Podcast: Manage the Damage
In our second podcast Noah and I look at how a parent can help a child understand the value of writing in his or her life rather than resenting or resisting it.
Noah shares memories from when we worked on writing together when he was young.
And we added intro music. This is too fun!
—Julie
P.S. Listened to it just now and we lost a 30 second bit where Noah signs off.
Image by Randen Pederson (cc cropped, tinted, text added)
Hello! I recently came across your curricula as I am researching options for the 2012-2013 school year. I homeschool 3 children. Next school year they will be in 1st grade, 3rd grade, and 8th grade. My 8th grader is a reluctant writer. We have gone through the Institute for Excellence in Writing program, which left both of us disliking writing. I am trying to find something for my 8th grader, and also something to start my younger ones on so that writing isn’t something awful. I am becoming overwhelmed with all of the choices and fear purchasing something I will regret. I need some help.
Hi Teri!
Good to hear from you. Sorry your year felt hard and that at the end of it, both you and your son disliked writing. The Writer’s Jungle (http://www.bravewriter.com/program/home-study-courses/the-writers-jungle/) would be a good place to start. You will be able to re-imagine what the writing process ought to be like and it will lift some of the heaviness of what you are currently feeling.
If you prefer an online class for the support and accountability, I would recommend our Writer’s Jungle Online (https://bravewriter.com/online-classes/the-writers-jungle-online). It uses the same material from The Writer’s Jungle, but it guides you with the support of an online instructor.
Right now, you need to shift how you understand writing. It’s not a series of formats that get cranked out on a schedule. It’s an organic, breathing part of self-expression that can meet the demands of formats when appropriate, but is not confined to them.
Feel free to wade through the waters of our site and try a few things. You might like starting with the area called The Brave Writer Lifestyle for some free resources and ideas: (http://www.bravewriter.com/bwl/)
Let me know if I can help more.
Julie
I totally relate to Teri’s comment…I’d always looked wistfully at IEW as the “gold standard”, but something always held me back (the cost was part of it, but not all). Now I am glad that I never bought it.
I’ve kept journals since I was 16 years old. I always hated school writing, though, because there was no training in the ideas…it was always “write this” without learning how to cultivate ideas…so much damage to undo from my public school experience.
Years ago as a young homeschool mom I read Writing Down the Bones and Bird by Bird and those totally changed my thoughts towards writing. I find much of what you say very freeing, but so much more relevant because it’s about children.
How reassuring that I’m not the only one with an 11 yo who eats Cheerios for breakfast and then makes a break for the computer to play some game! It’s incredible how much I take for granted that the future I have planned for my children is the “right” one. It makes so much sense to involve them in their own lives! You’re right that the conversations seem to happen best when we’re not home – a deliberate time away. Is that more for the mom’s sake? I know I can’t relax in my own home much of the time. How can we make our whole lives more peaceful, not just the writing process? I guess that’s a subject for a whole different curriculum…
I loved Noah’s revelation!