Bravewriter what do I need?

[lulalu]

I have been trying to figure out the bravewriter stuff.

 

What do I need for k/1st?

 

Which book to read is the best for figuring out what she recommends doing?

 

And what programs are for what?

[Farrar]

So, for kindy/1st grade... depends a little.

 

The Writer's Jungle is the overarching philosophy book. It's the big picture. If you are a big picture thinker, it's very useful to start with this. However, there's very little in there about working with younger kids. The exercises she talks about and the techniques for revision and so forth are mostly about older kids, once they're writing. This is what Julie calls the "Jot It Down" stage. However, if you like to think about the big picture first, then you could start there.

 

Jot It Down is a supplement that's about a project a month. It also summarizes the Brave Writer lifestyle for this stage. I think the project books are the best place to start for nearly all people new to BW.

 

BW also makes two other products for this age. One is the Quiver of Arrows. Your kid isn't ready for it unless they can copy a sentence with some confidence and enjoy listening to a longer read aloud (think Charlotte's Web or Mr. Popper's Penguins). So some first graders are there - others aren't. The other is The Wand. It covers some phonics, some basic writing all through picture books. It has a sort of different feel from the rest of BW, IMO. Some people love it, others not so much. Don't judge it by the sample though, because that's just the first lesson - it absolutely ramps up in difficulty.

 

Finally, there's another option. Julie gives so much away for free. If you follow her blog, watch her videos, listen to her podcasts, follow her on other social media - then she lays all her ideas out over and over in different ways and you can pick up on how to "do" BW from that.

[Jackie]

Agreed with Farrar.

 

For the easiest jump in, I'd recommend Jot it Down and spending time on the website reading specifically about "Brave Writer Lifestyle" and implementing things as they strike you. From there, add in a bit of the other free stuff. If you're still on the Brave Writer bandwagon, then buy The Writer's Jungle and start reading through it.

 

I never used The Wand because my daughter was already fluently reading (but not writing) when I started in on Brave Writer, so its harder for me to get a feel for best fit on that product.

[lulalu]

Thanks! So helpful.

[Guest]

So, for kindy/1st grade... depends a little.

 

The Writer's Jungle is the overarching philosophy book. It's the big picture. If you are a big picture thinker, it's very useful to start with this. However, there's very little in there about working with younger kids. The exercises she talks about and the techniques for revision and so forth are mostly about older kids, once they're writing. This is what Julie calls the "Jot It Down" stage. However, if you like to think about the big picture first, then you could start there.

 

Jot It Down is a supplement that's about a project a month. It also summarizes the Brave Writer lifestyle for this stage. I think the project books are the best place to start for nearly all people new to BW.

 

BW also makes two other products for this age. One is the Quiver of Arrows. Your kid isn't ready for it unless they can copy a sentence with some confidence and enjoy listening to a longer read aloud (think Charlotte's Web or Mr. Popper's Penguins). So some first graders are there - others aren't. The other is The Wand. It covers some phonics, some basic writing all through picture books. It has a sort of different feel from the rest of BW, IMO. Some people love it, others not so much. Don't judge it by the sample though, because that's just the first lesson - it absolutely ramps up in difficulty.

 

Finally, there's another option. Julie gives so much away for free. If you follow her blog, watch her videos, listen to her podcasts, follow her on other social media - then she lays all her ideas out over and over in different ways and you can pick up on how to "do" BW from that.

 

I'm glad you posted this. I keep going and looking at the Wand sample and I'm just not digging it. So this makes more sense now if it's really not the same style as everything else. 

 

 I didn't realize she had podcasts now. When I looked a while back it was all periscope which I am not on. Off to check out the podcast.........

[BlueWren]

I'm glad you posted this. I keep going and looking at the Wand sample and I'm just not digging it. So this makes more sense now if it's really not the same style as everything else. 

 

 I didn't realize she had podcasts now. When I looked a while back it was all periscope which I am not on. Off to check out the podcast.........

Most of her Periscope vids have been put onto her YouTube channel.  You can access them via her FB or YT. 

[Farrar]

I'm glad you posted this. I keep going and looking at the Wand sample and I'm just not digging it. So this makes more sense now if it's really not the same style as everything else. 

 

 I didn't realize she had podcasts now. When I looked a while back it was all periscope which I am not on. Off to check out the podcast.........

 

Other than the classes, which are obviously taught by many instructors, I think The Wand is the only BW product that wasn't basically written by Julie herself. I knew a couple of families who were using it and I looked all through it and thought, oh, this is cool, lots of little copywork and dictation and games for learning little early writing mechanics things, this could go alongside a phonics program. But then several times, Julie has said it *is* a phonics program, which I found baffling. Yeah, there's rhyming games and learn to read support in there, but it's beyond whole language-y. I can't imagine it could actually teach most children to read. It felt looking at it like it could gently introduce *writing*... but I haven't actually used it. By the time we discovered BW, my kids were mostly reading and writing.

 

I can't keep up with all the Julie things. I watch some of her stuff when I happen to see it or need a little homeschool inspiration. She puts out so much content.

[newhsmom]

We looked at The Wand and I didn't see the need for it because we already had a phonics program.  I had a friend that used it and loved it, but I really couldn't see the appeal.  I just didn't think there was enough there to really use it as your phonics program.  It just wasn't systematic enough for me, but I do supplement BW with other language arts curriculum.  

 

I also think they need to completely redo the sample.  It is not very representative of the whole program.  It makes it hard for people to decide if The Wand is a good fit for them, but that is just my 2 cents.