Look at photos from a year ago and think back to the person you were at that time. How have you changed in 12 months?
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Archive for May, 2020
2020-2021 Arrows and Boomerangs
Did you miss the Book Reveal Party? Or would you like to watch it again?
Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered!
Grab your tea and a treat. Pull your kids over to watch with you. Make a list of books you are looking forward to reading next year.
Watch here!
Pressed for time?
Go directly to the Dart, Arrow and Boomerang pages on our website for the book lists and links to their pages on Amazon.
ETA: We have replaced Cricket in Times Square with The Prairie Thief by Melissa Wiley for the Dart in September.
What’s included in our year-long language arts programs?
- The Dart is designed for kids 8-10 years of age.
- The Arrow is for children 11-12 years of age.
- The Boomerang is teens 13-15 years of age.
Each Mechanics and Literature program includes:
- Four expertly selected copywork and dictation passages
- Lively, clearly worded notes about spelling, punctuation, grammar, and literary elements related to the passages
- Discussion of literary craft
- Big Juicy Questions to inspire conversation and writing
- Book Club Party ideas to celebrate the completion of the book and guide
- Guidelines that teach you how to use copywork and dictation to teach the mechanics of writing (Look for the separate guidelines PDF in the after-purchase email from Brave Writer.
Optimism
My kids bought me this gorgeous print (above) painted by artist Abbey Lossing for Mother’s Day titled “Motherhood.” It captures it all: the closeness, the reading, the hint of nature, the artwork that it is, the racial ambiguity of the subjects, the abandoned sippy cup on the high shelf, the bold colors that match my interior walls in my home. Perfection.
Optimism.
That’s what I felt when I looked at this picture. That’s the emotion missing from our daily lives right now.
The radical choice today is not skepticism or cynicism. It doesn’t take much insight to be appalled by political parties or news media. It’s easy to hate—to feel superior through anger and judgment, to believe in our own thoughts more than our fellow human beings.
What courage it takes to be hopeful. What faith it takes to be optimistic!
Human beings are complex bundles of needs. If we’re lucky, we begin our harrowing journey as a small child cuddled on a beloved lap, paging through picture books, with oceans of hope for a better tomorrow. I still believe that even the people who see the world differently than me want that too.
And when they don’t appear to, when they act in inscrutable ways, perhaps it’s because something went wrong all those years ago.
We have the chance to fundamentally alter next year and the decades ahead by the act of being a loving optimist, especially as we raise our children.
That’s motherhood: faith in human beings to become decent people.
This post is originally from Instagram and @juliebravewriter is my account there so come follow along for more conversations like this one!
Friday Freewrite: Fictional Character
Have you ever cared for a fictional character in a similar way as you might a real person? If so, describe the character, why you care, and how you feel. If not, share that perspective.
New to freewriting? Check out our online guide.
Boomerang Book Club: June 2020
Teenagers are invited to join our virtual book discussion club, conducted entirely online in the Brave Writer classroom.
Our book discussions are drawn from rich works of fiction that will easily fulfill the English credit requirement for literature for a year of high school.
[This post contains Amazon affiliate links. When you click on those links to make purchases, Brave Writer receives compensation at no extra cost to you. Thank you!]
Here’s what we’re reading in June in the Boomerang Book Club: Lord of the Flies, William Golding. Penguin Books Reissue Edition, 2003. 224 pages.
Before The Hunger Games, there was Lord of the Flies. A group of schoolboys is stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash. The lure of adventure free of adult supervision quickly gives way to fear as the boys start to turn on each other. Labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, even a vision of the apocalypse, Lord of the Flies has established itself as a true classic.
Purchase the novel here.
