WELCOME MARY! WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT YOU?

Mary is our newest team member, and yet already I ask, “What would we do without you?” Like it or not, we live in a world that depends on social media for connection, information, and direction. So that’s what Mary does for us: she connects, informs, and directs us.

Mary lives in sunny Southern California (although it hasn’t been so sunny this year), and she has her degree in communications. Mary loves writing and teaching writing, so we look forward to getting her into our virtual classrooms this fall. But for now, she is providing a much needed boost to our social media platforms. Already she is doing a truly amazing job!

From my very first conversation with Mary, she was drawn to TWJ due to our unique philosophy and priorities. For this reason, she loves passionately sharing TWJ business with our friends on social media platforms . . . always communicating our values along with the opportunities that you have to partner with us. Thank you Mary for jumping on board and letting The Write Journey become a part of your life journey. We can’t wait to see what the future holds!

HISTORICAL FICTION & BIOGRAPHIES

Historical settings and past events open up the class discussions to new and wonderful ideas. For instance, our middle school classes are studying Carry On, Mr. Bowditch. In the first discussion about the novel, the family is moving from one town back to Salem, Massachusetts. The students were asked to consider the differences for a family move back then compared to a family move today. The topic allowed students to think about the tremendous amount of work involved in moving, and most believed it was much more difficult in the late 1700’s. However, there were good points about the challenges in finding a new home in modern times!

Some of our classes are reading novels set in the Puritan culture. Some are studying remarkable individuals, including Benjamin Franklin and Amos Fortune. And some students are visiting the bygone era of the earliest settlers that made their homes in the wilds with the indigenous people around them. With rich settings and times, we want to help our students connect to the facts that, most likely, our lives look completely different. Instructors take the time to help their classes consider the many ways the daily life of the characters required planning, hard work, and hope. It is this focus that we encourage all of The Write Journey community to explore this month. We hope families help their students “walk a mile in their shoes” to grow in understanding, appreciation, and perspective.

Here are some questions to ask your students, whether they attend our classes, or if you are teaching the subject at home:

• What did [character’s name] do on a typical day?

• How did a family get their food?

• Where did clothing come from in this story?

• What steps would a person have to take to build a house or building?

• How were the laws and rules different back in the story’s time?

• What was school like in this story?

• Do the people in the story care about the same things that you care about today?

• Name a couple things about daily life that you believe were very challenging from the story.

Try asking these questions and others like them to explore the rich history from any story’s setting! This will open up wonderful discussions for everyone involved. This often helps students LOVE learning even more.

WE'RE NEVER TOO OLD TO READ TOGETHER

How many of us take time to learn from each other? I don’t know about you, but oftentimes I find my hours and minutes so filled with my thoughts, feelings, needs, and experiences that I neglect to engage with others. That means entering into their world and considering their struggles alongside their happiness. Not only can we enter into our friend’s and family’s lives, but we can enter into the lives of characters in books! As a community, we have learned much by living life alongside the characters in stories we read.

I admit, I oftentimes struggle to read for “pleasure” or “entertainment”, but when I do, I find so many benefits:

• I engage my imagination

• I learn about new places and experiences

• I consider new ideas

• I solve different problems (or I am reminded that I CAN’T solve all problems)

• I meet new people

• I consider life from other perspectives

• I recognize universal truths about life

• I find more gratitude

• I think

• I relax

Oh that we all would put down . . . you name it . . . the phone, the TV controls, the car keys, even the dishes and the vacuum . . . and relax with a great book! Just for a couple hours each week. Perhaps you already do this, and you need some affirmation. Entering into your characters’ world for a couple hours each week feeds your soul. Or perhaps you, like me, struggle to find the time and make reading for pleasure a priority in your life. Now is as good a time as any to make a choice to make pleasure reading a priority.

It’s often helpful to work together, afterall, that’s what “community” is all about. I would love to hear from you if you’re interested in a TWJ book club for adults - just reading a book together and meeting a couple times to discuss it. I’m always up for doing life “together”. Together we bring accountability and depth of insight. So send me a message (krisspeakslife@gmail.com), and we’ll make a plan to enjoy reading “in community”. Or perhaps you’re already in a book club. I’d love to hear from you too.

Let’s hop on our TWJ Facebook group and encourage each other.

Speaking life, Kris

DON'T DELAY: JOIN TWJ COMMUNITY FB GROUP TODAY!

We want to take a minute to invite you to join our The Write Journey Facebook Group. This is a private group for parents and educators who long to connect with others in the educational world. Our connections focus on language arts: reading, writing, verbal communication, enrichment opportunities (such as field trips, crafts, hobbies, geography, art, etc.), presentation, and more. We love sharing ideas and experiences related to books and writing.

Whether you’re a parent educator, a professional teacher or administrator in a traditional school, a member of a co-op, or simply a curious individual that loves language arts, we invite you to join our community. While The Write Journey business (formerly “Writing with Kris”) has been offering wonderful reading and writing courses for 20 years now, our Facebook group is new. We hope you’ll join us in creating a platform that encourages and supports you - the educators/parents of the next generation. In doing so, you and your friends will be equipped and empowered to bring quality language arts instruction to your educational community. Together we are making a difference in how our children learn, bringing joy and excellence into their young lives.

Join our TWJ FB group this month and win a free writing assessment for one of your children!!

Christmas Quotes

Quotes for Christmas

Ronald Reagan (Former President of the United States and Former Governor of California)

“Christmas is a holiday that we celebrate not as individuals nor as a nation, but as a human family”.

Bob Hope ( British-American Actor, Comedian and USO Entertainer for the US Troops)

"My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?"

 Charles M. Schulz
"Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.”