Write for Fun: Go Wild

Make writing pleasurable!
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This is the perfect class for parents who would like their kids to take an online writing class without parental involvement, and who wish to give Brave Writer® a low-risk try.

Write for Fun: Go Wild is a three-week class that is meant to enrich your student’s writing experiences, and to help them expand their tool kit of writing prompts and activities to be used in any writing endeavor! Any student is welcome.

Designed for upper elementary and junior high students, Write for Fun: Go Wild gives kids new experiences with freewriting, word play, and poetry. Instructors share a repertoire of creative writing exploration techniques with our Brave Writer® community. Students get a chance to play with language through activity, not just sitting at a table. If your child is new to creative writing, this is the right class! It’s a frolic through a slew of entertaining, active writing processes that get your children’s creative juices flowing!

Note: while you can take the Write for Fun classes in any order, Write for Fun: Go Wild encourages deeper explorations in writing than the other two classes. You may choose to start with one of the other Write for Fun classes with a novice or reluctant writer.

Writing risk is valued in this class—content is the priority. To help students discover the joy and power of their writing voices, the feedback from the instructor focuses on encouragement of the content and impact on the reader rather than mechanical accuracy (spelling, punctuation, grammar). Students who have felt timid or discouraged to write due to an abundance of negative feedback for their previous writing efforts will find that this class proves gentle and validating.

Activities include:

Collecting words, creating a word sculpture, and scrounged poetry
Getting outdoors (several writing prompts for your neighborhood)
Freewriting frenzy (Brand new methods to bring new freedom in writing)

Kids who enjoy creative writing will be happy to have new tools to use even when class is over. Students who are a little weary of the heavy academic tone of their other writing experiences will be relieved to explore and play with language in a relaxed, revision-free writing class.

This is also our least expensive writing class of the year!

For more information about how the classes are run, please read about online classes.

To explore our Brave Writer® classroom, click here to access a sample class.

Brave Writer® online classes are specially designed with the busy homeschooling parent in mind.

Class Structure Overview #

Class is held in a private discussion board with 20-25 other participants.
Class is asynchronous—you log in when it is convenient for you each day of the week at no specific time of day.
It is text-based—no video.
Student writing assignments are posted in a text box, published to the classroom, and all students are able to read student writing.
Class is a writing workshop format, with all coaching feedback available to be read by all families.
Class work, student writing, and coaching feedback can be downloaded and saved in a PDF format.

Class Length and Time #

Classes last anywhere from three to six weeks. We offer courses that address a specific writing need so that you can take the ones that suit your family throughout the school year. Short class sessions enable you to work around family vacations, out-of-town swim meets, recovering from wisdom teeth removal, and visits from grandparents. We operate on the quarter system, including a summer session. Our most popular classes repeat each quarter, while others are seasonal.

We operate "asynchronously" (which means that the discussion is not live, but that posted information remains available to you in your time zone at your convenience). Instructors check the classroom throughout the day to answer questions and give feedback on writing. Writing is done at home and then typed into the classroom, and shared with both the instructor and other classmates. You're not required to be online at any specific time of the day. We have students from all over the world participating in our classes so "live" discussion is impossible. Instead, the online classroom enables the instructor to post information and assignments when it is convenient to the instructor. Then, when it is convenient for you, you come to the classroom and read the latest postings.

Private Classroom Space #

Our classes meet in a customized online classroom, designed specifically to meet the needs of Brave Writer®. Only registered students and the instructor have access to the classroom to ensure your privacy. Assignments and reading materials are posted by Brave Writer® instructors each week (no additional supply fees necessary, unless otherwise indicated). Either you (homeschooling parent) or your child (homeschooling student) will visit the classroom daily at your convenience to read helpful information about the current topic or to find the writing assignment.

Instructor feedback to student writing is offered for all participants to read. Writing questions are welcomed and encouraged! That's the point of class. We aim to give you immediate support as you face writing obstacles.

Safe Community #

Brave Writer® takes seriously the need for encouragement and emotional safety in writing. No student is ever at risk of being humiliated or mistreated. All online dialogue is respectful and supportive of your child's process. This is the core of Brave Writer® philosophy. You can read about Brave Writer® values here.

What makes our program especially unique in the world of online education is that we value a corporate experience. Rather than teaching your child in a tutorial format, we prefer students to have the opportunity to both publish their work for an audience (other students) and also to have the chance to read other student writing. In no other setting is this possible. Schools-in-buildings rarely have students read each other's work. Homeschooled children are rarely in a classroom environment to begin with, so the opportunity to read peer-writing is nil.

Our classes provide an utterly unique experience in the world of writing instruction. Since most writers grow through emulation of good writing, it is a real advantage to Brave Writer® kids to get the chance to read the writing of their fellow home-educated peers. They love it! They get to examine and internalize other ways of writing, analyzing and expressing ideas similar to their own. They have the chance to validate and cheer on their peers. And of course, the best part of all is that they receive the praise and affirmation of kids just like them.

Not only that, all instructor feedback is posted to the classroom for all students to read. That means your kids get the benefit of instructor comments on many papers, not just their own. We've noted that this style of instruction is especially effective and hope you'll agree!