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If you’re like me, the words poetry memorization probably brought up one of two reactions: either a nostalgic smile or a mild sense of dread. I’ll be honest. I was somewhere in the middle. I loved the idea of my kids memorizing beautiful poems again, but I had no idea how to make it happen without my kiddo feeling like I was adding more onto his plate.
{I am an IEW Ambassador. I received a complimentary product in exchange for an honest review of this program.}
That’s exactly why I was so drawn to Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization from the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW). It takes all the guesswork out of how to do poetry memorization and gives you a simple, structured approach that actually fits into a busy homeschool day.
Whether you’re brand new to IEW or already a fan of their writing and grammar curriculum, this program might surprise you. It’s far more than a collection of poems to recite. It’s a tool for building confident, articulate communicators. Let me walk you through everything that’s inside and why it’s worth adding to your homeschool.
Table of Contents
- What’s Inside the Poetry Memorization Program
- How the Poetry Memorization Curriculum Works
- Does It Take a Lot of Time?
- Using It With My Teen
- Final Thoughts
What’s Inside the Poetry Memorization Program
When you open the box, here’s what you’ll find:
- Teacher’s Manual
- Student Book
- A leather-style case containing one DVD and five CDs
Teacher’s Manual
I’d suggest starting with the Teacher’s Manual. It opens by making a compelling case for why memorization matters and why poetry is such an effective tool for it.
From there, it walks you through how to use the program and why the method was chosen, and it includes all the poems and speeches broken out by levels 1–5.
The Appendix is a real gem. It includes short poet biographies, a bibliography of the poetry collections used, and my personal favorite, the Optional Lesson Enhancement section, which I’ll explain more below.
The Optional Lesson Enhancement: A Closer Look
This section takes poetry memorization to a whole new level, and I think it deserves its own spotlight. Each poem (or speech, at Level 5) comes with suggestions for extending the learning into other subjects such as science, writing, geography, literary analysis, poetic elements, and more.
For example, one Level 1 poem opens the door to literature, science, and nutrition. All from a simple four-line poem. That kind of integrated learning tends to stick with kids in a way that isolated lessons don’t.
Another example from Level 2 includes a sample Story Sequence Chart in the margin. If you’re already using IEW’s Structure and Style for Students, you’ll recognize it immediately. I love that. It means you’re using the same language and format across programs, which makes life easier for both you and your student.
One more thing worth noting: the Teacher’s Manual references downloadable materials throughout. You’ll find a blue sheet near the front that explains how to access them through your online dashboard, which is simple and straightforward.
Student Book
The Student Book includes everything students need to work independently, especially those tweens and teens you have in the house. The book includes:
- A “Getting Started” page before each level
- All poems and speeches, each on its own page, often with an illustration, especially at the lower levels
- Suggestions for additional poems and speeches
- The same poet biographies and bibliography that are found in the Teacher’s Manual
Each level opens with a tracker so students can check off the days they’ve recited their poems. A small detail, but kids love it. Don’t we all love checking things off a list?
The CDs and DVD
The leather-style case holds five CDs, one per level, and one DVD. Each CD features an audio reading of the poems and speeches for that level, performed by Andrew Pudewa himself.
The DVD, Nurturing Competent Communicators, is a one-hour, twenty-minute presentation by Mr. Pudewa, the founder and director of IEW. He explains how students develop into effective, sophisticated communicators and discusses the challenges and the myths surrounding that process.
If you’ve never watched any of IEW’s instructional content, you’re in for a treat. Andrew Pudewa is engaging, articulate, and genuinely enjoyable to listen to. My son has always loved watching him, and honestly, so do I.
Don’t skip the DVD. You’ll learn a lot from it.
How the Poetry Memorization Curriculum Works
The program is simple. Every student, yes, even teens, starts at Level 1. From there, the process is straightforward:
- Listen to the poem on the audio CD.
- Work on memorizing it.
- Once memorized, move on to the next poem while continuing to review previous ones.
Each level contains 20 poems (or speeches at Level 5), and the final one at every level is the student’s choice. Suggestions are provided, but students are free to choose their own, which is a nice touch that gives them a little ownership over the process.
As the teacher, you can incorporate the biographies and optional lesson enhancements or skip them entirely. The heart of the program is the memorization itself; everything else is a bonus.
Does It Take a Lot of Time?
This is usually the first question homeschool moms ask, so let’s address it directly.
No, it really doesn’t.
Poetry memorization is one of those things that fits naturally into the pockets of your day. A few ideas:
- Play the CDs during car rides (if lucky enough to still have one)
- Have kids recite while you make dinner
- Include it in your morning basket
- Add it to the end of read-aloud time
- Recite poems together at bedtime
You don’t need to carve out a separate block of time. It layers right into what you’re already doing.
Using It With My Teen
I currently have one kiddo whom I am homeschooling. He is a high school junior. You might be wondering how this went with a 17-year-old boy.
Well, we did a lot of poetry memorization when he was younger, but we had fallen away from it by the time he was in late middle school. So this was nothing new to him.
Now, as I mentioned, EVERYONE starts at level one. The first poem is 5 lines and about a worm that gets smooshed on the railroad tracks. Very simple. Some may look at it and say it is babyish, but what kid wouldn’t think the poem, called Ooey Gooey, was silly?
But you know what?
My teen didn’t complain. By tackling the short little poems first, it built his confidence. After all, he often complains he has a bad memory. So, quickly getting four poems under his belt in a short period of time gave him success and made him realize he can do this.
The program isn’t taking up much time, especially since we are still on level one. But the program isn’t meant to rush through and finish it in a year. It is meant to be enjoyable and to help kids practice memorization skills in poetry.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve been curious about adding poetry memorization to your homeschool but weren’t sure where to start, Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization from IEW makes it genuinely easy. The program is well-organized, the materials are high-quality, and the optional lesson enhancements make it as simple or as in-depth as your family needs on any given day.
What I appreciate most is that it doesn’t feel like one more thing to fit in.
Whether your kids are just beginning or well into their homeschool years, this is a program worth having on your shelf.
Happy Homeschooling!
