Today’s the day! PoetryTeatime.com is NOW OPEN and we are bubbling with excitement!
Pour over the new site and be treated to
And coming soon: poet interviews!
PLUS enter our Poetry Teatime Contest where you might win a lovely bundle of poetry and tea related prizes (valued at over $100!).
Today is my birthday. I am sixty two years young. Four years ago when a health scare brought the fact of my mortality a little near to the beating of my heart, I found that, actually death is nothing to be afraid of. Living, now that’s another matter. To live well and enjoy the life we have is sometimes a struggle , but always a blessing.
I have more and more been trying to live in each moment, appreciating the beauty that is ever before me, whether it’s in nature or in the lives of the many people that make up my wonderful family.
Today, I have had numerous messages from family and friends, a few presents to enjoy and the company of children, grandchildren and a great grandchild as well as a friend who popped round with some stuff not realising it was my birthday and happily joined the celebration.
My favourite moments were this evening when we had “Poetry Tea Time” at Gram’s house. It was fabulous. The idea is: We bring to the table a teapot (full of tea), pretty cups, saucers, and tea plates, lots of homemade cakes (the making of which had already given hours of pleasure), crisps, and most important of all lots of poetry books. While we eat cake and drink tea we take turns to read (or if the child is too young to read, they might “tell”) poems that we have selected ourselves.
It is interesting how keen the children are to choose their own book and read poems they’ve chosen themselves. I was so proud of them all. And you all know what I think of sharing poetry together.
So much joy was had by all.
And at the end they all sang Happy Birthday to me.
From Grams Ramblings. Used with permission.
Poetry + tea + treats = enchanted learning and magical family time!
The Brave Writer staff has been working hard on a very special project that we’ll unveil March 29th—a brand new website celebrating:
In the last several months, we’ve seen a groundswell of enthusiasm for the way poetry teatimes have enriched families’ lives. Our brand new site is a gift back to you and the burgeoning community. We’ll share all the details with you, but we’re especially excited about
Also, to celebrate the new website we’re holding a Poetry Teatime Contest! Prize goodies include
PLUS everyone who signs up now for advance information about the upcoming contest will receive a FREE Poetry Teatime Quick Start Guide! Just click the image below!
We had a blast with our first-ever Poetry Pop! We had some soda from glass bottles the girls brought home from a party, ate cookies made from brownie mix that we had on hand, and read and read and read poetry. This experience will definitely be repeated!
Thanks!
Tamara
We are well into our second year of Brave Writer, and poetry teatimes have become a much anticipated part of our homeschool routine for my three children. My husband and I both enjoy poetry, and we appreciate the simplicity and regularity of the Brave Writer method of introducing it to our kids.
Poetry teatime usually means a lot of laughs at our table, as A.A. Milne and Jack Prelutsky are favorite poets with our young children. Chocolate mint tea (peppermint tea with some hot cocoa mixed in) is the most requested beverage, but sometimes “tea” for this age group is simply juice or lemonade, with a berry-flavored green tea thrown in every now and then. We have a variety of fancy tea cups given to us by each of my grandmothers, and part of the fun is watching the kids make their selections.
We are already seeing some expected and unexpected benefits of making poetry teatimes a priority. Our almost 9-year-old daughter’s weekly freewriting exercises have become increasingly lyrical over the last year, and she often writes original poetry just for fun. Our active 5-year-old, who began Kindergarten this year, not only sits and listens to poetry for extended periods of time, but also requests books of poetry to be read to him along with his usual set of picture books. Our 2-year-old enjoys poetry teatimes as well and has been known to randomly recite a phrase or two she heard earlier in the day when she is playing or looking at books.
Our kids are gaining a rich vocabulary and sense of the musical nature of language, growing in their ability to express themselves, and learning to appreciate the joy of sharing poetry together. Most of all, I love that in this fast-paced world where texting and social media has often replaced face-to-face communication, our family is preserving a moment of real connection and growing in our relationships with one another, which is one of our many reasons for homeschooling.
Kim
