Douglas Florian | Mama Lisa's World Blog

Teaching an Appreciation of Poetry to Kids

Monday, November 26th, 2007

It’s interesting that in France they have children learn poetry as part of their schooling. Children have to memorize poems. Though difficult, memorization can help develop a special appreciation for poems. This is something that most of my generation in America didn’t really get as part of their general education. I often hear about people in the past from my parents’ generation having had to memorize material like the poetry of Eugene Fields. I think that’s partly why some people from that generation have such fond memories of his poetry.

I’ve noticed my daughter’s teacher is using poetry to teach reading in her first grade class. They read a poem or two a week and copy it into a notebook. I think it’s wonderful that her class is starting grade school with an appreciation for poetry.

One of the poets my daughter’s teacher likes is Douglas Florian. He’s very down-to-earth. Here’s one of his poems from his book called Handsprings:

What I Love About Spring

Trees are growing

Streams are flowing

Cool Spring showers

Blooming flowers

Caterpillars creep

Peepers peep

Playing sports

Wearing shorts

April Fools’

Swimming pools

Going places

Relay races

Days are longer

Sun is stronger

Every morning songbirds sing-

I love nearly everything!

I like the earthiness of this poem and I think young kids can relate to that aspect of it too. It’s a nice thing if you can help a child develop an appreciation for poetry. Finding poets and poetry that they can relate to is a step in the right direction.

-Mama Lisa

UPDATE: My original presentation of the lyrics of this poem contained misprints. Douglas Florian was kind enough to correct me.

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