Join Muse Squad, A Fun Creative Writing Program that Builds Skills Necessary For Reading Assessments On Standardized Tests

This fall a Connecticut mother launches ‘Muse Squad’ a creative writing program for kids. The MFA-inspired course stimulates the imagination and is coming soon to a town near you!

Founded by Mompreneur Brittney Richardson, the new youth writing program will launch in October at the Ridgefield, Connecticut arts school, Enchanted Garden. Registration is now open for Muse Squad ages 12–14 and Muse Squad Jr ages 9–11.

Richardson says she dreamed up the course as a space for kids to hear the voices of their peers. The program hones in on the joys of reading and writing in a club-like environment. Students will develop and share personal narratives and artistic works.

She plans to use interactive teaching methods and will incorporate a passage from a world-famous novel into each gathering. Integrating literary excerpts into instruction helps prepare students for the reading assessments on standardized tests.

According to Smekens, an educational strategist, “This notion of reading excerpts on assessments is not new. However, what may not be common knowledge is how students are reacting to this reading task. Some students are having difficulty with this format — and it’s often the high-ability students.”

The article goes on to explain why certain students had trouble with the format:

“When researchers followed up to determine why some students struggled, many alluded to feeling like they didn’t know enough about the whole story or plot to adequately answer the corresponding questions.”

Smekens, who works to inspire educators with new strategies for teaching, elaborates: “Students are correct — they do not have access to the entire text in these testing scenarios. They are missing pieces. However, they have enough information in the provided passage to make the necessary inferences and answer the questions.” She then states: “That said, students may need more experience with this type of excerpt-only reading.”

She encourages bringing such reading scenarios into the classroom.

“Miss Brittney” has a unique approach of studying scenes in books to elucidate a lesson which will equip students with life-long skills, advancing a love of literature and learning. Muse Squad promotes imagination and growth of individuals. “The course focuses on all the fun and amazing things that writing has to offer,” Richardson says about the evening class. The 10-week program concludes with a final reading and reception at Enchanted Garden’s performance space. Visit https://musesquad.godaddysites.com to learn more.