The Harp and Laurel Wreath: Poetry and Dictation for the Classical Curriculum

I did something I rarely do: I purchased this book without having previewed it (years ago). I think that it was highly recommended somewhere on the WTM site. Anyway, as a newbie, I was eager to get the book and get started -- even before the children were ready.I'm finally writing a review because I have several comments that I hope will be helpful to prospective purchasers. First, I was VERY disappointed in the book. A little background: As an English lit major who studied poetry, I felt completely comfortable selecting poems for older children to memorize. However, I felt insecure about choosing children's poetry (I mean for toddler to about 3rd grade). Well, a good number of the early stage selections are in A Child's Garden of Verse by RLS, available in many beautiful picture book options. You also have the standard Casey at the Bat, Charge of the Light Brigade, and the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, which you can find ANYWHERE. Much of the rest, I found to be dull. I'd rather have my children memorize Wordworth and Shakespeare earlier (she puts some selections in later), and I feel comfortable enough now doing that. So...I compiled my own list of poems for memorization.If that is too time-consuming for you to do or you feel overwhelmed with the thought of conducting a poetry memorization program at home, I recommend Andrew Pudewa's poetry memorization program (for your grammar stage children in particular). Although I don't care for some of his selections (elsewhere online I review his program in depth), he does an excellent job telling you HOW to do poetry memorization (a more developed system than that described in THLW, although similar), and he includes nifty pre-made charts and has audio recordings available for the busy mom (!); his book is conveniently spiral bound (VERY nice for junior to hold while memorizing on the run); and it is low-cost (unless you purchase the accompanying CDs). If you don't like his selections, just peruse the anthologies he lists in his bibliography and substitute. (One of those listed is The Harp and Laurel Wreath!)However, Pudewa's program is strictly for poetry memorization. The Harp and Laurel Wreath also provides a few pages of dictation exercises. (There are basically 9 pages -- 55 selections -- of dictation for the whole grammar stage.) These aren't worth the price of the book. Instead, the strength of THLW is its third aspect: poetry analysis, which she does with the dialectic and rhetoric stage student. She provides terms gradually and has poems accompanied by questions. There are even answers for the questions. Note: I haven't looked at this section in depth, so I cannot comment on how good it is. I noticed enough, though, to want to caution you about depending on her questions too much. There is probably much more to the poem! Rhetoric stage students, especially, should learn to answer more than that about a poem. For example, you shouldn't just ask what the meter and rhyme scheme are; you should see if the meter and rhyme scheme enhance the message of the poem. ETC!! There are helpful "poetry exposition" pages online. You want to find a list of things to consider when reading a poem.A minor quibble is that her TOC is too sparse. It would have been nice to have the poems for each stage listed there, in addition to the indices. I don't see why not. This would have helped with making an at-a-glance list of poems for memorization.In summary, the greatest weakness of THLW is that it tries to do too much: a smattering of dictation, children's poetry selections, and poetry analysis. As an anthology of poetry, it is seriously lacking (imho). As a poetry memorization program, it is inferior to Pudewa's program. THLW's strength is in its poetry analysis, but AGAIN I MUST caution against depending on her questions entirely; they should be just a SPRINGBOARD for discussion about the poem.Bottom line: Purchase for your older student to do poetry analysis. Understand, though, that it is just a start for poetry analysis. Your child should work up to writing a 3-5 page paper about a poem. For grammar stage students, Pudewa's program is much better, at approximately the same cost, for poetry memorization. You could disagree with me (or not care) about the poetry selections (somewhat subjective, after all), but Pudewa's program is also better for certain conveniences in running a poetry memorization program. You might forgo Pudewa, though, if you want an all-in-one and don't mind the format (fat book, spine will break in THLW, not just one poem per page, some on multiple pages, etc.). For the pure fun of reading poetry to young children, there are also much better anthologies, with many available free at the library.By the way, The Top 500 Poems is my favorite poetry anthology. You can probably use this with your older children. I still haven't found ONE favorite anthology of children's poetry (or a really good version of Andersen's or Grimm's fairy tales). Would love to hear if you recommend any.

I checked this out from the library as part of my homeschool curriculum and immediately knew I needed to buy it because I would be using it daily for a very long time. It has the most beautiful prayers, poems and speeches. Every child should be exposed to this lovely material whether they are homeschooled or not. It's truly a perfect compilation of what everyone should read and memorize.

Book was perfect

We have several poetry books, so I was skeptical to purchase another. However, after seeing many recommendations from different sources, I went ahead and ordered The Harp and Laurel Wreath. I am SO happy I did. We do poetry memorization with our 4 children (elementary aged) and this has, by far, the best selections I have seen. My four year old loves all the selections for his age group. The book is divided for children of different ages/stages of learning. As you get into the older ages/grades it includes some questions and dictations. It could easily be used as curriculum for homeschool. We use it as part of our morning basket, and it's probably the favorite from the entire year.

OK...so I was printing off free poems and then having my children draw a picture of what they imagined the poem meant, define words they were unfamiliar with, re-write for copy-work, recite poem and acknowledge the author and poem title. This book makes it easier but most if not all are available online. This just organizes them by grade level and makes them readily available. There is a section that includes questions but most poems do not have this. It would be better if it were in pdf format.

As a homeschooling parent who wishes to emphasize a more classical education, I am so very happy with this book. The featured poems are classics of the Western canon, age-appropriate, and fun to learn. The book is divided into age-appropriate sections, which I greatly appreciated. Too many books of this type will throw in children's poetry with epics and sonnets; Ms. Berquist's collection gets progressively older and more challenging as one advances through the book.My six- and four-year-old now recite various Robert Louis Stevenson poems from memory, as well as Psalm 23, Psalm 100, and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost. It's amazing and gratifying to see them take so quickly to such beautiful literature. I highly recommend this book for any homeschoolers in your life.

This is a must have in any home with children. It’s a very nicely put together collection of the best poems for children!

I'd like it better if the poems were in order according to the MODG curriculum, but so far we have it and have enjoyedIt..

My children and I are enjoying the selections in this book; my 5 year old boy requests it for bedtime reading now, and my 10 year old girl has been seeking out books by some of the poets after we've gone through a selection. This has been a lovely, gentle inclusion into our homeschool day.

As a homeschooler, this is the collection I've been looking for to brings together samples of good literature for copywork & dictation, reading, studying and enjoying. A must for anyone doing classical or Charlotte-Mason education.

Way too religious. I thought it would mostly be poetry etc, but it is heavy and thick with god, jesus, and all that jazz. If that's your thing, cool. If you lean more towards Humanist... Do not waste your money as I did!

Laura Berquist has years of experience building and evaluating curricula.Her input is invaluable.Our daughter is just starting out with interest in books and reading.I am already building her library thanks to Laura Berquist.As our daughter reaches school age, we will have already ready together many books and she willbe familiar with some of the kindergarten material. We are slowly introducing her to art and reading.This is all very easy as it is a natural interest. Thank you Laura Berquist for all of the time and energyyou have exhausted creating such a great tool!Pleased Parent