Hi Julie,
After years of homeschooling all three of my children, only my youngest is at home this year. I have been struggling this year to come up with ways to make reading enjoyable for my youngest son, who is a very reluctant reader. I decided to give Teatime Tuesday a try, and although the poetry was Shel Silverstein instead of Shakespeare or Shelley, it was a wonderful experience!
We are already looking forward to next Tuesday. Thank you!
Michelle
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My children (ages 11 and 9) were thrilled when they walked into the schoolroom after lunch and saw the table set for Poetry Teatime. We simply covered our old, scratched-up coffee table with a table runner, some fake flowers from the dining room table, and some poetry books.
We read from Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends and Falling Up, and Thanhha Lai’s Inside Out and Back Again. We drank lemonade from an Asian teapot and cups brought back from Korea by my Korean sister-in-law and baked some pre-made sugar cookies for a treat. It was really a set-up made from things we already had in the house, nothing overly fancy.
I think it was a wise choice to start our first day of our new Bravewriter Lifestyle with such a fun, engaging activity. Now they are eagerly looking forward to next Tuesday!
~Kelly
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Hello Julie!
I am a new homeschooling mom and I am so thankful for the poetry tea idea. I have two boys, almost 11 and almost 8, and they were not too sure about the idea at first. But now, as I discuss making changes for our new semester, they have made sure that our poetry tea is part of our week—every week. We will have to change our day due to other classes they are taking, but we are all hooked!
Last semester, we read poetry from Caroline Kennedy’s book, “Poems to Learn By Heart” for several weeks and that was a favorite. Recently I picked up “A Child’s Introduction to Poetry” by Michael Driscoll at a garage sale. (Yay for garage sale finds!). My kids are digging the nonsense rhymes and I really like that they teach about different types of poetry—since I don’t have much recollection of that from my youth!
Sometimes we pull something to eat out of the pantry that we already have, and sometimes when I get the opportunity, I make them a special treat to surprise them. They have both learned to enjoy herbal tea and the fancy tea cups I’ve kept locked up in the china hutch for too many years. It’s been a delight to share something “feminine” with my two boys—who knew they would enjoy it so much??
We have also added our read aloud time to the tea, thus adding more literature and crossing off one more subject they don’t have to “suffer” through. All in all, it’s been a good learning environment and I’ve learned not to expect perfection from them in their habits or decorum! I have promised a trip to a “real tea house” at the end of the school year where they can practice the habits of gentlemen I am trying to teach them to appreciate.
Thanks again for the grand idea that was relatively simple to employ and now something we all look forward to each week—even their two year old sister who begs to join us for our “tea party.”
Blessings,
Katie
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Reading the poem “Pet Me!” from Dogs Rule! by Daniel Kirk
Hi Julie!
Although her older brother has been homeschooling since August, my daughter just began homeschooling this week, and the first thing she asked to do was Poetry Tea Time!
Tea Time at our house doesn’t usually involve fine china or crumpets. This week it was mugs of hot cocoa, Girl Scout cookies, and a lingering of the holiday mess. No matter! It was our most delightful tea time yet!
Thank you for an idea that inspires.
Amy
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Brave Writer mom, Jennifer, writes:
Hey Julie!
Just a quick note to say thanks. An old email of yours showed up in a search I was doing this morning and I remembered all the fab times my daughter and I had at Tea Time and writing outside and reading poems at breakfast…
You inspired a very pleasant atmosphere in our life.
Marianna is now off at college, an Arabic major with the Air Force ROTC. I still keep my own book of poems I’ve read and loved and copied down, as well as my own writings.
You made an impact in both our lives.
Thank you!
Jennifer
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