Archive for the ‘Young Writers’ Category

First Freewrite: new to Brave Writer

Hello Julie,

I stumbled upon Brave Writer only a few weeks ago, loved what I read on your site, got BRAVE and veered off my writing plans for this year to follow a brave writer lifestyle. I have not looked back, nor regretted this decision. Brave Writer has brought fresh air into this house! I’m still reading through your book and we are slowly incorporating its ideas into our days.

I’ve included my 9 yo first freewrite and a picture of my 7 yo about our trip to a raptor conservatory. We didn’t polish this piece, as it was the first one ever, but I thought it turned out really well (9 yo went well past the timer :-). Good sign for a “first time”).

Sincerely,
Verena

Hi. I’m Robert Raptor I’m a Bald eagle. I’m going to tell you a story well it happend this way, one day I was out hunting my wife was having babys, anyway I was perched on a tree when I saw my Friend Golden eagle.
I caught up with him and I said: “Why dont we hunt together”. So we flew together for a while,
when I saw a flock of Piagons, yumy yum. So we dived thourgh the air I could feel the good wind
through my feathers, on the first try Goldeneagle caught one and flew of to his nest but I didn’t get
one so I climbed higher and dove again this time I got one and flew
off to my nest when I got here, I had a surprise! Four newborn chicks!

bald eagle

Posted in Brave Writer Philosophy, Email, Friday Freewrite, General, Young Writers | 2 Comments »

Email: Scavenger hunt (!) and original poetry

Let me alert you to two great things about this email.

1) How awesome is it to have your kids bring original poetry to the teatimes? I get emails sharing this same story again and again. You just never know what will catalyze the poet in your child! Remember: the right answer is, “Yes! Bring it. Can’t wait to hear it.”

2) A scavenger hunt for your school work? WOW! Wish I’d have thought of it.

I’m finally kicking our Poetry and Tea Time back into gear for the year.  I asked each kid to find two poems they liked to bring to read at Tea Time.  Nathan asked if he might bring two original compositions in addition to selecting two.  Um, yeah, you can do that.  Wait, twist my arm. Ok, uncle.  Go ahead.  Write original poetry.

Here is his AUTUMN acrostic:
Azure skys, brown leaves.
Under the trees, the black bear leaves.  Under the meadow,
The black bear sleeps.
Under the leaves, the jay stops his song.
Moving day has come along.
Naught but bare trees now are left, as frost steals up to make a theft.

Yesterday, as an aside in his Scavenger School (I hide their assignments all over the house, so they end up doing math in the bathtub and such), I asked him to write a poem.  Here it is, an acrostic (I guess he likes those) on SEASONS:

Snowy winter
Excellent spring
April rains
Summer sunny days
Oops, time to dig out long sleeve shirts and pants
Nothing but a beautiful fall
Snowy winter again.

Blessings,
Holly

Check out Holly’s blog!

Posted in Email, Homeschool Advice, Poetry, Poetry Teatime, Young Writers | 2 Comments »

Back to school party

I had fun parents. They liked parties and didn’t care if you had a birthday attached to them or not. One year, my dad and mom helped me plan and execute a big Valentine’s party whose theme was sports (totally their idea). My maiden name is Sweeney and we called it: “The Sweeney Sports Spectacular.” Each room in our large house had a different sports event (putting golf, Nerf basketball, horseshoes, tossing cards into a hat, ping pong, calisthenics and so on). We paired up into boy-girl teams (7th grade – which meant it was a bit agonizing and thrilling!) by drawing name cards that created new words. So a boy might draw “hockey” and the girl would draw “puck” and that made them a team.

Scoring rules were posted at each sports’ site and we were given score cards to keep track of points. There were pretty silly trophies for highest scores, lowest scores, silliest team, etc. Loads of fun and it had nothing to do with celebrating me. Just a great way to be with my friends. So that’s a glimpse into my parents. They were fun!

My mom (who had been a school teacher before I was born) had a special affection for all things academic. When I was in fifth grade, she helped me organize a “Back-to-school Brunch” (all this alliteration!). We invited ten of my girlfriends this time for a morning of omlettes, pastries and games. Party favors included new pencils with psychedelic designs on them, groovy 1970s stickers, pink erasers, and Pee-Chee folders. We played games like “unscramble the school words” where each girl had a sheet of paper with typical words related to school all mixed up. We raced to see who could unscramble them the fastest. We covered a text book using paper bags, scissors and tape (in a race). There were other games I don’t remember. But the idea was to make the return to school something to celebrate, rather than dread. And it really worked!

As I spend this week getting ready for next week (when we start), I thought about homeschooling and its varities of traditions: the brown boxes from UPS that bring new, unused books to the family that get ripped open with enthusiasm; the ease of finding pencils because at the start of the year, there are lots of them and all in one place; the joy of starting a new read aloud and snuggling together again on the couch; the resumption of teatime and poetry that draws the family together once per week…

In Brave Writer, we try to see things through our children’s eyes. Sometimes our own weariness sets in and we forget that children still need surprises, specialness, treats, awe, wonder – in large doses! So think about how to get off on the right foot this fall. What can you do to make this a season that draws your children’s good will to the surface and creates a memory as vivid as the “back-to-school brunch” is for me.

Posted in Brave Writer Philosophy, Poetry Teatime, Young Writers | 2 Comments »