Brave Writer makes me scream and cry but my child loves it

[MDL]

We have been doing the online class “The Writers Jungle” and my rising 4th grader has been enjoying it, and rather happily (for the most part) doing the work. I tried it out six years ago (TWJ book and The Arrow) with my oldest, and it went fine for a year, but then we went to CC and switched to IEW, which was great for all involved. But, this boy is a little more creative and free spirited, and my gut feeling is BW is right for him. 

My biggest problem is that there is just so much material for me to consume and pass on to him. It makes me feel completely overwhelmed and like I’m doing it wrong, or not enough. As my eldest is leaving for private day school in the fall, I feel  I’m more in the phase out mom work mode, and want to put him (4th grader) in an online class that all I need to do is pay and make sure he attends and completes the assignments. 

Am I crazy or do others feel this way too? What should I do? Suck it up and suffer through it, look for something else, or go back to IEW, which I know and understand how to teach (see that? Who/which clause right there!)

[HomeAgain]

You sound tired.  Wanting a hands-off approach for an elementary child isn't normal - is there any way you can take some time and rejuvenate yourself so that you can either approach homeschooling again or figure out what your role in his education is?

[MDL]

HomeAgain, thank  you. Yes, I am tired, burned out and hormonal. And staring down summer where my boys dont want to do anything (day camp, wise). Hopefully it will be better when the freshman is out of the house during the week. 

I cried for weeks about the high school, but now I’ve accepted it and am looking forward to getting out and about with my youngest more. I could be just done with homeschooling, too though. But  this boy (4th) has a major surgery in fifth grade, so I’d like to keep him home through that at least. 

[EKS]

It's not necessary to do a writing program at that age.  Or really, at any age.

Just have him write about what he is learning.  This is sort of like narration, but with a wider and narrower scope.  So, for example, the prompt might be "tell me about the French Revolution," and what he would write about would be what caught his attention (when my 9yo son wrote to this prompt, there was a lot of guillotine action).  You can also phrase the prompts in such a way that allows for creativity--"Imagine you were alive at the time of the French Revolution.  What was it like?"  Or even "Write a story set during the French Revolution."  

The best thing you can do moving forward (into the high school years) with regard to teaching writing is not to find a perfect writing program.  This is a good thing, because such a program does not exist.  The best thing you can do is to take a writing intensive college (or graduate) course that will challenge you and allow you to develop your own academic writing skills.  

[Lori D.]

What about taking a break for a year and doing Wordsmith Apprentice? It covers all 4 types of writing (descriptive, narrative, expository, persuasive) it is creative and fun, and it is mostly done independently by the student. It has an informal tone, with a fun premise that the student is writing for the different departments of a newspaper. You can assign as big or as small of a "bite" per day to do as fits your student -- or, if you need something more "formal", there is a suggested schedule/lesson plan for spreading it out over 36 weeks.

[kbutton]

43 minutes ago, Lori D. said:

What about taking a break for a year and doing Wordsmith Apprentice? It covers all 4 types of writing (descriptive, narrative, expository, persuasive) it is creative and fun, and it is mostly done independently by the student. It has an informal tone, with a fun premise that the student is writing for the different departments of a newspaper. You can assign as big or as small of a "bite" per day to do as fits your student -- or, if you need something more "formal", there is a suggested schedule/lesson plan for spreading it out over 36 weeks.

I second this.

I haven't used IEW or Bravewriter, but I have seen enough of the BW material to think, "I don't get this." It feels pressured and creative in a "make ink with your own blood or it's not authentic enough" kind of way. It literally strikes me as "drama inducing." But that's just me. 

If BW doesn't feel supportive enough, but something about it works for your son, can you just use those portions (with or without the curriculum) and just let the rest go? 

Have you looked at Mosdos? It requires some weeding through--you can't do all the assignments for all the stories, but it's well-regarded, and if you get the workbook, that allows independent work. You can dive in selectively with some of the more creative or "deep" assignments. The level we used (Coral), for instance, had unit wrap-ups where they can do project-y things that connect the stories across a theme. But you can be selective and also be both more and less involved by turns. 

[kristin0713]

For 4th grade, you could do brainstorms and freewrites all year and pick one every once in a while to polish. He’s so young—definitely take the pressure off!  

[Janeway]

Just drop writing for the year. He does not need it at all. Do a couple Bravewriter classes or something else if you want. Get him some of those creative writing journals and let him have at it (my children have ones from Usborne and DK, but there are lots of them out there). But he will be fine to go a year without any specific writing program. There is an entire world between IEW and Bravewriter on your own. If you really want to use a program, pick something less labor intensive for both of you. I have seen so much for writing programs that are less confining than IEW but less abstract than Bravewriter.