Chris O.
A Powerful Pen is the culmination of years of educating my own children and working as a freelance writer and editor for almost 20 years. Words - those strings of letters we use for communication - hold some of the most unfathomable potential, and I want every child to have access to the strategies and tools for using words. Writing, reading, speaking, listening. There is just so much we can do with words.
I have always been drawn to words - as a reader, writer, listener, and speaker - but I had no real idea early in life just how important words would be to me someday. My sixth grade teacher once told me that she thought I'd become a writer, but I wasn't so sure. Years later my mother encouraged me to try the new Technical Writing program at the university where she taught, and I soon wondered why I ever considered any other career. So my love for words became my job - in so many ways. After earning my degree in Technical Writing I started working as a freelance writer and editor, and continued as I began homeschooling my children. Fast forward almost 20 years and to the final half of my homeschooling journey and you'll find me still as enraptured with words, hoping to share their powerful potentials with other parents, teachers, and kids. Even though writing for me is an extension of myself, I know that not all kids (or parents and teachers) find this joy in words. Some kids struggle with language, exacting effort to write complete sentences while their peers are completing chapters. Some students write well, but don't find real purpose in communication. There is no magic box that holds the "right" tools for teaching communication skills, but we can keep getting creative, experimenting, and adding as many tools as possible to our resource closets. |
My life and adventures as a homeschooling and work-at-home mom ~ Happy Medium Homeschooling
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