Brace yourselves...
School Holidays are Coming!
Two weeks of play dates, parties, and activities to plan. What if we could help you out for one of those weeks...?
Each school holidays, we run Narrative and Essay Writing Courses for children in both Primary and High School.
The Primary School courses focus on how to plan, write, and edit thrilling tales of adventure and suspense. Across the week, a specially trained therapist teaches the children what a story 'looks like', and how to 'build' one. They learn a model text that they can use as a scaffold to plan future stories and develop an understanding of basic story structure. Once the foundation is in place, sentence complexity is developed and then children are ready to discover what makes a delicious, plump and juicy sentence. After sentences are dripping with detailed descriptions, they are used to paint a word picture complete with characters, settings and problems.
The High School courses involve a detailed investigation into both narrative as well as essay construction. The younger groups will focus on learning persuasive writing techniques and how to construct a convincing argument using a structured essay formula. The older groups will be taught the art of text analysis and analytical essay writing. They will practise identifying main themes and generic conventions within a text in order to 'read between the lines' and understand the author's message. Once the text has been pulled apart and critiqued, the students will be walked through the steps required to structure a successful essay. The structure provided can be used as a scaffold for future analytical essay writing. After the basics are understood, the therapist will help develop the sophistication of the students' work by highlighting specific vocabulary that elevates their quality of writing. The sessions also include how to interpret an essay question and understand ATAR specific vocabulary.
We run groups for children in Pre-primary through to Year 12. They typically run for 2 hours a day, across 4-5 days a week during the school holidays. In the upcoming holidays, we will be running the following groups:
Years 4, 5, 6 Narrative Writing Group
Years 7, 8, 9 Essay Writing Group
Years 10, 11, and 12 Text Analysis and Essay Writing Group
Our groups are limited in numbers to ensure your child receives one-on-one support throughout the course.
Alternatively, please contact us at the clinic on 9433 4595 or at reception@freospeech.com.au and one of our therapists will respond to you.