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What others are saying about Brave Writer writing courses.
When I review all the things we learned in this class, I realize that
Laura learned way more by working with me than she would have learned
if I had allowed her to struggle through the mechanics on her own. That’s
why these online classes have helped me so much. I needed to be guided
through the process of how to teach writing, and you have done just
that. Before we discovered Bravewriter classes, we simply were’t
taking on such writing projects because she didn’t know where
to start and I didn’t know how to help her. —Joyce Y
An important "Aha!" for me is to be free of trying to fix everything that is wrong with my kids' writing. If I try to fix everything that I think is wrong, then the writing becomes mine instead of my kids' writing. We've used different writing manuals and became bored very quickly with them. The manuals have the usual great ideas - how to begin with a topic, set up paragraphs with supporting sentences, and finish with a concluding paragraph. The resulting writing can be very dull.
Not only that, upon opening up whatever book we were using at the time, my kids would begin to fidget, look away, etc. I would get comments like "Do I have to look at all these examples?", or "But, Mom, of course this is perfect writing - all this stuff was written by an adult! My paper will not look like this!" They were exactly write (pun intended).
With this course, the kids were able to write a well-organized paper without ever looking at what they call "a boring textbook." All of the exercises used in this course gave us the tools we need to write well - without the intimidation of me telling my kids, " Here, your writing should look like the example in this book. Never mind that it was written by a professor of English!" —Angela S
I can't tell you how much better you made me and my son feel about the writing process. I learned the most in this little venture. I was way too bogged down in the mechanics of writing. I sucked all the life out of his imagination and creativity. He would moan and groan every time I tried to have him do a writing assignment. He dreaded them so much, and I have to say I dreaded the whole process too. Writing equaled a BAD time in this house.
You started this class...this dreaded writing course, with a game of all things. You drew him in from the start. You had such positive comments for him that he began to look forward to the next thing Mrs. B would have him do.
I appreciated so much the way you gently set me straight about the terrible mechanics thing. There is a time and place for that, but I will not get so focused on a grammatically correct paper that I miss the sheer pleasure of reading his original thoughts.
I really did not know what to expect of him and his writing. He is much more willing to write about things out of his head now. Every paper I had received from him had a very definite Mario game flavor. I asked him today to do a list of ideas for his next story that he will start on tomorrow. He very happily got started. He is going to write about an iguana named Iggy. Iggy lives in a tropical rain forest that is in danger of being cut down. I could not believe it! No Mario in sight!
I think that is the area that we both grew the most. My unconditional acceptance of anything that he took the time to put down, and he learned of the sheer joy of making up his own stuff. I think that having a professional third party over-see our growing process was priceless. Thank you. —Cheryl S
You help us "deconstruct" the process into "digestible" components and then help us to "reconstruct" it all into a coherent whole.
My biggest challenge is that I was not able to explain HOW to write. Sure, I could correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors and teach the components of a sentence, but how could I communicate the SPIRIT behind what we write? In addition, your class gives me the tools to help me more effectively communicate my deep love of language and literature. I have learned more from your Bravewriter class in six weeks than I could have learned in 16 years from other sources! Your class has set me on the right path for all my future writing assignments. —Nancy S
The Spring 2008 Class Schedule can be found here.
Introducing:
The Brave Writer "One Thing" Series
It’s
easy to get overwhelmed with all the good homeschooling advice available
today. Homeschool can quickly become a slog through “wonderful
ideas” rather than an inspired, natural rhythm and routine
that fosters a love of learning and healthy educational growth in
your kids. Good ideas abound, but they are only as “good”
as they are satisfying to parent and child in the application of
them to our lives.
To help overwhelmed mothers, I’ve often suggested that they
focus on “one thing” at a time. Pick a practice or event
or strategy that is appealing, that you believe in, that you hope
to bring into your family life and focus on it. Plan for it (learn
what it is and how it’s done), prepare for it (get the right
materials, set aside the right amount of time, talk enthusiastically
about it with your kids), execute it (with the phone turned off,
with your full attention in the moment, not rushing ahead to what
you’ll do when this event is over), give it all the time it
needs (until interest flags). Then clean up and before doing something
else the next day, reminisce about the event/project/activity. Then
try it again, in a few days or a week later. Once you have begun
to see a routine practice develop into an effortless part of your
life (or at least, not painful or agitating), it’s time to
add something new again. spring
One thing.
You can develop a pleasing homechool routine “one thing”
at a time.
True to our philosophy, we’ve decided to offer a series of
short, one-month classes that feature “one thing” at
a time.
The Brave Writer Lifestyle includes experiences like art appreciation,
nature walks, freewriting, dictation and copywork, Shakespeare study,
poetry enjoyment and writing, revision of one writing project per
month, grammar study through games and interaction with real literature.
Rather than sending you off to invent how to do these all on your
own, the Brave Writer team is heading up short, intensive workshops
to help you develop the skills and creative applications for each
of these ideas, one thing at a time.
The tuition is $99.00 per family as you, the homeschooling parent, will be doing the work with your children at home and therefore can apply anything you learn to any number of kids. That means that instructor feedback is in the form of answering questions and enhancing discussion of ideas, not specific feedback to each individual piece of writing (these are not writing classes). We will provide you with all the materials you need to succeed in participating in these workshops.
Copywork/Dictation
Dates: March 31 - April 25
Instructor: Rita Cevasco (MA Speech Pathology)
Tuition: $99.00 per family
This spring One Thing session features an in-depth treatment of copywork and dictation. Rita Cevasco, Brave Writer instructor and professional speech pathologist, will teach this workshop. Families with children who struggle with language processing disorders are especially encouraged to sign up as Rita's expertise makes her an invaluable resource for the mom wanting to help her language impaired student.
However, these kids are not the only ones who will benefit from Rita's instruction. This course is designed to show any family how to maximize the values of copywork and dictation in ways you haven't thought of before. If you're new to copywork and dictation or you want someone to hold your hand in showing you how to take advantage of great literature to teach language arts naturally, this is the perfect setting for you.
For families committed to copywork and dictation as the primary tools of language arts (grammar, spelling, punctuation, literary elements, and handwriting), this four-week course will take you a good distance in establishing copywork and dictation as regular practices in your homeschool (and will help you past the anxiety that drives you keep those workbooks stashed in a closet as a back-up plan).
We had overwhelmingly good feedback for this course:
I can’t say enough
about what you have done with this course. It was more than I could
have imagined. It gave me a very solid foundation and understanding
of the process of copywork
and dictation through the different stages, the importance of such
work and the significance of it in the education of my children.
Dona
I learned so much it is hard to summarize in a few sentences... I just can't say enough about what I've learned through all the Brave Writer resources. I recommend you all -- everything you offer! -- to everyone I talk to about home schooling or writing. Hillary
I would recommend that
you repeat the copywork/dictation class again sometime in the future.
I would like to recommend it to other homeschool moms who are working
with children that struggle with writing and spelling.
It was a great class, thank you!! Jolene
The tuition is per family as you will be doing the work with your children at home and therefore can apply anything you learn to any number of kids. In other words, we're offering you a real deal in terms of tuition!
If you are scratching your head about how to make copywork and dictation rich, satisfying tools of language arts and want to ditch the workbooks forever, don't miss this class! It's designed just for you.
Dates: April 14 - May 9
Instructor: Christine Gable
Tuition: $99.00 per family
Nature journaling is a great way to get your kids into writing and narrating. Your kids will practice the art of keen observation, freewriting, journaling, drawing and oral narration. This course will help you to make your best intentions for nature journaling come true! You'll put those outings on the schedule and actually go. You'll share what you find in your corner of the world with the rest of class. April is the perfect time to record your nature observations as in the northern hemisphere trees sprout blossoms, the ice melts, and birds build nests. Meanwhile down under, leaves and changing colors and the air will be getting colder. The Nature Journaling Workshop will give a particular Brave Writer twist to the art of nature study by given you creative ways to explore the world around you.
You'll need a notebook and some colored pencils for this class. A digital camera, binoculars and hiking shoes helpful, but optional.
Shakespeare
Dates: May 5 - May 30
Instructor: Susanne Barrett (MA British Literature)
Tuition: $99.00 per family
We have such a treat for you! Susanne Barrett (best known as our Slingshot poetry guru around here) is back to teach our first One Thing Shakespeare. May is Shakespeare month in Brave Writer so we felt that offering a special workshop designed to make Shakespeare fresh and accessible would be a great addition to our workshop list. As with all of our One Thing workshops, you enroll as a family. Susanne will feature a bit of background about Shakespeare, will teach you how to read and enjoy one of Shakespeare's sonnets, and will walk you through how to read a play and watch it in a movie format to get the maximum benefit from Shakespeare. We'll enjoy "Much Ado About Nothing" together.
If you are intimidated by the bard, aren't sure you "get" Shakespeare or just want a fresh take on how to enjoy the delights of Shakespearean language, this is a wonderful month long treat.
To register for our One Thing Workshops, please take the following three steps.
Step One: Fill out the registraiton form below.
Step Two: Tuition Payment
Step Three: Username Creation
Conditions for cancelling registration or withdrawing from
class:
Once you have enrolled and paid for class, there are no refunds
after the first day of class. If for some reason you must withdraw
from class between the time you enroll and class begins, your refund
will be as follows:
Between enrollment and two weeks before class begins: 100% minus
service charge of $10.00.
During the week before class begins: 75%
After class begins, no refund for any reason.
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