help with Bravewriter plans

[kesmom]

I bought The Writer's Jungle several months ago and am working on a plan for the fall. I'll have a 6th grader (accelerated, loves writing), 3rd grader (good reader, resistant writer) and 1st grader (he's eager to be included in everything). 

 

I'm sure my 6th grader could do the pouch of Boomerang's, but I'd like to keep everyone on the same novel this year. So we could do Arrows and make it more challenging for her? I'm a little uncertain what that looks like. I just purchased one Arrow issue to look over, because the sample issue was a little unclear to me. My 1st grader would do shorter copywork and no dictation. 

 

I'm planning to use Faltering Ownership with the 6th grader. Do I need Jot it Down or are the ideas in TWJ enough for the younger ones? I don't want to push my 3rd grader too much. He's very hesitant to write, though he has recently told me he would like to improve his spelling.

 

Thoughts or suggestions?

 

 

[Farrar]

I think it sounds like you're on the right track. Get the newer Arrow issues - either get the subscription or get a bundle but make sure they're from the last few years. (The newer ones are better.) Choose books that are more appropriate to your 6th grader but that your 3rd grader can listen in on. I can make some suggestions from the single issues list if you're interested. Or, next year's titles look good for that older Arrow crowd overall. There are more of them - Esperenza Rising, Elijah of Buxton, The Thing About Luck - that are good for a 6th grader.

 

Faltering Ownership will probably be great for her.

 

My kids really enjoyed doing writing projects in 3rd grade, so I personally would have wanted to get Jot It Down or Partnership Writing... but it just depends. You can absolutely DIY this (we do now).

 

I think the big thing would be to work out a routine for when you're going to get everything done - because otherwise, it can fall by the wayside. So, make a day to work on those projects (possibly two). And a day for copywork/dictation. And then days for things like poetry tea and watching family movies together and doing freewriting and so forth.

[kesmom]

Thank you, that was helpful!

[Laura Cook]

After using a couple Arrows and a couple writing projects from Partnership Writing this past year and loving it we are completely revamping the language arts portion of our homeschool. So I have a little experience but not a ton! I have a DS 6th, DS 5th and DD 4th. The boys are somewhat resistant to writing and my daughter enjoys it.

 

I plan on using the Arrow with all 3. I thought this would be easier for our first full year using Brave Writer. I am picking and choosing from the '16-'17 and '17-'18 lists. The following year, in 7th grade, my oldest will start using Boomerangs.

 

I am going to use Faltering Ownership for my 6th grader and Partnership Writing for the 5th and 4th graders. The exception to that will be the first month. I plan on using the Wild Words project from Faltering Ownership with all 3. I thought it looked like a fun project to kick the year off with!

 

I totally agree with Farrar's suggestion to work out a routine. Brave Writer is so flexible, that's part of the reason I love it, but I need some goal posts to shoot for to make sure I don't miss entirely! I know that some weeks I will have to shift things around and that's ok! So here's what I came up with:

 

Monday - Arrow copywork and grammar notes

Tuesday - writing project and poetry tea

Wednesday - Arrow dictation

Thursday - writing project and/or literary element

Friday - free writing, movies (any day Fri. - Sun.)

 

We are also going to continue using AAS with everyone and my oldest will use a yet to be decided Grammar program.

 

Hope that helps!

[Runningmom80]

I would do Partnership Writing with the 6th and 3rd grader.  My younger kids were working on Jot it Down this year, and always wanted to do what older DS was doing instead of the JiD projects. You can always require less from the 3rd grader, and she may really blossom with a partnership with mom.

 

I think there are some Arrows that would be fine for a 6th grader. I agree with Farrar that next year's books seem like "older kid Arrows"  (I feel like they must have gotten feedback about this, I've always thought a lot of the Arrows should be in the wand instead, they are over the place.)

 

My 5th grader did Partnership Writing and a few Arrows this year for his LA, that's it. He did begin a sci-fi novella, so I'm very happy with where we are ending up.

My kids HATE  copywork, but I think it's valuable and just make them do it.

My youngers did Jot it Down, and AAS along with a handwriting program.  We did Poetry Teatimes with them as well.

 

ETA: 

 

I also agree about a routine.  We didn't get as many projects done this year as I wanted because we always pushed them to the bottom of the list. We do Tuesday Tea time, Friday Free writes and I really like the idea of having scheduled days for the projects.

 

Next year my youngers will do a couple of Jot it Down projects and then move on to Partnership Writing second semester. (I plan on taking 2 years to do PW with them.) They also do AAS, they like it and it's good reinforcement so we are doing it.  They probably don't need it with copy work, but whatever.

 

DS 10, (11 in the Fall) 6th grade,  is also accelerated.  He will do Faltering Ownership for Fall semester. He's also taking Passion for Fiction online with BW in the Fall.  We will pick another class for the spring when the time comes. He's also doing a random film making class.  I'm going to run through the Literature Level of MCT with him since it's been a couple of years since he's done a grammar program. No spelling for him, hopefully he will move onto dictation, but we just started copy work this year so I'm not sure if he's ready.

 

Edited May 24, 2017 by Runningmom80

[kesmom]

Thanks guys! I am definitely working on setting up a routine for writing. (part of the reason I avoided BW in the past is that I thought it was too unstructured - and I didn't realize until further research that she encouraged routines)

 

 

 

I would do Partnership Writing with the 6th and 3rd grader.  My younger kids were working on Jot it Down this year, and always wanted to do what older DS was doing instead of the JiD projects. You can always require less from the 3rd grader, and she may really blossom with a partnership with mom.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, those two don't combine well because their needs are so different. My 3rd grader has some challenges and isn't ready for Partnership Writing. The Arrow exercises are going to stretch him a lot as it is, even with modifications. I'm flexible of course - we can adjust the plan if he outgrows the JiD projects.

[Runningmom80]

Thanks guys! I am definitely working on setting up a routine for writing. (part of the reason I avoided BW in the past is that I thought it was too unstructured - and I didn't realize until further research that she encouraged routines)

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, those two don't combine well because their needs are so different. My 3rd grader has some challenges and isn't ready for Partnership Writing. The Arrow exercises are going to stretch him a lot as it is, even with modifications. I'm flexible of course - we can adjust the plan if he outgrows the JiD projects.

 

Hmm, I think the program is really adjustable as far as level is concerned, but YMMV.  JiD is really "young" IMO, but again, YMMV. :)

[Farrar]

Hmm, I think the program is really adjustable as far as level is concerned, but YMMV.  JiD is really "young" IMO, but again, YMMV. :)

 

I really agree with this. JiD came out too late for us, but I've seen it. And we used PW and FO. Partnership Writing is - BY FAR - the best of the three and the most creative and flexible - and it's flexible on both ends of of the spectrum. FO was okay, but it was a lot less fun for us overall. Just something to think about. Even if you're not combining these two kids per se - combining YOUR work as the parent by having your head only in one project at a time (and maybe the 3rd grader only even does every other project or something) can be really helpful as a teacher. It's why some parents do the same history cycle even when they've got a kid in high school and elementary - your head gets to be in the same time period that way. 

[kesmom]

I will keep the suggestions in mind! 

 

 

 

 

 

[BlueWren]

If you only had a 6th grader and a 3rd grader then I would suggest adapting PW to suit them both. Considering you also have younger kids then I would get the younger kids involved in JID projects (whether you go with the ideas in TWJ or the JID guide). If your 6th grader is interested in things like fairy tales then even they could join in on that project or they could do a similar project (with less help obviously) on Greek or Norse myths etc. To extend your 6th grader you could give them FO projects OR you could get PW and alternate JID and PW for them all (if you wanted to streamline). They really are projects that can be adapted to suit different abilities.

 

Regarding the Arrow- I'd recommend getting Arrows from the 2016/2017 list and/or 2017/2018. These are the only guides that included 'Big Juicy Conversations' which could be great for your eldest. The Homeschool Buyers Co-op sell the full 2016/2017 year at a discounted price (it will probably disappear at the end of this month).

 

Have you heard Julie talk about French Dictation? It's a great way to adapt dictation for younger kids. My 3rd grader is not ready for full dictation. Even my youngest at 5 yo liked to get involved. I'd just blank out a few easy words in the passage for him to fill in.

[mamamoose]

I just purchased The Writer's Jungle from the co-op, so I don't have any experience, but...here's my plan anyway!

 

I have a coming 6th grader who writes and reads much older than she is, a dyslexic/dysgraphia kid going into 4th and a coming 2nd grader at about a 3rd grade level for reading but on grade level for writing.

 

I bought 3 boomerang issues and 2 arrow issues from the co-op as well. So we will be following a loose 4-5 day routine. Day 1 will be copywork, Day 2 will be dictation/grammar topics and a writing theme, Day 3 will be poetry or read aloud/share tea time, Day 4 will be free write, and Day 5 (when we have 5 full days) will be a writing topic.

 

I also bought Fix-It Grammar for the older two. My oldest will start in the first book and go two lessons a day through it, but the middle kiddo will just do one.

 

Can someone tell me the benefit of the FO and/or PW in addition to the Arrow/Boomerang and WJ?

[mamamoose]

Oh and I forgot to mention--we will be doing this as "unschooling" through the summer. Reading books of interest or books that follow our history or books we have but haven't read yet, not just with the books indie which I bought the back issues, and following this "lifestyle" as much as possible to set a stage for school next August when we hear back up for our regular course of study.