A Brave Writer's Life in Brief

Ever find the ghost of public school past lurking on your left shoulder? It whispers to you, “Hey the local schooled kids are writing academic essays in third grade. What are you doing?”

Many of us are haunted by papers with red ink scrawling across hard-won sentences and paragraphs, circling mistakes and crossing out awkward phrases. We don’t want to treat our kids’ writing the same way, but we don’t know any other approach!

Here at Brave Writer, we’re ready to help you navigate an entirely new approach to giving support and feedback to your child’s writing.

Our writing coaches bring their personalities and positivity to the classroom while they form their own rapport with each child—and with you! Our instructors are professional writers who teach your kids by coming alongside your children and talking to them like fellow writers.

Best part: We’ll show you how to do that too! No red pens needed!

One of our most popular writing coaches is Deb Bell. She’s a veteran here at Brave Writer. Her training in theatre arts, multi-sensory learning, and learning challenges (like dyslexia and ADD) give her a versatility that wins her students over. We hear over and over again that those reluctant writers are racing to the computer to see what Deb has to say in response to their work.

You can see why.

She talks to our kids about their obsessions, connecting with them and modeling vivid and dynamic language. Her feedback here about Minecraft does a lot to establish her credibility as a writing partner:

When we bring a story to life, our readers get to experience it as if it is their experience. Through the writers in this class I’ve built a shelter, but failed to get the door “on” before mobs attacked, I’ve helped battle an Ender dragon for his egg, found diamonds, built a custom home of lapis lazuli, and I’ve ridden a roller coaster mine cart on a rickety track!

Concrete writing instruction is woven into reassuring responses, to help the writing grow while honoring your child’s voice. Even simple details are noted and drawn out:

Student: The last time we had steak as a whole family Robert still had his old grill and we still had our old white plates. Andrew and Celia still lived at home.

Lovely. You are showing us that it’s been a while; we assume that now you have new plates, and that Robert has a new grill. As well, my mental image of the family around the table is now populated with white plates. Every detail adds to the three-dimensionality of the scene for me. Good.

Can you imagine the RELIEF in having a partner like this to help you work on your child’s writing? It can happen right now.

Join Deb for an injection of joy and progress in writing with your kids!

Register Here for Deb’s Classes

Learn more about Deb Bell