Well, if you mean am I using a curriculum to teach poetry, then no, I am not teaching Ella poetry - in the same sense that I am not "teaching" her language arts, grammar, punctuation, reading comprehension, etc. (Well, actually, I once tried to get her to do a reading comprehension workbook and that experiment failed spectacularly - not because she couldn't do it, but because she was bored out of her wits.) At this point in time, I feel that there is no need for me to get a curriculum/workbook to specifically teach her these things because I feel that her time would be better spent just reading lots and lots of good books and good poetry and it would be more natural and enjoyable to learn these things this way. In the long run, this approach may not be enough and I may eventually need to use a more structured approach to make sure that nothing falls through the cracks, but this would probably not be necessary in the next couple of years at least.
That being said, I do think it is important for Ella to read and listen to poetry. The reasons are the same as why I teach her art and art appreciation. I want her not only to be able to use language but also to appreciate the beauty of it, to have a good sense of rhyme and rhythm, to be able to marvel at the clever turn of a phrase or the witty use of a metaphor, and to appreciate the beauty of the world around her. I would love for her to grow up with the mind of a scientist and the soul of a poet.
And so, of course, we have a bigger-than-usual collection of poetry books in both English and Chinese, and she probably knows more Chinese Tang and Song Dynasty poems than the average elementary student. Of all her poetry books, these are her all-time favorites:
Poetry Speaks to Children:
http://www.amazon.com/Poetry-Speaks-Children-Book-Read/dp/1402203292/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327657796&sr=1-3A Child's Book of Poems:
http://www.amazon.com/Childs-Book-Poems-Gyo-Fujikawa/dp/1402750617/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327657683&sr=1-1A Child's Garden of Verses:
http://www.amazon.com/Childs-Garden-Verses-Robert-Stevenson/dp/1402750625/ref=pd_vtp_b_1If you want something a little more advanced than the usual children's collection, try A Child's Introduction to Poetry:
http://www.amazon.com/Childs-Introduction-Poetry-Mountains-Battles/dp/1579122825/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_topAnd, my personal favorites, because they combine fantastic poetry, observations of nature, science lessons, and clever riddles are the books by Joyce Sidman. We have collected almost everyone of her books and Ella never tires of them!
Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow:
http://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Eyes-Other-Secrets-Meadow/dp/B006TQZ9UK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327657626&sr=8-1If someone else is interested in a list of our Chinese poetry book collection, I will post it for you. In the meantime, I would love to get some good recommendations for children's poetry books in French and Spanish, preferably original ones and not translations from English works. Thanks!
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