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BRAVE WRITER REVIEW: LOVE TO WRITE

No one had to teach me how to love to write. I just sort of always have.
When I was about seven, I went on a book-writing streak.  Everyday I would grab a handful of lined handwriting paper together, sandwich it between two sheets of construction paper, staple and go to town.
I could barely read myself, let alone spell correctly, but I did it like it was my job.  In fact, I wanted it to be my job.  I remember begging my mom to call a publisher and get those things published–STAT.  My intensity even grew to paging through the P’s in the phone book to find publishers for her to call about my award winning books.  Being the ever-gracious mother that she was–and is–she told me she would see what she could do–and then bought me more paper.
Funny thing is, that now, years later, I actually did write some books.  Isn’t it strange how life works like that.
What’s even more strange is that now that I’m homeschooling my kids and writing, despite my dozens of “Cat Ran Home” books, is my least favorite subject to teach.  Why is that? The only logical explanation I can come up with, because I love to write, is that I’m going about teaching it the wrong way.
I was totally bored teaching writing and my kids were bored trying to learn it–until we discovered a curriculum that totally rocked our writing world.
I was given copies of Brave Writer’s products in exchange for an honest review and compensation for my time.
A BRAVE WRITER REVIEW

Why kids don’t like to write

Before we could settle on a way to fix our writing dilemma, we needed to pinpoint what was going wrong.  I would guess that my kids aren’t all the different from your kids in this area, so maybe some of these reasons are similar in your home.
  • Their hand hurts from too much writing
  • They can’t think of what to write about
  • It’s difficult for kids to transfer their thoughts to paper
  • The words they want to say are too hard to spell for young kids
  • Writing takes too long
    and the one that makes me cringe the most…
  • Writing is boring
Writing is a difficult area to teach because you want your child to be creative, you want them to write down those fabulous stories you hear them telling each other, but you also want them to be learning to write properly–not just creatively, but structurally correct too.  So that means we need to be able to show them how to spew out their creativity in complete sentences with good structure, correct grammar, and spell things correctly.
That’s a lot for a kid to handle! No wonder so many kids don’t like to write.

How Brave Write helps kids love to write

Here’s where Brave Writer comes in.  When I received Partnership Writing and Jot it Down, (more on what those are in a second) I was so excited–to say the very least.  Could it be that this is the thing that marries creativity and construction and makes it fun once and for all?!
Julie Bogart, the creator of Brave Writer, is a veteran homeschool mom of five.  I have heard her webinars and podcasts  and it’s moms like her that inspire me in our homeschool walk.  Her passion for children and teaching them at home is so evident in her work.  Listening to her speak and teach us how to be better homeschool moms gives me all the confidence I need to know that her products are fabulous too and that I can teach my kids to love writing.
The thing Brave Writer does like no other writing curriculum I’ve seen is that it stimulates your child’s imagination so well.  Instead of placing a blank piece of paper in front of your child, it uses
  • music
  • arts
  • film
  • nature
  • literature and
  • poetry
to evoke deep conversations to know just where your child’s thoughts are and to start the creative juices flowing.  These activities also teach your kids to have a language rich lifestyle.  And as Brave Writer talks about in-depth in their book Writer’s Jungle, Brave Writer is all about creating a lifestyle, not just doing the subject of writing.
The Brave Writer programs are divided into age/skill level groups.  Because writing is such an individualized subject, your child needs to take the appropriate steps to learning it or they will easily become frustrated and want to give up.   Each course covers three sections:
  1. language arts
  2. oral interpretation
  3. writing projects
I received the following courses:
There is so much depth to these courses, that it’s impossible to cover it all here, but I love that titles of the products sort of signify the parent’s role in teaching the course.
In Jot it Down, that’s what you will be doing–jotting it down! Your child might be able to tell you a 15 minute elaborate story about what she played with her friend, but if you asked her to write it, she would totally blank.  When your child starts to tell you something, jot it down! You’ll create lots of stories like this and your child will be able to look at what they’ve created with good grammar, sentence structure, and spelling and feel good about it–and know that they are creative and they do have a story to tell!

What this could look like

Here is a sampling of what your Jot it Down routine could look like:

Partnership Writing is just the next step up and we are using it with Jack, our 4th grader who is 10.  This is the stage where they are more comfortable with the writing process, but sometimes transferring their thoughts gets jumbled or they get stuck on things like spelling or coming up with the right vocabulary.

You are your child’s partner in this course.  You write with your child to help give them the confidence they need to get to the next level of writing.  I absolutely love how these programs focus so much more than on just the writing. I think this is where kids get bored–but Brave Writer makes things so fun, I don’t think my kids even remember we’re doing writing.  We incorporate Poetry Teatimes, rich literature, movies, music, art, and so much more.  Here’s a sampling of what your weekly schedule could look like with Partnership Writing:

Teaching Idea: 
The (CW JAR) on the schedule up there is such a great idea–have a jar full of great quotes, little poems, and whatever else your child would enjoy reading and have them copy those things!

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*Brave Writer is literally packed with ideas like this*

How Brave Writer help Mom to love teaching writing

This might all sound good for your kids, but what about us, right?? How does this help us out?  Let me tell you:
  • This course literally teaches you how to teach writing.  This is something I’ve never thought about before–the act of learning how to teach writing.  The Writer’s Jungle is a must-have for helping you understand how to teach all levels of writing.  I have read through, highlighted, and am reading through again just to get a grasp on my role in teaching writing.
  • Combines subjects, making your life easier.  You will cover literature, art, poetry, language arts, reading, and more.  Anytime we can combine subjects, we save time, planning, and energy.
  • Teaches to all types of learners.  Whether your child connects well with audio, visual, or a hands-on approach, you can adapt this curriculum to suit your child’s needs.  Or, do like I like to do, and combine lots of activities so all their senses are tapped into.
  • This is an open-and-go style of curriculum.  No workbooks or tons of prep-work.
  • Tons of teacher support is provided.  If you are having a hard time or need to ask questions, the folks at Brave Writer are always there for you.  If you would like even more support, check out their online classes too! 
Connect with Brave Writer here:

I am so excited for writing with my kids this year.  We’ve already politely set aside the original writing curriculum we’d planned on using to make room for Brave Writer.  I can’t wait to see what my kids create.

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3 Comments

  1. I’m coming late to this post but have been following through on all the posts about BW, starting with the more recent posts from this winter.

    It occurs to me that a program like this is like iron for the homeschool regimen. I’m reading, thinking, “Of course — writing! How important for education!” And am thinking that if you are strong on this, in this way as laid out in this kind of program, the rest will flow along. This must be because as the saying goes, good writing comes from good thinking. And good thinking is a major goal of education. The BW program seems to encourage good dialogic thinking, whether it be through conversation or interacting with a movie or other piece of writing. The program seems to strengthen relationship, which directly gives strength to the homeschool process. Like oxygen to homeschool, this program I think will help parents relax and move through the years with energy, fortitude, and stability. This approach seems to fan the flame of true intelligence.

  2. I have looked at this site so many times… You really make me want to take another peak. I have 5 children under 8, so the thought is a little bit overwhelming.

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