How our program works
“OK, but how does your program work?” Below is a breakdown of exactly what to expect from June Writers Academy, and answers to some of the questions we most often receive from parents exploring our program.
Q: What happens when I join?
A: When you become a June Writers Academy member, you get immediate access to our private member site, where you’ll find our library of video lessons and descriptions and downloads of all of our writing assignments.
What you’ll find in our private membership site: video lessons, overviews of each practice, downloadable resources, skill summaries, and a form to unlock the practice in SeeSaw.
In addition, we will also set up an account for your child(ren) in our SeeSaw classroom, and then send you an email within 24 hours with the information you need to get started. When your child logs into SeeSaw, they will see the practices for the first lesson of the level you selected at checkout as well as any lessons you unlock from our member site.
Your child’s view of our SeeSaw classroom. The Activities feed will show the practices to be completed or in progress. Your child’s SeeSaw experience is completely private.
Q: How will my child learn and do their writing work?
A: Your child will complete their writing work in SeeSaw on their own timeframe, and we will give them written, voice, or video feedback on their work in SeeSaw within 24 hours. The written feedback will be a combination of thoughts in the comment thread of that practice and markup in the practice slides—though it will vary by practice. We often ask children to edit their work with the feedback in mind. There is no time limit or expectation of your child’s work, but regular writing keeps skills and concepts fresh in your child’s head, so we do have recommended pacing. Note that as your child moves into the more complex practices, they may need to take more than one day to complete an item. Once your child reaches Lesson 2.3, we will almost always ask them to make edits to their practices before considering them complete.
Level 1 & Lesson 2.1-2.2 in Level 2: We recommend completing two to five practices per week.
Lesson 2.3+ in Level 2+: We recommend completing at least one practice a week.
Your child will receive written feedback on every practice he or she submits. The comments section of the practice will be where your child receives high-level feedback from us, and can message back. These conversations will only be visible to you, your child, and June Writers.
Your child will also receive written feedback in the slides of their practices unless the practice is an instant skill check. Our written feedback varies in intensity depending on the level of scaffolding your child needs at that point in their development. We begin by giving detailed modeling of how to address specific issues and taper over time to broad feedback so that your child learns to rely on their own mechanical and intellectual skills.
Your child’s teacher will score each practice, and at the end of the week, we will email you a progress report with these grades and individual comments on your child’s progress overall. We also add especially strong pieces of your child’s writing to their Highlights folder in SeeSaw, and encourage parents to browse through that work as desired.
You will receive weekly progress reports with a report on what your child completed that week, including scores and notes on significant skills in development.
Q: How do you assess?
A: See our blog on assessment for more details.
