Welcome to our second podcast episode in our Natural Stages of Growth in Writing series! Today we cover the Emerging Writers stage, which typically occurs around ages 8-10.
We explain that the key to the Emerging Writers stage is partnership. Parents need to partner with their kids while writing, just like parents naturally partner with their kids while teaching them how to drive a car, or any other major life skill. We dive into exactly what this looks like, and all of its benefits.
Plus, we talk about the Brave Writer Emerging Writers Bundle and the Dart and Partnership Writing Bundle.
Show Notes
Development Stage
At this stage kids can read and write, but they aren’t fluent in either. They’re just getting to the point they can read chapter books. They can verbally tell a great story, but they struggle to put it all down on paper with the correct:
- grammar,
- spelling,
- and structure.
They have all the pieces they need to write well, but it’s hard for them to put it all together at once.
The Key: Partnership
The key to the Emerging Writers stage is partnership. Parents need to partner with their kids while writing, just like parents naturally partner with their kids while teaching them how to drive a car, or any other major life skill.
What this looks like in practice is parent and child sitting down side-by-side, both with pencils in hand. The parent can take notes or even dictation of the story the child tells. Then the child can work from those notes, or trace that dictation.
In this role, the parent is sharing the load of the heavy transfer of verbal words into written structure.
Benefits
There are several benefits to this partnership approach. One is that you’re keeping your student’s creative mind and confidence undimmed. Another is that this approach lends itself to “writing back”—the innate human desire of wanting to write back a reply to what someone has said. Siblings can be great partners in this.
For more details on how to partner with your Emerging Writer during this stage, check out the Brave Writer Emerging Writers Bundle and the Dart and Partnership Writing Bundle.
Resources
- Big juicy questions. Memories that last a lifetime. Meaningful ways to learn grammar, spelling, and punctuation. If this way of homeschooling speaks to you, check out our Brave Writer programs: Quill (ages 5-7), Dart (8-10), Arrow (11-12), Boomerang (13-14), Slingshot (15-18). On sale through the end of June. Sale includes a free lifetime membership to Brave Learner Home. Purchase by June 30 to take advantage of this deal!
- Check out the Brave Writer Emerging Writers Bundle, on sale through the end of June.
- Check out the Dart & Partnership Writing Bundle, on sale through the end of June.
- Sign up for our Text Message Pod Ring to get podcast updates and more!
- Send us podcast topic ideas by texting us: +1 (833) 947-3684
Connect with Julie
- Instagram: @juliebravewriter
- Threads: @juliebravewriter
- Twitter: @bravewriter
- Facebook: facebook.com/bravewriter
Connect with Melissa
- Website: melissawiley.com
- Substack: melissawiley.substack.com
- Instagram: @melissawileybooks
- Twitter: @melissawiley
Produced by NOVA Media
