Mechanics & Literature: March 2023

Brave Writer

March’s Dart, Arrow, and Boomerang selections show characters who let curiosity and the desire to know the truth propel them toward powerful new discoveries. Your family will be entertained and enlightened as they explore

  • writing,
  • mechanics,
  • and literary devices with these stories.

This month’s Quill rocks! Use it to make memories that sparkle like gems! Explore rocks, stones, and minerals as your child practices early reading, writing, and math skills.

[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!]

Brave Writer Quill
Quill (ages 5-7)

Rocks Rock

Are you ready for an earth-shattering time exploring one of nature’s oldest toys? The March Quill (Rocks) is ready for you!

In this Quill we’ll have a fine old time with timelines; curate a gneiss collection of vocabulary words; set our senses sizzling with an exploration of imagery; engage our fine motor skills with the oldest writing materials on the planet; sharpen our sorting skills; and weigh in on a unique standard of measurement.

Note: You can use any rock picture books you have in your stacks or find at your library.

Some suggestions:

Get the Quill.

Brave Writer Dart
Dart (ages 8-10)

Egg Marks the Spot by Amy Timberlake

Your entire family can join Skunk and Badger on a rock-finding expedition! Surprises lurk behind every boulder!

Have you ever started reading a book about mazes and gotten lost in it? Oof, sorry, we couldn’t resist! That’s because this month’s literary device is puns. Author Amy Timberlake has loaded her story with puns that will make you giggle and groan! Explore how this wacky wordplay works.

We’ll also: 

  • explore, investigate, and scrutinize some synonyms,
  • keep an ear out for onomatopoeia,
  • consider commas and colons in dialogue,
  • embark on a Skills Tracker Scavenger Hunt,
  • zig and zag through an exploration of verbs,
  • give a list a nice big hug with parentheses, and so much more! 

Purchase the book.

Get the Dart.

Brave Writer Arrow
Arrow (ages 11-12)

A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll

Award-winning, neurodivergent author Elle McNicoll has written a story of the historical European witch trials and of a contemporary neurodivergent protagonist who is intent on setting the story straight. We’re confident this book will give your family lots to talk about!

March’s literary devices are alliteration, consonance, and assonance. We’ll explore the ways these devices make writing flow and provide a dash of pizazz!  

 We’ll also: 

  • ponder how pronouns help you and me,
  • advance our understanding of adjectives,
  • activate our imaginations with action words—verbs,
  • tune into interior monologue,
  • capture clauses with commas,
  • play with plural nouns, and so much more!

Purchase the book.

Get the Arrow.

Brave Writer Boomerang
Boomerang (13-14)

Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

Put on your seatbelts and settle in for a wild ride! This month you’ll join Professor Lidenbrock, an adventurous geology professor, as he sets out on a journey to the center of the earth!

In this Boomerang, we’ll:

  • get acquainted through characterization,
  • turn over translation ups and downs,
  • ponder punctuation fashions over time, 
  • embark on an epic journey through a subterranean fantasyscape,
  • inquire about science and research,
  • wrestle with a resolution and so much more!

Purchase the book.

Get the Boomerang.

For ages 15-18, check out the Slingshot.

Brave Writer

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A Loving Thing

Brave Writer

Imagine what it might be like to trust a child to grow and develop and learn. Start there. Then, if you have anything to offer, come from spaciousness, kindness, patience, and self-control.

Here’s what happens with me. My kid is not successful yet at something—any old thing from tying shoes to mastering math facts to peeing straight, aimed at the toilet and not the wall!

I come along and suddenly my adrenaline shoots, my mind is awash with urgency, and words start forming in my mouth that are CERTAIN to save my child from the hard reality of being who they are at this moment in time with this particular skill set.

I have the ego and audacity to believe that this one conversation, one idea, one method, one practice will SOLVE it: no more confusion, no more misfirings, no more failed attempts.

So I launch my urgent words at this child and… Oh my gosh, unforeseen BLOWBACK! Won’t listen, gets sassy, goes quiet, tears up… It’s as if this human being is not utterly grateful and impressed with my carefully constructed solution to what I see as a problem! In fact, this little person is not! They are not yet ready to apply my perfect solution. In fact, they resent it!

What I think is a problem may not even have been experienced as problematic by my child or teen! Here I am making them feel deficient somehow.

But what’s a loving thing?

  • Maybe it’s silence.
  • Maybe it’s sidling up and watching.
  • Maybe it’s sending a text message with a link.
  • Maybe it’s checking in to see how this little person is doing (if they are happily failing at tying shoes, who am I to swoop in and fix it yet?).
  • Maybe it’s leaving a bottle of Windex and a rag next to the toilet with a note.
  • Maybe it’s asking if the child wants your input before delivering it.

Bottom Line: Adults aren’t always right. Kids know this. Adults forget this.

You can do this.

Brave Learner Home

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Friday Freewrite: Running in Circles

Friday Freewrite

Have you heard the phrase, “Running around in circles?” It means to be busy but not accomplish anything because you keep coming back to the same problem. When was the last time you “went around in circles”? Write about it!

New to freewriting? Check out our online guide.

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Podcast: Use Your Bodies to Learn

Brave Writer Podcast

Melissa and I just discovered an interesting coincidence about us: We both grew up as theater kids! Although we didn’t pursue theater professionally, we bonded over our kinesthetic approach to home education.

Our Brave Writer products, such as the Quill, Dart, Arrow, Boomerang, and Slingshot (affectionately abbreviated to Q-DABS), are designed to incorporate movement into learning. For example, when writing the Dart program, Melissa focused on creating activities that allow children to embody the concepts they’re learning.

As parents ourselves, we always consider how to keep kids active and engaged while teaching. Research shows that when children use their bodies to learn, they retain information better and have more fun. By creating a dynamic and enjoyable learning experience, kids start to trust that lessons can be interesting and relevant.

Come along with us as we share some of the techniques we use at Brave Writer to integrate embodied learning and make lessons more engaging and effective.

Show Notes

For learning to stick, it needs to be used. However, for abstract concepts like using the month of September, pointing out the seasons changing outside may not be enough. I found that pairing abstract concepts with kinesthetic activities helped kids retain the information better. It seemed to become a part of their muscle memory.

For struggling readers and writers, it’s important to connect the sound with the letter. By physically forming the letters with their hand and using their mouth, children can form a whole-body connection. According to the 12 Brain/Mind Learning Principles by Renate and Geoffrey Caine, all learning is physiological. Reading involves applying sounds to symbols on a page, which is a physical act. One recommended practice for copy work is for the child to vocalize the sound as they write.

The second principle of the Caines, “the brain/mind is social,” is relevant for parents who want their children to work independently while they take care of other tasks. However, learning is both social and physiological. This means that kids can benefit from using their bodies in connection with each other, such as through theater games. Therefore, it’s important for parents to provide opportunities for children to engage in social learning experiences.

Here are some of the things that we’ve done to incorporate kinesthetic learning with our kids:

  • Comma-dipping: By pausing and dipping the body at commas and using other physical cues for other marks, kids can start connecting the symbols to the spoken language and their own felt experience.
  • To teach prepositions, ask children to move a stuffed animal to different locations and describe its position, such as “the cat is on the chair” or “the cat is under the table.” You can also use video game characters or other familiar objects to practice prepositional phrases. By making the learning experience fun and interactive, children can develop a strong understanding of prepositions.

The kitchen table is not the only place to learn! In Brave Writer, we integrate embodied learning to make lessons more engaging and effective. We don’t just provide traditional worksheets for memorizing concepts, because research shows that when children use their bodies to learn, they retain information better and have more fun.

By creating a dynamic and enjoyable learning experience, kids start to trust that lessons can be interesting and relevant.

Resources

Connect with Julie

Brave Writer Podcast

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Question the Experts

Brave Writer

You owe no homeschool expert total allegiance.

In fact, it is your obligation to think critically about any educational philosophy you adopt, consider, explore.

How do you do that? You ask lots of questions. Oodles of them.

Starter questions to pose to any educational philosophy:

  • Who created this philosophy and when? For what audience?
  • What problem is this philosophy trying to solve? Is that problem active in my family?
  • Who has traditionally benefited from this philosophy? Who benefits now?
  • What do the detractors say?
  • How comprehensive is this way of educating?
  • Do some subjects thrive in these conditions? Which ones?
  • Are some subjects overlooked or diminished in this system?
  • Does the philosophy of education imply a worldview that causes harm?
  • Does it imply an association with religious or secular ideas and do either of those matter to me?
  • How critical is the role of the teacher? And am I prepared to participate (or not!) at that level?
  • Which of my children might this suit? Which might it harm or impair?
  • How flexible is it? How flexible am I?
  • Why am I attracted to it?
  • What ideal version of myself does it imply?
  • Who would I be seen as if I don’t live up to its standards?
  • Am I okay with not being good at it, yet doing it anyway?
  • How expensive is it to implement?
  • What accommodations can be made for my special needs children?
  • How much support is there when I have questions?
  • Who are the “experts”? Do I resonate with them?
  • Is there a way to “try” the philosophy before committing?
Raising Critical Thinkers

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