Memory work

When we stared school in the fall, I read a number of other homeschool blogs. In the fall, people tend to put out what curriculum/books/units they are planning to use, etc. I read on this blog that she was planning to do memory work with her kids using Shel Silverstein. Now, I am a Silverstein fan from way back. We never had any of the books, but my best friend J did. I loved them. I coveted them. I wanted them. I had to wait until I was an adult to get them, but now I have a good number of them. Still, even when I read that this was part of her plan, it did not occur to me to even think about trying it. Kindergarten is too young to memorize poetry, isn't it?

Turns out it is not. And turns out that Shel Silverstein is perfect for this level. Kiddo finds the poems hilarious. We spent the last two weeks committing "The Acrobats" from "Where the Sidewalk Ends" to memory. He knows it much better than I do at this point, and it thrilled that he can recite the whole thing. We'll probably do a few more Silverstein poems before I try branching out to some of my other favorite poets. What a treat to be able to share them with the kids!