If you had a chance to read our newsletter from last month (August 2021- you can find it on our website in the “News” section), you learned about our vision to create a community of individuals who are serious about bringing quality language arts education to our children, youth, and adults. In a world that is sadly declining in literacy, we are working hard to make a difference by using relational teaching methods to partner with parents and educators to provide quality language arts instruction, with a focus on writing.
As we move forward with a mindset of partnership, it will be helpful for you to understand various aspects of our philosophy and values as a business, so we’ll be sharing that information throughout our newsletter each month. This month, I’d like to focus on our philosophy of striving for mastery. If I could have a friendly conversation with you, I would ask you, “What does “striving for mastery” mean to you in relation to language arts instruction?” Perhaps you’ll take a moment to think about that.
Let me help you understand what it means for TWJ business. Essentially, we have discovered what aspects of literature, verbal communication, and writing must be taught and practiced in order for students to consistently experience confidence in their educational journey. We have removed the busy work, and we focus on these essential skills. Year after year, students must learn and PRACTICE these skills over and over again to develop mastery. Concise, effective instruction, paired with long-term practice, results in mastery.
“Mastery is the attainment of a superior level of knowledge or skill in a domain. The term implies that you are knowledgeable or skilled enough to compete or collaborate with those at the top of a field.” (simplicable.com/new/mastery) This is what we desire for our children. Right?
Of course, at The Write Journey we are working towards mastery of literacy. I appreciate this definition of literacy: “Literacy is the ability to read, write, speak and listen in a way that lets us communicate effectively and make sense of the world around us. Lacking vital literacy skills holds a person back at every stage of their life.” (literacytrust.org.uk) That is sobering. As a nation, as parents, as a business, we must identify the path to true literacy for our students. This definition shows us literacy is more than simple reading and writing; it includes listening and communicating effectively. This definition even includes “making sense of the work around us.”
At TWJ, we have spent over 17 years identifying the skills our students must master to move forward with confidence in their educational pursuits and their career fields. We even begin teaching these skills to our youngest students - our kindergarteners - and we continue teaching these same skills at much higher levels of difficulty to our most advanced students - our high school seniors. With every single student, we begin at the beginning - teaching our tried and true writing methods. Then we move forward, always working to find the balance between challenging our students, yet not burdening them to the point of discouragement and even despair.
Sadly, I have found that the majority of language arts curriculums do NOT work towards mastery. Instead, the excellent content found in much curriculum results in “familiarity”, but not “mastery”. While the content of the material may be superior, the pace at which students are required to learn the material is impossible for all but a few exceptional students. There is no time to develop mastery - only familiarity at best. If you desire to help your children achieve mastery, we’d love to partner with you on that journey. That’s what we do. We can teach your children in our live online classes, or we can even teach you - the adult - through our Adult Certification Program. Our website has more information about all of our services.
Or perhaps YOU are teaching your children the literacy skills they will need to find success in this world. We encourage you to focus on identifying the skills your children must “master”, and purpose to focus resources on those areas.
Together, we WILL raise a generation of children through mastery of language arts skills. Let’s partner together with this common goal of bringing literacy to all of our children.
Written by: Kris Cordell