Friday, May 24, 2013

You Help Us and We'll Help You!

Want something free?  So do we!  



We want to keep the cost of our programs as low as possible and you wouldn't believe how expensive advertising is in Nashville, Brentwood, and Franklin!  Help us spread the word about our summer program by referrals.  Maybe you'll win a free workshop out of it!
 
Here's how:
Beginning on 5/24, for every person or business you get to "like" Spark READiness on Facebook, we'll enter your name in a random drawing for a $50 gift certificate good towards any of our summer 2013 offerings.  Be sure to tell the person or business to post on our Facebook page that you referred them; otherwise, we won't know who gets credit for the referral.  No limit on how many referrals you can make!   If more than one of you refers the same person, we'll give credit to the person first named in a post.
 
Just think, if you win, the Summer Writing Program suddenly becomes $50 for a full summer of intensive writing support!   That's crazy!
 
Link here to our summer schedule.
 
Good luck!
 

How Well Does Your Child Write?


You asked for it!
Many of you have expressed an interest in summer writing support for your child with the following in mind:
the 5th Grade TCAP Writing Assessment;
the transition from elementary to middle school writing;
the transition from middle school to high school writing; or
simply getting the ideas of out of your child's head and on to the page.
You’re concerned about sentence and paragraph structure, grammar, punctuation, and overall writing ability. Basically, you want to be sure your child has the writing skills it takes to be successful at the next level. But we know that most kids do not want to spend their summers being tutored or completing boring, tedious writing exercises.  HELLO, it’s summer! Do you blame them?
Try our solution! Here’s how it works:
Sign up and attend our Summer Start on June 6 at Firstlight Arts Academy at 6pm.   Out of town that week?  Let us know and we'll work it out.
On June 6, every family will receive a packet of instructions and the first of 4 writing activities. Each activity contains at least 2 writing prompt options for your kiddo.  At least 1 of the 2 options includes writing prompts based on popular music, movies, sports, or a tv show. This "popular culture" option draws in even reluctant kids. You can focus on creative writing or composition. It's up to you, and a different focus yields different results.
Students write at whatever pace works for your family. No deadlines.
Once your kiddo is done with the first writing activity, you email it or snail mail it to your instructor, who will then review it and provide specific and helpful comments in writing for you and your kiddo to review.
After a student finishes #1, he or she moves to #2. The process repeats.
During the summer, you will schedule at least one face-to-face meeting with your kid’s instructor for feedback and suggestions at your convenience. You have the option of scheduling more than one face-to-face meeting. No trying to fit something else in on a certain day that doesn’t work for you! Students may meet with the instructor with or without a parent present.
Ideally, your child will finish 4 writing pieces and receive 4 written evaluations including a summary evaluation at the conclusion of #4. But, if your child doesn’t get them to all, it’s not the end of the world. This is supposed to be helpful to you and to your child--not be a burden. However, we can only help if we’re given something to review, so do encourage your child to write so you don’t waste your money. The end of the summer ends the program.
If, any at point, your instructor feels that your child needs support on a particular skill (let's say, grammar or punctuation), you may elect additional support for an added fee but it is not required even if suggested by the instructor.
Who will be working with your child?  Jennifer Stockdale, the owner of Spark READiness, who has a degree in English from Emory & Henry College, where she was the valedictorian of her class and the Outstanding Junior and Senior in English, and a law degree from The University of Tennessee College of Law, where she was an editor of The Tennessee Law Review, a member of the Constitutional Law Moot Court Team, Chair of UT’s Undergraduate and Graduate Judicial Board, and in the top 20% of her graduating class. Her legal position requires detailed, complex, and accurate writing and editing every day, and she has been doing it for 14 years. She has taught and tutored college level and college remedial Composition I and II, as well as Legal Writing, in addition to teaching book clubs and creative writing Spark workshops.  Her resume and recommendations are available upon request. 
What is the cost? $100 for information session, 4 writing activities with 2 prompts each (to be given in sequence, #2 after the completion of #1, #3 after the completion of #2, etc.), written evaluations of all completed activities, and at least one face-to-face meeting with instructor.
Limited spots are available to ensure the quality instruction you deserve.  Once all spots fill, we will establish a waiting list.
Any questions? Please post here, on our Facebook page, or email us at sparkreadiness@comcast.net.