A Brave Writer's Life in Brief

We are a new homeschooling family as of this past September and have had several struggles in the journey. A friend of mine referred me over to Brave Writer with the hope that it could help us. I immediately loved all the ideas…..I was getting inspired! Yes, we could do this!

One of the struggles we have had is that my youngest does not like school and writing. (We just had her assessed and are awaiting the results…we suspect dysgraphia.) But I knew there was a way that I could help her love learning. So I started watching lots of periscopes and voila…POETRY TEA TIME! That’s it! I had to try it!

So, one morning I surprised the girls with our kitchen table all prepped for Poetry Tea Time. I had put out my china tea cups out, hot tea (and yes, I even bought PG Tips), crumpets, muffins, fruit, candles, and duct tape flowers the girls had previously made. With the help of the BraveScopes FB page, I had selected a few poetry books from our library. It was the perfect setting.

The girls woke up to it with huge smiles on their face. Yes…a big win!!!!!!

We read, we drank, we ate, we laughed….it was perfect! After one hour, they didn’t want it to end! Wow, were these the same kids?!?!

It was such a hit, that we decided to alternate who was in charge of planning it each week. Remember, the youngest who hates school and writing? Well, she begged to be the first in charge. ? She pulled out her journal and WROTE out her whole plan. The menu, the decorations, and she even wrote out special messages on cards to each of us. And she went to the library and picked out the poetry books….I didn’t even help…she asked the librarian to help her so that I was surprised. She has made special decorations to hang as well. This child is learning, having fun, and she doesn’t even realize it! WOOHOO!!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Poetry Tea Time was our first Brave Writer experience and it will not be the last…..such a huge impact in our lives! It has given me the confidence to continue homeschooling and know that we can do it with fun, laughter, and peace.

Valerie

Visit our NEW Poetry Teatime website!

Our homeschool has a poetry tea time and we love it! Sometimes we have tea, sometimes hot chocolate but always we have poetry and fun! We don’t have a time scheduled for poetry tea time because we find time when it is best for our schedules and our moods!

Right now we are using the book “The Llama Who Had No Pajama” by Mary Ann Hoberman and the girls really love it! Sometimes we use our kindles and read poetry on our devices but our favorite way is to hold a book!

I love your blog and your posts and as a newbie in the blogging world. I look to you for a lot of inspiration!

Thank you for being you!

Taj

Visit Taj’s blog for more about their Poetry Teatime!

“If you are cold,
tea will warm you;
if you are too heated,
it will cool you;
if you are depressed,
it will cheer you;
if you are excited
it will calm you.”

~William Ewart Gladstone

Visit our NEW Poetry Teatime website!

One of my goals as a mom is to encourage a love of reading in my children. I use our weekly Poetry Tea Time as a perfect way to introduce poetry, nursery rhymes, fairy tales, and Aesop fables to my toddler and preschooler. I love how it slows the day down and provides a chance for us to connect with each other.

My children are under 4 years old. Each week, we gather with lots of snack options – it can be leftover Christmas cookies, or doughnuts, or sandwiches, and cheese. I will serve hot chocolate and let them pour in milk and sugar (it’s good hand-eye coordination practice!).

I’ve spent the first few weeks just practicing reading to them while we sat around the table, so our book selection has varied. We’ve read The Jesus StoryBook Bible, Aesop’s Fables, Zoo of Emotions (by Teneisha Jones), Mother Goose, and silly books like Llama Llama Goes To The Beach.

My kids, through bites of cookies and treats, constantly say “Read more!!! Read more!”

~Bethany

Visit our NEW Poetry Teatime website!

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We share poetry titles on our Poetry Teatime Pinterest board. Suggested books often come from the featured teatimes of Brave Writer families. Here are the titles we highlighted during the last year.

Poetry Books Featured in 2015

The Poem That Will Not End: Fun with Poetic Forms and Voices by Joan Bransfield Graham
More Parts by Tedd Arnold
Poetry for Young People by Carl Sandburg
Forest Has a Song by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater
The Harp and Laurel Wreath by Laura Berquist
Over the Hills and Far Away: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes collected by Elizabeth Hammill
Poetry for Young People by Emily Dickinson, edited by Frances Schoonmaker Bolin
Vile Verses by Roald Dahl
Take Me Out of the Bathtub by Alan Katz
A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
American Smooth by Rita Dove
The Kids World Almanac Rhyming Dictionary by Peter Israel and Peg Streep
Fairyland in Art and Poetry by Richard Doyle
If You Were a Chocolate Mustache by J. Patrick Lewis
Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child’s Book of Poems edited by Mary Michaels White
Halloween Stories and Poems edited by Caroline Feller Bauer
Tea Party Today: Poems to Sip and Savor by Eileen Spinelli
GUYKU: A Year of Haiku for Boys by Bob Raczka
Noisy Poems for a Busy Day by Robert Heidbreder
Dirt on My Shirt by Jeff Foxworthy
Poems to Perform by Julia Donaldson
Read-Aloud Poems: 50 of the World’s Best-Loved Poems for Parent and Child to Share by Gloria Hale

For more Poetry Teatime titles see our list for 2014.

Visit our NEW Poetry Teatime website!