First Daughter's Kindergarten Poetry Memorization List

I didn't ask First Son to memorize poetry in kindergarten, but First Daughter begged to do so. We started a little in the spring when she was just five.

• Singing Time by Rose Fyleman which I think I found in Poems and Prayers for the Very Young (See a video of her performing it.)
• Flowers at Night by Aileen Fisher found in Tomie dePaola's Book of Poems
• Clouds by Christina Rossetti found in Poems and Prayers for the Very Young
• Ants by Mary Ann Hoberman found in Poems and Prayers for the Very Young 
• How Doth the Little Crocodile by Lewis Carroll found in Eric Carle's Animals Animals (still one of our favorite anthologies).

We started How Doth the Little Crocodile in the third week of school, and she promptly lost all interest in memory work. Because she could often recite First Son's poems (while he was hemming and hawing), I decided I wasn't going to push her. She's asked for memory work on and off through the year, but I told her we'd only do it if she was ready to spend time on in every day, which she never was.

Next year, in first grade, First Daughter will be expected to do memory work four days a week, just like her big brother.

As you may guess, Poems and Prayers for the Very Young is my favorite anthology for selecting poetry for my little ones to memorize.

Here's my post on why we memorize poetry.