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Elizabeth
Founder
Real Learning
Joined: Jan 20 2005
Location: Virginia
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Posts: 5595
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| Posted: March 30 2005 at 1:02pm | IP Logged
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There is a Bravewriter thread on the Language Arts board, but the following is such a "learning lifestyle" topic that I thought I'd share it here. I joined the Bravewriter LIfestyle Email list. What follows is the file generated by registration. As you read, think "FLYlady for home education." Talk about an incredible service to those of us trying to live a real learning lifestyle! Many, many thanks to Julie Bogart.
There are four parts to the Brave Writer Lifestyle. They interact with each other and each one has a specific support function for the BWL. Please read this email carefully.
I recommend receving the daily emails and checking both the forums and blog daily. The website is meant to be a supportive guide when you are unclear about a new feature of the BWL that you'd like to try.
Category One:
The Email List
The BWL email list on yahoo is the principle feature of the Brave Writer Lifestyle. The list
sends out emails to help you get a feel for how you can incorporate the BWL practices into
your family's life in a somewhat conscious and routine way. You are not meant to do
everything the list reminds you to do every week. I have to set it up this way for the
calendar program to work. But by sending out emails on a regular basis, you will be
reminded what categories you can explore and taste.
Those emails include the following categories (at this time):
DAILY
One-on-One Time w/ child
Jot it Down (Mom's assignment)
Read Aloud (Together Time)
WRITING PROCESS
(first Mon.) Writing Process (Topic)
(second Mon.) Writing Process (Research and Drafting)
(third Mon.) Writing Process (Narrowing and Expanding)
(fourth Mon.) Writing Process (Publishing and Finding Readers)
MONDAY
Enjoying Nature (get outside)
TUESDAY
Tuesday Teatime
WEDNESDAY
Afternoon Movie
THURSDAY
Scrapbooking
Library Visit
FRIDAY
Friday Freewrite
Enjoying Art
In addition to the weekly emails, I have included emails that come at different intervals:
Monthly Free Pass (This is your permission slip to skip "school" and do something fun with
your kids: field trips, playing games, going on a hike or picnic, etc.)
Enjoying Art/Nature
Copywork/Dictation (This email comes twice weekly but is not meant to be a twice weekly
commitment. I send it twice so that you can decide which day works for you or do both if
that is working for your family.)
Driver's Seat (Your child will teach you how to play a game, about a favorite topic, or
something else. By asking your child to teach you something, you are giving valuable
opportunities for narration and organizing thought.)
Afternoon Movie (I suggest watching them with your kids once in awhile)
Category Two:
Brave Writer Website
The Brave Writer website has information related to classes, some articles and exercises
about writing in general, a thorough explanation of the Writer's Jungle (the primary home
study course available at this time), information about the Arrow and Slingshot (and how
to order them) and my bio, contact info etc.
In a new section on the website for Brave Writer, I have developed materials related to the
Brave Writer Lifestyle specifically. Each of the emails I send out via the yahoo list has a
corresponding page of information ON THE BRAVE WRITER WEBSITE to help you realize that
practice in your home.
So if you come to the home page:
http://www.bravewriter.com/
You will see a message that asks you to enter the Brave Writer Lifestyle. Click on that to
enter the section devoted to the BWL (I've posted the link below if you want to go there
directly):
http://www.bravewriter.com/BWL/bwlwelcome.html
Once you get to this page, there is a sidebar that is especially designed for the BWL. All of
the categories in red on the left side of your screen are links. If you click on Teatime, you
will be taken to a page that has ideas for how to have a teatime in your home. If you click
on Shakespeare, you will find a page of recommendations for how you can incorporate
Shakespeare into your homeschool. Read as many of these as you can to get a feel for how
the lifestyle might look if you were to act on these ideas. Resources and book/movie
recommendations are included.
If you get an email you don't understand, go to the website and read the page that goes
with it.
Category Three:
Brave Writer Forums:
In addition to these pages that are specifically for the BWL, there is a discussion forum
section on my site where you can post ideas, freewrites, your questions and so on for me
to read and for members of the BWL to enjoy and answer. I hope that the forums will
eventually be a place where anyone with writing and language arts questions can come
and receive beneficial support from the BWL community. We need to duplicate me so that
we have lots of moms helping each other. (I can't do it all! So please help each other!)
I also envision moms sharing their kids' writing and commenting on it in the way I do so
that you can give each other feedback and encouragement. Wouldn't you love to know that
you could post your child's writing and another set of eyes could help you find the gems in
the rough, could suggest a direction to take the writing? So I'd love to see that develop
over the next year. I have not seen that on any homeschooling forum. It's critical to
becoming effective as a writing coach for your child. Let's make it happen on Brave Writer.
Click here to check out the forums:
http://bravewriter.com/dc/dcboard.php
Category Four:
The Brave Writer Blog
You can access this from the home page or you can bookmark it from the following link:
http://www.bravewriter.com/blog2/
The blog is an indispensible part of the BWL. I use it to teach, share and express various
aspects of being a Brave Mom. Each Tuesday, I like to post a photo and a short note about
the teatime experiences of our members. That's why I'm asking for you to send photos
and notes/stories related to your teatime experiences. I will hold a drawing in June and
give away a Brown Betty teapot to the winner. Also, anyone who sends a photo (I know not
everyone is comfortable with this so that's okay if you're not), I will send a free back issue
of the Arrow or Slingshot as a thank you.
I also post a weekly freewriting prompt on Fridays on the BW blog. You can find the ones
I've already posted by clicking on the weekly archive links and scrolling until you find a
Friday. There are archive categories to help you find writing help for teens or exercises to try with your kids quickly.
I also use the blog to talk about specific issues like teen writing, and writing with elementary
school kids, or to review a movie, to discuss writer's voice, to share narrations my kids give,
to offer new insight into the writing process by looking at thoughts of professional writers
and Charolotte Mason, and so on. In short, the blog is my place to continue to teach and express
what you might want to know about writing without paying for it <g>.
--
So in a nutshell, that is how the Lifestyle works. I suggest reading the emails and only
doing the ONE that you feel inspired to do that day. If you are in a good routine with your
kids and there is a NEW thing you want to try or add, do it! Just do it well. Don't do too
many things at once and then fail at them and give up. Pick ONE thing and do it all the
way. Enjoy it thoroughly without guilt before you try something else.
Example. You get two emails that urge you to do a teatime and copywork in the same day.
You've never done either (or if you have, it's been sporadic). You know you want to do
both in your homeschool. For now, choose ONE to do. Just one.
So you pick teatime.
Go to the website and read about how to do a teatime. Prepare and plan it (maybe for the
next day so you have all that you need ready to go). Then go for it! Forget about
copywork. That's unimportant for that day. Enjoy and succeed at teatime.
Talk about it with your kids
prepare for it
enjoy it
reminisce about it
Then the next week, you might pick copywork. Forget teatime for now. Go to the website,
read up on copywork (or open your Writer's Jungle and read details there). Follow the steps
again:
Talk about it with your kids
prepare for it
enjoy it
reminisce about it
Don't do both copywork and teatimes at once until you feel you've had great success at
focusing on them individually. This process takes time (like two years or more!) to really
get in a groove that works for you. So be patient and ENJOY what you do.
--
That's the way it works. If you create the conditions of success and enjoyment for each
new thing you try, your kids will not see these tasks as drudgery and hard work. (And
neither will you.) You will be more likely to try another idea the next time having tasted
success.
The goal isn't to get all the plates twirling at once.
It is to have success in each area on a rotating basis that works for you and your children.
Julie
Bravewriter Moms
__________________
Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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BrendaPeter
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Joined: Feb 28 2005
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| Posted: March 30 2005 at 8:05pm | IP Logged
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Hi Elizabeth,
Thanks for posting that. We have been doing just the freewriting and I've discovered that one of my dc seems to have some actual talent! I'm so thrilled that we've started writing in such a fun way.
I wanted to add that last night I (finally) read the 1st chapter of Julie's book/manual "The Writer's Jungle" and am extremely impressed! She answered so many of my questions about narration, dictation, copywork, etc. She also helped me to realize why dictation isn't working out so well for us and that we need to do more copywork. Today I had our 2 oldest ds do copywork from their Lego catalog. As you can imagine, they loved it!
On a technical note - where did that thread on Bravewriter that was in the Language Arts board go?
Now if I could only tear myself away from this group... I might actually have time to see what's going on over at Bravewriter!
Blessings,
Brenda (mom to 6 dc)
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Elizabeth
Founder
Real Learning
Joined: Jan 20 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5595
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| Posted: March 31 2005 at 8:26am | IP Logged
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Hi Brenda! Eighty people viewed this message and you're the only one to comment. Is everyone else pondering the wealth of great ideas? The Bravewriter thread is on Page 2 of the Language Arts board now. Scrolldown on Page 1 and there is link to Page 2 in the lower right hand corner.
And then come back and talk about how we can incorporate Brave Writer and Real Learning because the two fit together beautifully.
__________________
Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Karen E.
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Joined: Feb 27 2005
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| Posted: March 31 2005 at 8:35am | IP Logged
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Elizabeth wrote:
| Eighty people viewed this message and you're the only one to comment. Is everyone else pondering the wealth of great ideas? |
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Yes. 
Planning to get back to it when I have time to investigate ....
__________________
God bless,
Karen E.
mom to three on earth, and several souls in God's care
Visit my blog, with its shockingly clever title, "Karen Edmisten."
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Mary Chris
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| Posted: March 31 2005 at 10:53am | IP Logged
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Karen E. wrote:
Yes.
Planning to get back to it when I have time to investigate .... |
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Me too!  I am not sure dd is ready but I want to give it a try. Can't wait to get back in town and look at you stuff  !
__________________
Blessings, Mary Chris Beardsley
mom to MacKenzie3/95, Carter 12/97 Ronan 3/00 and wife to Jim since 1/92
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Cindy
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| Posted: March 31 2005 at 11:56am | IP Logged
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Hi Elizabeth!
There is a bit of teenage writing and Bravewriter discussion going on at the teen years forum, too.
Her book for teens is almost ready!
Yes, I highly recommend Bravewriter.. and have really enjoyed all the enhancements Julie has added. She is also bringing a lifestyle to the forefront with her email reminders.. being present with your kids, enjoying life as it comes, looking for new ideas, not letting the lessons rule life... etc.
What a great complement to our faith and CM lifestyles..
__________________
Cindy in Texas
It Is About The Journey
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Kathryn UK
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| Posted: March 31 2005 at 3:49pm | IP Logged
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I signed up to the Bravewriter email list a couple of weeks ago and recommended it to a friend. I still haven't followed any of the writing suggestions - I'm better at finding resources than I am at implementing them - but my friend has. She also posted a sample of her son's work (on the forums, I think) and received some very helpful comments from Julie. She is thrilled with Bravewriter, and planning to sign up to Julie's next online course. I am looking forward to getting started with some free writing when we get back to schoolwork after Easter.
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Kathryn
Dh Michael,  Rachel(3/95) Hannah(8/98) Naomi(6/06)  (11/07)
The Bookworm
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materdei7
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| Posted: March 31 2005 at 5:29pm | IP Logged
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Hello,
Just signed up for the e-mail list. It sounds and looks
wonderful...alot of Reallearning techniques that we are applying here in our homeschool already. The teatime has been a big success, as well as the nature study and
nature art journal. I know this sounds abnormal, but,we rarely have time for tv or movies, unless we are all sick  . Thanks for all the encouraging ideas!!!  Warmly,
Kathleen
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Kathleen, mother of five on earth, three in heaven.
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Victoria in AZ
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| Posted: April 12 2005 at 9:40pm | IP Logged
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We are Bravewriter fans here. Julie gave me the training wheels I needed to assign and choose meaningful copywork. Her Writer's Jungle manual makes teaching writing manageable and she pleasantly reminds me to be my children's cheerleader.
I took Julie's first adult on-line writing class this summer and loved it.
Just putting in a good word here
P.S. Our photos were in Julie's blog for last Tuesday's tea time (April 5).
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Your sister in Christ,
Victoria in AZ
dh Mike 24 yrs; ds Kyle 18; dd Katie 12; and one funny pug
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tovlo4801
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| Posted: April 13 2005 at 8:58am | IP Logged
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Elizabeth,
I hadn't seen this when it was originally posted, but I love the Bravewriter lifestyle. I'm just getting started, but it's great for me because I needed that extra bit of handholding to know how to have a more relaxed homeschool. For me it hasn't been just about language arts. It's changed the way I look at all of school for my kids. I have the Writers Jungle and am slowly working my way through it. We've begun to use the Arrow as our primary language arts tool and it's working out beautifully. I'm finding her suggestions for discussing the grammar or literary elements in a copywork/dictation section a wonderful jumping off point. My son has always seemed to pick up on language arts things very quickly, but was BORED with our VIE book. We ditched it (maybe still will come back to it as a reference), and are learning how to use real books to learn these things. My son really seems to find it more interesting and challenging to discuss independent and dependent clauses, or the use of punctuation in dialog when he can see it used in real literature. It's a little messier - and more realistic - than it is in the textbooks and I think it's training him to see these things in his own reading. Hopefully it will translate into his writing. We haven't done much with Bravewriter writing yet. We've done a couple of freewrites that we've not taken any farther. We've been filling up with information about St. Francis this month, so hopefully we can take this through a whole process and see how it works.
God Bless,
Richelle
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Kathryn UK
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| Posted: April 16 2005 at 9:42am | IP Logged
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We did our first freewriting session last week. I told my dds that we would all write for ten minutes, and they could write anything they liked. Both were enthusiastic - though my 6yo complained that she would need longer as her writing isn't very fast. I assured her that was fine. We settled down to write. Both wrote industriously. My 6yo spent 20 minutes working very hard on a story. My 10yo wrote ... a menu!!!!! Well, I did say she could write whatever she wanted 
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Kathryn
Dh Michael, Rachel(3/95) Hannah(8/98) Naomi(6/06) (11/07)
The Bookworm
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Bravewriter
