No Stress Poetry Teatime and the Brave Writer Lifestyle

Poetry teatime. Does the thought conjure images of magical moments around the table loaded with poetry books, tasty treats, and a lovely tea set?

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The Brave Writer Lifestyle

I’m sure you know how much we love Brave Writer. Like love, love, love Brave Writer!

The Brave Writer lifestyle is all about building relationships with your family while incorporating a rich environment of language arts. This rich environment includes…

• Poetry Teatime
• Reading Aloud
• Big Juicy Conversations
• Freewriting
• Nature Journaling
• Writing Projects
• Art Appreciation
• Copywork
• Dictation
• Language Games

Poetry Teatime

I think our very favorite part of Brave Writer lifestyle has become Poetry Teatime.

The essence of Poetry Teatime is delightful and the idea behind it is that you set aside one day a week to enjoy poetry…

• Set the table.
• Make it festive.
• Serve a lovely beverage like tea.
• Serve a treat like cookies, or cupcakes.
• Pile the table with poetry books from the library and from your bookshelves.
• Make it fun.

In this way, your kids can enjoy limericks, poetic stanzas, tongue twisters, and rhymes. They’ll learn the joy of play on words, puns, metaphors, and more.

Doesn’t that sound exquisite?

 Poetry Teatime Should Not be Stressful

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that poetry teatime sounds like a load of planning. It sounds involved and stressful.

Maybe those are just my own thoughts.

Because I know there are oodles of homeschool moms out there that have this poetry teatime thing down, yo!

But I’m not one of them.

Don’t take my homeschool mom card away!

Fresh Baked Teatime Treats or Straight from a Package?

You know those tasty treats I mentioned serving? You can make or buy those! No stress.

We’ve had plenty of poetry teatime with Little Debbie cakes right out of the box…

Because I’m no baker. Actually, my kids are better at baking than I am thanks to my baking loving sister. 

Sometimes we bake treats for our poetry teatime and sometimes we don’t. But I always make sure we have treats on hand just in case.

Themed Table Cloth or All Natural?

Remember setting the table?

What if I told you that I don’t own a tablecloth?

Yep, our table either goes all natural or I’ll throw an old sheet over it to help catch spills. Sometimes I dig through my sewing fabric and grab a piece that looks festive!

What if My Kid doesn’t Like Tea?

Guess what?

My son loathes tea.

He won’t even drink the expensive stuff. Give him hot chocolate or a cup of coffee any day! Does that mean we can’t have poetry teatime?

I mean, “Poetry Teatime” kinda has tea in the name… Tea must be served, right?

Absolutely Not!

Give the little people what they want!

I’ve served hot chocolate, cider, coffee…even lemonade on occasion. You are not confined to tea.

Poetry Teatime Ambiance

What about lighting and candles?

I love having lit candles during our poetry teatime. They just add to the ambiance. But…

There are days where there is not a candle to be found in our house!

Sad but true. So, sometimes just the sunlight coming through our windows is all the light and ambiance we need!

Poetry Books for Kids

I have a couple of old and worn poetry books from when I was younger including Robert Frost, Shel Silverstein, and Emily Dickenson. These are well-loved favorites and they often make appearances at our poetry teatimes.

But I always browse the library shelves for new poetry books that my kids will love.

The library is an invaluable resource for poetry books.

Making Poetry Teatime Perfect

So, if I say Poetry Teatime on Tuesdays that means every Tuesday, right?

Well, not exactly. 

I have great intentions, but terrible follow through. That’s why I use a rhythm…not a schedule. Most of the time I don’t even plan it.

When the kids ask, “Can we have poetry tea time?”

Which is pretty often.

I don’t think about how to make it perfect anymore because that’s just stressful.

I think about the joy my children have gathered around together eating treats and laughing or contemplating a piece of poetry.

I’d like to say that I’ve got time for it all, but…

My kiddos aren’t looking for perfect. Not a perfect teatime, not the perfect ambiance, or the perfect mother.

They are looking for the relationship, the experience, and the magic. But if you look at it that way, through the eyes of a child, isn’t it already kind of perfect and magical?

My kids and I are making lovely memories together with poetry, and that’s magnificent.

Even if I don’t own a tablecloth.

Want to know more about our Brave Writer Lifestyle?

Check out these other posts!

• Incorporating the Communication Game into Your Child’s Language Arts

• 25 Movies You Can Pair With Books

• 10 Easy Ideas for Spending One-On-One Time With Your Child

• How to Create an Enchanting Experience with Copywork

• Big, Juicy Conversations in our Homeschool

• Becoming A Family Of Brave Writers

• Poetry Tea Time and the Brave Writer Lifestyle

• Homeschool Art Appreciation and the Brave Writer Lifestyle