McDaniel College Writing for Children and Young Adults Program

NOTE: Summer registration opens on April 1; fall opens on July 1, and spring registration opens December 1. As soon as you receive the registrar's email with instructions, register ASAP. Our online classes close quickly. Check your McDaniel email account to make sure it is working. If there is a glitch, please email help@mcdaniel.edu. Read the student planning instructions for registering for classes. The software does not work with Chrome browser. If you can not figure out how to register for classes, please email RegOffice@mcdaniel.edu . -- Mona Kerby

BREAKING NEWS--our student Jared Reck has signed a SIX figure book contract with Knopf Publishers!

Welcome to another online graduate program I coordinate at McDaniel College. It is the Writing for Children and Young Adults (WCYA) Post-Baccalaureate Online Certificate Program. This page supplements the information that you'll find at the official page of the WCYA Program.

Here is a short video of me (Mona Kerby)  briefly explaining the program: http://youtu.be/PakxySHBl0g .

Helpful Links:
Classes begin in August, October, January, March, and May. You may begin at any time. Know that the application process may take a month, so plan accordingly.

After you have reviewed all this information and you still have questions, please send me an email at rkerby@mcdaniel.edu and let me know how I can help.

ONLINE WYCA POST-BACCALAUREATE CERTIFICATE PROGRAM

The WCYA certificate program consists of 5 courses, is approved by the Maryland Higher Education Commission, is entirely online, and can be completed in one year.

All courses are offered in Blackboard, and they all share the same format. Each course is eight weeks long, meaning that candidates may take two online courses back-to-back in the fall and spring semesters, and one course during the summer. One week before each class begins, we open the class so that you can review all the materials, introduce yourself, and get to know your classmates. Be sure to check your McDaniel email account one week prior to the start date of the course and look for your instructor's email with instructions. Make no mistake--our courses are intense! 

SUMMARY OF KEY INFORMATION
  • Online courses adhere to Quality Matters best practices.
  • Asynchronous means you attend class when it works with your schedule.
  • The classes are 8 weeks long with 4 modules and one assignment per module.
  • You "attend" class via the discussion boards at least 4 times a week.
  • The first two weeks of your first class are likely to be intense. But know that all our classes follow the exact same format so you will indeed adjust.
  • If you take a vacation, you can certainly be absent from class a few days. But for your own peace of mind, you'll want to bring your laptop.

TYPICAL ORDER OF THE WYCA COURSES

This is generally how I schedule the classes.  Again, you can take two classes back-to-back in the fall and spring semesters, and one course during the summer.
  • Fall Semester
        WRT 501 Reading Like a Writer (late August - October)
        WRT 503 Fiction: Writing Novels for Grades 3-12 (October - December)
  • Spring Semester
    WRT 507 Picture Books: Writing for Grades PreK-4 (January - March)
    WRT 505 Nonfiction: Writing for Grades PreK-12 (March - May)
  • Summer Semester
  • WRT 510 Writing Workshop for Children and Young Adult Books (Mid-May - July)
You do not need to necessarily take the courses in numerical order. But if you choose to begin in the summer with the Writing Workshop course, know that previous candidates in their previous WRT courses have produced manuscripts that they want to work on.  If you choose to take the Writing Workshop as your first course, it would be very wise to have a couple of manuscripts that you've already written.

Several weeks after you complete the certificate program, the registrar will mail you the certificate. If you have any questions, please email RegOffice@mcdaniel.edu.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS, OBJECTIVES AND ASSIGNMENTS--Open this link to to see the course descriptions, objectives, and titles of assignments.

MCDANIEL EMAIL ACCOUNTS

As soon as you receive your letter of admissions, please start checking your McDaniel email account, as that is how your instructors will get in touch with you about your classes.

If you have trouble with your account, email the IT help desk at help@mcdaniel.edu. If you need help registering, email regoffice@mcdaniel.edu.

INSTRUCTORS
  • Kristin Daly Rens, Senior Editor at Balzer + Bray at Harper Collins
  • Jill Santopolo, Writer and Executive Editor at Philomel Books at http://jillsantopolo.com/

SUPPORT

  • Free Microsoft Office Products--All McDaniel students and staff have access to Microsoft Office Products. Go to https://login.microsoftonline.com and log in with your McDaniel email address. From there, select “Install Office Apps” on the right and select Office 2016 which will download the office installer. Alternatively, you can also just use word online under apps if you don't want to download the whole office suite.

SUCCESS FOR OUR CANDIDATES
  • Jared Reck
  • Ann McCallum
  • Reith, Sharon L. Infestation: Roaches, Bedbugs, Ants, and Other Insect Invaders (Edge Books). North Mankato, MN: 2013.