved this two-fold-purpose poetry study, and I think you will too!
A Handy How-To for Beyond Little Heart’s Poetry Box of Plans
As homeschool moms, it helps for us to know WHY we are teaching something! Well, we teach Beyond Little Heart’s poetry box so our children learn to read and enjoy poetry, make connections with the history themes, become familiar with poetic structure, gain exposure to unfamiliar vocabulary, and discover the meaning beneath the text via guided discussions. We also teach it so our kiddos’ writing becomes better and better – in neatness, accuracy, legibility, and size.
Box Specific Notes – Day 1
On Day 1, students guess the title of the poem after you read it. This simple exercise causes children to listen more carefully as you read, as well as to think more carefully about the poem’s meaning. So, my first tip is for you to make sure they don’t see the title until after you’ve read aloud the poem! It helps to turn to face the child, holding Copy the Classics close to your chest as you read. Keep in mind the focus is not to guess the title correctly, but rather to come up with a title that makes sense with the poetry’s meaning. Be sure kiddos know that, and enthusiastically accept any title they come up with as long as it’s not intentionally off!
Box Specific Notes – Days 2 and 3
On Day 2, students raise their hand anytime the the poem matches the picture. This simple exercise causes children to use visual cues (the picture) and contextual cues (the poem) to further decipher the poem’s meaning. So, my second tip is to make sure they are sitting next to you (preferably on a comfy couch), so they can study the picture closely. The hand raising is also important because it incorporates movement (bodily kinesthetic), but it is also silent (so it doesn’t interrupt the reading of the poem).
That leads me to my third tip for Day 3! Just as the plans indicate, pause after each line or two for students to add their own actions to the poem. This incorporates movement that connects mind to body. Have you ever sat for long periods of time in a chair without movement?!? Movement wakes up the mind and the body, and it also (in this case) requires children to think about and display the meaning of the poem.
Box Specific Notes – Days 4 and 5
On Day 4, read the poem (important to do every day as noted). Some kiddos may have the reading skills (or the memorization skills) to read along with you – no worries if they can’t though! However, either way, be sure on days 2 to 5 they are right by your side able to see the words you are reading (and following along if able). Fourth tip – this isn’t an art lesson. If drawings aren’t “professional”, it’s okay as long as children try their best and draw a picture that reflects the poem’s meaning.
On Day 5, children end each week by practicing choral reading skills. They choose their favorite poems from past lessons to read again for enjoyment. Any poem that is a favorite will do! No judgment. One of my sons picked the SAME poem for many weeks on end. He still knows that poem word-for-word today, at age 18, because of it!
In Closing
By the end of their Poetry Study, children have created their own personalized beautiful Copy the Classics notebook to cherish! These copywork exercises in Copy the Classics help children improve the quality of their writing, write with proper spacing, and shrink their writing to fit on wide-lined notebook paper.
Highlighted text shows which lines to copy. As the year progresses, children copy more lines each day, and the size of the lines gets smaller. By copying from a correctly written model, children gain practice in handwriting, spelling, grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and vocabulary – which all help children eventually write their own compositions.
So, focus on developing your children’s writing skills by following the built-in copywork progression planned in Copy the Classics! Likewise, focus on developing your children’s understanding of poetry. These skills will help children find success with writing their own poetry when they are older and asked to do so for creative writing assignments in Preparing Hearts for His Glory. If you follow all the plans so conveniently laid out in this Beyond Little Heart’s Poetry box of plans, your children will have the foundation for the more difficult skills to come!
So, why wait? Start today! This Poetry Study is meant to be enjoyed! Or, in case you don’t own this and still need these resources, choose which option below fits you best, and order what you need today!
Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory Guide + Copy the Classics
