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Lovely article from the New Yorker on the value of memorizing poetry


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Halcyon, that is just a treat to the mind & the spirit. Lovely, indeed! written well, gently but thoughtfully argued; cogent & relevant. Thank you so very much for this unexpected pleasure. And it comes at a time when I'm considering how to design our memory work, and what the goals should be ...

 

:)

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I am so glad you enjoyed it Ana! We, too, are reevaluating our memory work, particularly for older, and this has reinvigorated me to focus more on beautiful poetry.

 

ETA: I actually looked up and printed the poems mentioned in the article. I particularly like Casabianca, gruesome though it is. I think my older would as well.

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Ok, got me interested. Point me in the direction of what to start memorizing, please. :)

 

 

Many posters here are fans of IEW's Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization.

 

It's on my "to buy soon" list. :) Along with Living Memory.

 

Also, just do a search here for "memory work". I JUST started memory work with my kids this week. I'm doing the CM "scripture memorization method", but have a long list of things to work on, not just scripture (in fact, VERY little, if any).

 

This week we started working on our address and telephone number, ROYGBIV, and a poem out of The Book of Virtues.

 

Some other things we'll be working on soon, along with new poems/songs:

 

Months of the year (for my 6 yr. old)

30 days hath September...

Character/Virtue definitions and examples

Planets in order from the sun

National Anthem(s) (they're dual citizens of Canada and the U.S.)

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Ok, got me interested. Point me in the direction of what to start memorizing, please. :)

 

My dd, who has been memorizing poetry for 7 or 8 years, suggested that I start with my favorite poem which is Sea Fever then The Swing because she knows I love to swing. Basically, start with something you love or something that speaks to your heart. After that you could try something important and dramatic like Invictus or pretty like I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.

 

Here is a great site for finding poetry if you don't have your own resources.

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Thank you for all the wonderful links in this thread. Poetry time, first thing in the morning, gets our homeschool off to a gentle start every day. And one of you reminded me that somewhere in my Word documents are the poems I planned to memorize myself! Better get on it.

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We had been doing so well with poetry memorization and then I just lost steam. I needed to update our notebook, type up new ones, etc. So, I put it aside until I could fix it. After reading the linked articles (thank you to all who linked), I decided today was the day to update the memory notebook and clean it out. So, we are ready to start afresh in the morning - poetry and (for us) Scripture memory work. :)

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Thanks for this kick in the pants.

We START school for the year tomorrow and in the holidays dd started to put together dividers for a memory box.

I think I'll print out a couple of start ups today to start strongly on day one.

 

She knows a lot of "The Owl and the Pussycat" and some Shakespeare etc, but it's largely Black-Adder, Monty Python, and song lines here.

She does enjoy reading poetry though and is looking forward to doing this.

(I'm currently downloading the BBC radio plays of Hitchhiker's Guide. Somehow I think that might become unintentional Memory-work too.)

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So maybe people could list their favorite poetry for memorization that they have used? I'll start!.

 

Both kids have learned The Arrow and The Song by Longfellow, My Shadow by Stevenson, There Was an Old Man with a Beard by Lear, There is No Frigate Like a Book by Dickinson, The Little Turtle by Lindsay, and Boa Constrictor by Silverstein. They love funny poems, so Boa Costrictor and Lear's poetry are a hit.

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My boys' all time favorite is "'Twas the Night Before Christmas". They memorized the entire thing the month before Christmas in '11 and recited it at my mom's house. They still know most all of it (and usually one of us will fill in where someone else is stuck, so altogether, the boys and I know it all). It was a lot of fun to do.

 

Other than that, they all really enjoy most all Robert Louis Stevenson. Right now ds11 and ds9 are enjoying working on Henry Van Dyke's "America for Me".

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So maybe people could list their favorite poetry for memorization that they have used? I'll start!.

 

Both kids have learned The Arrow and The Song by Longfellow, My Shadow by Stevenson, There Was an Old Man with a Beard by Lear, There is No Frigate Like a Book by Dickinson, The Little Turtle by Lindsay, and Boa Constrictor by Silverstein. They love funny poems, so Boa Costrictor and Lear's poetry are a hit.

 

Don't ready my post if you are prone to compare kids:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Listing really is possible or practical. Older dd has learn some Shilverston, Suess, all of the IEW except two which she hated. She also learned a good part of Horatio at the bridge, a couple of Shakespeare soliloquies (from Hamlet, Lear and As you Like it) and a few hundred of the beginning lines of the Aened , and a few random Frost poems that she learned by accident. Right now, she just finished "Invictus" and "Death be Not Proud". Have I told you she has a scary memory? I always support the IEW Liguistic Dev. Through Poetry Mem. as a great place to start. Youngest is picking and choosing her way through instead of going front ot back and has about 10 plus four or five Waldorf class poems, a couple of random Lonflellows,and some Forst poems.

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Here are some poems the girls have memorized over the years:

 

The Swing by Robert Louis Stevenson

Who has Seen the Wind by Christina Rossetti

Trees by Joyce Kilmer

England's Sovereigns in Verse

If by Rudyard Kipling

excerpt from The Eve of St. Agnes by Keats

excerpt from Midsummer Night's Dream

excerpt from Henry V

 

This is all that I can remember right now.... :)

 

Here is their list for this year:

 

Younger dd:

 

"The Lady of Shalott" (Tennyson) (My older dd has already memorized this one and now the younger one has started it.)

"Annabel Lee" (Poe)

excerpt from "The Wreck of the Hesperus" (Longfellow)

"The Robin" (Thaxter)

 

Older dd:

 

"And Wilt Thou Weep When I am Low?" (Lord Byron)

"The Highwayman" (Noyes)

excerpt from Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves

Sonnet # 116 (Shakespeare)

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