*This is a collaborative post. We are delighted to be working with Helen Haraldsen, author and writing coach*
Helen Haraldsen is a children’s author, English teacher and writing coach for adults and children aged 10+. She is passionate about all things reading and writing related. She loves reading books for young people, and introducing children to the book that turns them into a reader is one of the highlights of her job.
I love writing and loved it at school. Reading and writing for me are a pleasure as well as a basic skill. As a home educator, helping my son to love reading and writing for pleasure, has been challenging. Frankly, I think our current national curriculum for literacy is rather dry and boring and getting my son to enjoy it has not been easy. So when Helen asked me if he would like to try her writing coaching, I was delighted as it will be fun for him, and hopefully encourage his writing skills. He’s also much better at working with someone else when it’s not his mum and a topic he struggles a bit with, so I think she will be able to bring good things out for him with writing skills.
- Working out an idea that can support a full narrative.
- Putting ideas together in a structured and well developed plan.
- Making sure a story progresses.
- Developing a story so that it has impact and pace.
- Understanding the time frame of a story and where supporting characters fit in.
- Choosing the best way to start off the story.
- Short writing tasks to build confidence and enthusiasm.
- Group community inviting interaction, giving a ‘writing club’ feel.
How is it delivered?
- There are six modules in the group programme which will be delivered live through Zoom, one module per week (Wednesdays) with an online group for the community to share ideas, ask questions, buddy up and support each other. Participants under the age of 13 who wish to access the group must do so through a parent’s account with parental supervision.
Why should you sign up?
- Avoid two big writing problems: not knowing how to start or starting and not being able to complete. I’ll show participants how I plan so that I never get stuck once I start to write.
- Learn the secret behind-the-scenes work to setting up your story for success. Writing stories is hard – if it were easy everyone would be doing it. But the secret to writing well is the work done before writing starts! Once the plans are in place, words will flow.
- Benefit from live lessons with an experienced teacher and writer (my book Little Pearl is a best seller).
4. Get the benefit of my experience. I’ll be sharing the things I’ve learned with every book I’ve written, plus all my experience as a teacher and school librarian.
5. Grow your child’s writing confidence and skill. At the end of the course, participants will have started to write a story they can’t wait to keep working on, and they’ll know exactly where it’s going as they’ll have it all planned out. They’ll also meet other like-minded young people they can keep in touch with on their writing journey.
If you would like to join, you need to sign up before 5th April and we have a code to help you with a discount. It’s a great value for money course and we are really looking forward to getting into it and learning to love writing more.
Use code KRPTS20 for a £20 off discount and you can sign up here
We can’t wait. I will be sharing as we progress through the course too. You can find out how we get on on our family instagram account where I share about home education and family life.