We are currently working through our very first Brave Writer Dart! We’re in the middle of Week 3 and so I feel like I’m experienced and qualified enough to give an honest, educated review. I had scoured other homeschoolers reviews and watched several YouTube videos regarding this company and what they have to offer and I’ll admit the reviews were very mixed. I felt slightly underwhelmed initially in my thoughts toward the Darts, in particular, that I almost didn’t even try it firsthand to begin with. I’ll now admit that, 3 weeks in, I’m still slightly underwhelmed.
“The Dart uses living literature to teach the mechanics of writing. Spelling, punctuation, grammar, and literary devices delivered through powerful, engaging books! Comprehension questions and book club party ideas are included.”
My Pros: Really, and unfortunately, I don’t have many pros. I will say that my 3rd and 4th graders have enjoyed reading our book selection together. Skunk and Badger by Amy Timberlake started off a bit slow and wordy but over time (currently in chapter 9) they have both divulged that they wouldn’t be happy not to finish the entirety because they want to know how it will end. The characters and their individual personalities have grown on them and they speak very fondly of what is currently happening and also about their predictions for what is still to come.
One more pro is that both children have been introduced to literary terms they’ve yet to see in any other curriculum they’ve used up until now. For example, they now know what Anthropomorphism is and what’s an Onomatopoeia. So for that reason, I’m impressed, because in 5 years of teaching them and us all learning together, we haven’t come across those topics to learn.
My Cons: I’m going to be slightly nit-picky with some of these because I realize I may be somewhat of a Type A person and I just really appreciate when things “make sense” and “come quickly and easily” for me as a Homeschool Mom of 5. I really don’t love having to scroll through many, many pages of digital files to find all the pieces I want for one particular day of lessons so the flow of these guides wasn’t my favorite. It is recommended that you, as the teacher, pre-read and get everything prepped before starting the teaching aspect of it and so it’s definitely not open-and-go. However, it also just felt somewhat “all over the place” in its organization. For example, each week you’re provided with the copy work, Big Juicy Questions, and teaching strategies BUT to get to the children’s printable student pages you have to scroll through all of the pages to the end to find the correct ones. Yes, this is personal preference and maybe a bit bougie on my part, haha! However, I would prefer if the printables were included in the weekly lineup because, for printing purposes, it’s just so much easier and faster. Also, they have the Dart teaching strategies in a separate file from the How to Use guide and that also seemed unnecessary. I would have liked them both in one and condensed. Again, this is really just my personal preference and not related to the content the Darts provided.
Next, there just isn’t enough “activity” regarding the study of this book that makes it seem like the purchase is worth it. It provides copy work passages, dictation, french dictation, etc. But only 1 per week and, as a seasoned homeschool mom, I could easily come up with this type of activity on my own when given a book to study. Yes, it points out the grammar in the passages, but again, something I could also do on my own. Yes, it provides spelling words but no direction as to how to teach them the spelling throughout the weeks.
Another con is that my husband and I weren’t thrilled with the options of the books they had to choose from. There were less than a handful of books in this emerging age range that I would actually want to spend time on reading and studying or even that my particular children would gravitate towards in terms of interest.
Other than the Party Ideas that are optional for the children at the end of finishing the book study (as I’m FAR from creative in this sense), I really can’t say that there was any aspect of the guide that was enough to make the cost of this Literature Single purchase worth it, for me. I’ve used other Lit. Guides that have provided a much more robust study of a novel and so I would opt for any one of those over the use of another Dart.
Due to all of this, I will not be trying Brave Writer again (at least the Darts). I’m well aware every curriculum does or does not work for other families though, and so if you really like what they offer I’m SO happy for you regarding that. There are always benefits to any study regardless and in what ways they benefit each user. I can still see the beauty in what was provided and we have enjoyed these 3 weeks despite my subtle negative feelings toward the curriculum. We also look forward to completing this novel and throwing a small party using their fun suggestions!