Archive for the ‘The Writer’s Jungle’ Category

Collection of Happy Thoughts

Monday, April 11th, 2011

I know, I know. Why has this blog been so dormant over the last year? Truth be told, in addition to some personal challenges, Brave Writer has been growing! My time and attention had to be turned to other pressing concerns, such as curriculum development (more on that soon, I promise!), website building, improving our online classroom, preparing for and traveling to three conventions in a month, speaking in various parts of the country for workshops, teaching classes myself and all the usual stuff that a kitchen-table-growing-like-gangbusters-into-a-grown-up-business experiences in year 11.

We are improving contact between you and me, and between you and, well, you, too! Here are a couple of ways we are making headway:

  • You can now chat with me via a live chat widget when you visit the website! This live chat function will be open when I’m online. I look fwd to being able to serve you all better, particularly our overseas customers who find the phone a difficult means of communication with me.
  • We are releasing a brand new discussion/message board for the Brave Writer community so that you have a place to talk about the Brave Writer Lifestyle. You can use it to get feedback from other moms and dads who are in the trenches helping their kids, just like you! I’ll pop in to answer questions as well.
  • We’ve just created a twitter identity as well as a facebook page to make it easier for me to send out short snippets of insight and writing support, rather than having to commit to an entire blog post every day. My hope is to update the blog once per week while using the other tools for daily support.
  • We’ve enabled podcasting for Brave Writer as well. Look for my convention workshops to be posted some time next week.

These are all ways I hope to enrich your experience of Brave Writer over the coming months.

In the meantime, listen to these happy thoughts shared by our fabulous families!

Just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your seminars. I’ve been homeschooling 22 years, and writing has been one of those things I’ve felt like I never did a good job teaching, because we never seemed to get around to doing any of the “curriculums” I purchased. The kids did write–they wrote what they wanted to write, or type, when they wanted to, so I knew they could write, sort of, but I always felt like I should be doing more. Your seminars reminded me that writing can be just as relaxed and part of our real lives as reading good books. Your ideas about the way to help children write are so much more in line w/ my way of homeschooling, than any of the canned programs I have, that I just felt a giant sigh of relief while listening to you. Thank-you. I feel like your seminars were worth the cost of the conference all by themselves. I purchased the Writing Jungle and read the first chapter that evening in my motel room and enjoyed it so much. I’m looking forward to making writing a part of our lives in a more relaxed and natural way.

Dawn

—

Hi Julie!
I met you yesterday at your booth. My son, Luke, is currently in Jean Hall’s expository essay class and enjoying it immensely.

Here’s a little background about Luke (14) and my daughter, Kallan (12). We have been using another program for several years . We struggled quite a bit to get writing done. OK, we struggled a LOT. I believe the things the kids learned do a good job of helping them when they are editing, but the actual act of putting the pencil on the paper and writing something wasn’t happening. I was becoming very worried that my 8th grade son was not going to be ready for high school writing. I was also worried about my 12 year old dyslexic daughter who would not write, because she is self-conscious about her spelling.

I finally bought “The Writer’s Jungle” and proceeded to carry it and a highlighter around for several months. At the beginning of February, we curled up in front of our wood stove in Colorado and I read several of your descriptions of other attempts at freewriting. We discussed how it felt when we sat in front of a piece of paper. It was almost as if a wall would appear and absolutely no words would appear. Even I would have a problem and I love to write. After several years of the other program, I would even freeze. I set the timer for ten minutes and my daughter decided she would write about her new (and first) American Doll, I decided to write about airports (love them) and my son said he would just “write what comes into his head”.

Here is what came out of my gangly 6’1”, 14 year old who is constantly walking around with his nose in a book. I no longer worry about his creativity.

THE BLANK PAGE SYNDROME (Luke Brumfield)
The page is as white as a dove, the plumage snowy white, the subtle wind currents lifting it above the clouds. Perhaps, it is like snow, the glistening water dripping like a faucet, or perhaps like a cloud floating below the stars. The incandescent stars and fluffy clouds matching together in a dance eons old. This is how I think of Blank Page Syndrome. The white abyss of a writer’s block, the paralyzing fear buffeting his brain. The fear of failing making him cry out in frustration. Needless to say, right now this writer has no qualms about such matters for his pencil is light, his mind active, his resolve solid. Blank Page Syndrome is like the Niagara Falls icing over. It’s luster gone, replaced with a blank wall of impenetrable ice. The reader may or may not have experienced this syndrome, but the writer has. This essay has been written in ten minutes and the writer is done. Now there is no more blank page.

This has not been revised other than a couple of periods, one misspelled word, and some capitalization. THANK YOU! They both see for the first time that writing can be fun!

Leslie

—

Hey Julie,
I wanted to share something with you. My daughter and I attended the Cincy. convention this past weekend. We were coming from north of Dayton on Friday morning and were planning to attend two separate workshops at 10:30 – I thought! The workshops actually started at 10:00, not 10:30 and we encountered Cincinnati, morning traffic (we’re not used to that out in our boondocks area). So we arrived late. Once inside the convention center we sat down and tried to figure out our plan B for the day. I was planning on coming to your booth at some point. We’ve been using “Brave Writer Jungle” for about a year and a half, but I was feeling a lack of confidence in my ability to go forward.

Well, anyway, we both ended up coming to your workshop – and all I can say is “God was takin care of me that day!” You said exactly what we needed to hear – thank-you for being you. We came to your booth and one of the gals spent quite some time with me. We’re going to start using the Boomerang next year, but have already started to use some of the concepts in our school stuff this week.

I went back and read a blog that you had posted last year in January – I kept it in my emails because, again, it was what I needed to hear, and obviously what I needed to reread now. It was about homeschooling through grief. The last 5 years have been hard years for me – a lot of really sad stuff and some really great life moments. We’ve done: illness, graduation, college, death, marriage, a lot of change and a lot of emotion. Your blog helped me to realize that our family is still trying to get our gears re-machined, and forcing the issue can sometimes end up with a lot of overheating and smoke.

I just wanted to thank-you for doing what you do, to thank the people that help you do what you do, and to encourage you – you do make a difference.

Have a grand spring day!
Warmly,
Robin

—

These last two years have been intense ones for me personally and in the business. I’m grateful whenever I hear from you—sharing how your families are learning to write and love each other every day. Makes all of it worthwhile. You’re all doing brave, meaningful work. Brava to you and your dear families!

Julie

Posted in Brave Writer Philosophy, Contacting Me, Homeschool Advice, The Writer's Jungle | 5 Comments »

New to Brave Writer

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Brave Writer has three components to support your writing and language arts goals:

Home Study Courses

Online Classes

Language Arts Programs

The Home Study Courses are divided into two. The Writer’s Jungle teaches you, the parent, how to be the most effective writing coach in your children’s lives. The principles, exercises, and guidelines apply to every level of writing from beginner to pro. If you like to work at your own pace, need a manual to which you can refer when you get overwhelmed, if you benefit from having your entire philosophy of writing stood on its head and recreated for you, then start with The Writer’s Jungle. It will work for all your kids.

Help for High School is our home study course for teens. It’s written to your student and is intended to be self-teaching. The course is organized around specific modules and in each module, there is an exercise or writing assignment to complete. These can be done multiple times if you swap topics. They are writing processes, not specific assignments geared toward a period in history or a work of literature. Help for High School provides models of how to write expository essays (both open and closed forms) as well as the steps necessary to understand the structure of argument, thesis and points and particulars.

The Online Classes provide moms and kids with instructor support and accountability. They cover a wider range of choices in terms of specific writing genres. If you prefer to be in a classroom style setting with an instructor, other students and the gentle accountability of due dates, start with Kidswrite Basic. This online course transforms your understanding of how to best facilitate writing in your home. It gives you the tools to know how to encourage and foster good writing habits rather than merely editing poor writing for mechanical errors.

Kidswrite Intermediate is the course to consider if you want to make the transition from parent-led writing to student-led. It’s designed for kids just on the cusp of essay writing. The processes in KWI make up the first half of Help for High School. The benefit to taking it as a class is that the online class offers instructor feedback and the opportunity to read other student writing. KWI prepares students for all levels of essay classes, as well.

The other online classes round out writing experiences. We offer fiction, literary analysis, poetry, grammar, freewriting, SAT/ACT preparation, Shakespeare, literary discussion (Boomerang Complete) and more. The courses help you and your kids to widen their writing experiences while giving you the support and modeling that make you a more and more effective writing coach. The courses also prevent a feeling of isolation in the homeschool, putting you in touch with other parents and students from around the world who are embarking on a similar journey.

The language arts portion of Brave Writer supports and enhances the writing programs. The Arrow, the Boomerang and the retired Slingshot are designed to provide you with easy-to-use tools that teach mechanics, spelling, grammar, handwriting and literary elements in the context of great literature. The Arrow works best for kids 3rd – 6th grades. The Boomerang is designed for 7th-9th grades (though some high school students do quite well with the Boomerang). The Slingshot (already published issues) catered to 10th-12th grades. We now offer literary analysis classes for 10th-12th grades instead.

You can either subscribe to the current year’s lists of the Arrow or Boomerang (paying monthly on your credit card), or you can purchase already published issues ala carte and design your own year’s program around books you and your kids want to read. These tools are meant to supplement your writing program, not replace it. When the Arrow or Boomerang are used in tandem with The Writer’s Jungle or Help for High School, or along with Kidswrite Basic or Kidswrite Intermediate, you will be offering your children a complete language arts/writing package.

Jump in. Try not to figure it all out or become overwhelmed at the choices. Pick one thing that you find fascinating. Purchase it or sign up for it. Use it, do it. Experience and enjoy it. See how it goes. Then do the next thing. As you take it one thing at a time, you will build momentum. You’re not in a rush. You don’t have to solve writing and language arts this week, this semester or even this year. You only need to take the next logical step toward the goal of becoming the best writing coach you can be. In turn, your kids will grow into more and more effective writers.

Posted in Arrow, Boomerang, Brave Writer Philosophy, BW products, Help for High School, Homeschool Advice, The Writer's Jungle, Tips for Teen Writers, Young Writers | 2 Comments »

Writing through the tears

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Who can do anything well while crying?

Can you type while crying? Make dinner? Have sex? Probably not.

Tears are an indication that something is dreadfully wrong. They signal pain:  emotional or physical. In writing, emotional pain may be writer’s block or fear of making a mistake. Physical pain may be that the hand hurts from squeezing the pencil too tightly, or eye strain, or physical exhaustion from a poor night’s sleep. Crying is not a sign of laziness or lack of character. Crying is the last release, the final “giving up” and admission of failure. Crying signals: I need comfort.

When the tears come, the writing’s done.

Take a break. Acknowledge your child’s feelings: I see that you’re unhappy. Let’s talk about this later. Offer a hug.

Later, come back to your child and find out what’s going on. Ask:

Are you afraid of making a mistake?

Is it too hard to grip the pencil for ten minutes straight?

Are you having a hard time spelling?

Do you wish you could play outside in the sunshine rather than sit at a table?

Does it feel like you have nothing to say?

Are you sleepy? Hungry?

Be an investigator and a comforter. A cup of tea and eye contact will go a long way toward soothing the hurting writer. Remember, writer’s block is the usual reason for writing paralysis (not strong wills or sinful natures). Writer’s block means the child doesn’t have access to the words inside. The words are hidden behind anxiety, fear of failure, or a vague sense of the topic (not enough depth in the topic to be able to talk about it meaningfully in writing).

Writer’s block is experienced by everyone (pros, professors and prodigies) and at its most acute, produces tears. So give oodles of empathy, hugs, and comfort foods. Then talk about how to make writing less painful. Take some time to remind yourself of the goal – a free, brave writer who is at ease when writing, not gripped with anxiety and fear.

Julie

P.S. If you find it hard to know how to get beyond the tears and writer’s block, peruse my website and the archives of this blog for ideas. I also devote a good chunk of The Writer’s Jungle to this subject as well.

Freewriting is one of our favorite tactics for unblocking stuck writers. Another idea is to stop writing all together for awhile and work on building a relationship where talking freely and well is cultivated. That means, of course, that you will seek opportunities to drive your kid to his destinations so that you can chat the whole way, drawing him out, listening to what he knows lots about and encouraging him to share as much as he can as well as he can… so he’ll grow in verbal self-expression.

Posted in Brave Writer Philosophy, Homeschool Advice, The Writer's Jungle, Writing Exercises, Young Writers | No Comments »

Writing through the holidays

Monday, December 7th, 2009

This is a great season for capitalizing on natural writing opportunities (rather than relying on contrived assignments). I’ve included some of the most obvious ideas along with ones you may not have thought of! I’ve also organized them to fit with the Natural Stages of Growth in writing (taken from Chapter 14 of The Writer’s Jungle).

Jot it Down (kids who can handwrite and/or copy writing):

  • caption photos in a family holiday letter
  • write out tags for wrapped gifts
  • create placecards for your holiday meal
  • write gift wish lists
  • address envelopes for holiday cards

Partnership Writing (you help with transcription):

  • all of the above in “Jot it Down” works well with Partnership phase too
  • retell and write a short description of the year’s biggest highlight for family letter
  • copying lyrics from Christmas hymns or other holiday music
  • writing a list of holiday traditions to remember
  • putting holiday events on a posted family calendar
  • thank you notes for gifts received

Faltering Ownership (kids who are writing, but are still not high school level):

  • interview family members for holiday letter
  • write your own memories of the year and send in holiday letter
  • journal about each holiday event and bind in a little notebook at the end of holiday season
  • plan and execute a New Year’s party (including invitations, games, food to purchase)
  • copy holiday cookie recipes onto notecards, make cookies

Transition to Ownership (junior/high school level):

  • take control of the family holiday letter (interview family members, organize and execute)
  • take photos of the holiday season, caption and scrapbook as the month goes along
  • keep a notebook of quotable quotes from the family over the month
  • write a meaningful description of what the holiday means to you personally and share on holiday
  • reflect on a significant piece of religious or reflective literature by freewriting or journaling about it

Posted in Brave Writer Philosophy, General, Homeschool Advice, The Writer's Jungle, Writing Exercises | No Comments »

Email: Reports from the front and a question!

Monday, October 19th, 2009


Julie,

I have been reading the Brave Writer Manual (The Writer’s Jungle) and LOVE IT.  I really like the easy approach you give us to teach our kids.  I’m still waiting for the October book to come into my library to start the Arrow program, so I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.

The charter requires everything that the state requires but my rep is also a college Language Arts teacher.  She wants Daniel writing long book reports, essays, and paragraphs when completing school work.  My son, up until Brave Writer “hated” anything that required writing.  He would cringe when constantly reminded that he needed to be able to write an essay for the state tests in April.  Even writing the answers to questions in our history book required my writing the answers he dictated to me and then he would copy them.

Yesterday, we went on a nature walk, in between the rain storms, and collected flowers he wanted to put in a vase and do a writing project on.  We started with using the five senses and listing descriptive words.  When he finished that I asked him to write one sentence (no worries about spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.) and to my surprise he wrote two very good sentences.  He was so proud reading them to us when his dad came home from work.  When he was done, I congratulated him and let him know that he could be done for the day.  To my surprise he asked if he could write more.  Of course I said yes.

Julie, thank you for this great easy to understand writing program.  We are very blessed to have found you.

Ann

Thanks Ann! It’s always such good news to know that kids discover the power and pride of selecting words to represent their inner experience. You’re doing a great job!

–

Julie,

It’s wonderful to see you up and blogging again. You’re blog has encouraged me greatly these past couple years. I started a blog a couple years ago, because of your encouragement. Writing in it occasionally, my essay like entries reflect upon what I am learning on my journey. Rereading my blog, I notice how much of your philosophy on life (not just writing) has helped me flesh out the things I struggled with through my 19years of home educating. You have also made me realize the importance of example in my life to inspire others. The purpose I have for my blog is to impart to my children as they go through their journey of parenting. Your blog is one of two I come back to, continually. I just want to say thank you for inspiring me to inspire others.  : )

May God shower you with many blessings today!
Diane

Wonderful to hear from you Diane. I’m thrilled that my blog has encouraged you, but even more thrilled to know that you are writing your own! That’s what it’s all about.

–

Hi Julie-

Thanks for sharing at PEACH tonight and for signing your “autograph” on Stefanie’s writing book. :) That will be inspiring for her! I have been using your TWJ (The Writer’s Jungle) electronic since Sept. and we ordered various older electronic Arrows to jive with our TOG readings this year,too.  At any rate, as I told you, it has been going really well. Stef is happier and not as reluctant anymore. She likes the freewriting.   Would you recommend our next step to be just keep doing what we are doing? [buy other Arrows as needed]. I wasn’t sure if doing the Kidswrite Basic would be doing more of the same but with a larger audience and seeing the other kids’ writing with the teacher interaction? Since she is 10, do we just keep going until she gets to middle/high school and use your other essay writing classes, etc? Just wondered your thoughts,

Cindy

Hi Cindy.

You’re doing all the right things. Glad she is growing and relaxing. Your understanding of KWB is accurate. It’s a great place to get feedback, to see other student writing and to ask your in-depth questions about becoming your daughter’s most effective writing coach and ally. If you want an experience that is similar in terms of level, but that uses the tools of TWJ for a different product, I suggest taking a look at the Just So Stories course. It starts on November 2 and gives your daughter a chance to apply her newly found enthusiasm and skills to a specific writing project. This course is not offered again this year and the instructor is our longest-term writing teacher. In other words, she’s fabulous.

In fact, I hope lots of families sign up for JSS as it will close soon. Your kids get to write stories about animals that make use of Rudyard Kipling’s delightful use of language. You’ll love the process and the results.

Posted in Brave Writer Philosophy, BW products, Email, Language Arts, The Writer's Jungle, Young Writers | No Comments »

One Writing Project Per Month

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

Brave Writer philosophy suggests that you only tackle one writing project per month, per kid. That’s right. One a month. I figure you’ll get sidetracked by Thanksgiving or surgery or a ski trip during a couple of those months meaning, you may not complete the project slated for that month. Therefore, if you have ten projects slated and get 6-7 of them through the revision process in a school year, be happy! You’ve done good work!

But wait, how does this work? you ask. I understand. It sounds like so little output. So let me give you some guidelines for why writing less equals more value.

Let’s look at the four week process for writing any piece (paragraph, letter, essay, poem, article, story).

  1. Week One: Saturation
    During the first week, you aren’t writing. You’re reading, talking, watching videos, looking stuff up on the Internet. You might also be doing the thing you will write about. If the topic is Native American basket weaving, perhaps you will even try to weave a basket! No writing comes forth without saturation in the topic/subject matter. This is why we always recommend that your kids write about what they know well. They’ll have richer vocabulary and a deeper grasp of the topic. If the topic is new-ish to your student, you need more time to absorb the material before becoming saturated. Might take two weeks or three. Don’t rush it. Writing is the result of an overflow of knowledge about a topic. You can’t read a paragraph about Columbus and then require your child write a paragraph about Columbus. The sane response from a child is: But didn’t we just read about Columbus?
  2. Week Two: Freewriting
    The second week is when you put pen to page. This is the time to get words from the guts upchucked onto paper. We do this in any way we can. We use freewriting to help catalyze that process. You can do several freewrites over a period of days. There’s no law in the writing world that says the first draft is the only draft. You can select parts of the topic to write about and do those over two or three days with breaks in between. During the freewriting (or drafting) week, the goal is to get as much raw writing to work with as possible. Think of a specific aspect of the topic (gathering materials for basket weaving) and write about it. Then on another day focus on another aspect (patterns in basket weaving). Break it up! Makes life so much happier.
  3. Week Three: Revision
    Revision is not the same thing as editing (when I use the term). Revision is injecting new vision into the raw writing. It’s re-imagining the piece so that it springs to life. During revision, you want to focus on content, not mechanics. That means you’ll read the freewrites and look at places you can narrow the focus and expand the writing. Perhaps your child wrote, “Basket weaving is hard work.” You can look at that sentence and ask for more! What does he mean by “hard work”? Can he describe the process? And so on. You might want to rewrite the opening line (I always recommend that). Make it pop, surprise, sizzle. Draw the reader right in. Revision can take many days or short bursts of energy tackling a little bit at a time. Don’t do it all in one day. Don’t fatigue your young writer. Revise two or three important content related items and leave the rest alone. (Psst. I promise anything you don’t correct in this piece will magically reappear in another for you to address at a later date.)
  4. Week Four: Mechanics Mop-up
    Now you edit. Editing is simply cleaning up all the stuff that makes the paper hard to read: misspellings, missing punctuation, grammar errors, typos, indentations. Have your child look over his or her work first. Let the student find as many errors as possible. You only make the additional changes once the child has taken a whack at it. Never complain about something he or she missed. Make a mental note that you need to address the semi-colon in copywork or dictation. Let what they miss be information to guide you in teaching; don’t use it as a way to shame your child. Print and share with readers.

Once you work through this process, you’ll have had a rich experience of how writing is supposed to work. Believe me, doing this 5-6 times in a year is a huge amount of teaching! Far superior to cranking out contrived paragraphs based on tedious writing prompts in a workbook. Give your kids the chance to experience what writers actually do. They saturate and incubate. They mess around with words, getting their ideas onto the page or computer screen however they might. They revise those words once they get a little distance to make them more compelling and interesting. Then they mop up the mistakes and share it with readers! Your kids get to do that too. For more information on how to do this process, see The Writer’s Jungle.

Posted in Brave Writer Philosophy, Homeschool Advice, Machete Mechanics, The Writer's Jungle, Writing Exercises, Young Writers | 9 Comments »

The Arrow and the Boomerang start August 1

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

You can sign up any time and unsubscribe any time too. However, if you’re wanting the full year of issues, now’s the time to get that going! The Arrow and the Boomerang are our language arts products designed to make copywork and dictation spring to life. We give you four passages per month from a living book with detailed notes about grammar, spelling and punctuation, as well as noting literary style. Read more by clicking on the Arrow and the Boomerang.

We have several options for subscription or year long payment possibilities. You can purchase either of these as part of the Platinum package with The Writer’s Jungle as well.

Posted in BW products, Dictation and copywork, Grammar, Language Arts, The Writer's Jungle | 1 Comment »

Email: Tweaking the assignment to the student

Sunday, July 26th, 2009

Hi Julie,

In your FAQ section of The Writer’s Jungle you mention how kids can write about anything and do it well if they can find something about the topic that hooks their fascination. I’m wondering what this looks like in real life.

Can you tell me how the following 5th & 6th grade students would attack the following assignment?
Write a Report on Christopher Columbus

Student A: This girl is a natural talker, loves to write in great detail, is very fashion conscious, and is able to find a number of ways to earn money.

Student B: A very analytical boy — math is his strong suit. He doesn’t enjoy flowerly detail and wants to get to the facts and get the job done.

Student C: This child is very art oriented and enjoys science and animals.

Student D: This child does great at writing fictional stories — very into dramatic writing not factual.

Maybe these scenarios are not enough to go on and if not — what kinds of questions can I ask the kids to find out what their natural bent is? How can I help them when they are given a generic assignment to find their own groove and write from within?

Thanks!
Kellie

Great question Kellie!

Let’s go one student at a time. Remember: these are ideas that may or may not work with individual kids. The idea is to shift your focus to the student’s natural bent and inclinations, away from strictures of an assignment. One thing to know: the most successful writers do this all the time instinctively. They hardly know they are doing it! So it’s not cheating. It’s smart writing.

Student A: This girl is a natural talker, loves to write in great detail, is very fashion conscious, and is able to find a number of ways to earn money.

Perhaps her interest in Columbus will be to choose an aspect of his character (personality? his attempts to get funding for his trip? his fashion sense?) to describe in detail. Let her hone in on one aspect (rather than generalizing) and see if she can get intimately acquainted with the most interesting part of who Columbus is. Start there. You can always add less interesting detail (biographical information or the timeline of his trip, etc.) once she’s given her full attention to the part that interests her most.

Student B: A very analytical boy — math is his strong suit. He doesn’t enjoy flowerly detail and wants to get to the facts and get the job done.

This kind of kid does well with making a list to start. Let him itemize the factual details of the life of Columbus. Choose the most interesting, surprising fact to open the report. Let him organize the facts into categories and use sub-heads for each section. He can freewrite and then revise each group of facts one at a time. Then organize chronologically using sub-headings to provide natural structure and transitions.

Student C: This child is very art oriented and enjoys science and animals.

Columbus may be a hard sell for this kid. Perhaps write on something else. (smile) Also, could do pictorial narration with artwork and captions.

Student D: This child does great at writing fictional stories — very into dramatic writing not factual.

Put the report into a narrative style, telling it from Columbus’s perspective or alternatively this student could write from the perspective of a crew member on the ship. In The Writer’s Jungle, Gabrielle Linnell wrote a piece called “An Adventuring Maid.” She did research to have all her historical details accurately represented in her work, but she wrote her piece as a fictional narrative. This kind of work is a wonderful way to make writing spring to life. I like to use Jean Fritz’s books as an example of how history can be written in an engaging manner all while conveying the important historical information.

I hope that helps you get an idea of what you might be able to accomplish if you widen your expectations and apply some creativity. As a side note. I graduated with my Master’s in theology in 2007. I had finals that included writing my own contemporary epistle, writing a translation, putting my theological thoughts into poetry, freewriting and personal experience as well as your standard academic formats. I thought I’d throw that out because there is a perception that all the writing anyone will ever do in the future is essays and research papers. Not necessarily. (smile)

Posted in Email, General, Homeschool Advice, The Writer's Jungle, Writing Exercises, Young Writers | 8 Comments »

Nurturing Brave Writers

Saturday, July 25th, 2009

If you ever wanted to attend a conference to hear me give my workshops, but couldn’t make it, I’ve finally got the MP3′s to share with you. The first one is my most frequently delivered message (formerly called: Rescuing Reluctant Writers, now named Nurturing Brave Writers).

Nurturing Brave Writers; APACHE convention March 2009

The Writer’s Jungle is the resource you want to use if you want to make these changes in your orientation to writing. Our packages which include the language arts component are now available for this year’s program. We also offer a full slate of online classes. I recommend starting with Kidswrite Basic.

Posted in Brave Writer Philosophy, General, Language Arts, The Writer's Jungle | 22 Comments »

Email: Fans of The Writer’s Jungle

Friday, June 26th, 2009

Hi everyone.

I wrote The Writer’s Jungle in 1999, published it in 2000. Since then, we’ve sold several thousand copies and I revised it once (adding a lengthy preface in 2005 which is what we call the “second edition”). This morning, I received two emails that enthused about the content. I wanted to share those with you.

The Writer’s Jungle is still your best writing resource and will last you the longest time. Save your money. Don’t buy dozens of writing programs. Learn how to be your child’s best writing ally and coach now so that you can support your kids all the way through homeschool and beyond. Enjoy.

–

Hi!

I just wanted to drop a note to say, after waiting several years for my kids to be ‘old enough’ and reading your emails and blog for ages, for my birthday this past weekend I received my very own copy of The Writer’s Jungle and I am loving it! Even my husband is enjoying listening to me go on and on about all the cool (sorry, you banned that adjective … how about incredible?) information in it.

It’s such an affirming book. You’re so right, ‘real’ writers don’t do it the way so many textbooks teach, they do it the way you’re describing in your book. It’s a lesson I’ve been trying to learn myself these past four years (since your blog got me hooked on NaNoWriMo, thanks!), and I really enjoy reading a guide that will help me translate this into something I can teach my children. (Who, at 7 and 4, are also hooked on NaNo. LOL.)

My husband is also laughing because he’s never seen me read anything so slowly before (I devour most books), but I keep telling him I can’t read it when the kids are up because I might miss something, and I have to read it slowly because it’s got so many wise bits in it.

Anyway, I’m sure you get lots of raves about the book, but I just wanted to add my Thanks to everyone else’s. I am so excited to get this, this year, because it had been on my curriculum list but our budget ended up taking some hits and I had to take it off. So I am very excited about this birthday gift from my dear dh!

Thank you for being such a patient mentor to so many moms!
Kristen

(P.S. I did take one of your Writing for Fun adult classes one summer, and also enjoyed that one … still have fun memories of the activities!)

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I am reading The Writer’s Jungle now and I am very inspired by your method.  Find myself laughing along the way as the experience and struggles you have seems so similar to mine.  Excellent job and thanks for sharing so many wonderful experiences and “cure” with us homeschoolers.

God bless and shalom,
Elizabeth

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If you’re trying to think about how to make the most of your writing year, start now, start here. The Writer’s Jungle has been helping moms for nearly ten years now. Use this summer to revamp how you understand writing so that come fall, you’ll be excited and primed for making writing a meaningful and satisfying (even fun!) part of your kids’ lives.

–Julie

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