Which Brave Writer Products?
Brave Writer is unlike other writing programs!
We don’t organize around grade level or writing format instruction (learn more on our Getting Started section of the website).
Our products address writing in three ways:
- Original writing: learning how to express thoughts in writing or, in other words, helping children access their writing voice and coax it into written expression.
- Writing mechanics and literature: using the practices of copywork and dictation drawn from literature to teach spelling, punctuation, grammar, literary elements, and writing craft.
- Writing projects: creating developmentally appropriate writing projects that combine original writing skill with mechanics aptitude (letters, reports, poems, essays, and so on).
You are free to mix and match our programs according to your needs. Please do!
Listen, I homeschooled five kids. I found it challenging to work with five levels at once. When I designed Brave Writer, I wanted to be sure parents could choose a program to use with all their kids—adapting it up or down a little depending on the academic center of gravity in the family. For instance, the Writing Project programs—Jot It Down! and Partnership Writing—are easy to adapt to ages between 3-12. Pick one (aim for the middle!) and use it for everyone, adjusting up or down depending on each child’s stage of growth.
The Writer’s Jungle is written for parents and addresses the writing needs of kids between the ages of 8 and 18.
Our language arts programs can be purchased 10 at once when you buy our current year’s collection, or you can buy them one at a time (Arrow and Boomerang). With a big family, you might consider buying individual issues from a variety of levels using only one per month, rotating through them.
Brave Writer is oriented to you, the real homeschooling parent.
Use the guide below for more help!
Would you like to use the Brave Writer in your homeschool but aren’t sure which products you need? This may help!
1. To nurture your child’s inner voice and facilitate original writing
- COMPREHENSIVE: Purchase The Writer’s Jungle or take our The Writer’s Jungle Online class if you’d like to be coached through the program. Also practice Freewriting!
- ENRICHMENT: Watch our dynamic conference talks about writing and homeschooling in the Nurturing Brave Writer Families DVD/mp4 series. Get a group of friends together and hold your own weekend mini-conference!
2. To combine mechanics with literature
- CUSTOM-BUILD: Pick novels to read, select your own passages for copywork and dictation and apply the lessons of Chapter 1 of The Writer’s Jungle.
- BRAVE WRITER CURATED: Pick one of our ten-month Language Arts Programs or purchase our language arts guides a la carte to go with the books you are already reading.
- In addition to our tools, you might also use a supplementary grammar reference (like Nitty Gritty Grammar) in the elementary years and then a more systematic program (we recommend Winston Grammar) once in junior high and once in high school (or learn a foreign language).
3. To create writing projects
- DO-IT-YOURSELF: Create your own writing projects (Appendix 1 in The Writer’s Jungle) or take the easy way out and use one of our writing project programs: Home Study Courses. Each course has ten or more writing projects in it to last you at least a year.
- GET HELP: Sign up for an online writing class with our awesome writing coaches (who are also, by the way, homeschoolers like you!).
