ABSTRACT
The main aim of this chapter is to encourage all adults, parents and practitioners alike, to share poems with young children on a daily basis. Poems should become an intrinsic part of a child's collaborative learning experience. There are suggestions for poems for parents to use at home as well as ideas for use in a group or nursery setting. The chapter suggests ways of including poetry in the literacy curriculum and also the physical environment of a nursery setting. There are suggestions too, for ways to use rhyming and non rhyming poems as children's understanding of language develops. Poetry can be used outdoors to support a wide variety of learning experiences. The anthology in this book and the resource lists at the end of this chapter offer a comprehensive collection of poems and in particular there are many about everyday experiences such as growing and planting, discovering the seasons or experiencing different kinds of weather. There is a short case study which shows how poetry and song can be used when outdoors and also the important contribution that poetry can make to the imaginative and creative development of children.
