Poetry Teatime: January

Poetry teatime is sort of a "thing" in home ed circles, originally inspired by the Brave Writer curriculum. Traditionally it happens on Tuesdays, and the idea is to introduce kids to poetry while savoring tea treats and making memories. I have always loved the idea, but a weekly tea hasn't worked in our schedule for a variety of reasons, and consequently we never did teatimes at all. Then, as I was planning our 2020 home education year, it occurred to me that we could do a poetry teatime monthly instead. This works perfectly for us for a number of reasons: one, I already try to have a theme for our learning each month, so I can just fit tea time in with that theme; two, I can handle prepping a fancy tea once a month even with a new baby; three, it fits better into our schedule by giving us space in the other weeks to explore other interests. This is especially important for Justin who, in his own words, likes poetry "okay" but doesn't "really consider it necessary." Haha!

Anyway, we had a lovely afternoon. I am really trying to focus our "extra" time (i.e. all the things beyond the basics of math, writing, reading, and typing) on exposing the kids to truth, beauty, and goodness. As they get older I feel the weight of their education on my shoulders and this is how I don't panic: if they are numerate and literate they can teach themselves anything, and if I enrich their minds and souls with beautiful truth and goodness they will want to keep on learning. So far it seems to be working, as they are curious and passionate learners, but we haven't yet hit the teen years...Actually, they seem to be spectacularly thriving no matter what I do, but regardless, a little poetry can't hurt, right?

So, philosophizing aside, here's the nitty gritty of our January tea.

Poems: Maurice Sendak's "Chicken Soup with Rice"; Emily Dickinson's, "It Sifts from Leaden Sieves"; John Updike's "January"; William Carlos Williams's "January"; Robert Frost's masterful "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" (this last we read from the spectacular Susan Jeffers illustrated version).

Music: Tchaikovsky's "Winter Dreams"; Josef Strauss's "Winterlust Polka"; Emile Waldteufel's "Skater's Waltz" (Rebecca was so excited to recognize the polka from and waltz as pieces she had heard before.)

Food: Chicken soup with rice, apples and cinnamon, herbal tea, and cinnamon sugar snowflake tortillas (these last were so fun to make--the sensory experience of cutting the soft tortillas was, for some reason, delightful for all of us)

We had a great time. Both kids loved the food and Justin endured the poems. His favorite was the Updike (same for Rebecca). They also both immediately figured out the subject of the Dickinson poem (despite complex language) and we had a nice chat about the Frost poem. Rebecca had a great time helping me prepare, and Katie helpfully took a forty minute nap in her bed while we read the poems.

So, can you guess what our theme for January's learning is?