Oct. 18, 2009 - Ode To Winter
Well, I confess the title to this blog is made tongue in cheek. I don't really like winter, though there are good things about it. As you'll see.
But let me back up a bit. Last Tuesday, I went to a homeschool meeting where the speaker was Julie Bogart, author and creator of Brave Writer, a writing curriculum aimed at homeschoolers. She herself is mother to 5 homeschooled children, and is also a published author.
I think I can say without seeming boastful that I write quite well. Since I've lamented my struggles with sewing and art, you know I am aware of my weaknesses as well. But I've always loved writing.
It has therefore been a strange and upsetting thing that I've found TEACHING writing to be so very difficult. I have a curriculum, recommended by a dear friend and mentor, entitled "Understanding Writing" by Susan Bradrick. There are great things about this curriculum, especially the sections devoted to writing in a way that is pleasing to God.
But Understanding Writing requires a great deal of preparation time and I haven't found that time. So I've felt upset and concerned about how to teaching good writing skills to the children. In spite of that, Naomi has taken off as a writer. But I think it comes naturally to her, as it did to me.
Brave Writer was like a drink of cold water on a sunny day in the middle of the Sahara Desert. I haven't sprung for the expensive book yet "The Writer's Jungle" but I probably will. Julie's description of how to teach writing seems delightfully organic. It centers around the concept of freewriting.
I can't do all of Julie's ideas justice at this point, and indeed I don't know them all. You can check out her website bravewriter.com, if you like. But let me just briefly comment on freewriting. She says that children need to practice writing without worrying about spelling and syntax and grammar and punctuation. She says that good writers write about what they are truly interested in, so giving a topic is generally ill advised. She suggested doing an 8 week experiment where we set the timer one day a week for 5 or 10 minutes, and just WRITE. Then the kids will take one of those attempts and we'll do some polishing. But for that first 8 week period, we won't be grading anything, we won't be analyzing anything, we'll just be writing. We especially won't worry about SPELLING.
So we started on Thursday. I've decided that I'll freewrite with them. So here is my "Ode to Winter".
Well, here it is, the 16th of October. What is good about cold, wet days, anyway? I love spring and summer and fall is Ok, but winter is too cold and too barren and too gray for my taste.
So what is good about winter? Well, I like cozy times in front of a kerosene heater. I like winter fields covered with white snow. I like millions of snowflakes filling the outdoors as far as the eye can see.
I like a simpler life. We don’t go many places in winter, which makes life more constricted but also less busy.
I even like having the pool closed. I love the pool, but when it is closed we can just focus on indoor stuff.
I am grateful that we have warm clothes and warm beds, insulation in our attic and a good roof over our heads, a 15 passenger van with plenty of heat!
I like that the earth sleeps in winter. The little animals are safe in their dens, and the ticks are DEAD!
There are places with no winter at all. I love heat, but such places also have many bugs.
So yes, there are good things about winter.
_______________________
It took effort, but I didn't edit that piece at all. I could and would change a lot in a revision. For one thing, the 16th of October isn't really winter, it is fall (though this week sure FELT like winter here in Ohio. It has been cold!) So, that's a good example of a very unpolished piece of writing that has some good themes and ideas, but could also use some work.
Well, that's enough blogging for now. One last caveat is that it was clear from the talk on Tuesday that Julie Bogart isn't quite as conservative as we are in some areas. She mentioned Pokemon, Harry Potter, and crushes on boys in 4th grade in a calm way, and we're down on all three of those things. So it is likely that "The Writer's Jungle" contains some stuff that I would want to edit out for my kids. But that's Ok...one of the things I am learning to do is take what is good out of a curriculum and drop anything that won't work well for our family.
Comments
Oct. 18, 2009 - Untitled Comment
Posted by bearsmom
Oct. 19, 2009 - <em>Untitled Comment</em>
Posted by AnnieKate
I rarely mark written work for little ones, but if the work is on the computer I may suggest one improvement (such as 'try to put all the things people say in quotation marks'). The goal isn't a perfect piece of writing, but learning to put ideas on paper, just as you mentioned. And spelling is NOT an issue for little ones' writing.
For the teens I do occasionally need to mark the work, and that is not fun. I'd rather go through a good piece of writing with them, looking for improvements, until it's as good as it can be. In these cases, I insist that actual mistakes are corrected, but we can have huge debates on issues of style and, of course, the author has final say on those.
I'm reviewing a neat concept in writing soon, and you may want to hold off on your purchase of the book until you read that review. Just a thought.
Annie Kate
Edited by AnnieKate on Oct. 19, 2009 at 5:49 AM
Oct. 19, 2009 - Sarah's Wish
Posted by AnnieKate
The book has some pretty stressful moments and there's one tragic slave scene. However, the Christian nature of the book is a real comfort here, because heaven is such a strong reality for the characters.
I wouldn't let young children read it, but I think you would find it a valuable book to read yourself, partly because of the positive way in which life, death, and faith are portrayed.
From the excerpts, I think the next two books are more intense, and I won't start them just before bedtime.
You probably should check out some of the other Crew reviews for more info. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/726402/
Blessings,
Annie Kate
