Brave Writer/The Writer's Jungle

[kareng]

Do any of you know anything about Brave Writer Curriculum? I'm looking for something for my dd who has dyslexia. She is at a point now where she wants to write but does not have the tools. She's 14 and in 8th grade (though I take that very very loosely).

 

I stumbled upon Brave Writer and was curious.

 

Any other thoughts or ideas are greatly appreciated.

[Laurie]

No dyslexia here, so I'm not sure if this is helpful or not. (One of my dc is a reluctant writer with some learning challenges.)

 

The Brave Writer approach appealed to me more when my dc were younger, and I bought The Writer's Jungle. For me, it seemed like the book was an introduction, not a complete course, with more of a goal to get people to want to go on with the on-line writing courses.

 

I tried one of the family courses but the format just didn't work for me and I thought the price was high for what I got out of it. (When I had initially suggested a course for my ds the public aspect just didn't appeal to him at all.)

 

I really wanted to like Brave Writer . I even read Peter Elbow's book Writing With Power which was kind of the inspiration behind BW . Like I said, I really wanted to like it and have it work with my dc but they were better off with something else that was heavy on the structure/nitty gritty details.

Edited January 6, 2012 by Laurie

[Janie Grace]

The Brave Writer approach appealed to me more when my dc were younger, and I bought The Writer's Jungle. For me, it seemed like the book was an introduction, not a complete course, with more of a goal to get people to want to go on with the on-line writing courses.

 

 

I agree that BW is not a complete course, but I disagree that it's designed to get people to sign up for online courses. In fact, I'm NOT signing up for their online courses right now because, by reading the KidsWrite Basic description, I realized that I have all the resources to teach that at home -- BECAUSE I own WJ. I think it's an excellent resource. I love her approach to the *heart* of writing... the role encouragement plays, how enjoying words and writing together can build your relationship, how to give input without destroying enthusiasm or trust.

 

It's wonderful that your dd wants to write. What do you mean by her not having the tools? That would determine whether WJ is right for you. If you think the tools she needs are grammatical skills, I wouldn't get WJ. It's not technical. But if you/she need inspiration on how to begin the journey of writing, I'd go for it.

[siloam]

Do any of you know anything about Brave Writer Curriculum? I'm looking for something for my dd who has dyslexia. She is at a point now where she wants to write but does not have the tools. She's 14 and in 8th grade (though I take that very very loosely).

 

I stumbled upon Brave Writer and was curious.

 

Any other thoughts or ideas are greatly appreciated.

Brave Writer/The Writers Jungle was wonderful for shifting how *I* thought about writing. I would pay the money for it again just for that.

 

When it comes down to the practical (and I have used The Arrow as well), It just isn't concrete enough for me; it is too random in how it approaches topics. It is based on Ruth Beechick philosophy and she advocates a spiral approach where you introduce topics at the beginning of the year, then cover it off and on through the year. I like the theory, but we all here need mastery and need to....over learn it before we own it.

 

That said I still buy it sometimes just for the dictation she picks out in a certain book.

 

I would steer you more to Writing With Ease or Writing Tales, depending on where the child is at.

 

Heather

[Walking-Iris]

I'm not sure what tools you are looking for but I've seen some of Writer's Jungle and Bravewriter and wasn't impressed. I really like Writing Strands. Though I have a young child so can't really make a suggestion for an 8th grader.

 

I agree about the Ruth Beechick methods...I've read quite a few of her books and just never really had any of it appeal to me.

[kareng]

It's wonderful that your dd wants to write. What do you mean by her not having the tools? That would determine whether WJ is right for you. If you think the tools she needs are grammatical skills, I wouldn't get WJ. It's not technical. But if you/she need inspiration on how to begin the journey of writing, I'd go for it.

 

Because of my dd's dyslexia, writing was very difficult (the actual mechanics) as well as encoding, spelling, etc. As a result, I had her do very little writing. She has since had tutoring for the dyslexia which has helped tremendously, in reading, comprehension and has given her a desire to write (which has always been there).

 

As to "not having the tools", what I meant is that we've done very little continuous language arts of any sorts because of her dyslexia. We've done a little A Beka mostly and this year we are using Writing Strands 3, Intermediate Language Lessons and Spelling Power. The latter two are going well but she seems a bit stumped by Writing Strands. They will ask her to write a topic sentence and she is baffled since she has never heard that terminology before (really) and doesn't know what to do with it. Writing isn't my strength so I'm at a loss as to how to help her.

 

I tried looking at Writing Tales on Amazon but I couldn't see more than the cover so I don't have a sense of what that's like. I was able to look at Writing with Ease on Amazon and the levels I could look at were the lower levels where it's mostly copywork, narration and dictation. That's good but I feel like she's at a loss (and me also) since I'm not sure where to begin. I feel like she's behind and has many years of catching up to do. She mostly wants to write fiction but doesn't really even know where to start. Do I begin at Level 1 and move through it or begin with something else made for an older student?

 

As to her current skill set, she has basic grammar down, basic sentence structure and can write sentences and has a basic sense of what a paragraph is. But, let me give an example of where she is and her frustration. She saw an essay contest in a magazine that she receives and wanted to enter it. She didn't know what an essay was or how even to write it but she REALLY wanted to do this. I was stuck in a place of letting her try this (and fail perhaps?) or just saying forget it. So we tried it. We did research on what an essay is, and how to write one. And in the end (with much frustration and tears) she wrote on and sent it in. I am very proud of her but am really wrestling with, "How can we do this so that she knows how to write (different types of writing) so that they flow and much of the frustration is gone?"

 

I know this is a bit rambling and not particularly cohesive but I hope it gives you a better picture of where we are and perhaps where we should go from here?

Edited January 7, 2012 by kareng

[Laurie]

I've got some suggestions in case you haven't looked at these yet:

 

*Wordsmith...this is written for students in 7-9th grades and you can see a scope and sequence at the website "common sense press (dot) com"

And while you're there, you can also take a look at the Learning Language Arts Through Literature (LLATL) series. My dc are teens, and I've used the Wordsmith books with my ds and LLATL with my dd. You can take a look at sample lessons and see which one might work better for your dd.

 

*Have you looked at Andrew Pudewa's IEW website? His materials are also really helpful if you want a lot of step-by-step guidance.

"exellence in writing (dot) com"

[Walking-Iris]

I use Writing Strands and if she's stumped at what a topic sentence is then I would suggest maybe also using a paragraph program http://www.rainbowresource.com/searchspring.php?q=paragraph

 

I would also suggest dropping back a level then you would expect her to be at. Also do you have the Writing Strands parents book Evaluating Writing?

 

I would start to look into getting some more parents resources to help you. I've heard good things about IEW as well.

[mdefields]

It's a writing program (although some grammar and spelling is included). We just bought it to use for our daughter next fall, and are already in love with it. I've worked in publishing for years and am a former children's librarian, and I have to say that I think this writing program is brilliant! I think it would be great for someone with dyslexia because a lot of the writing is done as a creative endeavor, not for perfect spelling and grammar. So, she will have "permission" to just write while not worrying about her spelling. During free write, the kids are meant to write once a week for 8 weeks (they can choose to share their writing with you or not!), then at the end of 8 weeks, they will choose one piece of their writing to revise (NOT copy edit) for content, then and only then do they worry about spelling. Correct spelling and grammar is important in our household - I, myself, was my school's fifth grade spelling bee champion - but being a great writer is about SO much more than spelling and grammar. You can spell perfectly and know tons of grammatical rules and STILL be a TERRIBLE writer.

 

Also, here's Cathy Duffy's review of The Writer's Jungle: http://cathyduffyreviews.com/grammar-composition/writers-jungle-brave-writer.htm

Edited April 5, 2012 by mdefields

[Imaginator]

It sounds like you're already doing a great job. I think programs may bog you down too much and perhaps be discouraging. Your daughter wants to write, so ...

 

I would also suggest Brave Writer. It treats students like would-be writers. You can buy The Writer's Jungle at Homeschool Buyers Coop for a 50% discount. I haven't finished reading it, but think it will help you know the stages your child will go through, and how to support her.

 

There's a story in there (or online, I read too much so can't be sure where I saw it) of a mother saying her struggling older child went through all the phases in less than a year, went from being virtually a non writer to a confident writer. If you wish to you can then contact the author Julie Bogart and ask her advice about other resources you may like to use.

 

Hope that helps!

Would love to hear what works for you.