Old Year Gratitude; New Year Hope
This year — 2020 — is almost over. It’s been quite a year! Decades from now, I’m guessing that people will remember it most as the Year of the Pandemic; the year that Covid-19 changed the way that many of...
Tagged: poem
How to Enjoy Poetry Every Week
Do you read poetry and share it with your children? I’d like to prescribe a dose of poetry every single day, but I know that might seem daunting. How about poetry every week instead? Start with simple poems, laying a solid...
Easter Wings: A Poem for Spring
Springtime puts me into a poetic frame of mind, so by the time April arrives — it’s Poetry Month, you know — I have a stack of poetry by my chair and favorite lines running through my head. Most of the...
Reasons to be Thankful (including the 2015 Thanksgiving Sale!)
I’m at that giddy moment just after I’ve uploaded book and cover files to the printer, and am waiting for the proof copy. Let’s just say, cartwheels are happening somewhere, even as I sit here, soberly typing. This particular book has...
A Poem for Independence Day 2015
In honor of Independence Day 2015, here is a classic poem about the nickname of the American flag. Use it as copywork or just enjoy it! I’ve also included a stirring rendition of America the Beautiful and few pithy quotes....
Autumn Carnival: Looking Forward, Looking Back
This 463rd Carnival of Homeschooling offers a smorgasbord of creative ideas, inspiration, and practical tips for homeschooling. As you read each post, I hope you’ll find kindred spirits among the bloggers, and lots of good things to read as you sit by the fire and sip tea.
Two Poems and a March for Independence Day
In honor of United States of America’s Independence Day on the 4th of July, here are are two thought-provoking, classic poems, plus one of my all-time favorite marches. The first poem, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “A Nation’s Strength,” would make an excellent...
Gratefulness and Thanksgiving
Enjoy a poem (Gratefulnesse by George Herbert); a recipe (cranberry-orange relish), and a Thanksgiving sale, aka Homeschool Black Friday).
Poems for Spring by Gerard Manley Hopkins and Amy Lowell
Here are two spring poems by two of my favorite poets: Spring by Gerard Manley Hopkins and Lilacs by Amy Lowell. Both are suitable for copywork and recitation. Enjoy!
Winter Poems by Stevenson, Emerson, and Hardy
Sometimes a poem evokes the mood of a season more than anything else could. “Picture-books in Winter” by Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Snow Storm” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and “The Darkling Thrush” by Thomas Hardy are three of my favorites.
Requiem for Clue- A Very Old Dog: 1996-2009
Today we said good-bye to dear old friend. It’s never easy, and I’ll miss his ancient tottering steps following me through the house from dawn to dark. Today is the first time I’ve sat in my office chair, without needing...
“Gratefulness”- A Poem of Thanksgiving and a Recipe
This is my favorite Thanksgiving poem, and if you have been with me for many years, you know that you’ll receive it each year as my Thanksgiving “article.” It is a poem of grace and beauty, and I hope you...
Veterans’ Day 2008- The Soldier by Robert Frost
The Soldier by Robert Frost He is that fallen lance that lies as hurled, That lies unlifted now, come dew, come rust, But still lies pointed as it ploughed the dust. If we who sight along it round the world,...
Summer Reading Lists: What’s On Yours?
We’re back from the last convention of the season, and life is slowing down. It’s a good thing, because I came home with a pinched nerve, and am not supposed to be on the computer for more than 10 minutes...
Celebrate April with Hopkins, Frost, Eliot, and Rossetti
I’ve been stricken with spring fever and could not resist sharing the beauty of a few of my favorite spring poems. I’ll offer them without comment, as I believe they are best savored quietly. If you wish to learn more...
The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy (and SAT Essay Prep)
I leant upon a coppice gate When Frost was spectre-gray, And Winter’s dregs made desolate The weakening eye of day. The tangled bine-stems scored the sky Like strings of broken lyres, And all mankind that haunted nigh Had sought their...
Gratefulnesse by George Herbert
“Gratefullness” is one of my favorite poems, and I’m sharing it in honor of Thanksgiving.
“Barbara Frietchie” for Independence Day
I’ve always loved this poem for its depiction of the courage of spunky Barbara Frietchie. It doesn’t take place during the American Revolution, but I felt that the sentiment was entirely appropriate for Independence Day. With its simple rhyme scheme and catchy...
