MCT -- poetry for those who don't like poetry?

[Cindyg]

My son and I don't "get" poetry. We never did. We have a Reading curriculm that includes occasional poems (BJUP). We just read them, shrug, and move on. :)

 

I'm looking at the MCT website because we could use a vocabulary program, and it occurs to me that we don't have a poetry curriculum either. I can't even imagine having a poetry curriculum. DS would have a cow.

 

Will we "get" poetry with MCT?

 

Would the poetry and the vocab reinforce each other if we didn't use the rest of the package? (We'd probably be starting with Word Within the Word 1 for vocab and Poetry and Humanity for poetry if we were to do this.)

 

Or should we just order the vocab book and skip poetry?

 

Also, I've read that for the elementary books, you mainly need the TMs. Is this true for the middle school books as well?

[rafiki]

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[Granny_Weatherwax]

My DS was not too thrilled about studying poetry either. However, the Lit program I chose for him (Stobaugh) requires daily poetry reading and then MCTLA has poetry as a basic component. So he told me he would muddle through it, just like math.

 

Well, he is enjoying the poetry. We are using MCT's Poetry and Humanity book for the Secondary level and the poems have been wonderful. MCT did a nice job with the variety and type of poems to study, many of which MCT wrote himself.

 

Just yesterday DS was reading about the number of stanzas in certain types of poems and came across the villanelle. The example was one of MCT's poems; it was written about M&M's. DS was quoting the poem two hours later. Where else but in MCT will you read about M&M's scattered across the floor?

 

I think one of the reasons DS is 'getting' poetry with MCT is that the poems chosen for this level are not all feminine and flowery. MCT includes poems that grasp the masculine experience as well.

 

Will my DS throw away the DS and pick up the quill in an attempt to become a poet laureate? Probably not and that's fine. He will have a better understanding of the ebb and flow of words and how word selection can impact the value of a sentence.

[Rebecca VA]

This is so funny! I was just over at the MCT website looking at the poetry programs! My daughter claims to hate poetry -- and she does hate the flowery language -- but I think she would like the way MCT takes poetry apart and analyzes it.

 

As for BJU poetry...bleh (sorry). Much of the writing in the BJU Reading curriculum is written in-house and really can't be considered great literature.

[Rebecca VA]

OK, here's a piggyback question -- where does an older student start in MCT poetry? Way back at the beginning, at an accelerated rate? Or does the material repeat so that an older (seventh grade) student can pick up previously-taught concepts?

[swimmermom3]

OK, here's a piggyback question -- where does an older student start in MCT poetry? Way back at the beginning, at an accelerated rate? Or does the material repeat so that an older (seventh grade) student can pick up previously-taught concepts?

 

My son started MCT this year with the Voyage level. Up until this year, we had read a good deal of poetry but had not talked much about form. We had no difficulty starting with A World of Poetry. I did feel like we needed more work on meter and pulled in some worksheets from Figuratively Speaking. This is an assumption since I have only two of the poetry books on hand but it appears to me that the same topics are covered each year but with more depth and sophistication.

[Poke Salad Annie]

Could the poetry study be used as a stand alone? I am happy with our grammar program, and besides, dh has nixed buying any expensive programs. The poetry program is an investment of $20, and could be used for two years, true?

 

I think that I should also add that my 9 y/o loves poetry, so this is something I would be interested in.

[HSDCY]

My son and I don't "get" poetry either. We don't shun it but it's not something we make ourselves read often. We did MofH last year but couldn't really get it. To us, it's painful to analyse poetry so much. It's much easier to pick up Shel Silverstein's books and enjoy them (which we do).

 

I know lots of people use and love MCT's poetry book. We love all other books but poetry!:tongue_smilie:

 

We will try again later though when ds is mature enough to work through things that are painful and boring to him. But for now, we are just enjoying and learning from MCT's other books.