A Brave Writer's Life in Brief

We finally did our first Poetry Tea Time! Well, we actually did one at our neighbor’s house a few weeks ago, and my kids LOVED it! But it still took that long for me to just go for it…

We had cookies my daughter baked over the weekend, and milk, read some poems and a few chapters from our current read aloud. It was simple, fun, and peaceful (well, except for my overly-hyper almost 7 year old son who just can’t possibly be calm for 5 minutes!)….but they can’t wait to do it again, and have asked that we just start every day like that….sitting around the table, enjoying breakfast and some read aloud time.

I will still try to keep “Poetry Tea Times” special, but definitely want to get back to reading around the table while enjoying yummy food….not only is it a wonderful memory for them, but it keeps my boy quiet….or at least muffled…while he’s eating. LOL

~Erin

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Enjoy this poem with your Tuesday Teatime:

Afternoon Tea
by Marianna Jo Arolin

My copper kettle
whistles merrily
and signals that
it is time for tea.
The fine china cups
are filled with the brew.
There’s lemon and sugar
and sweet cream, too.
But, best of all
there’s friendship, between you and me.
As we lovingly share
our afternoon tea.

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Marianna Jo’s first book of poetry, “Here In My Garden,” was published in 1999 by Watermark Press. Her poem, “Afternoon Tea,” is included in a lovely volume of poetry by Harvest House Publishers entitled, The Art of Tea and Friendship illustrated by Sandy Lynam Clough.

Image by Jeff Kubina (cc cropped)

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Brave Writer mom Jennifer writes:

I just wanted to share that my 6 (almost 7) year old daughter spontaneously wrote a poem today! This is such a feat since she has always been behind in language arts and her least favorite thing to do is write.

She did not start talking until she was 4 years old. When I say she wasn’t talking I mean next to nothing was coming out of her mouth, lots of defiant stares, but no words.

I decided to homeschool because I wanted her to have one-on-one help getting her caught up. After A LOT of work, she is at her grade level for reading and is as talkative as ever. Her least favorite thing to do is… WRITING!

She has had her days of tears and hulk-like rage at the prospect of writing and I was ready to give up. I made it my goal to focus on this aspect of language arts so we can foster a love of writing in our everyday lives.

I am SO GLAD I found the Brave Writer Lifestyle and products. I have been implementing the suggestions over the last month and am amazed at the results.

Poetry Tea is probably everyone’s favorite so far. While painting today she made a flower and made squiggly lines on her page. She told me, “I am writing a poem Mom.” I pulled the closest thing to me out and asked her to “read” me her poem. I jotted it down and was very impressed that she had such lovely thoughts to share.

Again, this is amazing because she has never enjoyed telling me anything to write down until now. I look forward to the progress we will make over the next year using this program!!

Here is Emily’s poem and painting:

Night Flower

When the flower only comes out at night
I saw how beautiful it was
It did not grow in sunlight
but the moon shined onto the flower
and it started to grow
It looked as beautiful as purple.

Images by Brave Writer mom, Jennifer. Painting by Emily.

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Hi Julie (and staff!),

First, I want to say thanks for being such an inspiration to everyone. You are helping me find my way in homeschooling and parenting. We thoroughly enjoy our teatimes, especially during the winter months. But, I will admit, they don’t often include poetry.

This particular tea time did. We finally got a “warm” day during this snowy month of February and decided to take teatime outside to get some fresh air. We spent the time sipping tea and letting our surroundings inspire us to come up with our own poetry.

Here is the one from my 7 year old daughter:

I Forgot

I forgot when I went out one winter day
I brought my bathing suit and shorts
Then I said, brr it’s cold for a summer day

Then I looked around and said “what’s that?’
Then I remembered it was a winter day.

I forgot you can’t really run in deep, deep snow
Or you’ll trip and fall you know.
I forgot that too.
Then I remembered when I fell flat on my face

And my 5 year old son came up with:

Snow falls down and around into a blanket of white.
It may be a little bit slippery, but that’s all right.
Everything sleeps in the blanket of white.

~Andrea

Image (cc)

Carter and Ava during tea time

I surprised the kids with a Mardi Gras theme. After learning about the history of Mardi Gras, we had a celebration! We read tongue twisters and silly sayings. Then, enjoyed our treats.

Thanks for a great idea! They are loving tea time!

Best Wishes!
Monica

Image (cc)

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