Just over two years ago, I found myself unexpectedly homeschooling.

I scrambled to research curricula that would meet my son’s needs. I made some great choices…and some pretty terrible ones. I’ve changed curriculum choices several times over the years, but our writing curriculum has remained the same since the beginning.

Today, I’m going to tell you why I love Brave Writer.

Allow for Natural Writing Development with Brave Writer

When I was working as a school psychologist I saw countless students, often boys, who loathed writing. These boys hated, despised, cursed, and dreaded the act of writing. It was frustrating for them, laborious, and physically painful. All too often, it seemed that schools were placing pressure on the logistics of writing, and all creativity and fun was lost. I always felt so badly for these boys, who cringed when they were faced with a pencil and paper.

I love Brave Writer for a multitude of reasons, but one of the top reasons is this: Brave Writer allows for natural writing development.

Consider this:

• It takes approximately 5 years for oral language to develop.
• It takes approximately 10 years for written language to develop.

When your child starts to speak, he or she makes tons of pronunciation and grammatical errors. As parents, we are so happy that our child is starting to speak that we pay no attention to these mistakes. Instead, we delight in them! Our children learn to speak well through exposure to language, conversations, read alouds, and life in general, with little intervention on our part.

Now, think about how our education system handles written language. It takes longer for written language to develop than for oral language and yet our children are handed worksheet after worksheet after worksheet. It’s all work and no play. And, the play is where you find the writer and where the writer discovers his voice. Our children get so bogged down in the mechanical aspects of getting those letters on a page that their amazing ideas, stories, and inventions are cast by the wayside.

Brave Writer allows for natural writing development

I want my children to enjoy writing. I want them to find their voice and to share it. I do not ever want for them to cringe when they see a pen and paper.

What I love about Brave Writer:

• Brave Writer was created by a professional writer and homeschooling mom of five.
• Brave Writer is more than a curriculum, it’s a lifestyle. It becomes a way of life; a beautiful, fun, and family-strengthening way of life.
• You don’t have to be a fantastic writer to use Brave Writer. Brave Writer gives you the knowledge and tools you need to become your child’s writing coach.
• Brave Writer is fun. Do you love family movie night? Tea parties where you get to dress up and have an interesting conversation? Parties for no reason? Walks in the great outdoors? So do I! Guess what? All of those things and more are considered part of the Brave Writer lifestyle.
• Brave Writer emphasizes creativity and the arts.
• Brave Writer is a complete writing program that covers academic writing, yet the program manages to do so without losing the writer’s individual, creative voice.
• Brave Writer is flexible. There are no set timelines or to-dos with Brave Writer. There are suggested routines rather than schedules.
• This program is ideal for families with multiple children.

Brave Writer supports the student through the five stages of writing development

Brave Writer asserts that all children are writers.

What are the five Brave Writer stages?

1. Jot it Down (ages 5-8) – During this first stage, your child shares her thoughts and ideas and you serve as the secretary and write them all down.
2. Partnership Writing (ages 9-10) – You and your child write together during this second stage of writing development.
3. Faltering Ownership (ages 11-12) – Growing more independent but still in need of help, this is what I like to think of as the two-steps-forward-three-steps-back phase of writing development. Your child has lots of growth but also his fair share of obstacles.
4. Transition to Ownership (ages 13-14) – As your child grows into more of an independent writer, you serve primarily as the editor.
5. The Great Conversation (ages 15-18) – This is where your child has grown into an independent, academic writer. Brave Writer includes SAT prep, too!

Currently, we are using Jot it Down because my children are 4, 5, and 7-years-old, but I am planning to incorporate some Partnership Writing with Leo this year, too. I love that Jot it Down meets children where they are at but also includes three very important areas of focus:

Language Arts – This includes literature, spelling, handwriting, punctuation, grammar, literature elements, copy, work, dictation, word origins, and vocabulary.

Oral Language – Poetry teatime, weekly movies, nature study, art appreciation, music discovery, read aloud, word play.

Writing Projects– Jot it Down includes 10 one-month-long writing projects from which to pick and choose.

Brave Writer is a lifestyle

Writing is a life skill. You need to be able to write in this life. Sure, you might not write novels or screenplays, but you need to take notes and write instructions and e-mails, etc.

Brave Writer weaves writing into your day-to-day life, making it easy to grow writers just as you’ve learned to grow readers! By providing a language-rich environment and a family culture that values the written word, your children will learn to find their writer’s voice naturally!

And, do you want to know an added bonus? The Brave Writer Lifestyle is not only fun and easy to incorporate into your family’s routine but it also results in oodles of fun family experiences and memories that are sure to last a lifetime.

Want to add Brave Writer to your homeschool routine?

If you want to add Brave Writer to your homeschool curriculum this year, you can click here. All curriculum materials are available in digital format (only) and there are a ton of online learning opportunities as well.

Now, it’s your turn. Tell me: How do you raise writers? Share here!