We hope your summer has been filled with joy and opportunities for continuous learning. We are thrilled to announce that registration is now live for our highly anticipated online workshops!

At Blackbird & Company, we understand the importance of providing resources that foster creativity, critical thinking, and a love for learning. Our carefully curated workshops offer an exciting opportunity for your child to explore a range of subjects while having fun engaging with their peers in a virtual environment.

Who are Pages classes for?

All students Earlybird through Level 4 (grades 2 through 12).

When are the classes?

Classes meet once per week and are scheduled Monday through Friday at various times for convenience. No matter the level, you will be able to find a class that works perfectly with your schedule.

• Session 1 | 9.11.2023 – 10.13.2023
• Session 2 | 10.16.2023 – 11.17.2023
• Session 3 | 1.8.2024 – 2.8.2024
• Session 4 | 2.19.2024 – 3.22.2024
• Session 5 | 4.1.2024 – 4.29.2024

Class space is limited, so click through to reserve your space.

Register NOW!

I’ve been writing this summer about our amazing Pages staff and the classes they are teaching.

I’m truly honored to be a part of such a great team.

Some of you may have wondered, but what about you?

 

Don’t you also teach Pages classes?

Well, yes, I do!

It’s hard for me to know where to start since I’ve felt like I have shared so much about my classes over this year in my blog posts. I soon found my inspiration in my old dairy from 1984-85. I was in 5^th and 6^th grade at this time, so you now have an idea of how old I am!

My son Grady is into the book series, Diary of the Wimpy Kid, this year. We will snuggle on the couch and read the books together. On one of these days, I remembered that I had an old diary hidden away. I thought I would show my son so he could see a real diary. When I pulled it out and showed it to Grady, he was so impressed. It is really small—as big as my hand—and it is white with lavender hearts in lines and proudly says “Diary” on the front. It had an old lock that once-upon-a-time time required a tiny key. Now it’s so old it just opens on its own!

Inside, each entry was dated at the top and I wrote in beautiful, neat cursive writing. I forgot I could ever write like that! On June 7^th 1984, the day before the last day of my 5^th grade year, I talked about the teacher handing out awards. I received one award for reading and one award for creative writing. I don’t remember that day, or the awards, and I don’t remember what I read or wrote that year that triggered all the award giving! But reading that journal entry made me reflect back on my education and feelings about writing. As I got older, middle school, high School, college, I don’t ever remember loving to write. I do remember feeling it was easy. I was always grateful when the test or assignment was to write an essay. It always came easy to me and I was always graded well. What I do remember liking was when I had the chance to free write my thoughts or experiences in a poem or a letter. I enjoyed writing something that was meaningful, where I could express my intimate feelings.

I wrote for so long what was required that I forgot I enjoyed writing.

The hard part is finding the balance between writing free within constraint, finding freedom within all of vast writing domains!

Teaching Blackbird & Company curriculum helped me to remember what I enjoy about writing. I love reading good books, which I get to do with my students every time I teach a class. I love writing my own ideas and that is what I assign my students. Every section of every book we read has its own built in writing prompt.

When speaking at conferences, I’m often fielding the same questions: “How do I get my child to write? ” And, if the child writes, “How do I teach my child the form of writing, without turning them off of writing?”

First, what I have learned using Blackbird & Company is that students of all ages want to write or, may I say, have more motivation to write their own ideas. Most students don’t want to regurgitate information.

The second thing I’ve learned is that anything we learn that is hard requires discipline and encouragement. Writing can be personal and expressive and creative but in can still be a process that feels difficult. Learning to write and let your ideas flow without worrying about the rules helps to ease this difficult process. But the form does matter, it is important to communicate effectively. This hard process can be achieved with warmth, kindness, patience, and respect. This process is important personal work.

My son and I always start with connection before we read and write. We have our own cozy spot together that helps it feel less like work. We put a blanket over our laps, we have the dog curled up next to us. We tell each other what we are grateful for today, or what we are looking forward too, but the time is set aside for my son’s important work.

His ideas are important.

His words and thoughts are valued.

He is a storyteller.

When we encourage our students over and over in this way, they begin the process of believing. And this, in turn, helps the young writer dive into valuing  the work itself.

When we start our work, Grady knows what to expect. Blackbird & Company curriculum has helped me so much with this process, whether it’s my own son or students in class. The structure repeats every week, and at every level, just increasing with difficulty as they move up. Students start to know how to structure writing, “Today I complete Characters and Vocabulary, tomorrow, Setting or Plot. The following day they will dig into Comprehension questions. The other critical point that has helped our process is holding my son to this process. Free, creative writing, is beneficial and I do always leave a time for that, but writing based on great literature is important too. Being able to demonstrate not only comprehension, but to question, to dive deeper into meaning and characters, to write what you think or feel based-off of what you have read, is important work. If we value only one type of writing or learning we greatly limit ourselves, our learning, our thinking, our communication and our understanding of our world.

What I’ve learned from Blackbird & Company, is to set aside time for important work and to push, or lean into difficult things so we can learn, stretch, and grow into our great potential and uncover the gifts inside of each one us.

Now that I have let you know all that I have learned from teaching using Blackbird & Company curriculum, you may still wonder, “Miss Clare, what are you teaching!!!”

I’ve the pleasure of teaching Literature Level 2 and Level 3 again this year! Miss Lori will be teaching Level 2 and 3 as well, but only novels that are tied to a history add-on class. I will also be co-teaching many of the applicational classes with Mr. Søren! I’m very excited about this! We will be teaching Introduction to Composition, Intermediate Composition, poetry, creative writing tied to Operation Lexicon, and even letter writing (how fun)!

I love my job.  I’m consistently learning to read well, write well and think well, right along with my students!

~Clare Bonn

“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

~Winston Churchhill, 1948 speech to the British House of Commons

 

I recently had the pleasure to talk with a new member of our Pages team. She is definitely not new to teaching, having taught for over 20 years and having worked with children her whole lifetime in some capacity. She has taught many subjects including language arts and has specifically used Blackbird & Company curriculum in the classroom. But her real area of specialty is history. We have expanded our Pages classes this year to include a history opt-in class to students participating in her Core Literature + Writing classes.  The opt-in classes will dive deeper into the time in History being discussed in the books that are set during a certain time period in history.

“History is all about people, and as a society, we like to know what people say, how people act, and interact. History is my passion.”

~Miss Lori May, History Teacher

Miss Lori talked about the value of being introduced to history through great literature, “We can give students a more personalized account of a certain time period. History can be told through the eyes of a child, this is something we often don’t hear in a history class. History is often told through the eyes and perspective of adults.”

“History is written by the winner, by the person in power.”  ~Miss Lori

Miss Lori pointed out that we don’t often get taught history through the eyes of a child but we also don’t learn history through the point of view of people who hold less power. To really understand history we need to look at events through other people’s eyes. We need to look at our own preconceptions. History teaches us to critically think and ask important questions: Who? When? Why? was this written. Miss Lori pointed out the fact that there are nuances we need to shine a light on and ask, “What was the author trying to say?”

“Great Literature books are springboards into times in history we cannot comprehend.” ~Miss Lori

 

Miss Lori noted her biggest challenge teaching history is really having her students understand what the challenges were during that time. “Everything we teach is relative. Most people have experienced life with a home, and food–their basic needs met.” Miss Lori recently taught anchored to the book, Out of the Dust, to a class of 4th and 5th graders. This book takes place in Oklahoma during the time of the Dust Bowl, seen through the eyes of a young girl. Miss Lori had the chance to dive into the history of the dust bowl, the Who? Why? When? She recalls, “It was so hard for my students to really grasp how much dust was involved and how much covered their bowls, tables, and food. The process of covering all window sills and door jams took time. The face coverings and gas masks that were worn because the dust would fill people’s lungs.”

Miss Lori will start the first Pages Session of this coming school year teaching 1. Out of the Dust (once again) along with, 2. Macaroni Boy, set in 1933, Pittsburgh during the Great Depression, and 3. The Red  Umbrella, set in Cuba during Castro’s revolution.

If you are interested in Miss Lori’s classes, enroll soon because we know they will fill up fast—remember that you will enroll for TWO, both the CORE Literature & Writing class and the History Opt-in. Miss Lori has two sections available during each session for CORE classes (one on Monday and one on Friday). The History Opt-in is offered on Tuesday for both sections.

 

~Clare Bonn

What parents are saying about Pages:

“Thank you for making class so enjoyable and personal. My daughter’s writing has really expanded since being in classes with you.” ~Brit Riddle

“I really appreciate you going through the different areas of reading and writing in class as opposed to having him do it all on his own at home. It sets a good example of what to do (i.e. what to look for and pay close attention to as he reads) and how to do it (i.e. organize his thoughts and get ready to write into paragraphs).” ~Paulina Yeung

I’ve been overseeing and teaching Pages online literature + writing workshops for two years now.

I’ve homeschooled for over 15 years plus taught in the classroom along the journey. I’ve gone to Homeschool Vendor fairs as a parent and a teacher. And I talk to many parents and teachers. I often get asked what makes our curriculum or our classes different. I’m  never sure where to start. But a word that often comes to mind is relationship.

This word makes a difference. I can see this difference when we’re at conference and a parent comes to our booth. Or I get a phone call, or a parent sends in an email with a question. Parents don’t seem to worry as much about finding a child’s history program or science materials. Parents even seem to worry less about pairing math. But reading, and even more so writing, is a whole different story. Reading and writing are essential to understand the world, to communicate with people, understand culture and are vital to learning and exploring all the other subjects. When parents contact Blackbird & Company, they tend to share stories of their triumphs and struggles with reading and writing. For someone who has children who learn differently, or are simply not motivated to read or write well, the work of reading and writing can lead to worry, frustration, sadness, and many a day in tears. I was one of those moms for many years until I discovered Blackbird & Company Curriculum and my very own community of support.

Pages classes are, first and foremost, a Community of Support. We take a great piece of literature and walk students through it for 5 weeks using the curriculum as guide. We break up the reading each week and dive into Character Traits, Setting, Plot, Vocabulary, Plot Questions and Discussion. We end each week with a personal writing prompt that ties into the book. The teacher becomes your student’s editor, teaching all the form needed to become a successful writer while, at the same time, protecting and valuing the student’s great ideas. The time and support we give each student are something I have never seen before in other classes. We communicate with both the parent and student regularly forming a strong relationship based on mutual respect. Both parents and students share their hearts and, consequently, writing skills soar.

Students might begin in a Pages class timidly writing just a few sentences, but by the end they are courageously writing multiple paragraphs. Their ideas are valued and that is motivating. We learn in collaboration and that is encouraging. On the last class of each session, each student presents a final project that they created inspired by the book. This project always involves creativity and might be something built, crafted, written, or researched. this opportunity gives students a creative outlet to dive deeper into application and an opportunity to participate in public speaking.

When parents have their students take a Pages class, both will learn how to pace and structure the work. Parents will learn tips to support their student, and both will experience the rhythm of the guides. Students form relationships with the teacher and their cohort of students, relationships that are long lasting. They engage in meaningful and challenging discussions of literature. They learn tools to write quality, original ideas. They learn to read closely and write authentically.

I am really honored to be the Lead Teacher of the Pages team of teachers. You will find bios of all our amazing teachers on our website soon. Please take a look! We are all excited for this year’s offering which we have expanded to multiple times and multiple days hoping to accommodate more of our families’ varying schedules. We have printed a sneak-peak of our session a year in advance so you can plan!! Come July 5, enrollment will open!

We hope to form a relationship with you and your student(s) and, come fall, become your Community of Support. We look forward to the journey and hope to give your student the needed tools to fill their blank canvas, one idea at a time!

I’m certainly looking forward to reading well, writing well and thinking well with your students!

 

~Miss Clare

This coming year we will be offering 5 Sessions of Pages Online, FIVE! We hope that Pages classes, led by our exceptional teachers, will inspire your students to pick up their pencils and share ideas. A sneak peak of Pages at-a-glance is available on the “classes” landing page.

Here’s what we are offering:

• We will, of course, be offering classes focusing on our CORE Literature & Writing units—Earlybird, Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, and Level 4. And we’ve added a variety of titles and class times for your convenience.
• This year we will be offering historical insight tied to select novels via our “History Add-on” option. During this add-on hour, students will be guided to go deeper into the world of the story in real world history.
• Our 3-week compositional writing classes, scheduled during Session 1 and Session 2, are designed to help students get started with our introductory or intermediate composition units.
• During Session 3 and Session 4 we will offer our 2-week creative writing classes focusing on the wonder of words and poetic forms.
• Our research writing classes will, each session, walk students, each step of the way, through the one of our Research Discovery Guides.
• Our NEW Arts Discovery! Our brand-new Arts offering will not only introduce students to exciting poets of art history and the techniques employed by great artists but will involve students in art making! Get ready to enjoy the process of telling visual stories!
• Our NEW Music Discovery! Our brand-new Music offering will introduce students to the language of music. Students will enjoy learning about the voice of a singular musician as they discover the techniques that make the music unique. Get ready for some exciting listening and lively discussion.

Here’s how your students might participate:

Students may enroll in as many classes as they are interested in this coming year, but we will limit class size to a maximum of 10 students. Enfollment will begin July 5, so stay tuned for details.

Our recommendation, when it comes to our CORE offering, the Literature and Writing Discovery Guides, is that students complete 6 per year. We are offering 5 sessions which means students participating consecutively will only have to complete one more unit independent from Pages! But some students may only participate in one or two CORE classes, choosing to take what they learn from the group and complete the remaining units on their own.