Permeated my very existence - A Brave Writer's Life in Brief A Brave Writer's Life in Brief
  • Start Here
    • For Families
      Multiple Ages
    • Ages 5-7
      Beginning Writers
    • Ages 8-10
      Emerging Writers
    • Ages 11-12
      Middle School Writers
    • Ages 13-14
      High School Writers
    • Ages 15-18
      College Prep Writers
  • Digital Products
    • Core Products
    • Bundles
    • Literature Singles
    • Practice Pages
    • Homeschool Help
    • Special Offers
  • Online Classes
    • Class Descriptions
    • Class Schedule
    • Classroom
    • How Our Classes Work
    • Our Writing Coaches
    • Classes FAQ
  • Community
    • Brave Learner Home
    • Blog
    • Podcast
    • Calendar
    • Brave Writer's Day Off
  • Cart
  • My Account
    • My Online Classes
    • My Account
  • My Account
    • My Online Classes
    • My Account
  • Start Here

    If you’re new to Brave Writer, or are looking for the best products for your child or family, choose from below:

    • For Families
      Multiple Ages
    • Ages 5-7
      Beginning Writers
    • Ages 8-10
      Emerging Writers
    • Ages 11-12
      Middle School Writers
    • Ages 13-14
      High School Writers
    • Ages 15-18
      College Prep Writers
  • Digital Products

    If you’re already familiar with Brave Writer products, go directly to what you’re looking for:

    • Core Products
    • Bundles
    • Literature Singles
    • Practice Pages
    • Homeschool Help
    • Special Offers
  • Online Classes
    • Class Descriptions
    • Class Schedule
    • Classroom
    • How Our Classes Work
    • Our Writing Coaches
    • Classes FAQ
  • Community
    • Brave Learner Home
    • Blog
    • Podcast
    • Calendar
    • Brave Writer's Day Off
  • Search
  • Cart

Search Bravewriter.com

  • Home
  • Blog

A Brave Writer's Life in Brief

Thoughts from my home to yours

Permeated my very existence

Brave Writer Intern Finlay WorralloMy time as a Brave Writer student

by Finlay Worrallo

I feel like Brave Writer has permeated my very existence. It gave my mum endless ideas about home education, which influenced the way she brought my siblings and me up. She jokes that without Brave Writer she would probably have gone insane long ago. It’s offered no end of help and has guided us through home education since we began. It can sometimes feel scary, educating your children yourself, making your own way though the childhood years without the safety net of school, worrying that your way of life is wrong and your children aren’t learning enough. Brave Writer has showed us that we’re not alone; that there are many home educating families in the world; and that it’s a way of life that works.

It was Brave Writer that got us into Poetry Teatime, a beloved tradition we’ve stuck to for over six years and enjoy every Thursday these days. We eat cake, drink tea and read poems to each other. Now, I don’t see poems as intimidating things in books to be studied, but rather as old friends to sit down and have a cup of tea with. We’ve also had countless friends and neighbors round for Poetry Teatime, strengthening those friendships and passing the tradition on.

Another Brave Writer-guided activity we did was film studies. I think that’s a classic image of home education: a mother and children together on a sofa, eating popcorn, watching a Disney movie and calling it learning. And we learned about plot, character, development and satisfying endings – so it jolly well was learning!

Doing The Arrow and The Boomerang taught me a lot about understanding and appreciating literature. By having my reading directed, I was introduced to many great writers, from Charles Dickens to P.G. Wodehouse; and by copying out chosen passages in my best handwriting, I learned about fine language and great writing.

With the Groovy Grammar Workshop, I made long lists of words I liked the sound of and eventually wrote a poem based on Jabberwocky called Snacajoby, filled with nonsense words like “amoj” and “amossa” (they mean “warm” and “famished” respectively). The Writer’s Jungle Online taught me a lot about the process of creating a piece of writing. Guided by my mum, I wrote down elements I wanted to use, did a series of freewrites, then directed all my thoughts together to produce a finished piece: a piece of fiction describing the house I’d like to live in as an adult, with two libraries and a laboratory full of explosions.

Freewriting — scribbling your thoughts onto the paper freely without worrying about what they look or sound like — is one of the most valuable techniques I’ve learned from Brave Writer. It’s the simplest way of getting the bare ingredients of your story down onto the paper, and is far quicker and more productive than painstakingly writing carefully considered words and trying to make each one perfect first try.

Overall, I think Brave Writer has encouraged my development as a writer, a student and a person; and I think it’s been one of the defining factors of my childhood.

Image by Finlay Worrallo

This entry is filed under Students. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

« Student Spotlight: Caleb!
Time Travel Writing Project »

3 Responses to “Permeated my very existence”

  1. Tracie says:
    July 8, 2015 at 7:35 am

    So lovely to get your perspective, Finlay! It sounds like you had a rich and varied education, and you are now a wonderful writer. Thank you for sharing your experiences — it warms my heart to read about them.

  2. Julie Bogart says:
    July 9, 2015 at 3:53 pm

    I loved reading your reflections on your life through the Brave Writer lens! Thanks for donating your time this summer to our intern program. You are a lovely writer and you’ve made Brave Writer better by your contributions. Thank you!

    Julie

  3. Passion for Writing « A Brave Writer’s Life in Brief says:
    July 15, 2015 at 12:23 pm

    […] the next few weeks our summer interns will share their writing experiences with us. Finlay went first. Today we hear from […]

  • Search the Blog

  • Julie Bogart
  • Welcome, I’m Julie Bogart.

    I’m a homeschooling alum -17 years, five kids. Now I run Brave Writer, the online writing and language arts program for families. More >>

    IMPORTANT: Please read our Privacy Policy.

  • New to Brave Writer? START HERE

  • FREE Resources

    • 7-Day Writing Blitz
    • Brave Writer Lifestyle Program
    • Brave Writer Sampler: Free Sample Products
    • Freewriting Prompts
    • Podcasts
  • Popular Posts

    • You have time
    • How writing is like sewing
    • Best curriculum for a 6 year old
    • Today's little unspoken homeschool secret
    • Do you like to homeschool?
    • Don't trust the schedule
    • You want to do a good job parenting?
    • If you've got a passel of kids
    • You are not a teacher
    • Natural Stages of Growth in Writing podcasts
  • Blog Topics

    • Brave Learner Home
    • Brave Writer Lifestyle
    • Classes
    • Contests/Giveaways
    • Friday Freewrite
    • High School
    • Homeschool Advice
    • Julie's Life
    • Language Arts
    • Movie Wednesday
    • Natural Stages of Growth
    • One Thing Principle
    • Our Team
    • Parenting
    • Philosophy of Education
    • Podcasts
    • Poetry Teatime
    • Products
    • Reviews
    • Speaking Schedule
    • Students
    • Writing about Writing
    • Young Writers
  • Archives

  • Brave Writer is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees (at no extra cost to you) by advertising and linking to amazon.com

    Content © Brave Writer unless otherwise stated.

What is Brave Writer?

  • Welcome to Brave Writer
  • Why Brave Writer Works
  • About Julie
  • Brave Writer Values
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Speaking Schedule

Brave Writer Program

  • Getting Started!
  • Stages of Growth in Writing
  • The Brave Writer Program
  • For Families and Students
  • Online Classes
  • Brave Writer Lifestyle

…and More!

  • Blog
  • Classroom
  • Store
  • Books in Brave Writer Programs
  • Contact Us
  • Customer Service
© 2025 Brave Writer
Privacy Policy
Children's Privacy Policy
Help Center