Here's the links to our entire 10-week free poetry course for kids, ready to start whenever it works for your family.
Feel free to work through the course at your own pace, moving faster or slower as needed.
Here's the full curriculum:
What to expect in the course.
Poetry for Kids Week One: Cliche busting!
Learn about cliches and why they're so bad for poetry. Then have some fun creating fresh new ways of saying common cliches. Also find out how many common sayings and images we got from Shakespeare and look for cliches in your environment.
Poetry for Kids Week Two: Finding poetry in song lyrics
Learn how lots of poetry tricks (and common mistakes) can also be found in songs, and look for good poetry in lyrics. Check out some of the recommended poetry books for kids and also see if you can improve the lyrics in some songs.
Poetry for Kids Week Three: Easy poetry forms for kids
Learn about found poetry, along with lots of fun and simple poetry forms that kids can try out. Visit one of the recommended sites and write some poems this week, plus memorize a short poem to recite.
Poetry for Kids Week Four: The sounds of good poetry
Learn about the ways poets use sounds to make their poetry great, such as rhyme, repetition, alliteration and rhythm. Work on using these devices yourself and also have fun with baby names!
Poetry for Kids Week Five: Poetry crafts and games
Have some fun with poetry! Try blackout poetry, recycled words, poetry journals and more. You can also try my favorite poetry exercise. During the week, you'll read some new poets and poems, explore poems about themes and get to know Maya Angelou.
Poetry for Kids Week Six: Free writing!
Learn what free writing is and do some free writing this week to help kick start the creative process and get some poetic beginnings.
Poetry for Kids Week Seven: Layers of meaning
This week covers the hidden meanings of many poems. Read through two famous poems and see if you agree with what some people think they're about. Also learn about the hidden meanings in some nursery rhymes. You'll also learn about ways to find hidden meanings and ways to work them into your own poetry.
Poetry for Kids Week Eight: 10 Steps to better poetry
Find out all sorts of ways to make your own poetry better.
Poetry for Kids Week Nine: 24 Poets every child should know
From Edward Lear to Nikki Giovanni, here's a list of poets that will give kids a rich poetic foundation. Some of the poets are children's poets and many are not, but all the poets on the list write poetry that's accessible for children. There's also a list of lots of ways to incorporate the poets and their poems into your homeschooling.
Poetry for Kids Week Ten: Wrapping up and where to publish children's poetry
Find lots of magazines that publish children's poetry, plus web sites where you can share and talk about poetry, and more.
Stay tuned for more creative writing courses in the future!
