Creative Freewriting Adventure: A Review

As a freelance writer, writing is a subject I enjoy! I love expressing myself through the written word, and many of my children share my enthusiasm. But, I strongly dislike writing curriculum that takes all the joy out of writing. You know, ones that place ALL the emphasis on form, spelling, and grammar. When asked to review Creative Freewriting Adventure, the title caught my interest. I wasn’t disappointed! Home School Adventure Co. created a fabulous product that encourages writing rather than grammar.

What’s Included?

For this review, I received a digital PDF copy of Creative Freewriting Adventure, and Creative Freewriting Adventure Coloring Book Edition.

The writing prompts in both books are identical, but the coloring edition offers coloring sheets to accompany the prompts. Each prompt provides some background knowledge to help the brain get rolling. The topics go perfectly with the company’s Philosophy Adventure, but using that book is definitely not a requirement (we didn’t.)

After the background knowledge, each prompt introduces students to a journey. This section sets the stage for creativity, placing the student into the story.

Then comes the assignment. Each offers bullet points to help the student prepare to write. You’ll notice:

• Background Information
• The Dialogue
• Incorporate Your Senses

Each of these help the student paint a mental image of what’s going on. It’s much easier to write creatively if you have a scene in your mind to start with.

How We Used Creative Freewriting Adventure

A couple times a week, I printed out the writing prompt and the coloring page that went with it. I read the information about the prompt aloud, since it would have been too hard for my early readers to get through.

After reading the material and the assignment, I had my kids color the picture. This helped them put their mental picture into a form they could share.

We did try coloring the picture after writing, but I found the writing went more smoothly after they’d colored. My younger students were able to get some of the details out of their brain and onto paper more quickly than they could through writing, so it worked well for us.

After we colored, we set the timer for 15 minutes and started writing. My oldest daughter and I used the computer and typed our thoughts, the younger kids used paper and pencil.

We wrote without worrying about punctuation, spelling, or anything else. I told the little guys to do their best, and just guess on the spelling. They enjoyed being free from requirements in that area!

Don’t Forget to Share!

Once the timer went off, we all shared our picture and our writing. Often, the younger students didn’t write more than a couple of sentences, so they didn’t finish the story. That’s okay!

They’re learning to see themselves as writers, which is so important in gaining literacy confidence.

This sharing time was our favorite part of the curriculum. We were able to offer feedback on the writing, and comment on our favorite parts. It was amazing that with the same starting point, we all usually took our stories in different directions. I loved the creativity!

My Thoughts on Creative Freewriting Adventure

I really enjoyed this product, and we definitely preferred the coloring book edition. I’m always looking for materials that I can use with a wide range of kids, and this one really worked well.

Everyone worked at a different level, but we were all working towards the same goal–improving our writing confidence and ability through freewriting. I enjoyed the details the prompt included, and we were able to talk about the importance of word choice and details in writing.

The digital format worked well, as I could easily print out a coloring page for everyone. The toddlers even sat down and colored with us, which was fun.

As a writer, I understand the benefit of freewriting, and was happy to share this concept with my children without having to worry about putting any prep time into the lesson. I didn’t have to figure out a prompt or provide details. It was just print and go, making it super easy for me!

Want to learn more?

Check out what other Homeschool Review Crew members thought of this book, and other materials by Home School Adventure Co. by clicking on the banner below.