2018 Young Writers’ Awards :: Explore Horizons

This post is sponsored by Explore Horizons. All opinions are 100% our own!

We’ve talked about how great Explore Horizons is before. Their drive to create fearless learners and their commitment to accessible pricing makes them one of our favorites.

I wanted to let y’all know about their annual Young Writers’ Awards competition, going on now through April 1. Besides cool prizes, this is a great way to get kids excited about writing and expressing their creativity. It’s also kind of the perfect extracurricular activity—fun, challenging, and educational, without requiring endless time commitment (like, *ahem* SPORTS). Here’s the basics for the contest:

• Open to any child ages 4-14
• Kids write a short story of no more than 500 words on the theme “Everyday Heroes”
• Entries must be submitted by April 1
• Medals will be awarded to finalists and the grand prize winner (as determined by children’s book author Tani Lamb) receives a Kindle Fire HD, $500 worth of books for their school, and a professional illustration of their story!

Explore Horizons has already been conducting “What Is A Hero?” writing workshops at a bunch of our local schools, helping kids get started with the process.

If your school hasn’t had a workshop yet, they can still sign up! Click here for info on how to get your whole school involved in the competition with a free writing workshop from Explore Horizons.

And if your school doesn’t end up doing a workshop, don’t fret. Visit your library for competition entry forms OR enter via the Explore Horizons website.

Tani Lamb will also do a workshop and Q&A at the Garland Explore Horizons on March 8 from 6-8pm. If you’re interested in attending, just drop them a line to RSVP. You do not need to be an Explore Horizon client to attend. But if you are looking for more formal writing support for your child, they absolutely offer dedicated writing services. Just reach out to your nearest location!

I asked Gwen, director of the Garland branch, for a little more information on how Explore Horizons handles writing support for kids. Writing is one of their “specialist classes.” They have weekly set times where kids work in groups, with a partner, and individually to build better writing skills. Believe it or not, one of the biggest problems for many kids is actually coming up with an idea. Explore Horizons leads them through the idea process, and how to create outlines and translate their ideas to the written word. It’s a multi-pronged approach, focusing on writing along with reading, language arts, composition, grammar, and vocabulary.

Needless to say, this is super effective, especially for kids struggling with the writing portion of the STAAR. If this sounds like what you’ve been looking for, contact Explore Horizons to schedule a free assessment today! 

And let’s get our kids to enter the Young Writers’ Awards contest! How cool would it be if the winner was from one of our CCMB families??

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