Calling All Campers! Summer 2014 Registration is Open

    We are delighted to offer three different camp  options this summer. Parents can team up to form their own camps using our on-demand camps format. Interested? Please fill out an"On-Demand" Camp Inquiry interest form here.

We are proud to be offering our unique brand of creative writing excursions to campers during 4 different weeks of the popular East Bay camp, Girls on the Go!

  New this summer! Camp 510 has invited us to bring our creative writing to their summer party during the week of July 7th.

To register for Camp510's "Process is Everything" Week featuring Take My Word for It! (July 7-11, 2014), click here.

Writing blogs and websites we love

At “Take My Word For It!” our goal is to introduce kids to writing as an adventure, a chance to try on different personas, and as an outlet for their feelings, thoughts and ideas (even those they don’t want to share with anyone).

There are a lot of other folks out there who share our philosophy and so if you are looking for a way to keep your child inspired to write this summer, there are some websites and blogs you should know about. (Please keep in mind, this is just the tip of the writing-resource iceberg!)

Karen Benke is a Bay area teacher and author who is always up for a Word Party! Her two books, Rip the Page! and Leap Write In! are designed to give young authors lots of novel ideas to get them writing. Her website has an activity page that’s a great place to look for ideas to ignite the creative spark.

Creative Everyday Challenge. Leah Piken Kolidas’ website isn’t just for writers, but young writers can visit to find fertile soil for their creativity. Each month she posts a themed creative challenge, and, in her words, invites creative acts in “cooking, taking pictures, knitting, doodling, writing, dancing, decorating, singing, playing with your kids, brainstorming ideas, gardening, or making art in the form of collage, paint, or clay...”.

Scholasticfeatures a fun Story Starter page on their website – it functions sort of like a roulette wheel for story ideas that come up at the click of a button. You can choose prompts by genre: Sci-Fi, Adventure, Fantasy and Scrambler (a hodgepodge of all three).

Imagination Soup is a super-cool website with the tagline, “bite-sized wisdom for thinking parents”. Put together by Melissa Taylor, a Mom, teacher and freelance education blogger, it covers a wealth of topics including writing, reading, toys & games and tech. Her writing activities for kids page is chocked full of wonderful ideas that also include art and other DIY projects.

Magnetic Poetry words appear on many of our refrigerators and they make starting a poem or a story oh-so-easy. I own set of giant magnetic words that I often pull out to use in our writing workshops. Magnetic Poetry’s website has a page where kids can play around with an online set of “magnetic” words to create stories and poems.

Or visit ReadWriteThink, a website sponsored by the International Reading Association, where a community of educators working to improve literacy for every student post their innovative lesson plans, to learn how to make a kit of your own.

We have these, and other writing resources, posted on our website. If you know of one that we haven’t included, please let us know! We love to spread the word about like-minded folks doing outstanding work with kids and literary creativity.

-Sondra Hall Founder & Director, "Take My Word For It!"

The Write Stuff

How do we, as parents, create an environment at home that will encourage our kids to write? Not just the kind of writing they are assigned as homework, but creative writing for fun, discovery and self-expression.

Robert Frost once said that he lived life twice: once when he experienced it and a second time when he wrote about it. By writing down our experiences, we are not only finding out more about ourselves, we are making our mark (literally and figuratively.) When kids see their words on the page, a switch gets turned on and they light up – they have taken an idea and made it come to life.

I read somewhere that the urge to write is innate – it’s what drove our ancient ancestors to write on cave walls and tablets and it’s what drives our children to scribble on paper before they can talk. So creating a home environment that supports this natural inclination can be as simple as having lots of paper and pencils around, and creating a physical space where writing can happen.

Pam Allyn, the founder of literacy organizations LitWorld and LitLife, has taught children around the world. From her experience she recently wrote a book about the writing life of children called, “Your Child's Writing Life: How to Inspire Confidence, Creativity, and Skill at Every Age.”  She’s devised an easy to remember acronym to guide parents in supporting the writer inside their children:

WRITE  - Word power, Reading life, Identity (or voice), Time, and Environment.

According to Allyn these five elements go a long way to giving kids the confidence to put pencil to paper.

In our “Take My Word For It!” classes we witness kids’ natural inquisitiveness, and potent imaginations – we put a pencil in their hand and stand back! They already have their ears and eyes open to the world and are soaking in so much -the page is the perfect container for their musings, emotions and flights of fancy.

In addition to plentiful pencils and paper and a writing spot, talk with your kids about what they write, share it with family members, post their pieces on the refrigerator. Point out things you noticed such as a descriptive phrase, an intriguing setting or some interesting dialogue.

Our philosophy is to create opportunities for kids to recognize the power of their imaginations, to learn how to harness their ideas and then to shape them into poetry and stories.  We want them to know we are a witness to their writing life, and that what they have to say matters. Whether or not your child aspires to be an author, creating an environment at home that fosters writing has benefits that will last him a lifetime.

- By Sondra Hall Founder and Director, "Take My Word For It!"

Summer Camp 2012!

 INFO ON OUR CREATIVE WRITING & ART SUMMER CAMPS 2012 

“Take My Word For It!” is offering our East Bay summer camps through Piedmont Parks and Rec.* this year. 

We are currently working out additional locations in the East Bay as well as San Francisco, so please stay tuned!

To make certain you receive camp updates please sign up for our newsletter.

*Parents who want to register for Piedmont camps can do so through their online catalogue at http://www.ci.piedmont.ca.us/recreation/catalog.shtml. Their 2012 catalogue will be available soon.

Here’s a preview of our Creative Writing Camp Adventures

at Piedmont Parks & Recreation in the East Bay

for kids 9 years old and up

Peanut Butter & the Pen© – Food Writing for Kids!

June 18-22 (1 week)  M-F, 9:00-12:00

Do you have an appetite for writing? Then come join us for Peanut Butter and the Pen – our unique food writing class for kids. We’ll taste food, read excerpts from some of literature’s greatest writing in praise of food, and explore tantalizing ways to describe all things edible. Then we’ll write love letters to our favorite foods, food mysteries and more!

Grammar-ama and The Punctuation Party©

July 9-13 (1 week)  M-F, 9:00-12:00

Brushing up on writing mechanics should never be boring! Take our Dangling Modifier Dare and join our Participle Parade. Our take on commas and conjunctions will tickle your funny bone and leave you wanting more!

Stamps and Letters©

July 16-20 (1 week)  M-F, 9:00-12:00

What is to become of the hand written letter? We’ll practice the (almost lost) art of letter writing, make mail art, have fun with rubber-stamping and then mail our creations to strange and distant lands.

Take Flight!©

July 23-27 (1 week)  M-F, 9:00-4:00

Using art and creative writing we’ll explore flight – flights of fancy, the flight of the bumble bee, the first airplane flight, space flight, the flight of Cupid’s arrow, and more. Come fly with us!

Bedtime Story: Write & Illustrate Your Own Children’s Book©

July 30-August 3 (1 week)  M-F, 9:00-4:00

Come in with a notebook, a pencil and your imagination and leave with an original children’s book. We’ll learn the building blocks for creating an engaging story for younger readers (K – 2), and after exploring different illustration techniques, create original illustrations.

Found Treasures & Scavenger Hunts©

August 6-10 (1 week)  M-F, 9:00-4:00

Ever wonder how writers get their ideas? In this workshop we’ll explore the art of found inspiration. We’re going to scavenge for words, collect phrases, and hunt for hidden ideas in unusual places. We’ll create original poems and stories using what we’ve collected. Using found and recycled materials we’ll also make art that transforms trash into treasure!

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 Camps at Classroom Matters, 2436 Sacramento St. in Berkeley

Stamps and Letters©

July 30 - August 3  (1 week)  M-F, 9:00-4:00  Kids ages 8 - 12

What is to become of the hand written letter? We’ll practice the (almost lost) art of letter writing, make mail art, have fun with rubber-stamping and then mail our creations to strange and distant lands.

Bedtime Story: Write & Illustrate Your Own Children’s Book©

August 6 - 10  ( 1 week) M-F, 9:00 - 4:00  Kids ages 8 - 12

Come in with a notebook, a pencil and your imagination and leave with an original children’s book. We’ll learn the building blocks for creating an engaging story for younger readers (K – 2), and after exploring different illustration techniques, create original illustrations.

Cost: $350 per camper for 9 am - 4 pm. After- care until 5pm for $25 extra per week. Tuition includes a journal and pen, snacks and art materials.

Registration available soon.