Nice poems for little ones to learn

[bookbard]

I'm afterschooling my 6 year old and also have a 4 year old. They have good memories. I've been getting them to learn some useful things such as "30 days hath September" (6yr old) "days of the week" (4 yr old), and some simple poetry. 

 

So far they have a couple of A A Milne (eg now I am six), Arabian Nights (here), Triantiwontigongolope (this is a famous Australian poem, here).

 

 Could you share a few nice poems your little ones have enjoyed reciting, and you feel are worthwhile? 

 

Thanks.

[Guest]

At that age, I took all my kids poems from this adorable OOP book that we still look through regularly.

https://www.amazon.com/Very-young-verses-Barbara-Geismer/dp/B0007DL49G

Other sources for us are A Journey Through Time, Heather Thomas. And the iew poetry book, though those get too long for use really quickly.

And Living Memory.

http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/sku/049348/

The first one is my favorite.

 

Edited February 19, 2017 by OKBud

[Piper]

Another OOP recommendation would be the "Book for Kids" by C.J.Dennis... Lots of fun poems, not only for memorising, but also for reading aloud, to accompany "Triantiwontigongolope". One of our faves is "The Ant Explorer". Most of it is available online now, though you can probably find a print copy on Ebay if you really want a physical copy.

There are many wonderful, simple poems in "The Harp and Laurel Wreath". We used that extensively when memorising poetry in the younger grades. (You'll find it useful continuing through higher grades, also.)

ETA: links

Good luck and have fun with the poems!

Edited February 18, 2017 by Piper

[Amateur Actress]

A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. There are lots of editions and you can get it fairly cheap. Lovely poems all about being a child. Two of our favorites are "My Shadow" and "The Land of Counterpane."

 

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/a-childs-garden-of-verses_robert-louis-stevenson/272006/?gclid=CK_UkOfqmdICFZK2wAodhcsNtw#isbn=0877016089&pcrid=70112866032&pkw=&pmt=&plc=

[Farrar]

This series has memory stuff that's in the practical category:

https://www.amazon.com/Miss-Pell-Never-Misspells-Remember/dp/054549477X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487431436&sr=8-1&keywords=miss+pell+never+misspells

 

And it's not OOP.

[...................]

A Child's Garden of Verses is/was our absolute favorite!!!

[bttrflyvld]

My daughter like this one:

 

THE PARTS OF SPEECH

Every name is called a NOUN,
As field and fountain, street and town

In place of noun the PRONOUN stands
As he and she can clap their hands

The ADJECTIVE describes a thing,
As magic wand and bridal ring

The VERB means action, something done -
To read, to write, to jump, to run

How things are done, the ADVERBS tell,
As quickly, slowly, badly, well

The PREPOSITION shows relation,
As in the street, or at the station

CONJUNCTIONS join, in many ways,
Sentences, words, or phrase and phrase

The INTERJECTION cries out, 'Hark!
I need an exclamation mark!'

Through Poetry, we learn how each
of these make up THE PARTS OF SPEECH .

[Alessandra]

My favorite is Helen Ferris, Favorite Poems Old and New. It's an old anthology, available used for a few cents.

 

Core Knowledge has a series of slender poetry books for each grade, about $5 each, iirc. Fun poems, very age appropriate. Has well known poems, like Solomon Grundy, and also some newer ones. Selections are designed to help teach about poetry -- repetition, alliteration, etc. (just saw some used on Amazon for 1 cent)

 

ETA

I'd also check public library for audio resources. Hearing a poem read well can be game-changing.

 

ETA again

I found one of our favorite poems from the Ferris book. I wanted something *easy*.

 

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/44619

 

The Little Turtle

 

By Vachel Lindsay

 

There was a little turtle.

He lived in a box.

He swam in a puddle.

He climbed on the rocks.

 

He snapped at a mosquito.

He snapped at a flea.

He snapped at a minnow.

And he snapped at me.

 

He caught the mosquito.

He caught the flea.

He caught the minnow.

But he didn't catch me.

Edited February 19, 2017 by Alessandra

[Rush]

My kids' favourite book of poems is "Where the sidewalk ends" by Shel Silverstein.

 

Also my eldest read "My doggy ate my homework" by Dave Crawley for Show & Tell in his class last year and it was a huge hit

 

[mom2att]

Mine memorized a few Robert Louis Stevenson pieces at that age ("The Moon," "My Shadow" come to mind). We also did Bible verses.

 

And when they were a little older, we liked "A Child's Introduction to Poetry" by Michael Driscoll. Ours came with a CD that we enjoyed listening to, and my youngest learned Jabberwocky from that.

 

 

[bookbard]

Thanks everyone, I've dug through a few of our poetry books and found some good ones. Lots out there!

[Serenade]

My daughter like this one:

 

THE PARTS OF SPEECH

Every name is called a NOUN,

As field and fountain, street and town

 

In place of noun the PRONOUN stands

As he and she can clap their hands

 

The ADJECTIVE describes a thing,

As magic wand and bridal ring

 

The VERB means action, something done -

To read, to write, to jump, to run

 

How things are done, the ADVERBS tell,

As quickly, slowly, badly, well

 

The PREPOSITION shows relation,

As in the street, or at the station

 

CONJUNCTIONS join, in many ways,

Sentences, words, or phrase and phrase

 

The INTERJECTION cries out, 'Hark!

I need an exclamation mark!'

 

Through Poetry, we learn how each

of these make up THE PARTS OF SPEECH .

 

I have a 14 year old and a 17 year old who need to memorize this poem.