Writing with Sharon Watson-Easy-to-use Homeschool Writing and Literature Curriculum

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A Real Science-Fiction Town

A Real Science-Fiction Town

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

This real-life news report is just too good to pass up. I had to share it with you.

What would you do if most of the people in your town moved away, disappeared, or died?

According to Chuck Sheppard’s News of the Weird—and this qualifies—an older woman moved back to her hometown in Japan to find that it was no longer thriving. In fact, it was down to about 37 people.

What did this intrepid woman do?

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The Discoveries of Youth

The Discoveries of Youth

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS

There’s an advantage to being very, very young. I’m talking about younger than you are now.

When you’re really little, you discover new things all the time, things that seem old or boring to you now. Everything is amazing; everything is new.

The following is a passage from The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. It’s about a woman remembering back to her youth, thinking about the first time she had discovered . . . well, I’ll let you read it:

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Young Entrepreneurs

Young Entrepreneurs

SHARON’S BLOG

How about writing something fun with your children, something that involves dreams and schemes?

Here’s the background: My husband and I traveled to California one year to participate in the Great Homeschool Convention in Ontario, California. At a Winchell’s Donut House in Las Vegas—have you ever tasted their pineapple fritters?!—we saw an interesting entrepreneur who had set up shop in the parking lot.

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Your Brain and the 10-Percent Myth

Your Brain and the 10-Percent Myth

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

You may be familiar with the movie Lucy. While the rest of us use only ten percent of our brain, the protagonist Lucy goes beyond the bounds of biology and uses more than ten percent of her brain, giving her extra powers the rest of us only wish we could have.

The movie’s original tagline (which has since been replaced) is this: “The average person uses 10% of their brain capacity. Imagine what she could do with 100%.”

Great premise. It’s the stuff of exciting and sometimes provocative stories.

You’ve heard it before—that we use only ten percent of our brain. How true is this assertion?

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Your Job in the Circus

Your Job in the Circus

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

“What a circus act we women perform every day of our lives. Look at us. We run a tightrope daily, balancing a pile of books on the head. Baby-carriage, parasol, kitchen chair, still under control. Steady now!”  -Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Anne Morrow Lindbergh knew what she was talking about. Married to the highly popular aviator Charles Lindbergh, Anne balanced marriage, social obligations, motherhood, learning

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It’s Not Just Your Parents

It’s Not Just Your Parents

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS

You probably are used to your parents limiting the time you can spend on social media: texting, tweeting, watching movies and YouTube, checking in on Instagram, and gaming. Now doctors are in on it, too.

The American Academy of Pediatrics believes limits should be set on

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When a Product Outlives Its Usefulness


SHARON’S BLOG

productI just learned something new today. When a product or service outlives its usefulness, it’s called “end of life” or EOL. Who knew?

I learned this when a company that provides a service to my Website emailed to tell me they are discontinuing that particular service because they believe it is no longer needed.

That made me think of other products or services that have reached the end of their usefulness or are obsolete. Top of the list:

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Create a Character from a Photo

Create a Character from a Photo

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS

You want to create a character for your story, but you’re stuck. You can’t think of one.

Keep reading to find out one trick that will give you oodles of ideas.

As readers, we find out about characters by what they do and say, what others say about them, what they look like, and what they wear. For instance, if a character

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