Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization

[IATeachingMom]

I'm on board with poetry memorization, but what curious from those that use this program or their own, what benefits are you seeing? How is it helping your child(ren)? When did you start seeing benefits/reaping the rewards?

[Laura Corin]

I see enormous vocabulary and delightful chunks of poetry dropped into every day speech. I started to see it from about age eight or nine.

 

ETA: sorry - I was replying about the general effect on language of poetry - I didn't know that there was a specific programme by that name. I just use good poems that I find.

 

Laura

Edited February 25, 2010 by Laura Corin

[ladydusk]

My kids are little and the oldest 2 are on poem 9 (R-girl will start poem 4 next week, but she *knows* most of the others at this point), so the main benefits I'm seeing now are exercising their minds to remember and hold large chunks of information; clear enunciation of words (we do recitations every Saturday for Daddy); that delightful vocabulary and syntax Laura claims (not a lot, every once in a great while when the situation fits); an enjoyment of poetry (which I managed to grow up without); and, finally, an understanding of the meter and rhythm of poetry.

 

We do a *lot of memory work (Creeds, Bible, Catechism, Hymns, Poetry, Skip Counting, misc other things I assign), most of it completely orally (only M-girl reads). We aren't doing a lot of content yet, so next year there'll be a good deal more. They kind of grumble when we're learning, but they love reciting for Daddy.

 

Leigh Bortins linked this article on her blog recently about waiters no longer memorizing dinner orders even at high price restaurants. I thought it was interesting to think about memorization as a skill you exercise by working at it. I also have thought in the past how helpful it would be for *me* to have a stronger memory for (especially auditory) ideas. I would love to be able to take better notes of sermon/at Bible study, be better at remembering people's names the first time, etc. So I'm memorizing along with the children hoping to improve, myself. (They're a lot better at it, I really have to work!)

 

Hope that helps, I know it I went a bit of a rabbit trail.

[NancyNellen]

I have been an avid fan of LDTPM for four years now. In that time, my oldest two children have memorized 56 poems. And they really have them tucked away in those brains! We do a time of poetry recitation every Monday morning, and they amaze me with their abilities to recite.

 

The first benefit that I saw was simply a love of poetry and a desire to read/know more. This began straightaway, from day 1 of using the program.

 

Secondly, exposure to rich and sophisticated language has increased their vocabulary. I will frequently hear a verse repeated at an apt moment, or even better, hear a parody of one of the poems they have memorized. I love that they have a rather mature understanding of metaphor and other figures of speech.

 

Thirdly, the constant memorizing has increased their ability to memorize. I keep thinking that their brains will eventually fill up with all of these poems and Scriptures. But they seem even more able to easily memorize as time goes on.

 

Finally, it has exposed them to some great classics, such as Frost's Road Not Taken, Whitman's O Captain! My Captain!, and Thayer's Casey at the Bat. Many of the poems are great conversation starters, teaching about historical events or providing windows into another time or culture.

 

Plus, it's just fun! That's an added bonus.

[IATeachingMom]

Thanks all....we're only 4 poems into LDTPM, but my son loves to listen to the whole CD in the car......even the poems he hasn't memorized yet.

[JessMcG]

Is there an advantage to buying this program instead of just putting together my own poetry memorization program (with poems I can find on CD at the library)?

[mommyagain]

Where can I find this program? Do you think it would be helpful for kids with auditory processing issues and speech delays?

[NancyNellen]

The advantage, for me, is that it is open and go. I spend a lot of time planning writing and history, and I love that LDTPM can just be done with absolutely no prep time on my part. Other than that, I'm sure a similar program could be cobbled together for next to no $. LDTPM is pricey - probably way overpriced for what it is - but with 5 kids (and the fact that I anticipate using it for 10-12 straight years :-) it is worth it for me.

[NancyNellen]

You can find it at IEW's site.

[laughing lioness]

:001_smile:We are 1/2 way through section 2 and have used it with our 7, 10, 14 and 19 yo on and off for the past couple of years. We LOVE LATPM.

Benefits- lots of shared laughter as they quote poems whenever the fancy hits. For instance, my (then) 8 yo broke into a recitation of "After the Party" directly after my oldest's going away party. My skeptical of homeschooling mil beamed! We frequently break into bouts of "The Vulture" cause we have some near our property, etc.

Their ability to memorize is strenghtened. Lots of more "mature" useage of language.

Thier ability to "get"' poetry in books is much higher (Beowulf, Odyssey).They are entering the "Great Conversation" from a different point of view. We also used Logos' Grammar of Poetry last year in conjunction with poetry memorization and they LOVED to write poetry. Maybe cause after memorizing "Ooey Gooey" it's no longer something beyond their grasp.

And an added bonus for those useing LATPM by Pudewa, my 10 year old "sloppy speaker" (you know the type- they just have a difficult time being understood. He's not trying to mumble, he just has to work doubly hard to move his mouth) LOVEs to imitate Pudawa's impecible speech. Bonus for both of us, as I don't have to constantly be saying, "MOVE your mouth" and he feels successful.

The bonus to buying this program is that it's on CD and the kids learn the poems quickly because they have the added bonus of listening to them.

It is produced and sold through IEW (Institute for Excellence in WRiting).

Additional bonus- my younger kids LOVE listening to the CD's as we are driving. To them it is relaxing.

I'm pretty sure that Laura Corin puts together her own poetry memorization program.

[abbeyej]

Is there an advantage to buying this program instead of just putting together my own poetry memorization program (with poems I can find on CD at the library)?

 

You could definitely do something quite similar on your own, just pulling together good poetry for your kids to memorize. The CD is an extra -- you don't *have* to have it, and you could go without a CD or record your own voice reading, etc...

 

The book does give you a great article detailing the *why* of poetry memorization and the *how* (based largely on Pudewa's history with Suzuki music instruction). And that's very nice to have.

 

After that, you get a really nice mix of poems (and a wee bit of prose in the higher levels) which is great for "grab and go". That, to me, is very helpful -- though we also pull a lot of poetry from other sources. (I also found it a lot more varied than the poetry in The Harp and Laurel Wreath which I really *wanted* to love but found so repetitive that I just couldn't.)

 

But if you already know the hows and whys of poetry memorization and you have a good handle on a range of things you want your kids to learn (I liked that while some of Pudewa's selections were old favorites for me, others were new ones I hadn't encountered before and would not likely have selected on my own), then you can absolutely do this on your own.

 

I do think the program is overpriced, and that's unfortunate. It's the only reason I don't recommend it even more -- 'cause I think it's a fabulous resource!

[Paintedlady]

We've been using it for 2 years and we LOVE it! It's my favorite curriculum. For my dyslexic dd it helps build her memory skills. For my lazy talking (mumbling) ds it helps him to enunciate and for both kids it helps build their vocabulary.

 

I also have them illustrate each poem and now they each have a binder full of illustrated poems to show off to grandparents or use at the literature/art fair.

[anabelneri]

Wow, thanks for posting about this product! My 6yo loved the poetry memorization in FLL, but that was the only thing, and we haven't done any memorization since starting MCT. But this looks great!

 

Yay! :)

[SBP]

We started this years ago, when my dc were maybe 5 and 6 years old, and we got into the second level of poems (along with a couple of fun ones from the third level that we just wanted to do) and then got so swamped trying to keep up with Classical Conversations memory work that I let it fall to the wayside. We never bought the CD. I made my own CD's for awhile, and sometimes I'd let them record themselves saying the poems, which was always fun. Anyway, I didn't regret paying the $25 or so for the book, and like Abbey, I found it a much better fit for our family than the Harp and Laurel Wreath.

 

I now have preteens and we're no longer doing Classical Conversations. The Pudewa poetry anthology has been on my shelf for several years. But after seeing all the glowing reviews here, I recently broke down and bought several of the MCT language arts materials, including "Building Poems." And yesterday, when we were discussing meter, I asked the kids if there were any poems they remembered that they wanted to try to scan, and they immediately started calling out the poems they'd learned when they were 5, 6, 7, 8 years old. "Let's do 'The Tyger'"... "No, let's do 'Stopping by Woods...'" And the cool thing is that they remembered every word of these poems. And while we were scanning "The Tyger," my DD10 said, "Hey, what does this poem really mean, anyway?" So we talked about that, and I actually got to pat myself on the back a little for doing something right all those years ago when we memorized those poems. Because now the kids view them as old friends. They're not intimidated by them, any more than they would be by "Humpty Dumpty".

 

This is exactly what Pudewa says will happen, and it's exactly what TWTM says will happen, but it's still somehow sparkly and special to see it happening with my own kids. Especially right now, because frankly, homeschooling "tweens" gives me a whole lot more bang-my-head-against-a-brick-wall moments than it does pat-myself-on-the-back moments.

 

So that's my overlong .02, and having written all that, I think we'll go back to memorizing poetry :).

 

Best,

 

SBP

[Mom0012]

Whenever my daughter is asked what her favorite subject is, she always says, "POETRY!". She loves the program and my son really likes it too. It is great for working on memory skills and vocabulary and just a general love and appreciation for words. You could certainly pick your own poems to memorize, but I think Pudewa has put together a great collection. So many of them are funny and relevant to my kids. My daughter was recently noticing how he picked two "opposite" poems ("The Boy Who Would Not Shut the Door" and "Rebecca, Who Slammed Doors, and Perished Miserably") and oh, how that gave her a chuckle.

 

Expensive, but worth every penny.

 

Lisa

[Paintedlady]

I wanted to say something about the cost. At first I was put off by the cost, but then realized it was intended to cover several years. I bought the book and cds, which I highly recommend, and figured $65 for 3-4 years worth of poetry wasn't so bad after all. And now after having used it for 2 years, I don't mind having paid what I did.

[JessMcG]

Would someone please tell me the time range of the poems in the first section? :)

[abbeyej]

Would someone please tell me the time range of the poems in the first section? :)

 

I'm not sure I understand the question. Do you mean the length of each poem? Or the amount of time to memorize the poems in the first level? Or if the publication dates are tied to a particular historical time period? Something else?

[JessMcG]

Hee hee... I meant the time it takes to recite the poem. I'm making the assumption that it's listed with each track on the cd. I want to know the length of shortest poem and the longest one.

[daisychics]

Hee hee... I meant the time it takes to recite the poem. I'm making the assumption that it's listed with each track on the cd. I want to know the length of shortest poem and the longest one.

 

The shortest one is 32 secs and the longest one is 1:47. I have a dd5 that just went along with ds and she has memorized all 19 poems :D (bragging mom).

[daisychics]

:001_smile:We are 1/2 way through section 2 and have used it with our 7, 10, 14 and 19 yo on and off for the past couple of years. We LOVE LATPM.

 

We are starting our section 2 and was wondering how long it's taking you to memorize section 1 along with section 2? So far we do the odd ones one day with the new poem from section 2 and then do the even ones (section 1)another day with the new poem(on section 2). :001_huh: It's long some days. :lol: I guess we could do half in the morning and half after lunch.

[JessMcG]

Thanks Daisychics!