Resistance Has Meaning

Brave Writer

Ask yourself: when was the last time you resisted someone’s invitation or expectation?

  • What did that feel like?
  • Why did you resist?
  • What did you wish the other person understood that they didn’t?

Resistance has meaning.

It’s not a character flaw or defect to overcome. It’s meaningful information to understand and take into account as you devise next steps.

It takes patience and understanding to discover new ways to bring an education to your children that they value.

Declarations that your children are obstinate or would never stop playing if you let them are unfair to them. We all want to keep doing what gives us pleasure but we also want to grow! Kids are the same.

Get curious about your child. Over time, the lights will come on for both of you. Trust the process of knowing your child better. It does work…but requires faith and patience and an abundance of goodwill.

Rooting for you!

This post is originally from Instagram and @juliebravewriter is my account there so come follow along for more conversations like this one!

Brave Learner Home

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Friday Freewrite: Animal Stories

Friday Freewrite Animal Stories

Today’s freewriting prompt:

Remember past experiences (they might be funny or sad or scary) that you’ve had with different animals. Pick a few and write about them!

New to Freewriting?

Freewriting is that wonderful key that unlocks the writer within. It’s the vehicle by which we trick our inner selves into divesting the words and ideas that we want to share but are afraid won’t come out right on paper if we do. So, read the freewriting prompt, set the timer for 5-10 minutes then write whatever comes to mind. Just keep the pencil moving!

Need more help? Check out our free online guide.

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[Podcast #250] Reading Aloud: Why Teach Writing Mechanics with Living Literature?

Brave Writer Podcast Reading Aloud

What is living literature? What does it have to do with teaching your kids grammar and spelling?

Today’s podcast episode is a recording of Julie’s webinar where she explains the heart of Brave Writer’s approach to teaching writing.

Julie talks about how immersion in rich, powerful literature is the best way to teach your child writing mechanics. She outlines the Brave Writer process in six steps:

  1. Parents read aloud.
  2. Students read to themselves.
  3. Students keenly observe what they read and ask investigative questions.
  4. Students test what they know through copywork and dictation.
  5. Students correct their own work.
  6. Students freewrite.

With specific examples and colorful anecdotes, Julie dives into the details for each step. She also breaks them down by program level: The Quill (5-7 year olds), Dart (8-10), Arrow (11-12), Boomerang (13-14), and Slingshot (15-18).

If you’ve been looking for a distillation of what exactly Brave Writer is, this is the episode for you!

Show Notes

1. Reading Aloud

Just like your child learned how to speak from being immersed in your speech, they can learn to write by being immersed in your reading aloud to them. Reading aloud to your child is a way to tune their ear to good writing–that’s why using living literature is so important (and why we’re very picky about what books we use in our Brave Writer programs). Children need to hear high-quality, impactful writing as their own first step on their writing journey.

2. Read to Self

Just like reading aloud to your child tunes their ear, your child reading to themselves tunes their eyes. The next step is for your child to read to themselves. By immersing themselves in this way, they’re training their eyes to recognize what looks like good writing and noticing if something seems off.

3. Keen Observation

The next step is to activate your child more as they read to themselves. Here at Brave Writer we call it “keen observation” and support it in our program with lists of “investigative questions.” For example, students might highlight every question mark they see. Or they may note how the author describes one character versus another.

4. Copywork and Dictation

Now it’s time for the student to take the wheel… by that we mean the pen (or chalk, or marker, etc.). They work on the physical aspect of putting words to paper. When they are very young this might just mean tracing words. Then they may graduate to writing what’s dictated to them. Or reverse dictation exercises. Overall, they’re learning that they can translate thoughts into writing.

5. Self-Correction

Giving students the exercise of catching their own mistakes shows them that they do know writing mechanics even if they aren’t always perfect. It also shows them that editing is a natural part of writing and doesn’t need to feel threatening. Rather than approaching writing as an opportunity to make mistakes, they can approach editing as an opportunity to strengthen what they’re trying to express.

6. Freewriting

The final step in the cycle is freewriting. The goal is just for students to get their thoughts down on paper. This is to help your student become accustomed to writing, analyzing and opining about things around them. The more you can remove the feeling of peril about writing, the better and more joyful the learning process will be for your student.

Of course each of these six steps in the Brave Writer program is adjusted to age groups: The Quill (5-7 year olds), Dart (8-10), Arrow (11-12), Boomerang (13-14), and Slingshot (15-18). But the fundamental premise remains the same: Using living literature is the best way to teach writing mechanics.

Resources

Connect with Julie

Connect with Melissa

Produced by NOVA Media

Brave Writer Podcast

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Lessons I’ve Learned

Brave Writer Lessons

I’ve spent the last 30+ years in the homeschool space actively as a participant and then as a business owner and freelance writer.

Below are both my observations and my experiences within the home education space.

I invite you to reflect rather than respond. Thanks for taking the time to read, pause, and reflect.

  • Trauma, historic oppression and the perception of persecution or marginalization of a viewpoint are reasons many parents homeschool.
  • Most homeschool communities, as a result, are built from shared beliefs (often religious or decidedly secular). These groups create their sense of safety and purpose through exclusion—excluding those who don’t agree with them.
  • Communities or individuals who declare they hold the “truth” rarely change the minds of those outside the group. “Truth declarations” serve the exclusionary practices of ideological communities.
  • There are precious few homeschool spaces, conferences, businesses, and thought leaders whose focus is education and critical thinking. Pluralism (coexisting peacefully with those who disagree with you) is not a strong value in the homeschool population, I’m sorry to say.
  • Thinking begins with curiosity and questions: How does speaking out bring benefit to my cause? How does it harm my cause? Who is brought in? Who is cast out?
  • What would move someone to be open to my different take? What helps me be open to a perspective I don’t want to be true?
  • What do I hope to gain if X influencer sides with my viewpoint? What do I lose if that influencer does not side with my viewpoint? Why do I value X person’s assessment?
  • In Brave Writer, we welcome anyone dedicated to providing their children with an education. We aren‘t here to teach your family what to think, but how to think.

Ultimately, we must ask:

What is gained for education when we follow a model of agreement and exclusion? What, on the other hand, is lost?

Raising Critical Thinkers

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Friday Freewrite: Conversation

Today’s freewriting prompt:

Remember the last conversation you had with a friend. Write what you said to each other like a dialogue scene in a novel (include facial expressions, hand gestures, the environment—any detail you remember).

New to Freewriting?

Freewriting is that wonderful key that unlocks the writer within. It’s the vehicle by which we trick our inner selves into divesting the words and ideas that we want to share but are afraid won’t come out right on paper if we do. So, read the freewriting prompt, set the timer for 5-10 minutes then write whatever comes to mind. Just keep the pencil moving!

Need more help? Check out our free online guide.

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