Poetry for the Grammar Stage Homeschool Curriculum {Memoria Press Review}

Are you looking for a way to incorporate poetry into your homeschool, but are unsure of what poetry curriculum to use?  Poetry for the Grammar Stage Set from Memoria Press is an excellent homeschool poetry curriculum for the elementary grades.

With its brightly colored orange lettering, Poetry for the Grammar Stage is the first in the Memoria Press poetry series.

Disclaimer: This post has been sponsored by Memoria Press. I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.  

Poetry for the Grammar Stage comes with the Student Guide, Teacher Guide, and the Anthology.  The Anthology contains a collection of poems with some simple black and white illustrations.

Poetry for the Grammar Stage Teacher’s Guide

The Poetry for the Grammar Stage Teacher’s Guide works solely as an answer key.  Although there are selected lessons that contain a “teacher’s note” that provides clarity for answers, or in the case of the poem England’s Sovereigns in Verse, explains why the lesson format is different.

Otherwise, pages are identical to the Student Guide with the answers filled in.  At the beginning of both the Student and Teacher’s Guide is a section titled “How to Teach a Poem” that gives tips on how to enrich the poem analysis experience. 

Also included is a list of books related to the Classical Core Curriculum for the poem or group of poems being studied.  Titles include Charlotte’s Web, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Hobbit, and Book of Trees among others. 

Both also contain a Glossary and The History of Paul Revere’s Ride in the Appendix.  (My new favorite poem may be The Midnight Ride of William Dawes.) The Glossary is helpful for explaining poetry-specific terminology such as a motif, pararhyme, synecdoche, etc. that you will encounter.  The terminology is not defined or explained in the lessons themselves.  If your child is not already familiar with things such as alliteration, you will need to decide whether the definition in the glossary and example in the poem is enough, or if you will need to do a side lesson to explain.

Related| Fourth Grade Classical Literature Set from Memoria Press

Poetry for the Grammar Stage Student Guide

In the Poetry for the Grammar Stage Student Guide, the lessons are laid out so your child first reads the poem.  Then there is a space provided for them to draw a picture and illustrate what they feel the poem is talking about.

The next section is the Copybook.  For shorter poems, the students copy the entire poem.  For longer poems, it asks them to copy their favorite part or a selection.

Following is a list of vocabulary specific to the poem being analyzed and their definitions.  After Vocabulary is the section where they are asked to analyze the poem.  This consists of determining the rhyming structure, the speaker, and writing out the rhyme scheme.  Some lessons will also ask to underline or explain the literary devices being used.

The final section contains the comprehension questions.  These are the questions that dig deeper and cause the child to really think about what is happening in the poem and why.  To think about why the author may have phrased things the way they did or what certain phrases may mean.  These are good discussion questions.  Whether you read these beforehand and use them to guide your discussion or have your child answer them and then discuss is up to you.

Related| Simply Classical Writing for Elementary Students from Memoria Press

Suitable Grades for Memoria Press Poetry for the Grammar Stage

The suggested grade level is 3-7, the grammar stage in Classical Education.  I had my daughter who is in 5th-grade work through this.  She was able to mostly work independently.  We would discuss the poems she read and talked about what she liked or didn’t like and why.  Occasionally, we would use the Anthology to read the poem aloud so she could hear the cadence.  She learned that she likes the poems that tell a story best.  Her favorite so far was The Spider and the Fly. 

With my 3rd grader, I would need to be a lot more involved.  We would have at least answered the comprehension questions together and I would have needed to pre-teach each of the literary devices used. 

Older students should be able to work independently. In order to get the most out of the poetry curriculum, you will still want to discuss each poem as well as any of the questions they missed. Discussions don’t need to be long or terribly in-depth.  Short and simple are good as well.

Overall Thoughts on Poetry for the Grammar Stage Homeschool Curriculum from Memoria Press

Poetry for the Grammar Stage is a good introduction to poetry.  The poems were varied, both in style and length, and there was a good variety of poets also.  They began easy and slowly increased in difficulty.  As your child progresses and becomes accustomed to what is expected the progression in difficulty will feel natural.

This homeschool poetry curriculum does not include having students write their own poems nor does it delve into the grammatical aspects of poetry.   It’s focus is on getting children accustomed to reading poetry, recognizing literary techniques, and thinking about what the poem might mean.

Poetry can bring such beauty into a child’s life and Poetry for the Grammar Stage from Memoria Press can help you achieve that.