Try It: Concise Colors

Brave Writer Try It

Today’s Try It activity is from the A Rover’s Story Arrow by Jasmine Warga.

Concise Colors!

  1. Grab a big box of crayons, colored pencils, or markers. Or head online to find virtual paint chips!
  2. Walk around the house and search for colorful items. Green walls, a blue couch, a kaleidoscope mug, or even your brown dog would work!
  3. Using your color tools, zero in on the color that best matches your item. 

Perhaps that purple bedroom is violet. The gray cat might be manatee gray, while a red flower in the garden sports shades of vermillion.

Colors are a powerful descriptive writing tool!

Enjoy the color hunt alone, or play with the color words to create a poem or micro-story! 

P.S. Try it activities like this are found in each Dart (8-10), Arrow (11-12), Boomerang (13-14), and Slingshot (15-18)! Grab one of our Literature Singles and invite wordplay into your day! 

The Complete List of Try It Activities

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Garden Variety Days

Brave Writer

If you have a great day, the temptation is to believe that you should only ever have great days. What makes a day great, however, is the fact that it gets compared to the garden variety days and wins! One key to a better experience of your life is to not overvalue the great days or undervalue the garden variety ones.

It’s not possible to have all great days as a homeschooler. Each time we have a great day, though, it’s as if the bar gets raised and suddenly they all need to be great.

Great days exist in contrast to our garden variety, every day days. That’s what makes them great. You only need a handful a year!

Oh and I should tell you: there will be some really, really rotten days.

They pass too!

So the rule of thumb is: garden variety days punctuated by great days (hurray!) and occasionally ruined by rotten ones. Rinse and repeat. That’s homeschool… it’s also life.

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

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Friday Freewrite: Workaround

Friday Freewrite

A “workaround” is dealing with a problem without solving the problem itself (for example, if you’re out of oil when baking, you might substitute it with applesauce, or if you’re missing a board game piece, you might use a penny to stand in for it). Think of a time you used a “workaround.” Write about it!

New to freewriting? Check out our online guide.

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[Podcast #233] Endgame Tips to Finish the Year Strong

Brave Writer Podcast

Springtime often pulls homeschoolers in what can feel like two different directions.

  1. The first is the concern of what needs to be done before the end of the school year.
  2. The second is wanting to play outside.

Today on the Brave Writer podcast, we cover how to unite the two!

We give ideas of how to incorporate formal education with being outside: Measuring the circumference of a tree, practicing spelling while tossing a lacrosse ball, figuring out change at the ice cream store, and more.

But we also cover how spring is a rich time to develop wonder and observational skills in your kids, beyond just formal standards. Field trips, “look for a color” strolls, and even baseball games can help your child appreciate the world around them and develop lifelong passions.

Show Notes

Learning Outside

Sometimes the problem with learning math or spelling is the environment. Especially in springtime, sitting at a table hunched over papers is not ideal for humans of any age. So head outside and do geometry on trees. Use a ball to pepper each other with spelling challenges. Go to the ice cream store and figure out the change owed at the cash register. And don’t forget the magic tool of homeschooling: the trampoline.

Developing Wonder and Passion

Even if you practice year-round homeschooling, spring can offer a natural transition. There are flowers blooming, birds singing, and so, so much to be observed and wondered about. Teaching your child to simply observe and wonder, without the need for immediate answers is critical to their development. Plus, it’s a great time to sneak in field trips while traditional schools are cramming for end-of-year testing!

Homeschooling is about connecting to ourselves so that we can build meaning for ourselves and actually have lives we enjoy living. We’re not just trying to train our children for a future job. We’re trying to build curiosity, depth, and interest in the whole range of wonder that we live around every day. Springtime is a wonderful season to do exactly that.

Resources

  • Check out the Brave Writer Bookshop 
  • Start a free trial of CTCmath.com to try the math program that’s sure to grab and keep your child’s attention!
  • Good news: There are enough weeks left to do a writing project with your kids that will leave you feeling confident and accomplished this school year. Sign up for a Brave Writer online writing class. Our classes start every Monday, and each one only lasts three to six weeks. Sign up today!
  • 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

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Produced by NOVA Media

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Poetry + Writing Mechanics

Brave Writer

Super size your Poetry Teatime with a novel in verse!

The engaging stories listed below will hook your children and introduce them to a whole new way to tell a story—through poetry!

As you explore these terrific titles, our Quill (ages 5-7), Dart (ages 8-10), Arrow (ages 11-12), Boomerang (ages 13-14), and Slingshot (ages 15-18) literature singles help you teach:

  • grammar,
  • punctuation,
  • writer’s craft,
  • and more!

Click on a title to purchase the book then click on the linked related product to buy Brave Writer’s accompanying literature guide.

TITLEGUIDE
PoetryQuill
Odder by Katherine ApplegateDart
Becoming Muhammad Ali by Kwame Alexander and James PattersonArrow
Before the Ever After by Jacqueline WoodsonArrow
Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-RansomeArrow
Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRoccaArrow
The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis PinkneyArrow
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline WoodsonBoomerang
The Crossover by Kwame AlexanderBoomerang
Jazz Owls: A Novel of the Zoot Suit Riots by Margarita EngleBoomerang
Other Words for Home by Jasmine WargaBoomerang
Unbound by Ann E. BurgBoomerang
Swing by Kwame Alexander with Mary Rand HessSlingshot
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