Lesson Structure:  Children’s Writing BWR104

There are 10 lessons:

1. Introduction
   • Understanding Children
   • Children’s thoughts
   • Children’s needs
   • Child development. 
2. Overview of Children’s Writing
   • Categories (fiction & non fiction)
   • Understanding the market place
   • Analyse and understand what is needed for the different categories, etc.
3. Conceptualisation: Conceiving a concept
   • Where & how to find inspiration/influence.
   • Developing a concept
   • How to plan 
4. Children’s Writing for Periodicals
   • Children’s pages in magazines
   • Newspapers, etc
5. Short Stories
6. Non-Fiction
   • Texts (writing to satisfy curriculum).
   • Other (eg. nature, history, biography, hobbies)
7. Fiction
   • Settings
   • Characterisation
   • Fantasy
   • Science fiction
   • Adventure
8. Picture Books and Story Books
9. Editing your work
   • Grammar
   • Spelling & punctuation
   • Improving clarity
   • Cleaning out clutter
   • Expansions.
10. Project
    • Write a short story, picture book or kids page for a (hypothetical) periodical.

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the academy, marked by the academy’s tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims:  Children’s Writing BWR104:

• Describe children’s cognitive development and target writing to be appropriate to various developmental stages.
• Explain the nature and scope of writing for children.
• Describe the process of planning a written manuscript of children’s writing.
• Describe the planning and processes involved in writing articles for children’s magazines.
• Develop a short story for children to read.
• Discuss the specific requirements associated with writing children’s non-fiction
• Describe the various categories of children’s fiction and the writing processes involved.
• Explain the scope and nature of literature aimed at young children.
• Explain the scope and significance of editing skills and processes for children’s writing.
• Plan, evaluate, edit and present a piece of writing for children 

What you will be doing during this Course

• Develop lists of imaginary titles and brief descriptions of stories that would be appropriate in your society (or country) for children of different age groups.
• Analyse the page(s) in a text aimed at children in terms of language complexity and style, conciseness of the writing, content, graphic layout, etc
• Determine concepts for children’s writing.
• Develop outlines that would help you to write about each concept.
• Develop a set of guidelines (or a plan), that a writer should follow irregular preparation of a children’s page in a newspaper, and consider what, in your opinion, is the purpose of a children’s page in a daily newspaper.
• Discuss how you would approach writing a comic, and why you think this would be the best approach for you?
• Write short articles or stories, suitable for situations such as: An educational magazine, A preschooler or infant school age magazine or a teenage boy or girl magazine
• Write a short story.
• Identify a non-fiction book for children which you would be suited to write.
• Write an outline for a proposed non-fiction book. In your outline, you would include a list of major subject areas (or chapters) that the book would cover and a brief description of the content of each chapter. Include a brief  description of how the book would be illustrated (i.e. are photos appropriate, line drawings or paintings appropriate?). You would then write one or two pages for your non-fiction book.
• Write a fantasy, adventure or science fiction short story for a 7-8 year old, which fits specified criteria.
• Write a story for a 5-6 year old child.
• Edit some sample short articles.
• Plan, then write, a children’s short story, a picture book or children’s pages for a newspaper.

Note: Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the Academy, marked by the Academy’s tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Fire up a child’s imagination through storytelling.  Children’s writing is a specialised craft. It is a rewarding, inspirational, and often demanding, branch of writing. Very few people can easily recall their own childhood, and write in a manner that children can relate to. For most, it takes many hours, months, and possibly years, to write a unique and appealing story that children will want to read. This course is designed to set you on an appropriate course for more successful writing geared to the children’s market..

This course is taught by:

Lee Raye

M.A. (hons) Celtic Studies, (the University of Aberdeen); M.St. Celtic Studies, (the University of Oxford)

Lee is a PhD candidate at Cardiff University with degrees from Aberdeen and Oxford. He has written two books, digitalised another and written several academic papers. He has been interviewed by National Geographic and presented papers at eight different national and international conferences. Lee’s native language is English and, if asked, he is always happy to help students with their English spelling and grammar. He is also a keen proponent of the digital revolution and dreams of a world where all books are available instantly to be read, searched or treasured. Although he mainly writes non-fiction, he loves Victorian literature as well as modern fiction and poetry of all kinds. His academic knowledge of medieval events, cultures and the history of Britain’s environment make him especially qualified to help students interested in writing sci-fi and fantasy.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Here is a list of the most often asked FAQ’s.

General

Q. Why should I enrol with the Academy for Distance Learning?
A. Here at ADL, our students are our priority – we treat everyone as a unique individual.

Q. Do I need to buy text books?
A. No, as each module has been written by highly qualified industry professionals. The content of the material is presented in such a way that text books are not required. However, if you require additional reading your tutor will be able to supply a list.

Q. What happens if I have to stop studying for a while? (eg. become sick, go on holidays, have a baby, move house, etc)
A. It’s OK to take a break and start up your study at a later point in time. Just let us know.

Q. Is there an age limit?
A. There is no maximum age limit. We do however, have a minimum age limit of 18 years. Below that age parental consent would be required.

Q. Are your courses up-to date?
A. Our courses are revised and updated on a rotation system.

Q. Do you have a Cancellation policy?
A. Yes. We have a cancellation policy that is fair and equitable. For further details please click here.

Q. Will I have any opportunity to engage with other students?
A. We have a Student Community group based on facebook! If you don’t have a facebook account already, you could make one just for talking with fellow students on the group.

Enrolment

Q. When can I enrol/start?
A. You may enrol and start at any time of the year – it’s all self- paced.

Q. Can I study from anywhere in the world?
A. Our courses are available to anyone, anywhere in the world from the comfort of your own home. The course content is relevant to any country, culture or economy.

Q. How long do I have to complete the course?
A. You complete the course at any time that is convenient for you.

Q. Completing a 100 hour module – how long will it take?
A. For some students a 100 hour module will take approximately to 3- 6 months to complete. Others take less time and some even longer.

Assessment

Q. Assessment – how does it work?
A. For each 100 hour module you are assessed by assignments (at the end of each lesson) and a final one and a half hour exam (or you may elect to complete a Project, instead of sitting the exam) – the choice is yours – you sit for the exam in your own location.

Q. I don’t cope well with exams – what can I do?
A. You may elect to undertake a Project (set by your tutor) instead of sitting the exam. Projects are completed from your home and can usually take a couple of weeks to complete.

Q. If my assignment is not up to standard is there an opportunity to resubmit my work?
A. Yes –

Q. How many assignments do I need to complete for each module?
A. At the end of each lesson, there is an assignment – so if a course has say, 10 lessons, there would be 10 assignments.

Q. I am having difficulty attending workshops/industry meetings, what can be done?
A. If your course requires attendance at workshops, conferences, or industry meetings; alternative arrangements can be made in your country.

Qualifications

Q. What qualification will I receive?
A. For individual modules, you would be awarded a Certificate endorsed by TQUK (Training Qualifications, UK), providing you complete all assignments and the exam. If you just want to complete only the assignments and not sit for the exam or finish a Project, then a Letter of Achievement would be awarded. For more details on qualifications available please click here.

Q. Can I customize my diploma/higher qualification?
A. Not all educational institution’s certificates /diplomas meet everyone’s needs. The opportunity to Design Your Own Diploma at the Academy (subject to our approval) is an added bonus, not found at other colleges. You choose modules that you think will help you in achieving your goal.

Q. What do I get when I complete the course? Will I receive a transcript?
A. At the completion of all courses and providing all assignments and exam requirements have been met, you will receive your Award and a Transcript.

Tutors

Q. Our tutors – who are they?
A. We appoint Tutors and require that they must be currently active in their industry, with at least 5 years’ experience in their chosen profession.

Q. Can I contact my tutor at any time?
A. Yes – you have unlimited access to your tutor via email through our Online Classroom. You can always leave a message with ADL requesting your tutor to contact you. You decide on how much or how little contact you wish to have.

Q. Practical work – How is this done?
A. To find out more about this part of the course please visit the section on How Our Courses Work here.