Thursday: The Importance of the Arts—Poetry

I completely forgot how much as a child I enjoyed poetry. I used to love poetry until one day of huge embarrassment in 5th grade. I had moved to a new school and with being as shy as I was (and kind of still am) I was terrified of all the new things. Our very first assignment was to write a poem in my English class. My teacher loved it so much he made me (the only one) read it to the whole class, then showed it to all the other 5th grade teachers and I had to read it for their classrooms. I still remember how I felt, completely sick and embarrassed. It was a completely private poem, talking about the changing of the seasons and relating it to myself having to move so often. I threw out that poem and every poem I had at home.

How silly of me (and over the top of me…my poor poor mother, I was a drama queen!)

I would really enjoy to get back into poetry and I think it would be beautiful literature to read my children, any child, at any age.

Poetry can tell a story, describe an object or situation, narrate an event, or simply express feelings.

Here are a few ideas to help your child (or even yourself) write their first poem:

• Give your child a list of words and ask them to create a poem using those words.
   
• Have your child write a poem in response to their favorite poems (or to songs, TV shows, or artworks).
   
• Encourage your child to write in the voice of someone else — a parent, friend, or teacher.
• Create a family poem and ask each member of the family to contribute one line.

Most importantly read poetry to your children, here is one of my favorites (also because it is in my favorite New Found Glory song 🙂 ):

Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost

 

Tags: importance of the arts, poetry, teaching children poetry, thursday

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