Essentials

One of Mrs. Spencer's favorite topics, this week Mrs. Larson and Mrs. Spencer share personal experiences coupled with strategies for our young writers on how to read with the purpose of enhancing writing. This week focuses on how to read like a writer. If you have no idea what this means, you have to listen in to hear the difference between how we typically read and how we can improve our writing by focusing on how the professionals do it. Writing is a process, a difficult one, no less, but when we turn to the professionals, we have a lot to learn.

Most kids are reading books this summer assigned by their teachers. Although the books may be excellent reads, students sometimes feel the pressure of reading them and struggle getting started...or finishing. This week, Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Larson tackle this problem with some tips for parents that involve using writing as a tool to help the issue. Listen in for more ideas on getting kids to write more this summer.

Summer camp is one week away and Mrs. Larson and Mrs. Spencer are excited to spend two weeks guiding kids through the writing process. This week, they are discussing what to write about and some practical activities for parents to help their children build new ideas for writing. Listen in for easy and practical ways to incorporate writing into your daily lives.

After spending a week in Kentucky grading papers from all over the country, Mrs. Larson and Mrs. Spencer are back! And excited about a new adventure for parents to advocate at their schools in the Fall. Spending a week talking with college professors, high school teachers and others in the profession of writing instruction, the two came back with new ideas to facilitate more writing instruction and practice for the classroom. Listen in to hear more about the benefits of starting a writing center at your child's school.

In the studio this week, we have Melissa Galvan sitting in for Mrs. Larson. Mrs. Galvan comes to us from Oxford Academy, Cypress. She has experience teaching 7th grade through 12th grade and has a love for teaching like no other. Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Galvan share stories of reading and experiences with kids to encourage more reading this summer. If you are looking for ways to help the kids get reading, listen in and share your family adventures in reading. We can't wait to hear from you!

Summer is here, or almost here! As parents, we all want to know our kids are learning and growing in school. One of the greatest differences in a writing class is that we have solid evidence of what is happening in our classes. This week, Mrs. Larson and Mrs. Spencer share practical ideas on how you can look at the year in review and share in the celebration of growth in writing with your child. Listen in and let us know what you learned from your child and their writing this year.

Maya Angelou writings embraced her passion and commitment to improving the moral standards in the United States. Her poetry inspired all of us to stand up for change and taught us about race, oppression and hatred. Her death last week saddened us as we remember all she stood for and her influential voice. Her words are powerful and we can only barely touch the surface of her life in this short recording. Listen in as we reflect on what we learn from her and share a few of her poems.

With Common Core came new math and our schools are concerned about what it looks like for our kids. Mrs. Larson and Mrs. Spencer talk about why we need to be paying attention to English as well. Literacy is the foundation for everything we want to do in life. You don't have to be an English major but if you are, there are many possibilities. Listen in to why English matters!

Summer is getting close and the weather is beautiful here in So Cal, so Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Larson talk about how to get the kids outside and inspired by the surroundings. Listen in for new ways to encourage writing while camping, hiking, walking the dog or just sitting out in the yard.

Summer is coming and while this is very exciting for the kiddos, it can be very stressful for working parents. This summer, Write Away Academy can help you out with two weeks of fun and academics. We offer two locations in the OC (Los Alamitos and our new location, Fountain Valley), and day care for those parents who do work a full day while the kids play. Listen in to why our camps are the best way for kids to spend some of their summer. If you have been to our camps, give us a shout out to all your friends.

It is that time of year, when kids are working projects for school. It is getting close to the end and teachers and students see the light at the end of the tunnel. As kids work on final projects and writing pieces, we have some great strategies we have been using to help take the writing to the next level in the last few months of school. Listen in as we discuss how to merge grammar and style in your child's writing. We give you FIVE ways to make a difference in the writing right now.

Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Larson discuss the benefits of letting kids create their own Writer's Notebooks. They give parents practical tips on getting starting, encouraging kids, and making notebooks a fun place to generate new ideas for fun and for school.

With Common Core quickly approaching, you may see changes in your child's assignments and the expectations from the classroom. Kids will be working on writing that combine multiple genres and assignments will be addressing real audiences. Listen in as Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Larson discuss how to engage and encourage your child in their writing.

As parents and teachers, Mrs. Larson and Mrs. Spencer agree that homework can become burdensome and frustrating for families. After reading a few articles this week on this very topic, the girls talk about how they view homework as teachers and how they have handled some of the challenges of homework with their own children through the years. If you struggle or your child struggles with homework, listen in to some simple ideas on how to make doing homework a little less stressful. If you have strategies that have worked in your home, we would love to hear them as would our listeners. Post here for more dialogue on homework strategies.

With testing season coming up, Mrs. Larson and Mrs. Spencer share their thoughts and strategies on helping kids with the timed writing situation. They discuss focused strategies to help kids plan before and during the on demand writing situations kids will encounter through the months of March, April and May. Both teachers have worked with kids taking SAT, AP and CST tests over the course of the last 20 years. Listen in on how you might be able to help your child overcome the anxieties of this sometimes stressful testing time.

Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Larson discuss how writing can heal. The ladies talk about a variety of ways kids and adults can use journaling, blogging and drafting can heal. Listen in and if you know someone who may need to hear this, send them the link. If you have had an experience when writing helped you or someone you know through a tough situation, please share with us.

Last week, an announcement came out with changes to the SAT. Mrs. Larson and Mrs. Spencer respond to the writing section and discuss first thoughts on the news.

It's raining outside and the kids are bored. You don't want them playing more video games and watching more movies. You are trying to find some engaging activities to keep them busy and be a little more productive. Whether you are a parent with young children at home, or it's the weekend and the kids have had enough of the indoors, or you are a teacher looking for writing activities for kids stuck in the classroom all day, this one is for you! Mrs. Larson and Mrs. Spencer share six writing activities you can do with kids, including siblings working together, on a rainy or snowy day. Of course, you can do them anytime, but with the weather outside stormy, this is a good time to play with language and have some fun doing it.

Mrs. Larson and Mrs. Spencer take on annotating as a way to become a better reader, thinker and writer. The conversation looks at various strategies and ideas for parents to encourage their children to notice, question and summarize what they read.

It is the season of the expository paper, specifically, the research paper for elementary students. This week, Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Larson provide insight on helping your child understand the purpose of the research paper and instruct on specific strategies to help parents encourage their kids on finding research as a fun process for learning and thinking.