Brave Writer

• What is Brave Writer?
• Getting Started
• The Brave Writer Program

New: The Wand

New Language Arts Tool!

Ordering Now Open!

(See right sidebar!)

Target audience:

• K - 2nd grades
  (Advanced for 5-6 yr olds,
  targeted for 7-8 yr olds.)
• Jot It Down stages of growth
  (Chapter 14 in The Writer’s Jungle)

It takes approximately 24 hours to activate your subscription (any version) to The Wand. You will hear from us via email with your login credentials once we’ve created your account.

Introducing The Wand!

Download a sample of August’s Week One by clicking on the blue button in the righthand side bar. Note that this is a one week sample and that it’s the very first week of the first issue, so the offering is gradual and simple to get you started. The following weeks and subsequent issues become more dense with material to cover and practices to master.

Brave Writer is thrilled to offer a new language arts tool specifically designed for beginning readers and writers. We are privileged to have a member of the Brave Writer team who is bringing her area of expertise to Brave Writer’s customers. Rita Cevasco, MA (Speech and Language Therapist; Reading Specialist) has coordinated her skills with the Brave Writer philosophy of writing to create a powerful teaching tool for your early readers and writers.

The Wand is unique in the world of copywork and dictation instruction. Rita has tested these practices with hundreds of her own clients as well as Brave Writer families, refining them as she goes, applying her continuing education to the task. Her hands-on experience means that she is able to give specific tools suited to homeschooling families so that they are able to duplicate the kind of work she does in her private practice.

We’re especially thrilled to share Rita’s expertise because the heart of her pedagogy is the same as that of Brave Writer’s: a fierce belief that the power of an intimate, positive connection between parent and child creates the right conditions for mastering the skills of reading and writing. Not only that, Rita recognizes that rote instruction and straight memorization of rules do not create fluency in reading, writing, grammar or spelling. A multi-faceted, interconnected approach to language arts is essential to mastery, automaticity and fluency.

What is The Wand?

The purpose of The Wand is to help your child learn to read and write using well researched teaching practices combining:

• phonics
• spelling
• word origin knowledge
• grammar
• capitalization
• punctuation
• vocabulary development

Too often, parents juggle phonics books, spelling programs, grammar curriculum and readers, separately presenting pieces of information, and then relying on the child to put all the ideas together. The Wand is here to help you, the parent, teach these essential skills in an integrated manner.

Mini-lessons will be taught in phonics, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, punctuation and capitalization, but the combined skills will be immediately practiced and reinforced in reading and writing. Each week will contain 3-4 days of lessons, culminating in copywork and dictation, at an appropriate level for the young or struggling reader.

How The Wand is organized?

The Wand is a two year project of monthly issues that will be organized sequentially in groups of 3 or 4 issues. There will be 6 levels in all, the first 3 being offered this year. Each set of skills builds on the prior lesson. The levels are sold as packages (you can purchase Level One without purchasing Level Two, but you are advised to not skip to Level Three without having worked through Level Two). If you do subscribe, you will be charged a monthly fee and can quit at any time, however, the best value is to either buy them according to Level or to purchase the Year Long program for a discount.

Book List

We are including the book list for you to peruse, but some of the later titles may change as we develop the product.

Level One: (August—October 2011)
August:
Hop on Pop Dr. Seuss
Fox in Socks Dr. Seuss

September:
A Kiss for Little Bear Else Holmelund Minarik
Danny the Dinosaur Syd Hoff

October:
Mr. Putter and Tabby Pour the Tea Cynthia Rylant
Mr. Putter and Tabby Pick the Pears Cynthia Rylant

Early readers will be used to teach the basic sound code in phonics, including short vowel sounds, working through the more advanced code, including consonant digraphs. Early spelling rules with grammar and word study will also be introduced, including simple suffixing. Functional spelling words will be introduced for effective sentence building. Capitalization and Punctuation will be practiced in copywork only.

Level Two: (November-February 2011-2012)
November:
Frog and Toad are Friends Arnold Lobel
Frog and Toad Together Arnold Lobel

December:
Harry and the Lady Next Door Gene Zion
Owl Moon Jane Yolen

January:
Chicken Soup with Rice Maurice Sendak
Big Max: The Worlds Greatest Detective Kin Platt

February:
The Story of Ping Marjorie Flack
Nate the Great and the Mushy Valentine Marjorie Weinmann Sharmat

Progressing readers will begin the advanced vowel code, learning the many forms of R-controlled vowels, as well as long vowel sounds and diphthongs. New spelling rules will be practiced, with continued lessons in suffixing. Difficult spelling words will be studied, with strategies employed for improved memory and spelling practice. Capitalization and Punctuation will be practiced in copywork. Spelling will be practiced in French Dictation.

Level Three: (March—May 2012)
March:
Olivia Goes to Venice Ian Falconer (tentative)
The Golly Sisters Go West Betsy Byars and Sue Truesdell

April:
Zack’s Alligator Shirley Mozelle
Curious George H. A. Rey

May:
Amelia Bedelia Peggy Parish (tentative)
The Relatives Came Cynthia Rylant (tentative)

Syllable types and syllable rules will be introduced, along with additional spelling rules for suffixing and functional word use. Phonics will continue learning and practice of vowel teams, with sound sorting and spelling practice. Grammar and word study will continue, integrated into the story’s content. Verb tense will be practiced. Capitalization and Punctuation will be practiced in copywork. Spelling will be practiced in French Dictation, and all of the skills will be integrated into the practice of Dictation.

The Skinny

• Each month, the Wand features 2 books to be used for the copywork passages. These books will either be early readers or quality children’s picture books. The passages for copywork and/or dictation will come from the books. You can find most of them at the library as they are well known titles.

• Each week, the Wand features a selected passage from that book. The passages are accompanied by notes that equip you, the parent, to teach your child to read while they are also learning (simultaneously) spelling, punctuation, and grammar. You will spend approximately 15-20 minutes per week in preparation. The instructions for how to teach the ideas include illustrations and dialog for you to use with your children.

• Each issue also includes some kind of word or language game to go with the principles taught in the Wand that month. You will also be crafting a kit of reading and spelling tools that your children will use as a reference throughout the year. These tools are especially powerful with kids who struggle with reading.

• Brave Writer hosts a public forum where any questions can be answered as they arise while the product is in use. We are especially keen to support this new product and look forward to interacting with you, the homeschooling parent, as you put it to use.

Why The Wand is a great value!

When you look at reading and writing therapies, or individual tutoring, it becomes clear quickly that the hourly rates are prohibitive for single income families, like most homeschooling families are. Each week’s session with a specialist can cost anywhere from $75-$125 per hour. These sessions may give you practices to do at home in between, but rarely are you presented with the pedagogical tools to strengthen your work and to make you effective.

In Brave Writer’s The Wand, we provide you with resources, explanations, illustrations, and teaching practices each week so that you can become your child’s personal guide into reading, writing, grammar, spelling, phonics and more. These issues are packed with detailed information, yet they are divided into manageable weekly routines so that you feel able to execute the instructions.

We’re thrilled to offer these specialized therapies in monthly issues for a bargain price ($19.95 at the top end)—what you might spend on a month’s worth of Starbucks cappuccinos, or a single video game for your kids! You can’t get this kind of teaching anywhere else, specially produced for homeschoolers.

The reason we feel confident in giving these tools to you is that over and over again, we’ve seen homeschooling parents put in the effort, empathy and consistency required for their kids to grow into competent readers, spellers and writers. If homeschool parents have the tools, they use them. Period.

We’re offering you a year’s worth of teaching material for the price of what would be a one hour session with a specialist.

Can’t beat that!

How do I order?

There are three ordering options:

The Year Long Subscription: $129.00

The most economical option is to order all ten issues (all three levels) at one time for $129.00. This price makes each issue cost $12.90. You’ll receive access to a special folder in the Brave Writer online classroom where we will post the new issues on the 1st of each month between August 2011 and May 2012. If you sign up after August, you will still have access to the published issues and will also have access to the new issues as they are released.

Purchase by Level: $49.95

Another way to purchase The Wand is to buy one level at a time—each level costs $49.95. The levels will have either 3 or 4 issues in them. The issues are published by month on the first of the month, and you will receive the correct number of issues based on the level you select. The per issue price (if you purchase all three levels) comes to: $14.98.

• Level 1: 3 issues (August, September, October)
• Level 2: 4 issues (November, December, January, February)
• Level 3: 3 issues (March, April, May)

Monthly Subscription: $19.95

You may also subscribe to Paypal’s subscription system and have your account automatically debited each month that you subscribe. There’s no starting or stopping date so you may subscribe and unsubscribe in any month. Each issue costs: $19.95.

Payment options:

Credit Card
Use the blue purchase buttons on the upper right side of this page to place your order.

Check
You may also send a check made out to Brave Writer LLC. Include:

• your name
• email address
• phone number
• what kind of Wand subscription you want to order

Brave Writer LLC
7723 Tyler’s Place Blvd. Ste. 165
West Chester, OH 45069

The Brave Writer Program