I had the privilege of doing a writing workshop with a group of homeschooled girls a few weeks ago. We met at a gorgeous park, had a picnic and had a blast talking writing.Â
I asked them to come with their writing notebooks so I could learn more about what they’d been up to. Talk about a group of talented young writers! It was so much fun to read their words.
I was trying to think of a writing-related activity that would be fun for a group of kids so I put together a character worksheet with plenty of copies for taking home and we did it as a group.
Here’s a little about the character we created:
Her name is Kyrah. She’s 12 years old, has auburn hair, blue eyes and she’s short.Â
She’s shy, likes to read, is calm, fashionable and swag (I had to pretend like I knew what that meant–I know, I’m so uncool)
She lives in Alaska (obviously where she wears her designer snow boots) and has a husky named Aurora. Her favorite things to do are dog sledding and exploring. Her least favorite thing to do is math and cleaning up after her dogs (ROFL)
She has a few goofy habits like biting her nails, cracking her knuckles and not brushing her teeth (She’s gotta work on the last one). Her favorite book is Little Women.
Her favorite memories are picking wildflowers with her mom and putting a star on the Christmas tree (we decided this was the Christmas she got Aurora as a puppy =])Â
She hopes to grow up to be a professional dog sledder and help save wildlife and nature. What she REALLY wants to do is enter the BIG RACE but her problem is that she’s the only girl and a few of her dogs are sick. But by the end of the story, she’ll have grown becasue she’s going to learn how to nurse her dogs back to health and enter the race.
Sounds like a good story to me!
It was tons of fun and with a group of girls the conversation never waned. The giggles really got going when they were looking through one of my writing notebooks and spotted a few pictures of Robert Pattinson. Hehe.
And to make the day complete (and an extra treat) my 5th grade teacher, Mr. James and his wife were there. Mr. James was one of my favorite teachers and it was actually his daughter who coordinated the workshop.
A huge thanks to the moms and all the wonderful girls for a great day of encouragement and inspiration. You girls have talent. Keep those stories coming!
As a kid, I would have LOVED to do something like this with a “real” author! 🙂 Good for you for reaching out and encouraging them.
Lindsay, it was a blast! It was so cool to get to encourage them and read their writing. They were like sponges. In turn, they encouraged me!
What a beautiful setting for a fun event. Love the smiles and concentration on the girls faces. You never know, there might be a future writer that will have been encouraged to follow her dreams from this event!
After reading their writing and watching them get so into the character sketch, I quickly saw how much talent was in this little group 😉
You are the “bomb” Joanne. Can’t wait to buy your book for myself and for Christmas gifts (hoping I can get them autographed and say I know you ..wink, wink).
I still don’t know wat “swag” means..pray tell 🙂
Hsha, Tami! I looked it up and aside from “garland” I still don’t know what the slang is. I need to go find a teenager 😀 My book for Christmas gifts…wow! I’m honored 🙂 We’re going to be having a book launch party in October, I will make sure to send you an invitation!
ok, I don’t know what that “hsha” was about, LOL. Unless I’m making up my own new slang 😉
This is soooo fun! I’ve taught classes of homeschoolers before about writing and we always have the best time! I always come away amazed at how much they ALREADY knew before I started teaching! And it’s the best feeling of all when you spot a truly gifted writer among them! I always try to encourage them or tell their moms that they should keep up w/their writing. So glad you had this opportunity, Joanne!
I agree Heather! It was seriously so much fun. And I’m a pretty shy person so it was a nice opportunity to get to talk writing without feeling nervous. They were SO bright and really made me feel comfortable and it was the most relaxing setting. 🙂
Those are adorable pics! What a cute idea!
Thanks Jessica! I’m so glad I remembered my camera! 🙂
It looks like a great time!
Hi Julie! It was super fun!
Aww fun!! I especially love your line about “swag.” Hehehe…and the snow boots. Love it!
I just sort of smiled and acted like I knew what that was 😉 Its fun creating characters with a group of girls. It’s all about the style!
What an inspiration you were to those girls, and a great example to us as well. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in our storyworlds and writing goals and miss opportunities to pour into the lives of others…and isn’t that one of the reasons we write to begin with? To minister to others? Bravo, Joanne! 🙂
Hi Gwendolyn, thanks for dropping by! Thank you for your sweet words! It really was so special. It was one of those moments when I truly felt like I got to pay it forward. I’ve had so many people mentor and encourage me over the years and to pass that along was a huge blessing.
As one of the moms of 3 of the girls, I sure appreciated you meeting with us. You were so inspiring and encouraging. All of my girls came home wanting to make up characters and write stories! Thank you again!
Thank you Chandra! It was such a blessing to meet you all and that group of amazing girls. They were so sweet and endearing and just made the whole time so much fun. I’m so happy that they felt inspired and I could tell that there was so much talent… definitely some writers in the making! Thank you for letting me share the photos from our day!
Hi, Joanne! I ditto what Chandra said. My three girls were also very, very blessed by the time you spent with them, and came home super-excited about writing. This is one of those precious experiences that are priceless! Thank you, again, for the care you poured into our girls. 🙂 Bless You!
Rochelle- Thank you! I can’t say enough how amazing they all were. I just loved watching their faces light up as they dug through their writing notebooks and watching their imaginations come to life as we worked on our character. Thank you for inviting me down!!
Joanne! Great job encouraging and teaching those girls. I can guarantee they will never forget it. 🙂 I was homeschooled as a child and I love all the unique opportunities homeschooled children are exposed to! Our two youngest are twins boys who are two years old, so I hope to start homeschooling our daughters (6 & 8 years old) in a couple years when the twins are older. This was a great post. 🙂
Thanks, Gabrielle! It sounds like you’re in for an adventure! 🙂 I wasn’t homeschooled, but my husband was and I’ve always wanted to so I’m blessed to get to stay home with our 3 kids. My son just did kindergarten and I loved getting to tailor our days to his personality and favorite activities plus having his little sister sit along side him and do her preschool stuff. 🙂
Thanks again Joanne! The girls still enjoy talking about their character sketches! Looking forward to seeing what they come up with next. Have a nice summer!
Shirley
You too, Shirley!! Thanks again for setting it up. I’m so glad it worked out for us all to get together! Take care!
Love!
Smile. Thanks for dropping in, Charity!!
Wonderful to see so many young girls working on their writing skills! I must have been fun working with them. Thanks for stopping by, Laura
Laura, I just want to sit right in those Adirondack chairs of yours and read away the afternoon! The girls were a delight. It was such a wonderful experience! Thanks so much for visiting…have a great day!