Many of our levels begin with a section on poetry. Why poetry? I find poetry hard, that’s why I put it first in the year, do the hard thing first and then it’s all downhill from there. However, you (or your child) may love poetry.
Songs are poetry. Everyone loves music. The lyrics are poems. They are expressive. They create feelings. They express feelings. People use poetry and writing music as a way to release feelings that would otherwise harm them inside. Writing and reading poetry has been shown to release anxiety and increase empathy.
In the lessons, we’ll talk about rhyme and rhythm. Poetry is rhythmic, like music. Maybe thinking of it as music would help you embrace poetry, but please don’t decide your kids won’t like it because you don’t like it.
Poetry encourages the use of the right brain, our creative side, whereas we normally use the left side of our brain when interpreting language. It literally opens our minds.
My husband, Mr. G, made videos for the poetry sections, where he reads the poems and talks about them. He loves poetry. Let his love of poetry rub off on you.
I would also encourage you that there are lessons to be learned besides ABAB poem patterns. You don’t want to teach your child to just skip the hard thing. That’s not the life lesson you want to pass on. The more you skip things, the more your kids will want to skip things. It can be a slippery slope. If they know they have to do all their assignments, they won’t ask to skip things. They’ll know they have to get it done. If they know they can sometimes get you to let them just skip something, many kids will ask and push to get away with what they can.
While you are in charge and know your kids and family best, please consider pushing through poetry and not giving up if you find it a struggle. That doesn’t mean everything gets understood. That doesn’t mean you have a breakthrough and love poetry. It means you did your best and didn’t give up.
Give it a try. The videos are there to help, and so are we.
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