Brave Writer News: August 2026

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The AI Crisis for Writing

Brave Writer

We’re in a bit of an AI crisis for writing in public high schools and colleges. Students are letting ChatGPT write their essays for them. Instructors are using ChatGPT to help them grade those essays. In some cases, we literally have AI writing and grading itself!

The current solution being offered by many people who are from the previous generation is a return to Blue Books (or handwritten, timed essay writing in class). Many of us remember the tiring practice of clutching a pencil, gripping it tightly, writing as quickly as possible, for sixty to ninety minutes in a classroom.

This generation? Not so much.

Sure, there are some classrooms and schools that prioritize handwriting and penmanship, but that is not true for the many students today. Worse: solving a tech crisis by rolling back to an earlier technology rarely lasts.

Still, we love handwriting at Brave Writer, and we train students to freewrite by hand for copywork and dictation (we even have a FREE Copywork Guide). Your kids should be prepared for whatever may come.

But, also, keep in mind that today’s kids want two things: a challenge and an audience! They like to work hard (for instance, the amount of time they spend learning editing tools to make a compelling short video for social media is proof), and they want to be heard. So watch a make-up tutorial on TikTok or a political rant by a teen on YouTube. Read their screeds about tech, religion, and gaming.

Rethink how students demonstrate learning.

  • Can they produce short films and upload them online?
  • Can they create a “zine”—an analog magazine with pages, artwork, and a variety of article types?
  • Can they give oral presentations or host debates?

Humans love learning, and they love sharing what they learn.

Technology moves us forward, and the solution for how to manage technology can’t be moving backwards. Blame and shame never work. Catching cheaters never works. Comparing the era you went to college to today’s college students misses the mark.

It’s time to adapt.

Help! My Kid Hates Writing

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[Podcast #352] Handwriting: Why, When, and How to Teach It

Brave Writer Podcast

What if one of the simplest tools for improving reading, memory, attention, and creative thinking is already sitting in your pencil cup?

We’re revisiting handwriting and the surprising neuroscience behind why it still matters in a digital age.

We explore:

  • how forming letters supports early reading,
  • why handwritten notes encourage deeper thinking,
  • and how copywork can build skill without limiting a child’s original ideas.

We also share playful ways to practice, from cornmeal and sidewalk chalk to gel pens and tablets.

Download the free companion handout at bravewriter.com/handwriting, then join us as we make handwriting a satisfying part of the homeschool day.

Show Notes

Why Handwriting Still Matters

Handwriting can feel like an unnecessary hurdle when keyboards allow our children to communicate faster and revise more easily. Yet writing by hand is more than an old-fashioned method of recording words. It is a physical, perceptual, and cognitive process that supports children as they learn to read, remember, think, and express themselves.

When a child types a letter, the shape has already been created. The child finds it on the keyboard and presses a key. When that same child writes the letter, their brain and body must construct it. They remember where the line begins, which direction it travels, how the curves connect, and how much pressure to apply.

That physical construction helps children distinguish between symbols that contain the same basic parts. A lowercase b and d are both made from a line and a circle, but orientation changes the letter. Writing gives children repeated, embodied experience with that distinction.

Fortunately, handwriting practice does not have to begin with a pencil or workbook. A child can draw letters in cornmeal, trace them in the air, shape them from clay, or paint them with water on the sidewalk. Gel pens on black paper can turn a reluctant writer into an enthusiastic one. The tool matters less than the opportunity to build a connection between movement, shape, name, and sound.

Protect the Child’s Ideas

Young children can think far more quickly than they can write. When we require them to compose and transcribe at the same time, they may shrink their ideas to fit their handwriting ability.

We can avoid that trap by developing two skills simultaneously.

First, we capture their original thoughts for them. They narrate a story, explanation, or observation, and we write it down. Their vocabulary, humor, and complexity remain intact.

Separately, they practice the physical skill of handwriting through copywork. They might copy a sentence from a favorite book, the names of dinosaurs, a line from a poem, or a list of continents.

Think of these practices as two pedals on a bicycle. One preserves the child’s voice. The other develops the hand that will eventually record that voice independently.

Stop Before Frustration Takes Over

Copywork does not need to fill a page. One carefully formed letter may represent a child’s best effort.

Invite children to stop when they notice their attention fading. We want them to associate handwriting with concentration, satisfaction, and growing competence, not with aching hands and endless lines.

As the movements become familiar, stamina increases. A short daily ritual can help: choose meaningful passages, play instrumental music, write alongside your children, and enjoy five quiet minutes together.

Typing remains an essential tool, especially for longer drafts and revision. We do not have to choose between handwriting and technology. Our children deserve both.

A pencil, keyboard, and voice each offer a different route from the inner world to the outer one. By helping children become comfortable with all three, we give them greater authority over their ideas and more freedom to share them.

Resources

Connect with Julie

Connect with Melissa

Produced by NOVA

Brave Writer Podcast

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Notice, Name, Experience

Brave Writer

Today’s post features a message that was originally
shared with our Brave Learner Home community.

As homeschoolers, our biggest task is to help our children find their place in the world. We want to teach them situational awareness, the vocabulary of all that surrounds them, the freedoms and responsibilities they have in each environment.

Connect to the World

Homeschooling is less about filling in blanks at a kitchen table and more about noticing—noticing the way stuff works, noticing that there are names for every type of tree and bird, noticing that sounds are ever present and can be named. When we say our world is the classroom, homeschoolers mean this quite literally. We mean: get out into the world and experience it with every sense:

  • touch,
  • taste,
  • fragrance,
  • vision,
  • and sound.

Name it, know it better.

Your kids will learn so much more if you connect them to their world. The learning you want for them is not in programs. Programs can give you ideas for what to do in that big world. But if they focus on getting through and getting done, you may be missing out on the most wonderful aspect of this journey.

Homeschooling is the choice to bring learning to every part of your child’s life—to notice, name, and experience it.

You’ve got this!

Brave Learner Home

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