Brave Writer Announces New Arrow Lineup—And Guess Whose Book Is on the List?
I’m a longtime fan of the Brave Writer writing program for homeschoolers—as this gushing review from (gasp) 2005 will attest. I’ve borrowed many an idea from Julie Bogart’s The Writer’s Jungle and I’ve ordered a number of issues of The Arrow and The Boomerang over the years. These monthly newsletters, which you can purchase individually or by subscription, are focused around a particular novel that you read aloud to your kids. For each book, there are copywork and dictation passages, a discussion of a literary element that appears in the reading, and writing prompts for your students. For my kids, I’ve found these downloads to be great discussion starters—and for me, they’ve been an easy way to introduce my kids to the tools of literary analysis.
So it’s a tremendous honor to see one of my own books on the list of Arrow titles for 2012-2013. The Prairie Thief, which comes out in late August, will be the October selection. Thanks, Brave Writer!
Julie Bogart has some fun plans in mind for October, such as a podcast interview with me…I’ll keep you posted!
P.S. Here’s next year’s Boomerang list (aimed at ages 12-15), if you’re interested. The Arrow is for kids ages 8-12. And this year Brave Writer is adding a new tool for early readers: The Wand.
Rebecca says:
Every time I go to the Brave Writer website, I get so overwhelmed! How to start? Which purchase to make? Can you recommend the essentials for a 10 year old budding writer?
On June 8, 2012 at 4:08 am
Melissa Wiley says:
There are a couple of directions you could go, just to get a taste of what BW is like:
Read THE WRITER’S JUNGLE, which is a book that explains Julie Bogart’s approach to teaching writing to kids (it’s a flexible approach that lends itself well to different levels of structure, and there’s a wonderfully infectious enthusiasm running through it);
OR you could look through past Arrow selections and find an issue that features a book your 10yo likes (or a new one that sounds appealing), and download that single issue to get a feel for what it’s like;
OR you could sign your 10yo up for one of the online classes. I don’t have personal experience with that but I know many families whose kids have really enjoyed them.
Of those three ideas, downloading a single Arrow issue is the least expensive. If you can swing The Writer’s Jungle, I’d recommend it because it does a great job of making the various stages of the writing process (from idea-sparking to pouring out a draft to revising and polishing) seem less intimidating to both parents and kids, and its ideas are adaptable to your family’s educational style.
A fourth option, a free one, would be to sign up for the Brave Writer Lifestyle email list–you’ll get a daily email with suggestions for making writing a part of everyday life. (For example, the “Friday Freewrite” is lots of fun. The emails are the same week to week; they’re Flylady-style reminders for building fun habits to bring more writing (and discussing) into your family routine. You’d get a feel for the “lifestyle” pretty quickly. Poetry teatimes, Wednesday movie day, etc—all very adaptable.
On June 8, 2012 at 6:01 am
Lindsay says:
I’m going to suggest about Bravewriter that you go to the “Bravewriter Lifestyle” section of the web-site and have a long look around there. Lots of wonderful, free ideas. The link is in teeny, tiny letters way to the right on the main site page. But here it is if your eyesight isn’t quite up to finding it!
http://www.bravewriter.com/bwl
Oh, not to forget, Congratulations, Melissa!
On June 8, 2012 at 6:18 am