Written by Hannah Vanderpool of Praying with One Eye Open.
We’re in the living room. Two of the kids are stretched on the couch and they’re tugging a blanket between them, though they know better than to wear it out further.
The middle boy sits on the loveseat. He smiles and flops himself flat, legs off the side.
He knows he has the better seat, the one across from me.
I pick up the poetry book. It’s a thick, yellow anthology, one we’ve been working through for almost a year.
Every day we sit in our places and I read from it — words about love, and trees and ordinary people. Today is no different.
This morning I read my best, paying attention to the rhythm and flow of the lines. I finish the last line of a Langston Hughes poem and then I don’t say anything because there is meaning in the air and I want them to feel it.
The kids aren’t little anymore. They don’t need me to read to poems to them — haven’t needed it for years, really.
But I do it anyway, for them, but also for me.
Poetry is a velvet box between whose walls are hidden the things that make us human.
I read aloud other people’s treasures so that we learn to recognize art when we hear it, and so that my children will see that even harsh truths go down easier if they’re expressed beautifully.
Some of the poems we read are silly, like those of Lewis Carroll or Ogden Nash. They’re the ones the kids ask me to read twice, or even three times in a row, because who doesn’t love a made-up word or a little alliteration?
Others are sweeping and romantic, like those of Longfellow or Tennyson. The middle boy has no time for these, and lets me know how ridiculous it is to go on and on about a woman’s hair. My daughter, on the other hand, loves the exquisite heartbreak of Tennyson’s The Lady of Shallot.
I’ve sometimes wondered if all of this poetry reading is superfluous.
I love it, but what if it’s time we could spend in a more productive way? I’m heartened to learn, however, that leaders in the fields of education and child development advocate the reading aloud and memorization of poetry because it helps promote language development in young children, literacy in older children, and social and emotional development for all ages.
Morag Styles, Professor of Children’s Poetry at the University of Cambridge reminds us that,
“Poetry is an intense form of language. It can be simultaneously personal and universal. It enlarges the sympathies, helps us understand ourselves better, gives us the pleasure of vicarious experience and offers us insights about being human. It provides a way of working out feelings, giving order to experience by reducing it to manageable proportions.”
We find this to be true in our family, particularly when my tween and teen boys listen to poems about heroes and live through their exploits for a few moments.
Listening to, and discussing, poetry helps them to channel their all-over-the-place emotions in an appropriate way, and points them to things worth caring about, as it did for the boys in the movie Dead Poets Society.
Poetry is an acquired taste, but it’s easy to acquire if children (and grown-ups!) are exposed to it gently.
Developing a poetry-reading habit calls for the same baby steps that most worthwhile habits require in the beginning.
Purchasing or borrowing a good anthology of children’s poetry is a start. Then, focusing on daily readings of two or three poems — especially those with concrete subjects for small children — will help to ensure that the time is both fun and easy to digest.
(Discussing a poem after its conclusion isn’t necessary, especially at first, but can be enjoyable if the child wants to. Otherwise, it’s perfectly fine to read, smile, and close the book).
Eventually, many children come to love poetry time because it feels like “miniature story time.” And when a child has reached this point, he’s discovered the joy that well-written words have to offer.
Twenty minutes later, the kids and I are still in the living room. They eye me. They can tell I’m ready to move on now. We have other things to do. The oldest boy, his voice popping high and then low these days, says, “Wait. You’re not done already …”
I pretend to close the book, but he knows me well. I open it again and smile.
“One more,” I say.
I’m glad he asked.
Are you looking to share poetry with your children? Hannah recommends Favorite Poems Old and New, and for older children, Shakespeare’s sonnets. Do you have a favorite book of poetry?
Those little things I miss
really inspiring…i love what you said about harsh truths are easier to swallow if they are said beautifully….thank you !
I’m glad you found it helpful!
Hannah’s latest post: The Power of Poetry
This is wonderful! Funny–our co-op classes were cancelled yesterday because of snow, so I held a movie day at my house for my 11th/12th grade lit class. One of the movies we watched was Dead Poet’s Society. And you know the kids who have poetry in their lives—the ones who find such thrill in the last “Captain, My Captain” scene; and the ones who don’t—the ones who, at the end, ask “what was the point of this movie?”
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“What was the point of this movie?” Gasp. Choke.
Hannah’s latest post: The Power of Poetry
So beautiful, Hannah. I just finished writing an essay yesterday called The Art of the Verse Novel and mentioned some of what you have here: Poetry pushes us to see, feel, and hear differently. It changes us. Love that you are living poetry with your children.
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It’s something I wouldn’t trade for all the glittery curricula in the world. 🙂
Hannah’s latest post: The Power of Poetry
Loved it. This gave me so much excitement and enlightenment! My children are 3 and 5. There is nothing we love more than sitting and reading children books together several times throughout our homeschool day, drawing and crafting to the book and referring back to them often. I know that the years are becoming fewer that I will get to spend this time reading to my children these beautifully illustrated books. You have now enlightened me to what we can do next! THANK YOU!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hannah’s latest post: The Power of Poetry
Last year, I read a couple poems by Shel Silverstein to my children each morning. We read all of his works. Then my 8 year old begged me to teach him how to write his own poems. So we started out the fall with writing poetry … All three of us helping each other with ideas but each writing our own poem (6yr old, 8 yr old, and myself) . We also started Poetry Tea on Fridays this year. We sit together enjoying a special warm beverage like hot apple cider and I read from the series Poetry for Young People. I love this little part of our life of exploring and learning! I’m hoping in a couple year to have each of us bring a poem to share during poetry tea.
We have done similar things through the years. The kids and I sometimes write our own poems and share them. I love it so much.
Hannah’s latest post: The Power of Poetry
This is a beautiful post, Hannah! We each (myself, also!) memorize a poem each 6-week term, so that’s 5 poems every 6 weeks we revisit and repeat again and again. I have found that repeating poems that way also helps with our affection for and understanding of the poems. And with a 4yo-myself, we get a range of poetry types every day, too, from Robert Louis Stevenson to Tolkien to John Donne.
I love this peek into your days. 🙂
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Wonderful!
Hannah’s latest post: The Power of Poetry
This is a lovely, beautiful post… we never get as far as the couch, but as long as someone is lingering over lunch we read poetry at the table. We have one really slow eater, but her siblings very often encourage her to linger longer. Poetry has turned out to be a real memory maker for us.
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I’m so glad to hear that!
Hannah’s latest post: The Power of Poetry
This warms my heart. Sharing!
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Hi Hannah,
As a poet and a mother who read aloud to my sons until they were well into their teens, I’m glad you hear and experience the value of poetry in the lives of your sons and yourself. Poets come in such a wonderful array of mayhem and madness and mixed-up music, from Dennis Lee to Don McKay and Tomas Transtromer and Seamus Heaney and Sue Goyette and Mary Oliver and and and. Keep reading!
Great to hear from you!
Hannah’s latest post: The Power of Poetry
A good and motivational write up. I am glad to know that you’ve created such a good atmosphere and contributed your quality time for poetry reading at home.
I enjoyed reading this. You’ve always been a lover of words. I am so proud of you.