A Charlotte Mason Guide to Valentine Poetry Tea Time

February offers us the perfect opportunity to celebrate love, beauty, and relationships through one of our favorite Charlotte Mason traditions – poetry tea time.

In our home, February poetry tea time has become a cherished annual tradition. There’s something special about gathering around together with well-loved poems, cups of tea or hot chocolate, and heart shaped treats. These moments create natural opportunities for sharing beautiful language, expressing care for one another, and building warm memories together.

Whether you already enjoy regular tea time poetry readings or are just beginning to explore this gentle practice, adding a Valentine’s theme to your February tea time can bring an extra touch of love to your homeschool days.

Let me share some simple ways to make these moments meaningful and memorable.

This post contains carefully chosen affiliate links to help support our homeschooling journey. Thank you for supporting our family through your purchases! You can read my full affiliate disclosure policy here.

Poetry Tea Time: The Charlotte Mason Method in Action

Poetry tea time nurtures several key aspects of a Charlotte Mason education:

• Living Ideas: Children naturally connect with beautiful poems, taking in what speaks to them without the need to analyze every word.
• Habit Formation: Regular poetry readings help children to develop focus and appreciation for the beautiful language that poetry presents.
• Atmosphere: Creating a comfortable, relaxed environment where learning feels like a fun, natural part of the day together.

Beyond these foundational principles, poetry tea time cultivates rich vocabulary, natural memorization, and deep literary appreciation that will serve your children throughout their lives.

How to Host a Charlotte Mason Valentine’s Poetry Tea Time

• Start with the essentials: Keep treats simple. A few cookies, sliced fruit, or even just cheese and crackers work perfectly with a mug of tea or hot chocolate. Sharing poetry while enjoying a small treat creates lasting memories.
• Encourage Living Learning: Some of my children will draw while listening to poems, capturing the ideas that stand out to them. I suggest keeping some paper and colored pencils available just in case your children feel inspired. On the other hand, some children prefer to just listen – both approaches are great and create meaningful engagement.
• Welcome natural connections: When reading poems about nature – like Rossetti’s flowers or Longfellow’s outdoor scenes – we often find ourselves talking about similar things we’ve noticed in our own backyard or on nature walks. These connections unfold naturally when we give our children time to reflect.
• Gentle conversations: Our best conversations often happen after reading a poem, when we are still thinking about the words we’ve just heard. No need to over analyze anything- just let the discussion flow naturally.
• Perfect timing: Choose a time when everyone is naturally ready for a break – perhaps after morning lessons or during that afternoon lull. We find that mid-afternoon works best in our home, when my children’s minds are ready for something gentle and refreshing.
• Time and Setting: Our poetry tea time typically lasts about 20-30 minutes – just long enough to savor a few poems and treats without overwhelming short attention spans. I’ve found this timing perfect for maintaining a lot of excitement and plenty of engagement.

Special Valentine’s Day Touches:

• Use special cups or mugs to make your Valentines Day tea time extra special
• Serve heart shaped treats (I like to use these heart shaped cookie cutters to make as many snacks heart shaped as I can)
• Cut out simple paper hearts to scatter all over the table or have your children paint pretty watercolor hearts
• Give your children the opportunity to select the Valentines Day themes poems that they like best

Classic Valentine’s Poetry Selections by Age

Here are some beautiful classic poems that celebrate love, friendship, and the heart’s simple truths:

For Young Children:

• “Us Two” by A.A. Milne: This heartwarming poem about friendship between Christopher Robin and Pooh bears captures the simple, pure love that your younger children will naturally relate to. Perfect for showing how everyday moments with those we love are so special.
• “That’s What We Do” by Mary Mapes Dodge: A gentle poem that demonstrates loving actions in daily life, helping children recognize how we show love through simple kindnesses. Its rhythmic pattern makes it especially engaging for younger listeners.
• “Love Me-I Love You” by Christina Rossetti: Rossetti’s simple wording perfectly describes unconditional love. The repetitive nature makes it perfect for young children to easily join in, and recite right along with you.
• “The Arrow and the Song” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: This beautiful poem shows how love and kindness, like the arrow and song, travel far beyond what we can see. It introduces lovely metaphors while still remaining simple to understand.
• “Mice” by Rose Fyleman: An adorable poem that will bring some whimsy and joy to your Valentine’s Day tea time, showing how simple love can extend to all of God’s creatures. Its a sweet, playful poem that perfectly matches Charlotte Mason’s emphasis on finding wonder in the natural world.

For Growing Readers:

• “Love’s Philosophy” by Percy Bysshe Shelley: A perfect introduction to romantic poetry that uses nature’s connections to illustrate love’s universal presence. Its natural imagery works beautifully with Charlotte Mason’s emphasis on time outdoors and observation.
• “A Birthday” by Christina Rossetti: This poem celebrates joy and love through vivid imagery that will appeal to children of all ages. The poem is a great choice for developing vocabulary while still maintaining a gentle charm and flow.
• “The Rose Family” by Robert Frost: A delightful poem that looks at how different flowers are related, just like families are connected. Your children will enjoy discovering these connections while learning about nature’s subtle beauty.
• “Love and Friendship” by Emily Brontë: A lovely poem that shows how love is like a wild rose and friendship is like a holly tree. The simple but powerful images this poem creates can help children to understand the different kinds of relationships in their lives.
• “The Rose” by Christina Rossetti: A gentle poem on beauty and love that introduces more complex poetic ideas while still maintaining clear imagery that your growing readers can easily understand and enjoy.

For Older Students:

• “Sonnet 43” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning: One of the most well-known and beloved love poems of all time, where carefully crafted verse shows students how poetry can truly capture the deep feelings of love. Its sincere words help readers to appreciate love’s many dimensions.
• “Love (III)” by George Herbert: A gentle poem about finding God’s love in the simple moments. Through its peaceful dialogue, your older children will have the opportunity to explore the warmth of God’s love in a natural, delicate way.
• “To My Dear and Loving Husband” by Anne Bradstreet: A wife’s loving tribute to her husband from colonial America’s first published poet. Her heartfelt words perfectly show how poetry can express the deepest feelings of the heart.
• “She Walks in Beauty” by Lord Byron: A graceful poem celebrating how true beauty shines from within.
• “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” by Christopher Marlowe: A beautiful poem about love set in the countryside. Through its descriptions of meadows and streams, we discover how nature and love come together in a peaceful reflection of God’s creation.

Making Valentine’s Day Poetry Part of Your Homeschool

As you share these Valentine’s poems with your children, this February, remember that each family’s poetry tea time looks different. Some days might include fancy tea cups and cookies, while others might just be simple glasses of milk and a favorite poem read together.

What matters is that you’re introducing your children to beautiful words that celebrate love in its many forms – from the love of family and friends to the love we see in God’s creation around us.