Pulling Together An Education On The Road

Ok, admittedly, we are not on the road but after so many weeks of being unsettled and travelling up and down the north and south of England, it is a luxury to be staying put for even four weeks. Four weeks is a long time.....enough time for some routine, enough to make plans for work, as such I am grabbing the opportunity with both hands and we're making every effort to get back into our work routine.

So what are we doing? Not having any of my usual curriculum, books and supplies has meant that I have had to improvise. This is the part in which I could wax lyrical about  the beauty of internet access! 

Below is a look at how we are doing school:

Devotions:

We are carrying on with our daily devotions and I am using the character studies from Confessions of a Homeschooler as the basis of our short morning devotions. It has been very helpful for all of us. These last two weeks, we have focused on Arguing (dealing with it rather than actually arguing!) and Peacemaking. We  have all found it very helpful and I have to say that I have noticed a calmer atmosphere at home which is a blessing!  Last week we memorised:

1 Peter 3:8 " Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another, be sympathetic, live as brothers, be compassionate and humble."

(I made up some silly actions to go with it as it helps my four year old remember it better and I have to say it works a treat!)

Some of my personal favourite verses were from Proverbs:

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, a harsh word stirs up anger." Proverbs 15:1 

"Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop a matter before a dispute breaks out." Proverbs 17:14

So the week was spent declaring to each other whenever an argument threatened to break out - " Don't breach the dam!" and "Be a Peacemaker!" And it worked (mostly) LOL.

Math:

I was using a combination of MEP math and Singapore Math before we moved but I don't have my workbooks with me and while MEP is available online - I didn't fancy  printing out the materials again and to be honest, it was too time-intensive during our period of family crisis. 


I discovered ConquerMath after joining some UK homeschooling forums. It is a programme that follows the British system right up to the GCSEs and you can buy the CD or subscribe for online access - no books to cart about. It works brilliantly for us as each subject starts with a video of a short 5-10 minute tutorial which is clear and concise afterwhich the kids go on to do a series of exercises online - all independently. Records are kept of their progress and they can go back anytime and do more exercises. This is such a help as it frees me up and they have someone else other than slow-at-math-mum teaching them.

English:

As my girls are at different grades - I am focusing on different things for them.

My elder daughter signed up to do two literary analysis courses with Brave Writer (The Hobbit and Anne Of Green Gables) over the last 4 months. I've said it before and I'll say it again - we love Brave Writer classes. She learnt a lot and enjoyed the classes immensely. She has really come along in terms of thinking about and analysing a text. She is now doing some work towards preparing for the IGCSEs with a UK based tutor called Catherine Mooney. She offers exam support, tutoring and marking of assignments. While I have no immediate plans for my 12 year old to take the IGCSEs just yet - she is certainly ready for the work. So we are using Catherine's course as a way to work through the concepts she will need to know for her understanding. It is written in an engaging and interesting way, so my daughter has been enjoying it so far. I am also thinking about using Susan Wise Bauer's Writing With Skill to work on her writing skills - I've downloaded some sample chapters for her to work through and we will see if it works out well. We are also continuing with copywork using Brave Writer's Arrows and Boomerang programmes as well as quotes I am pulling off the internet and books we are reading.

My younger daughter is working on building up fluency with her reading, writing and spelling. A friend recommended Units of Sound ( a programme designed to help dyslexic kids build a firm foundation in spelling, reading, memory and dictation). While my younger daughter is not diagnosed as dyslexic - she does have some issues. So in the period where I haven't had time to sit with her for spelling and copywork - I decided to give the programme a try. She says it is helpful especially the dictation and memory sections. We are also throwing in handwriting practice and more recently, we have started copywork again using our Arrows monthly publication.(I bought a number of different back issues at 50% off during an offer with the Homeschool Buyers Co-op - very happy about that!). She has recently started Catherine Mooney's Word Weavers course which should help her with establishing her grammar and writing skills. It comes with an audio CD which is an extra help. I also purchased in downloadable PDF format Susan Wise Bauer's Writing With Ease Level 3 as I think she could do with building up her narration and comprehension skills and with that book I don't have to think - I just print it out and go.

Outsourcing help and using online programmes or computer software has been the key to keeping homeschooling on the road during our time of uncertainty.

History:

As we are in the UK and all our Tapestry of Grace books and curriculum are in storage - I had to pull together a plan for our history studies. Being in England - studying British History seemed to make the most sense. 

As the spine of our lessons, I am using The Story of Britain by Patrick Dillon which I stumbled across in the bookshops. It is an engaging and well-written overview of the stories of british history written in chronological order for children - a little like a modern version of An Island Story by H.M. Marshall (also in storage!) I started reading this aloud and I also purchased from Audible the audio book of An Island Story. Both books give a helpful introduction into Britain's history. We have been reading it through but these few weeks we have gone back to the beginning to solidfy their understanding with more in-depth work.

I did a quick review of early British history including the Celts, Roman invasion, invasions of the Vikings (Danes), the Angles and the Saxons - ending with the death of Edward the Confessor. The girls made a notebooking page on an introduction to Ancient Britain. Click here for the Early British History notebooking page. 

Then we took up our story with the Battle of Hastings and conquest by Duke William of Normandy in 1066 - a crucial turning point for British History.

I found some excellent resources and made some notebook pages:

I used this powerpoint entitled "Who Should Be King?" from this useful website www.schoolhistory.co.uk to introduce the different claimants for the throne upon the death of Edward the Confessor. We then made a notebook page on Who Should Rule England?

  
The Battle of Hastings - I used this excellent website to tell the story of the battle using the Bayeux tapestry and this helpful powerpoint on The Battle of Hastings to go through the events of the battle. The BBC have produced wonderful hands-on resources on the Normans - using their lesson ideas,  I told the girls to pretend to be news journalists in the midst of the battle - one was reporting for the Normans and the other for the Anglo-Saxons. They had notes and then made short reports on the battle as it progressed. It was great fun role-playing newscasters and it really helped solidify their knowledge of the actual events of the battle. Finally, they finished off the lesson by making a newspaper front page on the battle. They used this template . It was definitely one of their favourite things to do.

Other resources:

Perfect for Co-ops - a Battle of Hastings game (the ultimate in hands-on learning) 

Reading list about the Normans from BBC 

Bayeux Tapestry activities from the BBC

Computer game recreating the Battle of Hastings

We shall be continuing a more in-depth look at British history as we go on and I will post more on the resources we use.

I have to mention our favourite show - CBBC's Horrible Histories which is available on Youtube. We all love it. It is very silly and funny (british humour) but it is amazing the little facts that stick through all the silliness. The girls have learnt the sequence of the Kings and Queens of England from this skit. Even my 4 year old is singing it! We love love love the Horrible Histories TV show. Go on Youtube and watch it - I guarantee you'll find it impossible to tear your kids or yourself away from watching.

The Kings and Queens of England Video

Another video on the War of The Roses (just for fun!)

And one more, just because I love it! About the Domesday book. Enjoy!

Science:

Science was hard for me to do consistently without my books.We read a variety science books picked up from the bookstore and started using a borrowed Apologia General Science book - however, I needed something they could work on independently and provided some hands-on work and experiments for them to do. I heard about Exploration Education's Physical Science programme from a friend's blog and liked the sound of it. It allows them to learn independently through interactive text on the computer and it comes with box of experiments and hands-on learning. The programme takes them step by step through a variety of projects such as building a car, a circuit board and a motor and using those things to carry out experiments. The experiments come in organised, well-labelled bags and it practically has everything you need. They managed 3 lessons to date and then got stalled because we didn't have a glue gun! That has now been ordered and we are looking forward to getting on with it! The girls like it and enjoy putting together the projects. We are also reading through The Story Book Of Science by Jean Henri Fabre which is a lovely read-aloud book that centres on the conversations between three children and their very knowledgeable uncle who takes them on journeys of discovery through story about nature and the world in general from ants milking "cows", spiders building suspension bridges, how we make cloth from wool, flax, hemp and cotton, volcanoes and earthquakes.

 Art Appreciation:

We are using The Story of the World's Greatest Paintings by Charlie Ayres which I picked up from the bookstore. It is an easy no-fuss way to accomplish art studies at the moment. It works well as a jumping off point for learning more about the artist and his work. I also use the SmartHistory videos for a more in-depth analysis of an artwork or artist. 

Poetry and memorisation:

I am trying to get back to encouraging the kids to memorise bible verses and poems. So we have a bible verse to learn each week and I am printing out poems for them to read and memorise once a week. I am also trying to incorporate poetry reading during our tea-times. Winter is a lovely time for hot chocolate, muffins and poetry!

Music Appreciation:


Another no-fuss solution to incorporating music appreciation in our week for now - I found this book My First Classical Music Book  which comes with a CD and an introduction to instruments and an orchestra. Although it is aimed more at my four-year old - we spend 15 minutes going through a chapter a day and listening (and dancing!) to the music. It is a nice way to keep up with some music appreciation without too much effort.  

Nature Studies:

You may have read in an earlier post that we do not enjoy the climate of the tropics at all and while we were living in Singapore - nature studies always had to be deliberately planned. It is so much more fun in temperate climates - you just want to be outdoors (admittedly less so in the winter). Nature studies have just happened naturally as the girls have taken an interest in the world outside. They have really got into birdwatching after we put a feeder in their grandparent's garden - they are taking pictures, using the field guides to identify the birds and checking out their tracks in the snow. Their experience was further enhanced when I bought this DVD - Beginning Watercolor Journalling. I bought it after reading about it in this inspiring post at Pondered in my heart. It has paid off and the girls have been completely inspired  by what they've watched and started to journal and paint more regularly. These are some early efforts. 

French:

I found a lovely lady who comes twice a week to teach all three kids. She does a great job engaging them using stories and fun games. I have asked her to start the girls on more serious grammar as they have progressed quite nicely. She recommended languages online as a good website for practice.

My Rosetta Stone software is in storage so I'm not getting much use out of that at the moment although I suspect that they are going to be able to progress much quicker with it after these lessons. I've heard about Galore Park French and have been looking into using this - possibly since we may not be in our current accomodation for long and will move to another part of the UK and lose our lovely french teacher!

PE:

Being active is a total challenge in winter and not being in a place for more than a month or two makes it hard to join any organised activities. So I am literally trying to make sure we get off our bottoms for 20 minutes each day at least to exercise . It's too cold to go outside for too long so I've devised indoor games (like an active Simon Says) or exercises like circuit training. We might start off with some stretches and then on some days, I'll have them pick 5 exercises from a pile of cards - it might say something like 10 sit ups, run up and down the stairs 2 times, 20 jumping jacks etc. On On other days I will lead the exercises myself. I'd love to play more silly run around games (we used to play dodge ball with a soft squishy ball and have obstacle course races in our old home) but there just isn't enough kid-friendly space for that kind of play indoors.

So that's us at the moment, for the next few weeks at least - who knows what the next month will bring for us but I'll take what we can get.

Free Summer Membership to the Weekly Writers Club 2011

Preparing for a move to a new country means that blogging doesn't get much of a look in at the moment. There's a lot going on but so little time to try and make a record of it. 

However, for those who might be interested - The Weekly Writers Club is offering free membership for its Summer course which is totally fun and has my kids clamouring to write. They'll get to meet kids online from all over the world in a safe environment, participate in writing stories with other kids, blogging and plenty of varied activities and challenges that will have them writing and having fun. It will run from June 15 (oh that's today!) until August 25th 2011. It is easy to join - just go to their website: http://www.weeklywriter.org/ and register.

Have fun!

Using copywork to teach grammar and spelling

I could have entitled this post "oh, so that's how you do Copywork!" - Maybe I'm just slow on the uptake and this is going to be old news to most; it was, however, a bit of a revelation to me when I discovered how copywork could be used as an effective means to teach not just spelling but also grammar, punctuation and the literary elements of writing. I also picked up some great tips on how to make it work for a struggling reader and writer.

When I started out homeschooling, many of Charlotte Mason’s ideas and methods appealed to me. I was intrigued by the idea that children could learn how to spell and write beautifully and turn out language worthy of the greats if they spent time diligently copying wonderful literary prose and verses. It made sense and so that's what I did. I assigned my kids copywork featuring wise proverbs, witty sayings, inspirational passages and beautiful passages of prose - all in the hope that that they would absorb everything they needed for elegant writing and thought.

However, I was faced with boredom and resistance and I noticed their spelling wasn’t really improving. Self-doubt flooded in and I began to look around for other language programmes to fill the gap. Maybe I need a spelling programme? So I dutifully did my research and bought All About Spelling for my struggling reader and I bought Spelling Wisdom (the Charlotte Mason approach to spelling) for my strong reader, who was a careless speller.

What I hadn't really understood is that the exercise of copywork was not really something to just hand over to your child and let her get on with - not if you wanted her to get the full benefit of it. I learnt this while doing a Brave Writer course - "Foundations In Writing". It was here where I learnt how to use Copywork and dictation to teach grammar informally, how to teach them to notice and learn spelling and how to set my kids up for success in writing and spelling.

One of the key ideas was intentionality -  intentional copywork (knowing the goal you want to achieve - is it neat handwriting, accurate copying, grasping new spelling concepts or learn how to punctuate dialogue etc) and  intentional editing (modelling and teaching your kids how to go back to the passage and edit their own mistakes). 

The idea of "pre-teaching" was new to me – so now even before they start writing, I teach the passage depending on what I want to achieve. The pre-teaching helps the kids to pick up on important spelling, punctuation, literary elements and grammar.

This is what one week typically looks like for us - first I have them read the passage aloud to me and we discuss its meaning to ensure comprehension. Then depending on my aim for the day, I might draw their attention to a literary element such as a metaphor or hyperbole or some interesting phrasing (informally introducing and familiarising the child with the literary terms and elements so essential for good writing). I might then point out punctuation like semi colons, speech marks, commas, colons and explain their usage. I usually highlight words that I anticipate they may have problems with, underlining them - explaining spelling rules and pointing out spelling families and maybe have them practice spelling the words on a whiteboard. I sometimes have them practice breaking down and segmenting long difficult words. All this prepares them for success even before they start writing and goes a long way to alleviate stress and frustration. 

I don’t do all of these things in one day, I may teach a few of these and then have them copy the passage, and then return to the passage the next day and point out more things. Depending on time, we might then practice dictation which is a great way to solidify new spelling words. For my struggling writer, I may take more time over teaching spelling and segmenting words and even leave the copywork and dictation until the following days.

On the next day, we might review the difficult words and discuss grammer - nouns, pronouns, verbs etc. It is also a great way to introduce and discuss new vocabulary in context – I might help them notice vocabulary choices and ask why the author uses one word instead of another, perhaps asing my child to come up with an alternative word.

In my Brave Writer class, I learnt that if my child is struggling with spelling I need to teach her spelling and word study rules and help her recognise it in action when writing – this is achieved much more effectively within the context of reading and writing and hence copywork is ideal. We were told to get them to “spell with your ears and check with your eyes”. I found this very helpful and have made an effort  to teach my daughter to learn to connect sounds to letters to help strengthen her phonological processing skills. This strategy of encouraging them to sound out the words as they write them is useful - as they can hear what they are writing and if they have a tendency to drop letters from their words and make careless mistakes, it helps them to catch them more quickly.

Before they copy the passage, I have usually already highlighted or underlined key words so they can take note of them when they write. With each child, it is helpful to encourage them to progress from copying letter by letter (arduous), to whole words and then getting them to keep whole phrases in their heads and eventually whole sentences. It is an exercise in teaching them to copy accurately and efficiently, increasing speed and reducing any sense of tedium. This is an important skill – increasing the attention and memory skills – forcing them to interact with the content and attend to what they write.

The next step for them, after they have copied the passage, is the process of intentional editing. Initially I modeled how they should check each word, phrase and sentence and circle mistakes caught and then as they learnt, I let them edit their own work. They have their own coloured pen and will check their work, mark out and correct any mistakes. This increases their awareness of spelling and punctuation and their sense of ownership over their work. I reward them with 25 cents if they find any mistakes and if it is mistake-free they get 50 cents. The only time they don’t get anything is if I find a mistake after they have proof-read their own writing. The financial incentive is probably not necessary but it is a fun little motivation for them at the moment.

I never used to get around to dictation but I’ve appreciated how it helps build accuracy and reinforces lessons learnt in spelling and punctuation and so I try to make it a point to do it each week.

It is very helpfully explained here on the Brave Writer website:

Dictation enables children to discover how to write from memory properly spelled words, and how to assemble them on the page using proper punctuation. Because they are transcribing someone else’s words (not their own), they have a model to compare to. They can evaluate whether or not they have successfully reproduced the original. Happily, the challenge of accuracy is the primary task in copywork and dictation. As a result, no one’s feelings get hurt when you point out mistakes, unlike when you correct your child’s spelling in his or her original work. The focus is entirely on accurate reproduction. And that’s the beauty right there! Mechanics can be taught using beautiful literature more effectively than the wooden practice sentences in a workbook or attempting to edit a child’s freewrite. Dictation works because children keep spellings and punctuation in meaningful writing contexts and thereby reinforce the intuitive level of mechanics, rather than mere memorization of rules.

I have taken onboard many ideas learnt from Brave Writer such as mixing things up by doing a french dictation whereby you type out the passage leaving blank spaces for key words and phrases. Another thing you might try is reverse dictation where you type out the passage with mistakes in punctuation, lower case letters where there should be capitals and make spelling errrors and have them edit the passage and highlight the mistakes. All great ways to reinforce lessons learnt in context.

These few ideas have really transformed my approach to copywork and I can see that it is working on many levels for both my kids. I still have a lot to learn but I'm certainly pleased with the new tools I've got to work with to help teach my kids.

Some great resources:

Brave Writer - Arrows and Boomerang are a monthly resource which features passages from one classic novel which can be used for copywork and dictation - it supplies you with notes on important punctuation or spelling to note, or literary elements to consider and gives you ideas about what to discuss with your child in terms of language, writing style, vocabulary and so on. You download a sample from their site. I have not yet subscribed to it but downloaded back issues based on books we are currently reading. The cost effective way to get these issues is to subscribe for a year. It is pricey (in my opinion) but I do keep coming back to them. I really should take out a year's subscription - but I do like being able to choose the issues based on books we are reading already.

Wildflowers and Marbles - Jen's beautiful blog has a lot of wonderful information on the Charlotte Mason approach to Language Arts and she put together in printable document - a collection of articles from a series of posts she wrote on her blog. It is called Considered Language Arts which is an awesome resource that covers copywork, dictation, narration, grammar and composition. Reading this will really equip you to implement a Charlotte Mason approach to Language Arts. It is so clear and thoughtful. It really is an excellent resource. Many thanks to Jen!

These two books are my two reference books when I am trying to explain spelling and grammar rules.

Poetry kids love: T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

I was looking for some fun poems to enjoy with the girls when I was suddenly thrown back to my childhood and the memory of my time in the car, with my mum, singing songs from “Cats: The Musical”  by Andrew Lloyd Webber. We had watched the musical together in the West End on a trip to London and we both loved the music. I learnt all the lyrics to the songs and was surprised to  find out later that the lyrics were actually adapted from poems by T.S. Eliot. These poems had been written to amuse his grandchildren and they certainly entertained. I remember devouring the poems as a child and I suspected my girls would get the same amount of enjoyment from them too. The poems are hard to resist and they beg to be read out loud and acted out and that is exactly what happened as the girls read them.

We started off by reading a selection of poems like Macavity: The Mystery Cat and The Naming Of the Cats, which I had printed off the internet and then, just for fun, I showed them clips from musical. It whetted their appetite and they were eager to read the other poems as well as watch more clips from the musical. Before long, I caught them practising their own rendition of The Old Gumbie Cat - not only had they had memorised it but they had also choreographed a whole song and dance routine and were practising it with such glee. :)

Needless to say - it was great fun and I always love it when they get this enthusiastic about something they are learning!

I purchased a lovely audio version of the poems beautifully read by Sir John Gielgud and Irene Worth.

These are some of the videos we watched from Cats: The musical. It definitely served a purpose in increasing their interest in the poems.

My daughter was so into it, she even made a glog about it. Making the glog really appealed to her artistic sensibilities and it was also a valuable exercise in learning to research and distil the information needed to fit the limited format. She really enjoyed the process and did a great job. 

Weekly Writer Club: A Review

There are some problems that homeschool mums love and one of them is when your kids are so into a project or activity that you can't get them to do anything else. That’s what we have with our new favourite activity – the Weekly Writer Club. This is an fantastic language arts programme that puts the fun into writing and creating and it has my kids addicted.

So what is the Weekly Writer Club?

It is the brainchild of Judy Steidl who acts as the director of the Club and cheerleader to all the kids’ efforts. It is an online writing programme where kids can participate in the club's many projects, activities and forums aimed at grades 2-8. What makes it unique is that it is highly interactive and fuelled largely by interests of the children in the club.  At the same time, these customised writing opportunities are designed to help meet grade level expectations (US State Standards) .

What I love is how Judy supports and interacts with my kids, constantly encouraging them to build on their ideas and to initiate new forums or stories based on their own interests. The premise of this programme is about getting kids contributing and writing about the things they are interested in and she has created so many different avenues for them to express themselves. Not only that, it is a safe place for kids to interact with one another and also provides interesting opportunities for them to develop their leadership and technology skills.

The best way to explain what it offers is to give you a sampling of the myriad of activities that my girls are now participating in:

When they joined, they each had their own profile and blog which they could personalise by writing about their hobbies, interests, ambitions, favourite books etc and they got to customise it by adding their own pictures and images. They are also able to send and receive messages within this safe environment to Judy and the other kids in the club.

There is a Virtual Cafe where the kids can meet at “tables” (forums) and discuss anything from Lego, Food, Fantasy pets, People watching, Music, History, Science and anything else that takes their fancy. The girls have written about their favourite places to go for fun and added pictures, they’ve engaged in a discussion about their fantasy pets, discussed music they like and contemplated what they would do if they were given one wish.

There is a Virtual Library where there are book reviews and kids get a chance to review and discuss their favourite books. I know there are a few books on the girls' lists that they want to get a chance to put in there.  

Fantasy Island is a firm favourite. Here they can create adventures about how they came to be shipwrecked on the island and what they have to do to survive. There are numerous aspects about life on the island where they can imagine the kind of animals that might be found there and food that they can eat, the dangers they may be face (pirates, sharks, storms!). It is fun non-pressurised creative writing because the kids can write as much or as little as they want in order to contribute to the whole story.

A big part of the WWclub programme is where kids are encouraged to join the QuickStart Letter Writing programme. This is where they are given a series of steps to get started on writing and sending physical letters - first to Judy, then to friends and family and followed by suggestions to write to community leaders and career experts in the areas where the kids are interested in or passionate about. A variety of skills get practiced in the act of composing different types of letters and the reward of receiving an answer in the post is motivation enough for my girls. When they start on the course, they get business cards from Judy and if they write at least seven letters in the term and receive five replies, they get promoted to Club Ambassador. All these act as incentives to get them writing.

The Brain Bank is a place where kids are given opportunities to research and write about things that interest them. There are various courses like the Research course which teaches them various skills needed for effective information gathering and organisation, as well a lesson on how to create a Wiki document which acts as a repository for all kinds of interesting information, videos and images. They are encouraged to become Captains of a Wiki topic and take responsibility for developing it into a fun and interesting source of information. The topics range from Future Careers, Holidays, Entertainment, Journalism, Photography, Faith, Entertainment, Art, Cartoons, Weather – the list is exhaustive. The idea is to engage all the kids and get them contributing to these Wikis, using their research skills to create an interesting and informative document. It is a new initiative and my girls have both expressed interest in being Captains and I am looking forward to them doing the research course and practicing their new skills in subjects they are have chosen themselves.

There is a Travel Club where kids can write about their adventures, trips or favourite countries. They are encouraged to post interesting information on any country of their choosing, maybe do a little research and add links so that other kids can learn too.

There are plenty of Study Helps which help the children to find ways to improve their grammar, vocabulary, spelling, through challenges and games. They can even post about their homework and get help and encouragement with that in the forums.

Along the way, Judy will to introduce interesting little challenges or videos such as the “Create a Voki Character (personalised avatar) Competition”. These do a marvellous job in getting the kids interested and involved which inevitably spurs more discussions (hence writing) between them. I love these things because they are so fun and they get my reluctant writer practising her typing skills, checking her spelling and punctuation and just writing where she would normally avoid it.

To be honest, there is so much going on that it would probably be impossible to do every single thing. However, what it does do is provide countless alternatives for writing and plenty of diversity which would make it practically impossible not to find something in this club that would spark a child’s interest. Frankly, I’d love to be writing in some of these forums! (Sadly, no parents allowed in the club, it is just for kids – although there is a parent’s support forum).

Without a doubt , it is the creativity and participation of  Club Director Judy who keeps the club moving on. She is very active and absolutely lovely - sending encouraging emails to the kids, responding to their suggestions and always looking for ways to create new forums to include their interests and ideas.

My girls look forward to logging in every day and they are writing and improving their typing skills. They are getting lots of practice informally on how to use punctuation, spelling, checking over their work before they post and what makes a good sentence and tons of creative writing opportunities.

What I like as well, is the fact that there is a lot of grace - the children are given the freedom to tap into their creativity without worrying too much about spelling or punctuation. These budding writers will have an opportunity to take the work that they are personally proud of through the editing process later as they will be encouraged to submit their writing for publication in an ebook at the end of each semester. It fits right into the Brave Writer philosophy – freeing kids to express themselves without the shackles of worry about good grammar and perfect spelling which may make them hesitant to write and stunt creativity. 

Membership for the whole family for one semester costs US$99 (so the more kids you have the better!). At the moment, it costs US$198 for a whole year’s access for the family.

When I first enquired about the WWClub this was Judy’s reply to me which sums up what the club is about:

We take all the state standards for writing and create activities to match those requirements, but we do so in ways that keep the activities customized and a good match for each student.

We are seeing that their excitement propels them to write more and, as young writers, this is the beginning of true literary appreciation as we dig deep to see an author's toolbox and how we can adapt good writing techniques, proper punctuation, and paragraph organization simply by practicing our own writing and borrowing from our favorite authors' successful examples.

In addition, in the fall, we have opportunities for kids to group together to study a book, discuss magazines, publish eBook creative writing (per semester), learn Web 2.0 technology, and earn leadership awards based on the number of letters that they write and receive.

Sometime I may publish products as many vendors do. But, with the WWClub,  I want to create an opportunity for kids to experience true communicative arts, to see the relevancy in their writing, and to explore and deepen (and practice) their skills.  I want them to understand that their writing matters, because they have important things to say....just like other writers who have come before them.

Beyond all this, the WWClub is so flexible that you can opt in or opt out of any activity as your schedule requires and is so open that we can create new opportunities simply because it will best match the needs for one child.

At the end of the term, we want the kids to have a stack of letters that are worth preserving; we want them to be able to say that they have been "published" in an eBook, we want them to be able to understand key lessons about Internet Safety and Moodle, and we want them to be able to celebrate a list of achievements in mastering content objectives through
WWClub activities with new friends, forums, and blogs.

Why join the club? Well, if you are looking for something that gets kids writing on their own terms, energised and fighting their siblings to get onto the computer to write - this is a wonderful tool. It is full, fun and fabulous and I can unreservedly recommend it as a excellent way to supplement your language arts curriculum and get your kids animated and excited about writing.