How to Enjoy Poetry Teatime in Your Homeschool

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Poetry Teatime is a special routine in our homeschool lifestyle. Once a week we slow down, enjoy good company, sweet treats, and settle in for some poetry.

This routine has been such a fun addition to our homeschool week. Not only is poetry teatime fun and educational, but it gives us a chance to slow down and enjoy one another’s company. It’s a relationship-building activity in our homeschool.

Poetry Teatime for Families: Let’s Get Started

Poetry Teatime is easy to incorporate into any homeschool lifestyle. It works well for different homeschool philosophies and any family routine. We have chosen to make it an important part of the language arts program in our homeschool.

The Basics

What do you need to begin enjoying poetry teatime with your family?

a space to gather – around the table at home or even at a local coffeehouse
poetry books – though sometimes we take a break from reading poetry
treats or snacks – these can be store-bought, homemade, sugary, or healthy
drinks – yes, typically teatime is when you serve tea, but change it up if your kids don’t like tea

Choose a specific day/time in your week and gather with your treats, drinks, and poetry books for your teatime. You don’t have to meet at the same time each week, but we find that a regular routine does help with consistency.

There are no rules about how many poems to read or who must read one. Find a flow that works for your family and feel free to change it. Some weeks a parent can do all the reading and other weeks you can ask your kids to bring a poem to teatime.

Need some Poetry Book Ideas?

Shake it up with a Theme

If you are feeling adventurous, you can create a themed teatime with a little bit of pre-planning. Here are a few of the themes we have enjoyed over the years:

It’s simple to add a teatime to your homeschool routine. Jessica added teatime as her “one thing” for her homeschool year and then remained committed and made it happen.

Keep it simple or go all out! It’s up to you and your family.

Change it Up

Our teatime never looks quite the same and yours doesn’t have to either. We have a ton of variation in our poetry teatime routine.

Some weeks we set a very simple table and other weeks we go all out.

Host a simple or elegant poetry teatime with your family.

Some weeks my children bring poems to share and other weeks I do all of the reading.

Some weeks we skip poetry books in favor of Shakespeare or short stories. Other weeks we select from a stack of our favorite poetry books.

Some weeks we read poetry books as a family and other weeks we enjoy teatime with friends.

Host a teatime with friends or just your own family.

Some weeks we enjoy a treat at our favorite cafe and other weeks we bake (or buy) treats to eat at home.

Some weeks our teatime occurs on Tuesday as planned and other weeks it is scheduled on the only free day in our week. In fact, occasionally teatime happens after dinner and we have our dessert and poetry with Daddy.

Clearly, there is a lot of flexibility to fit any family, any lifestyle, and any given week.

Poetry Teatime Supplies

While it isn’t necessary, our family has enjoyed adding some special teatime supplies to our homeschool teatime. One of our favorite additions has been these personal teapots or “tea for one” sets.

We also have fun plates for poetry teatime that we purchased before these special teapots.

And of course, there are lots of teatime extras you can add to your pantry overtime if you want. There are fun serving dishes and special teapots you can purchase. None of it is necessary, but it is fun to add things if poetry teatime is going to be part of your regular routine.

Poetry Teatime has become a special part of our family’s homeschool routine. Everyone looks forward to selecting fun treats and books for our time together.

I hope you find the same joy and connection with one another and poetry.

Add Poetry to your Home Library:

Ready to Organize your Poetry Teatime?

Need a break from poetry?

Poetry teatime ideas when you are ready for a break from poetry

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Mary Wilson

Mary is a writer and mother to four kids ranging from elementary to high school.

She believes that creativity, laughter, and fun are the backbone for engaging and inspiring homeschools. You can find her encouragement and tips on this blog, Mary Hanna Wilson.

She is an enneagram 7 and an extrovert. She enjoys traveling, tea (iced or hot), good conversations, and books. You can connect with her on Instagram and Facebook.

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