Bookstore
Poetic Language Lessons, a curriculum developed by Adrienne, was recently featured on The Educational Renaissance Podcast
International Orders
When a customer in another country orders our books, they are printed locally in their destination country and shipped domestically. This eliminates high cross-border shipping fees and customs delays.
To secure an international shipping quote and an invoice email BeautifulTeaching@gmail.com
We need:
Item names
Quantities
Name & Shipping Address
The email is for shipping quotes and order confirmation. The order is not final until it is paid.
To order within the U.S., please scroll down to shop.
Language Arts Embodied Through Wonder and Beauty
Give your students a love of words and language through the realms of beauty! Awaken your child’s poetic imagination! Poet, Malcom Guite explains the primary role of poetry, “When you apprehend something, you reach out and touch just a bit of it. When you comprehend it, you get your mind right around it…. Poetry takes the apprehension and woos it gradually towards you into comprehension.”
Meaningful lessons give children opportunities to play with language and apprehend the beauty of a well chosen word. Beauty arrests us and lifts us up into mid-air where we contemplate the realms of glory— the true and the good. This is the first job of beauty through all art. Little people do not need comprehension lessons; they need experiences in wonder.
This is a curriculum devoted to the beauty of words, both written and spoken.
-
Perfect for Traditional Classrooms, Home Educators, University-Collaborate Models, and Homeschool Co-ops.
Geared for grades 1-2, but older kids like it too.
-
My goal is to gently help children recognize and embody the beauty of words. I think children are fully capable of being guided towards using words well. They need to be given the exposure to the playfulness and beauty of words, as well as an opportunity to recognize and practice structure and articulation. At this age, they do not need to overanalyze, nor do they need to know all the terms and nuances of English. A pleasant experience with words will make them fall in love with language.
As this is a language usage curriculum, I am more concerned with diction and syntax than I am about spelling and grammar conventions, especially for first and second graders. Spelling and grammar conventions will come by and by. Children need to experience and play with words before anything else. I want them to apprehend words and ideas through poetry, music, art, and nature. This curriculum emphasizes helping children find and use good words. It increases their understanding of vocabulary and how words work. The rhetorical exercises are designed to help them play with their voices by hearing and using techniques that help them discover the beauty of well articulated words and phrases.
-
A poetic education is not simply an education immersed in poetry, but it is a sensory-based, emotional participation with God, man, and the universe. Giving students ample time to wonder and enjoy nature, art, music, etc. is necessary. They need to have opportunities to reflect, imitate, and respond. Students delight in lessons that are rooted in poetic experiences; allowing them to sense the wholeness of the world. These lessons are experiences in poetry, music, art, and vocal exercises while laying a foundation in the 8-parts of speech. The short lessons are designed to bring the musicality and arts of language into the hearts of students.
For more information on developing the poetic imagination, read Poetic Knowledge: A Recovery of Education by James S. Taylor or Rallying the Really Human Things: The Cultural Importance of the Moral Imagination in Literature, Politics, and Everyday Life by Vigen Guroian.
-
Poetic Language Lessons contains lessons in grammar, rhetorical exercises, picture study, poetry reading and recitation, copywork, music listening, nature study, and gentle writing exercises that progress towards the end of book 2.
Beauty First
Short lessons
Gentle approach for introducing grammar to young children
Rooted in wonder and a poetic experiences through music, art, & poetry
Rhetorical exercises in recitation for young children
Nature Study Activities
Easy to pick up and go for the busy mom or busy teacher!
-
There are a few ways to adjust the pacing guide. Choose the option that is best for you.
1) Traditional schools will likely wish to complete all the activities in a classroom, 4-days a week. Do not send any assignments home.
2) Collaborative Models may prefer to complete two activities in class and send the “at-home” assignments home. Do not do any activities from this book on the at-home days. You will only use this in your classroom twice a week.
3) If you homeschool, do this program 3 to 4 days a week to complete it in one year. Or, you may wish to spread this out over 2 years, in which case, you can do 2 lessons per week for both first and second grades or second and third grade. As a former homeschool mom, I recommend to never let curriculum drive your schedule. Always attend to the needs of your children. Some may benefit from a slower pace, while others may benefit from the daily schedule without spreading it out.
-
Click here to read the story policies.
“The best way with music, I imagine, is not to bring the forces of our intellect to bear upon it, but to be still and let it work on that part of us for whose sake it exists.”
RESEARCH
Research supports experience with poetry over the use of traditional methods for vocabulary and long-term reading and speaking skills. One study revealed “a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of the experimental group students receiving vocabulary instruction through the poems. In addition, the experimental group had higher scores on the post-test than control group especially in terms of vocabulary knowledge. Furthermore, at the end of the study it was observed that the post-test scores of students in the experimental group were higher than the post-test scores of students in the control group even though they were equal before the study.”
Another significant study revealed that the implications between words and language are astounding! Cunningham and Stanovich showed that the vocabulary skills in first graders predicted their reading achievement in their junior year of high school! This study provided evidence that a foundation in vocabulary at a young age has a huge impact in their long-term outcomes in reading comprehension.
The research behind the music and nature lessons is also astounding. Poetic Language Lessons implements methods that have been shown through myriads of research over the course of decades to help children develop not only strong skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, but also increase a child’s inventory of vocabulary words.
Free Teacher Read Alouds Living History Stories Series!
These historical stories are perfect for K–3 teachers looking for engaging, "living" narratives that help students succeed at narration.
Coming Soon: Greek & Roman History Stories For Young Students (est., July, 2026)
CLICK FOR SAMPLES
Testimonies
K. Huber, Home Educator
“We are all eager to see what kind of lesson we have each day, and I've seen a lot of growth in poetry appreciation, grammar knowledge and having fun with language and art!”
J. Lenhardt, Classroom Teacher
I have Loved teaching this curriculum. It is truly a relaxing and beautiful way of teaching grammar. It is something my students and I look forward to.
B. Linger, Classroom Teacher
This is a lovely curriculum with just enough guidance for the teacher. I appreciate all of the resources pages in the teacher's guide and the array of activities and types of lessons. It stays fresh for all of us!
Endorsements for Narration: The Voice of the Trivium
Blessed that David Hicks has read and endorsed my book! In an informal email he says,
"I am halfway through your beautifully written and argued book and enjoying it very much. Of course, I fully endorse your case concerning the misuses of the trivium—the dangers of trying to fit a classical foot into a progressive shoe."
What to use after Poetic Language Lessons?
Students should begin formal writing and grammar once they complete the Poetic Language Lessons program. Grammar can be learned through copywork, but many teachers and students prefer a more formal grammar curriculum. There are two that I recommend.
I am not an affiliate and do not receive any benefits from recommending these programs. I spend a lot of time carefully reviewing curriculum and these are the programs that I think fit best for children who complete Poetic Language Lessons. For this reason, I have no plans to write another level.
PROGYMNASMATA: CLASSICAL WRITING
by Benjamin Lyda
Narration is the primary method for helping children learn formal composition. The Progymnasmata writing curriculum offers a primer that lays that foundation for written narrations. If your student has already transitioned to written narrations, they likely can jump straight into Level 1. If they have not, I would recommend the Primer. For more information about Scriptorium Classical Writing, visit the website.
WHO: Traditional Classrooms, Home Educators, University-Collaborative Models, and Homeschool Co-ops.
WHAT: This is designed for grades 3 through 8. Student can begin this at any grade and can be totally new to the progymnasmata no matter what grade they start in.
MICHAEL CLAY THOMPSON Grammar & Poetics
by Michael Clay Thompson, published by Royal Fireworks Press
WHO: Schools and homeschools
WHAT: This program is my favorite curriculum for formal grammar and formal poetry instruction. Its approach to grammar instruction similar to the Poetic Language Lessons.
For students who are in third grade, I recommend Grammar Island (the student book, the teacher guide, and the practice book teacher guide- students can write the sentences in a separate notebook). For students who are in fourth grade, begin with the Grammar Town (student book, teacher guide and practice book teacher guide). Fifth graders begin with Grammar Voyage (student book, teacher guide and practice book teacher guide).
I recommend that all homeschoolers who are educating a students that is between 10-12 who have not yet begun grammar to start with Grammar Town. I also recommend that any teacher who does not feel confident teaching grammar to go through Grammar Town all by themselves. This will help anyone struggling with grammar to become confident in teaching it.
USING LANGUAGE WELL
by Sonya Shafer
WHO: Best for home educators. Level 1 (grade 3) of this program offers a seamless transition from Poetic Language Lessons for formal grammar instruction.
WHAT: This is designed for grades 3 through 8. Using Language Well gives your student Charlotte Mason language arts lessons in English, grammar, and spelling. This is not a writing curriculum, but it is an “open-and-go” curriculum that covers writing conventions (grammar, spelling, and punctuation).
This program is well done and one that I wish had existed when I homeschooled my children using the Charlotte Mason approach. The lessons are short and very easy to follow. It is printed in black and white, there are no pictures, and it is straight forward. Once you understand how to do this, you can feel confident in selecting your own copywork passages and creating your own grammar review straight out of the literature that you students are already reading. But, for the busy home educator who needs a bit more “open-and-go” approach.