Abbeygurl4 Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 And it is basically a "how to teach your child to write" book, correct? Would it be a complete writing program if I added a subscription to "Arrow"? What makes BW different from IEW or WriteShop or any other writing program? Or Classical Writing, what about that? How do I chose? I've been reading threads and looking up reviews for WEEKS! I need to pick something and do it! I'm drowning in a sea of choices. :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnthemLights Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poetic license Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 What makes BW different from IEW or WriteShop or any other writing program? Or Classical Writing, what about that? How do I chose? I've been reading threads and looking up reviews for WEEKS! I need to pick something and do it! I'm drowning in a sea of choices. :confused: I'm still working on reading it (and it is a drop-dead steal right now at the co-op) but I see it more as inspiration and general how-to rather than a complete laid out curriculum like IEW. It gets you in the right mental state and gives you a lot of tricks up your sleeve. ETA: Oh, wait a minute, I'm talking about the Writer's Jungle book, not the actual courses... sorry, I wasn't sure which one you were talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I'm reading WJ right now (borrowed from a friend, along with the high school book), and like Poetic, right now I'm finding it more pep rally than anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtnTeaching Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I did want to make a comment. I don't know about Arrow - the only thing I've done is to read "The Writer's Jungle". We've always used IEW, but I was getting restless at the lack of what I felt was "creativity" and what Julie Bogart calls "voice". The WJ does fill that void and we incorporated a lot of ideas into our IEW curriculum. Right now, my ds is taking the online Expository Essay class from Brave Writer and is loving it. It is a lot of work, but he is enjoying the challenge. That probably didn't help with the fact that you are looking for a curriculum, but I love the mix we've gotten from IEW's mechanics and Brave Writer's creativity and voice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbeygurl4 Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 ETA: Oh, wait a minute, I'm talking about the Writer's Jungle book, not the actual courses... sorry, I wasn't sure which one you were talking about. I thought they were the same thing :confused: Wouldn't the Arrow make it a complete course? http://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.bravewriter.com/page_attachments/68/ARREncyclopediaBrownSample.pdf "What is the Arrow? The Arrow is an indispensable tool for many Brave Writer parents. It is a language arts resource that equips you, the homeschooling parent, to fulfill your best intentions related to spelling, punctuation, grammar, literary elements and quality living literature. The Arrow features the practice of dictation and/or copywork as the primary method to teach your children the fundamentals of written communication. Dictation and copywork are practices that naturally facilitate the development of accurate mechanics in writing with the side benefit of savoring quality writing as revealed in those passages. Each month, the Arrow features one classic novel. Four passages (one per week) are selected and included in full, from the novel. We offer a current, monthly version of the Arrow or Already Published Issues which can be purchased individually." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I thought they were the same thing :confused: No, they're not. Have you taken the time to explore the Bravewriter website? The Writer's Jungle is a book that has a lot of how-to information for you, the teacher. The Arrow has copywork and dictation passages. Julie also offers online writing classes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbeygurl4 Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 No, they're not. Have you taken the time to explore the Bravewriter website? Well, yes and no. I have ADD and I keep trying to read it and wrap my head around it but I have too many distractions (mainly two children who won't leave me or each other alone). I may have to take my laptop in my car so I can concentrate. I'm thinking if I can't figure out what exactly BW is, I surely won't be able to use it. I really need an ADD friendly writing and grammar program. I'm driving myself crazy. :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satori Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 :bigear: I decided to take today to read Writer's Jungle. I have no distractions, my daughter is in an all-day class and I'm in a quiet, peaceful area. By the end of the day, I'll see whether to purchase an Arrow Subscription and backorders from HSBC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbeygurl4 Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 :bigear: I decided to take today to read Writer's Jungle. I have no distractions, my daughter is in an all-day class and I'm in a quiet, peaceful area. By the end of the day, I'll see whether to purchase an Arrow Subscription and backorders from HSBC. Thank you! Can you come to my house and organize my curriculum, too? :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbeygurl4 Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 I just downloaded SWB's mp3's on teaching writing. I think I need to have some idea of my goal before I can take steps to accomplish it. Sometimes I hate ADD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satori Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Well so far I'm on page xvi, not even a numbered page! I forgot about the most powerful distraction... WTM forums! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
applesing Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 (edited) I am planning to organize my rising 4th grader's writing program using activities and principles from The Writer's Jungle. If you read through the book, you will find that Julie Bogart has included many ideas to incorporate language arts into daily life and into your school day. We currently do her "Tuesday Teatime" activity (includes poetry reading), and it has really inspired our family. Next year, I plan to add her "Friday Freewrites" to our schedule. She suggests doing 8 freewrites (1 per week) and then allowing the student to choose 1 to revise. We will then take that piece through the revision process which is outlined in The Writer's Jungle. I really like Bogart's philosophy of not revising everything the student writes. This process seems like it will be meaningful and enjoyable. I did buy some issues of "The Arrow," and we plan to incorporate those, as well. Bogart offers samples of this on her website so that you can see what they include. I like the copywork/dictation guidance she included with the purchase of my issues. She offers some new suggestions for using these exercises. Each issue has 4-6 weeks worth of copywork/dication samples from a book, and it also explores a literary element from the book. Some of the issues contain a writing assignment based on that literary element, and some of the issues contain a writing exercise which could be more brief than an actual writing assignment, in my opinion. I also plan to intersperse some of Bogart's other activities throughout the year. These are described throughout The Writer's Jungle, and I just need to make a list and schedule when they will occur during our school year. At the back of her book, she does outline sample plans of activities that one might use for children at various stages of writing. I am finding the sample plan to be helpful to me as I construct a schedule for my child. I heard Bogart speak at a convention recently, and I found her to be very down to earth and realistic regarding teaching writing. Her goal is to get kids writing--thus the freewrites--so that they are comfortable getting words down on paper. Her theory is that once children have lived the Bravewriter lifestyle for several years (doing freewrites, revisions, copywork, dictation, narration, reading good literature and doing various other LA activities), they will have found their "voice" and will be comfortable learning how to use various formats such as the formal essay and research paper. Her high school book apparently outlines the process of learning those formats. Bogart mentioned at the convention that she is in the process of putting together a "curriculum" that will schedule the writing activities in a more specific way. She said that she has hesitated to do this because she really wants people to understand the Bravewriter lifestyle and implement a personalized approach with their kids. But I think that she sees that a "curriculum" incorporating her activities would be user friendly for homeschooling moms. I'm not sure when this new product will be available. In addition to Bogart's activities, I am planning to have my 4th grader narrate from longer pieces of writing and teach simple outlining as described in TWTM. I have been thinking about this a lot lately, and I hope that something in this will help someone! Lynne Edited March 28, 2011 by applesing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Robyn Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I did want to make a comment. I don't know about Arrow - the only thing I've done is to read "The Writer's Jungle". We've always used IEW, but I was getting restless at the lack of what I felt was "creativity" and what Julie Bogart calls "voice". The WJ does fill that void and we incorporated a lot of ideas into our IEW curriculum. Right now, my ds is taking the online Expository Essay class from Brave Writer and is loving it. It is a lot of work, but he is enjoying the challenge. That probably didn't help with the fact that you are looking for a curriculum, but I love the mix we've gotten from IEW's mechanics and Brave Writer's creativity and voice. I went to one of her talks at the Memphis convention and bought and listened to another one and am currently working my way through The Writer's Jungle. So far, having not yet tried to implement anything, this feels to me like one of those rare curricula that manages to walk the line between rigor and creative self-expression. Or, perhaps it's not a line that needs to be walked, perhaps it's more of just the right ingredients in just the right proportions. There is a lot of motivational talk, but that's not all there is. There are methods for teaching your dc to write with voice and confidence and also revision methods. The book explains the difference between these methods and traditional curricula being the difference between teaching the methods used by professional writers and teaching the parts of a professionally written piece without teaching how to create them well. At this point I feel certain that this will be used in our home, but I still have that naggy fear that it isn't enough on its own. I haven't finished reading WJ though, so maybe all my fears will be addressed as I read. I hope somebody comments that has actually used this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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