I just found your channel today! We stopped using Brave writer for pretty much the same reasons you had with BW. I bought LitHouse, but we haven’t started it yet. I will be binging on your videos today, while I declutter my homeschool area. That being said, I will be watching your homeschool room tour next! I love the cabinets behind you in this video! It’s what drew me to watch this video! So happy I found you today! 🌻💜🌻💜🌻💜
I'm so glad you are here! I hope your homeschool room declutter is going well! The cabinets behind me are the Hemnes from Ikea and I absolutely love them! We've had them from over 7 years and they still look great and function so well. The perfect size. 5 stars for sure. LOL
Here's the free PDF version of TWR: drive.google.com/file/d/1FDPRFmW_OxEs0ESjdYtSy4jpU_sFWGVN/view?fbclid=PAAaYAcP1ndXxreKW3M5DtABKM363TMO81dFHnkYwL4R2TLS74GPuUVNW1MAM
@@gatheredandgrounded So if you buy the full year curriculum, you will get a new guide each month. In that sense, yes you would get kind of a schedule for the year. But in general, no there is no schedule. There is a "spin and spiral" the beginning of each guide that is like a scope and sequence that will tell you what is going to be covered in the guide, but it does not tell you what days or order to do things. If you are not familiar with the program, the basic structure is that you read the book over 4 weeks. Each week you have a copy work passage that will be used for some form of dictation at the end of the week. Then you are going to have some grammar and literary devices and discussion on why they choose that passage for the week. I do have a video that shows how we use the guides. Basically I just read the book at whatever pace works best for us. We do the copy work one day. Work through about half the information pages the next day. The other half the following day, and then do dictation the last day of the week. I wish they were more open and go, but even this lazy non-preplanning homeschooler can make it work. LOL If you search Brave Writer on my channel you should find a few more videos on Brave Writer specifically. Hope that helps!
The LitHouse activities remind me of some Killgallon activities, especially with the modeling, combining, and fragmentation. I love Killgallon’s approach for struggling writers and kids who “don’t know” what to put on paper - just model established sentences!
I admit that I need to do more research in this area! Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I defiantly plan to look more into the method in the future.
Have you looked at the upper levels of Blossom and Root (4 and 5)? I'm trying them out next year and I'm so excited! Very Brave Writer vibes with set assignments. I love Brave Writer but I needed more structure for next year.
I have not had an opportunity to use the upper levels of Blossom and Root yet. I'm hoping to get a chance sometime soon. Right now I think they may be below my oldest daughter and above my middle one. But I will keep them in mind for the future and update here if I do!
Thank you for posting this! I am on the lookout for literature guides more so go over comprehension, higher order thinking, analysis, etc. I just can't seem to find any for this except for on TPT, and those have been hit or miss. I already use MCT and Writing & Rhetoric, so I definitely dont want an additional writing program.
You're very welcome! I feel you on the struggle to find what exactly what you are looking for! How do you guys like MCT and Writing & Rhetoric? Those were both on my research list!
@@Homeschoolology Sorry, I'm just seeing this! I meant to say we would be using them next year. We did most of the Grammar Island level of MCT this year though and really enjoyed it. My daughter loves it, and she learned so much!
So I have not used any of the individual Lit Bites from BYL... yet! I have one on my list to get too soon. I've purchased one but need to get it scheduled into our workload. So that review will be coming!
With lit house did you print the appendix that goes with it because it tells you how to teach what is covered in the novel study. I found it more helpful than the writing revolution book, it is like the cliff notes version. You can also listen to the writing revolution book, I did that, but I found the appendix more helpful with lit house.
I don't really remember. I know I want to read the recommended book and give them another try someday. Thanks for the tip on being able to listen to it! I'm going to check that out.
Just FYI, The Writing Revolution is by Natalie Wexler and Judith Hochman, not SWB 😊. Thanks for doing this comparison! It's really helpful to see both side by side.
Great video. You should definitely read The Writing Revolution. After reading it, the Lithouse guides makes so much sense. Then, if you like the concept of The Writing Revolution, Lithouse is great because the work is all done for you. The book is seriously a quick read, so I don't think you need cliff notes. :)
You definitely want to read TWR and then it will all make sense!! The Lithouse studies seem dry because they utilize the strategies from TWR. But once you learn about TWR, it is sooooo worth it!
Thank you! I appreciate the look inside and insightful review. I have heard of Writing Revolution but also havent read it either. I think the Lighthouse wouldn't work for us because I want something completely independent or explained without having to understand a different resource.
I love that you were able to compare these two for the same novel! Just a quick FYI, The Writing Revolution isn't by Susan Wise Bauer 😅 When you mentioned how often you've covered commas in BW - this was my biggest issue with it! There seems to be no scope and sequence that really makes sense or clear goals as to what we're needing to cover. LitHouse is perfect for us, because I really want to focus on writing instruction and have it developed clearly over defined levels. It totally all makes sense once you're familiar with TWR. I highly recommend getting the free, older version of TWR online - it's much more user friendly than the new version that costs 💲 I definitely understand you not loving LHL without being familiar with TWR. They absolutely go together.
Thank you for letting me know. I'm not sure where I got that from. LOL. Thank you for sharing all of your advice! It helps! I do like that it has a heavy focus on writing. It was something I was looking for. I will look into the older version of TWR and then giving them another shot. I do overall find them very well thought out and useful.
I like Open and go curriculums due to my busy life!!! I prefer assignments but to too structured!!! I’ve not read or heard of that book as well!!! I don’t mind working on planing!!! We make our own schedule anyway!!! We haven’t use brave writer yet!!!
I wish all the things we used were open and go! LOL. But sometimes finding something that works best for my kids means I need to put in a little planning work. But like you I don't mind a little planning (just not a lot. Hahaha). We do love Brave Writer, but a little prep work is necessary.
Hi! I had a question about your experience with brave writer. Would it work for a Christian family? We don’t shy away from magic or fantasy books. But we do stay away from some more secular topics like LGBTQ+, choosing pronouns etc. I don’t mean this in any disrespectful way. I love her podcast and her teaching philosophy. But I work full time and I don’t have time to pre-read every book. We would most likely buy the year upfront to avoid too many lessons on commas (😂). I was also curious about jot it down as well if you have any information on that. Thank you! Btw I love your channel. Your one of the reasons I got Pinwheels for my son (which has made such a amazing difference for him to learn how to read). & I love watching videos from other working homeschool moms. Thanks again!
I do believe that it could work for a Christian family. I have not come across anything in the guides that show any bias toward any topics. They really focus more on the writing techniques/styles and grammar more than anything. So as long as you avoided books with topics that you feel comfortable with, then you would be just fine. I would suggest looking through the books before purchasing the whole year just to make sure you are comfortable with each of them. If not, you could easily piece them together. They do have past years book lists on their blog. And they do provide scope and sequence pages on the purchase pages of each individual guide. But honestly, even though we have talked about commas A LOT, there is still so much in each guide that is valuable. We have used Jot It Down and enjoyed it! We do not follow the one activity a month structure. I just took activities and sprinkled them in where I felt like the fit into our schedule. I believe I chat about that in this video: ua-cam.com/video/L62KDyrVQIU/v-deo.html I'm so happy to hear that you find the channel helpful! That makes my heart happy! And I'm very glad you guys are finding Pinwheels to be a great tool. It was like a light bulb went off with my daughter when we started using it! Thanks for being here!
I just found your channel today!
We stopped using Brave writer for pretty much the same reasons you had with BW.
I bought LitHouse, but we haven’t started it yet.
I will be binging on your videos today, while I declutter my homeschool area. That being said, I will be watching your homeschool room tour next!
I love the cabinets behind you in this video!
It’s what drew me to watch this video!
So happy I found you today!
🌻💜🌻💜🌻💜
I'm so glad you are here! I hope your homeschool room declutter is going well!
The cabinets behind me are the Hemnes from Ikea and I absolutely love them! We've had them from over 7 years and they still look great and function so well. The perfect size. 5 stars for sure. LOL
Here's the free PDF version of TWR:
drive.google.com/file/d/1FDPRFmW_OxEs0ESjdYtSy4jpU_sFWGVN/view?fbclid=PAAaYAcP1ndXxreKW3M5DtABKM363TMO81dFHnkYwL4R2TLS74GPuUVNW1MAM
Where did you find this, I am searching and I can't find it
@@andrealowdermilk1554 did you try the link I have above?
I cant wait for this!!! I am researching so many Lit Guides for next year
There are starting to be more options which is amazing, but sometimes more choices can be harder. LOL.
Maybe you can answer about brave writer, does it have a schedule or tell you when to read the book/ what chapters to read?
@@gatheredandgrounded So if you buy the full year curriculum, you will get a new guide each month. In that sense, yes you would get kind of a schedule for the year. But in general, no there is no schedule. There is a "spin and spiral" the beginning of each guide that is like a scope and sequence that will tell you what is going to be covered in the guide, but it does not tell you what days or order to do things.
If you are not familiar with the program, the basic structure is that you read the book over 4 weeks. Each week you have a copy work passage that will be used for some form of dictation at the end of the week. Then you are going to have some grammar and literary devices and discussion on why they choose that passage for the week.
I do have a video that shows how we use the guides. Basically I just read the book at whatever pace works best for us. We do the copy work one day. Work through about half the information pages the next day. The other half the following day, and then do dictation the last day of the week. I wish they were more open and go, but even this lazy non-preplanning homeschooler can make it work. LOL
If you search Brave Writer on my channel you should find a few more videos on Brave Writer specifically. Hope that helps!
@@Homeschoolology you are amazing ❤️
I’d love to hear what you think about the build your library lit guides. Have you ever tried them? I haven’t yet but I have been checking them out.
Love your suggestion on using Brave Writer with Fix it Grammar 👍🏼
Perfect match for us! Hope you guys enjoy it!
The LitHouse activities remind me of some Killgallon activities, especially with the modeling, combining, and fragmentation. I love Killgallon’s approach for struggling writers and kids who “don’t know” what to put on paper - just model established sentences!
I admit that I need to do more research in this area! Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I defiantly plan to look more into the method in the future.
Have you looked at the upper levels of Blossom and Root (4 and 5)? I'm trying them out next year and I'm so excited! Very Brave Writer vibes with set assignments. I love Brave Writer but I needed more structure for next year.
I have not had an opportunity to use the upper levels of Blossom and Root yet. I'm hoping to get a chance sometime soon. Right now I think they may be below my oldest daughter and above my middle one. But I will keep them in mind for the future and update here if I do!
Thank you for posting this! I am on the lookout for literature guides more so go over comprehension, higher order thinking, analysis, etc. I just can't seem to find any for this except for on TPT, and those have been hit or miss. I already use MCT and Writing & Rhetoric, so I definitely dont want an additional writing program.
You're very welcome! I feel you on the struggle to find what exactly what you are looking for! How do you guys like MCT and Writing & Rhetoric? Those were both on my research list!
@@Homeschoolology Sorry, I'm just seeing this! I meant to say we would be using them next year. We did most of the Grammar Island level of MCT this year though and really enjoyed it. My daughter loves it, and she learned so much!
Lighthouse Learning will have a big sale in July, just FYi!
So I have not used any of the individual Lit Bites from BYL... yet! I have one on my list to get too soon. I've purchased one but need to get it scheduled into our workload. So that review will be coming!
With lit house did you print the appendix that goes with it because it tells you how to teach what is covered in the novel study. I found it more helpful than the writing revolution book, it is like the cliff notes version. You can also listen to the writing revolution book, I did that, but I found the appendix more helpful with lit house.
I don't really remember. I know I want to read the recommended book and give them another try someday. Thanks for the tip on being able to listen to it! I'm going to check that out.
Thanks for this! It helped give a better idea about Lit House
I'm glad you found it helpful! I do like them, but reading TWR seems to be very important. It was still really useful without reading it.
Just FYI, The Writing Revolution is by Natalie Wexler and Judith Hochman, not SWB 😊. Thanks for doing this comparison! It's really helpful to see both side by side.
I really appreciate you letting me know! Glad you found it helpful!
Great video. You should definitely read The Writing Revolution. After reading it, the Lithouse guides makes so much sense. Then, if you like the concept of The Writing Revolution, Lithouse is great because the work is all done for you. The book is seriously a quick read, so I don't think you need cliff notes. :)
Thank you! It's on my "to read" list for sure. I'm defiantly going to keep trying them out. I did like a lot about them.
You definitely want to read TWR and then it will all make sense!! The Lithouse studies seem dry because they utilize the strategies from TWR. But once you learn about TWR, it is sooooo worth it!
Thank you! I will look into it before we try the next one.
Thank you! I appreciate the look inside and insightful review. I have heard of Writing Revolution but also havent read it either. I think the Lighthouse wouldn't work for us because I want something completely independent or explained without having to understand a different resource.
I feel you on this one! Glad you found it helpful!
I love that you were able to compare these two for the same novel! Just a quick FYI, The Writing Revolution isn't by Susan Wise Bauer 😅
When you mentioned how often you've covered commas in BW - this was my biggest issue with it! There seems to be no scope and sequence that really makes sense or clear goals as to what we're needing to cover.
LitHouse is perfect for us, because I really want to focus on writing instruction and have it developed clearly over defined levels. It totally all makes sense once you're familiar with TWR. I highly recommend getting the free, older version of TWR online - it's much more user friendly than the new version that costs 💲
I definitely understand you not loving LHL without being familiar with TWR. They absolutely go together.
Thank you for letting me know. I'm not sure where I got that from. LOL.
Thank you for sharing all of your advice! It helps!
I do like that it has a heavy focus on writing. It was something I was looking for. I will look into the older version of TWR and then giving them another shot. I do overall find them very well thought out and useful.
I like Open and go curriculums due to my busy life!!! I prefer assignments but to too structured!!! I’ve not read or heard of that book as well!!! I don’t mind working on planing!!! We make our own schedule anyway!!! We haven’t use brave writer yet!!!
I wish all the things we used were open and go! LOL. But sometimes finding something that works best for my kids means I need to put in a little planning work. But like you I don't mind a little planning (just not a lot. Hahaha). We do love Brave Writer, but a little prep work is necessary.
Hi! I had a question about your experience with brave writer. Would it work for a Christian family? We don’t shy away from magic or fantasy books. But we do stay away from some more secular topics like LGBTQ+, choosing pronouns etc. I don’t mean this in any disrespectful way. I love her podcast and her teaching philosophy. But I work full time and I don’t have time to pre-read every book. We would most likely buy the year upfront to avoid too many lessons on commas (😂). I was also curious about jot it down as well if you have any information on that. Thank you!
Btw I love your channel. Your one of the reasons I got Pinwheels for my son (which has made such a amazing difference for him to learn how to read). & I love watching videos from other working homeschool moms. Thanks again!
I do believe that it could work for a Christian family. I have not come across anything in the guides that show any bias toward any topics. They really focus more on the writing techniques/styles and grammar more than anything. So as long as you avoided books with topics that you feel comfortable with, then you would be just fine.
I would suggest looking through the books before purchasing the whole year just to make sure you are comfortable with each of them. If not, you could easily piece them together. They do have past years book lists on their blog. And they do provide scope and sequence pages on the purchase pages of each individual guide. But honestly, even though we have talked about commas A LOT, there is still so much in each guide that is valuable.
We have used Jot It Down and enjoyed it! We do not follow the one activity a month structure. I just took activities and sprinkled them in where I felt like the fit into our schedule. I believe I chat about that in this video: ua-cam.com/video/L62KDyrVQIU/v-deo.html
I'm so happy to hear that you find the channel helpful! That makes my heart happy! And I'm very glad you guys are finding Pinwheels to be a great tool. It was like a light bulb went off with my daughter when we started using it! Thanks for being here!
Thank you for such a thorough and amazing reply! I will check out the other video. ❤️