Archive for the ‘Natural Stages of Growth in Writing’ Category

Podcast: Help Kids See Differently

Brave Writer Podcast

I am recording some of my Tea with Julie emails for the podcast for those of you who prefer to listen. These are brief messages of support for parents and educators. If you’d like to receive the weekly emails, they are free. Sign up at bravewriter.com/tea


How did it go thinking about surprise as a force for good?

In our Brave Writer podcast series on the Four Forces of Enchantment, it’s time to look at the second force, which is MYSTERY.

Let’s explore:

  • what mystery is,
  • why it’s a critical tool for developing a sense of enchantment,
  • and the ways you can facilitate a sense of mystery in your kids’ lives.

Show Notes

Complete Tea with Julie notes can be found HERE.

Resources

Connect with Julie

Brave Writer Podcast

Podcast: Natural Stages of Growth in Writing

Brave Writer Podcast

Are you planning for the upcoming school year? Whether you’re homeschooling or sending kids to a traditional school, writing is that one skill that so many of us find unnerving.

One of the big problems is that your child’s age or grade level doesn’t tell you much about your writer. Writing develops the same way as any other skill: over time, at the writers’ own pace.

Over 22 years of working with tens of thousands of students, I’ve developed what I call the natural stages of growth in writing and my confidence in its accuracy has only solidified over time.

Today on the Brave Writer podcast, we’re going to walk through each of those stages.

Show Notes

  • [04:58] Beginning Writers: Jot it Down (5-7)

This is the stage where a child is too young to write and isn’t quite reading yet, but is so eager to self-express. They are a writer in need of a secretary—someone to jot down their thoughts and read those thoughts back to them so they can experience being authors long before being able to write for themselves. This stage focuses on delight and the joy of writing.

  • [07:51] Emerging Writers: Partnership Writing (8-10)

In this stage, you are a partner with your child in writing. Participating in the writing process with our child is not cheating, but in fact opens them up to the benefits of the adult’s vocabulary, as well as the mental processing of getting words onto the page. The challenge is the gap between a child’s oral fluency and their writing, spelling, and punctuation skills. This is normal—children will continue to grow into the mechanics of writing, and your participation helps.

  • [10:31] Middle School Writers: Building Confidence (11-12)

We tend to see two dichotomies at this stage of writing: Either a child shows a lot of enthusiasm for writing, or they absolutely hate it—often swapping between the two. They may write a lot one day only to refuse to write the next. Their spelling and punctuation may seem strong only to shift into reckless mistakes. They have a lot of competence, but many of their skills are still under construction. Allow them to self-express in the ways they like, and then give them rest from that commitment. The rough edges will smooth themselves out over time.

  • [15:39] High School Writers: Experimenting with Forms (13-14)

Once your child has built confidence and experience in using writing as a tool, they are ready to learn how to put that writing into the formats of academic life. These formats require a level of maturity and rhetorical imagination that doesn’t typically form until puberty. Kids at this stage feel comfortable with writing in general, even if they don’t yet know how to write an essay.

  • [17:29] College Prep Writers: Joining the Conversation (15-18)

Your kids, when they enter academic life, are joining a conversation already in progress. As your kids get an education, they are going to be reading what the experts and others have to say and amassing an understanding of what interests them the most. By the time they graduate, they will be called on to make meaningful contributions to those fields.

  • [19:43] Adult Writers: Fluent and Competent (18 and beyond)

These are adults not afraid to write their words, including professional writers, academics, and confident, competent adults. Once you’ve made it through all of the stages of writing, you should be able to face any writing task without worry or intimidation.

Visit bravewriter.com/stages to learn more about how our products and classes are organized according to these stages and find the ones that are going to help you.

Resources

Connect with Julie

Brave Writer Podcast

*NEW* Faltering Ownership Planner

Faltering Ownership Planner

Calling all Brave Writers with Faltering-Ownership-age kids! We’ve heard you!

  • If you’re a planner—
  • If you’re a planner-from-behind—
  • If you’re somewhere in between—

We’ve got your back with new tools that make using our Faltering Ownership program easier than ever!

Introducing a Faltering Ownership supplement: the Faltering Ownership Project Planner!

Week in Focus Planner & Writing Skills Trackers!
And for your child, the Student Monthly Project Planner!

Faltering Ownership Planner

Each Faltering Ownership project has a custom designed:

  • Week in Focus Planner and
  • Writing Skills Tracker 

That’s right! 

  • Ten planning sheets
  • Ten skills trackers
  • Customized to each project—over 20 pages in all!

The Week in Focus Planner will help you 

  • weave Brave Writer Lifestyle activities into your week 
  • schedule oral language practices: memorization, narration, and word play
  • plan daily activities for the writing project of the month

The Writing Skills Tracker will provide you with 

  • checklists to note basic and project-specific writing skills 
  • a word bank of academic vocabulary 
  • a space to incorporate that language into a short narrative about your child’s learning experience

NOTE: If you purchased Faltering Ownership or the Faltering Ownership bundle before 2/17/2020, you’ll need to purchase the Planner a la carte. Follow this link for more details.

Faltering Ownership Planner

If you’d like to hear me explain how to use the Faltering Ownership Planner, watch this recorded broadcast:

Brand new with Brave Writer

We've heard you! You want to plan your weeks and track your children's writing skills. You also want to nudge them toward greater independence in planning and executing their writing projects. Today I'm sharing with you our brand new product that does just that! We'll answer questions in the chat whether you watch live or are viewing on replay.Learn more here: https://store.bravewriter.com/collections/writing-projects/products/faltering-ownershiphttps://store.bravewriter.com/products/faltering-ownership-planner

Posted by Brave Writer on Monday, April 27, 2020

*NEW* Partnership Writing Planner

Partnership Writing Planner

We promised! The Partnership Writing Planner has come out on schedule, despite the wild ride we’re all on together. I see you over there hunkering down. Well done!

The Jot It Down! Planner has been wildly successful! 

Next up: Partnership Writing!  🎉

Our NEW Partnership Writing Planner provides:

  • Clarity about how to implement Brave Writer programs and the Brave Writer Lifestyle. Check!
  • Support for planning ahead. Check!
  • Tools to keep track of good work and writing skill development. Check!

No matter what kind of homeschooler you are, we’ve heard you and are offering those of you in the Partnership Writing stage a brand new tool to help you be an even more confident, effective parent-educator.

Each Partnership Writing project has a custom designed Week in Focus Planner and Writing Skills Tracker.

The Week in Focus Planner helps

  • weave Brave Writer Lifestyle activities into your week 
  • schedule oral language practices: memorization, narration, and word play
  • plan daily activities for the writing project of the month

The Writing Skills Tracker provides

  • checklists to note basic and project-specific writing skills 
  • a word bank of academic vocabulary 
  • a space to incorporate that language into a short narrative about your child’s learning experience

NOTE: If you purchased Partnership Writing or the Partnership Writing bundle before 3/16/2020, you’ll need to purchase the Planner a la carte. Follow this link for more details.

Partnership Writing Planner

Want to learn more? Watch this recorded broadcast.

*NEW* Jot It Down Planner

Jot It Down! Planner

Party time! 🎉

You told us what you wanted. We heard you!

  • If you’re a planner.
  • If you’re a planner-from-behind.
  • If you’re somewhere in between… 

We’ve got your back!

Last June we launched brand new planning and tracking tools for the Arrow and Boomerang, our programs that teach the mechanics of writing through literature.

These tools were an astonishing success! Thank you for using them and giving us your feedback.

And so, we looked ahead to our other products and Ta Da! 

We’ve added a planning and tracking tool to the Jot It Down! program, making it easier to use than ever!

Introducing a Jot It Down! supplement we call: the Jot It Down! Planner.

Each Jot It Down! project has a custom designed:

  • Week in Focus Planner and
  • Writing Skills Tracker 

That’s right! 

  • Ten planning sheets
  • Ten skills trackers
  • Customized to each project—over 20 pages in all!

The Week in Focus Planner will help you 

  • weave Brave Writer Lifestyle activities into your week 
  • schedule oral language practices: memorization, narration, and word play
  • plan daily activities for the writing project of the month

The Writing Skills Tracker will provide you with 

  • checklists to note basic and project-specific writing skills 
  • a word bank of academic vocabulary 
  • a space to incorporate that language into a short narrative about your child’s learning experience

These flexible tools help you

  • plan ahead
  • plan from behind
  • track growth
  • reassure yourself of progress
  • craft end-of-year evaluations
  • and show you the path to progress in writing 

Jot It Down! will now include the Jot It Down! Planner with every purchase.


NOTE: If you purchased Jot It Down! or the Jot It Down! bundle before 2/17/2020, you’ll need to purchase the Planner a la carte. Follow this link for more details.


We’re excited for you to experience greater and greater ease and clarity about your children’s growth in writing. We want to support you every step of the way!

Go take a look at the Jot It Down! Planner and let us know how it works for you!

If you’d like to hear me explain how to use the Jot It Down! Planner, watch this recorded broadcast: