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The Garden Year Printable and Copywork (with added Music Appreciation!)

“Slow and steady wins the race.”
— The Tortoise & The Hare/Aesop's Fables

I love that quote, don’t you? It was always quite applicable to our homeschool efforts, as well.

Small things, done with diligence and over time, can yield great results.

Copywork and memorization were key components in my children’s education, especially in their younger years. One thing I WISH we had done more was memorizing long poems - poems that would stick with my children long into adulthood. (I memorized O Captain, My Captain in 6th grade and can probably still recite much of it for you!)

To that end… I have an idea for you, and I think it will work marvelously in your homeschool.

Sara Coleridge wrote the poem The Garden Year. It first appeared in her 1834 book Pretty Lessons in Verse for Good Children. Written for young readers, the poem captures the cycle of months through vivid imagery tied to seasonal changes, offering both learning and delight. Sara Coleridge, daughter of poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, was known for her literary talents and contributions to children's literature. The Garden Year reflects her ability to blend poetic charm with instructional value, making it a staple for teaching children about the passage of time and the beauty of nature.

(You can view the entire book online at the Internet Archive.)

How to Use The Garden Year

This poem is a lovely family project. Children as young as Kindergarten and as old as high school can benefit from memorizing together.

  • Print The Garden Year packet. Put the poem printable in a prominent place so your students can always see it.

  • Memorize one stanza each month. Use the corresponding copy work for that month as well. If you have a Morning Time, recite and copy the stanza daily. (You may want to make multiple copies of the copy work, saving your child’s best sheet for their final booklet.)

  • Add a new stanza each month, repeating the previous month’s stanza(s).

  • At the end of the year, children can recite the entire poem and have a keepsake of their work!

It’s really that simple.

There will be tremendous value in memorizing and writing this beautiful poem. It’s one of those things that everyone can look back on at the end of the year with a sense of accomplishment.

Simple Music Appreciation For the Year

Because music appreciation is my thing, I have created a straightforward plan for monthly music appreciation. It includes one piece a month with a YouTube playlist.

Visit SQUILT Music Appreciation to download that addition to The Garden Year.

Give your children a poem and TWELVE pieces of great music this year!

I hope you enjoy these freebies for the New Year! I found in my years of homeschooling that less is more and simple is best, and I’ve designed these resources with that in mind.

Happy Learning!

Three Winter Poems for Children to Memorize

I am a firm believer in children memorizing poetry. It is not only a gift of language and learning, but also of BEAUTY. And the best thing about memorizing poetry? It is one of the most simple things you can do with children!

As a child, I memorized My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson. This simple poem has remained with me my entire life. Maybe you have a similar poem that stayed with you, too.

Through my children’s homeschool years, I was sure to include poetry memorization in their education. The easiest time to practice anything we were memorizing was Morning Time. Perhaps the favorite poem that stuck with us was Teddy Bear by AA Milne.

Now that my children have graduated, I still enjoy reading poetry. I especially enjoy children’s poetry, probably because of memories of my mother sharing poetry with me as a child and the memories I made sharing poetry with my own children.

As it turns out, I’m in good company with my belief that children should memorize poetry. According to Susan Wise Bauer,

…memorization builds into children’s minds an ability to use complex English syntax and stocks the language store with a whole new set of language patterns.

Beautiful poems are such simple gifts we can give our children! I’d like to suggest three poems that your children can easily memorize - and these can be used with ANY age of child (or adult!).

Three Winter Poems for Children to Memorize

Dust of Snow by Robert Frost

“Dust of Snow” was published in the Pulitzer Prize-winning volume of poetry New Hampshire. Frost uses a conventional ABAB rhyme scheme and omits adjectives or adverbs in the poem. This style elucidates the simplicity of the everyday occurrence: a crow taking flight from a tree branch; but, most importantly, Frost shows how such an innocuous action has gravity for the narrator, giving him “a change of mood.” Frost’s uncanny ability to elicit deep-meaning with colloquial and basic language is in full display in this poem.” (source)

I love the ABAB rhyming pattern and the lack of adverbs and adjectives. Kids might enjoy trying to write their own poem in the same manner.

The North Wind Doth Blow by Tasha Tudor (Traditional Mother Goose)

Tasha Tudor’s books have long occupied a place in my heart. I vividly remember this poem from my childhood (see what a gift poetry is?).

The poem is a very simple Mother Goose nursery rhyme which Tasha Tudor included in a 1944 collection. I have included the first “verse”, but there are actually five in case you want to memorize all of them.

Three Winter Poems for Children to Memorize

Snowflakes by Linda A. Copp

This contemporary poem presents such beautiful imagery of snowflakes.

If I were still teaching music in elementary school, I would set out triangles, shakers, sand blocks, and a host of xylophones and metallophones to help children develop an accompaniment for this poem.

Three Winter Poems for Children to Memorize

How to Memorize a Short Poem with Children

We always kept it simple when memorizing poetry:

  1. Display the printed poem (If you memorize many poems during the year, consider hanging them all in one place. You’ll be amazed at how accomplished children will feel, challenging themself to memorize the poems on the wall, fridge, door, etc…! )

  2. Read the poem together several times each day.

  3. Use the poem as copy work. (Maybe you want to make more of a lesson out of the poem, too - but I believe a beautiful poem can stand by itself, so don’t put pressure on yourself to turn it into a big lesson!)

  4. Eventually, your children will begin reciting the poem from memory.

  5. Keep track of the poems you memorize and periodically review them so your children don’t forget them!

Download the Winter Poems PDF printable, which includes all three poems.

I’d love to know if you memorize poetry with your children. Or, maybe you have a favorite poem from childhood. Share it with me in the comments below!