Poetry of Robert Frost

Having grown up in Derry, NH, I am well-versed in the life and poetry of Robert Frost. His farmhouse was only a short bike ride from my parents house and is now a museum and memorial to his life and works. I used to love to go for rambles in the woods, on his farm property, that lead out to a clearing where the entire little village can be seen below. He taught English at Pinkerton Academy in the early 1900's, the high school I graduated from in 1992. For a man who suffered so much loss in his life, he definitely still enjoyed the beauty of God's creation and saw even the simplest acts of rural life as pleasant.

The past two weeks we studied the poetry of Robert Frost and specifically Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening. I am impressed that my Sweet Pea (age 6) can now narrate it by heart. If you're not familiar with Five In A Row check it out at www.fiar.com. It is a Charlotte Mason style curriculum and there are so many great resources in their forums to glean from.

Here's what we studied:
~The life of Robert Frost
~Rural New England life in the early 20th century
~Farm life and duties of a farmer
~Inventions that were created during his almost 90 years of life and how they were helpful to man.
~Vocabulary of poetry ie hyperbole, onomatopoeia, alliteration, personification, metaphoric language, personification, rhythm, rhyme and repetition.
~The beautiful illustrations by artist Susan Jeffers, art medium and style, viewpoint, mood, detail and history. Then created some of our own art interpretations. We also looked up all the species of birds, that Susan Jeffers so beautifully illustrated, in our field guides, utilizing reading and following alphabetical order.
~Read other winter stories and studied hibernation of animals. Created a hibernation den with some stuffed animals.

We had so much fun and I hope to continue to instill in them a love for reading and recitation of great poetry!