Brave Writer

Chantelle Grubbs, her husband Tony and her five beautiful kids have been using the Brave Writer lifestyle since 2014. In Spring 2016, Chantelle and her friend Christy Thomas launched a venture they call Play 4 Life Moms based on their experiences with the Brave Writer lifestyle. Chantelle fell into homeschooling because she didn’t think public schools were offering enough to her first two boys. Sh...

Amy Milcic is a former mental health therapist and a homeschooling parent of five active, busy boys. She has a great blog, Rock Your Homeschool , that will add sparkle to your family’s learning fun. I first ran into Amy on Periscope , where she starts her day by pumping up other homeschool moms (I think coffee is one of her secrets!). Today, she is going to help pump you up in your homeschool effo...

Mary Wilson is a popular Brave Writer blogger and the only person I know who may love tea more than I do. In her blog, Not Before 7 , she writes about homeschooling, parenting and adventure. In 2016, I put out a challenge for parents to show how they are leading an Enchanted Education lifestyle via Periscope. Mary used the hashtag #EnchantedEducation and walked us through her amazing child-friendl...

Nadine Dyer and her two kids are living a big, juicy homeschool life above a rowan tree in Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Up Above the Rowan Tree , she talks all about her journey as a homeschooler, especially her experience using the Secular Charlotte Mason method. “There are moments of joy that definitely outweigh the difficulty, but I was completely unprepared for how hard it was. I don’t feel t...

Alicia Hutchinson is the founder of Learning Well and a homeschooling mother of four. The funny thing about Alicia is that she never really saw herself as a mom – much less a homeschooling mom. Now Alicia can’t imagine life without homeschool. Alicia begins every day with a morning meeting. It started as a time to sit down, talk about the day and, on Mondays, go over the coming week. The meeting h...

Today we have a bonus treat for the Brave Writer community, especially those of you in the Boomerang Book Club. We are introducing you to Kwame Alexander. He is a poet, educator, New York Times Bestselling author, honorary Brave Writer, and recipient of both the 2015 Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King Award. We explore... self-publishing poetry as a form of form of activism and why Kwame ble...

Today two Julies sit down to discuss how the Brave Writer lifestyle draws on diverse experiences to provide excellent home education. Julie Kirkwood, our guest, is a mom to three kids who believes in the value of curiosity, exploration and a daily dose of nature in her homeschool world. She created the fantastic home education website Creekside Learning . Creekside Learning is a space to share STE...

Today we are talking about the Brave Writer lifestyle and how it shows up in homeschooling families all around the globe. Our guests and partners in crime, Kara Anderson and Caitlin Fitzpatrick, co-host the wonderful The Homeschool Sisters podcast. “I think Brave Writer brings joy because it gives the parent permission to let school be a lifestyle, and take the school away from the education.” –Ca...

Welcome to the beginning of this Brave Writer Podcast series. Today we’re talking to Rebecca Spooner, a hip homeschooler and a shining example of the Brave Writer Lifestyle. Rebecca writes about homeschooling on her blog Hip Homeschooling , and she helps others with planning their lives and launching their own blogs at RebeccaSpooner.com . Rebecca has five kids between the ages of three and nine,...

Today we welcome one of the most prolific writers of children’s fantasy and poetry, Jane Yolen! [This post contains Amazon affiliate links. When you click on those links to make purchases, Brave Writer receives compensation at no extra cost to you. Thank you!] When I began my freelance writing career, I chose the picture book […]

Today we’d like to welcome two amazing women who are on the cutting edge of children’s poetry. Janet Wong is a prolific writer of poetry and short stories for young people. Her work has received wide recognition from shows like Oprah Winfrey to awards such as the Asian Pacific American Award for Literature. She is […]

I’m excited to introduce you to my good friend (and sorority sister, ha!) Leslie Gustafson! Leslie’s worked as a marriage and family therapist for over 25 years and is a homeschooling mother of a teenage son. She regularly appears on the Fox Morning show in Denver Colorado sharing relationship advice for couples. Because so many […]

by Nancy Graham, Brave Writer Minister of Magic Hi everybody! Our summer online writing classes are filling up but there are spots left in a choice few (classes start July 5th!)— Kidswrite Basic with Deb Bell, April Hensley, or Sarah Holden my summer movie club, Magnificent Horses, and the SAT/ACT Essay class led by longtime […]

Image of Amy Ludwig VanDerwater is by Melissa Deakin It was my delight and privilege to talk with Amy Ludwig VanDerwater. Her poetry is delicious—like a strawberry smoothie or a fresh mint lemonade. She brings vowels and consonants together in ways that leave the mouth happy and satisfied. Not only that, her family lives in […]

Welcome to our first Poetry Teatime Podcast! I was honored to interview Marilyn Singer, award-winning poet and author. Marilyn and I met for the interview long distance—she, in her home in Brooklyn, and me, Julie, in a library in Cincinnati. Unfortunately the library failed us, a bit. The Internet connection was variable throughout and you […]

Johannah (26) was in town, and Noah (28) was downtown. I brought them together in my backyard for a conversation in front of our Periscope audience. They share about their experiences growing up, what they are doing today, and answer questions from parents. I am hyper and too loud and talk too fast. I was […]

After a long, dark slumber, we return! In fact, we recorded this podcast a couple months after recording the previous, Englishes, but because of complications in life, it sat forgotten and ignored on the Internet. No links, no listeners, no happiness. No more! Please join us as we tackle a topic close to my heart, […]

Today’s podcast discusses the relationship between speech and writing. For those of you who are long-term Brave Writer fans, you’ll know that I refer to Dr. Peter Elbow as “my guru.” His vision for writing has long guided how I teach. When this new book Vernacular Eloquence hit the stores, it was thrilling to realize […]

I’ve written about the One Thing Principle many times on the blog. Today, though, I wanted to share with you in more detail about how to get that fantasy homeschool you imagine into the real world of your routine family practice. Noah shares about our family and what we did that he remembers and I […]

Finally!! We are at the end of our series “The Natural Stages of Growth in Writing.” This podcast features discussion about the high school writing life, on into college. Don’t miss it! It will help to shape your philosophy of writing, not just your program for writing. Enjoy! Julie

  Today’s podcast (podcast player at the bottom of this entry) features children’s author and home educator, Melissa Wiley. Melissa and I met in 2005 online and instantly formed a wonderful connection around writing and homeschool. Her most recent children’s novel, The Prairie Thief, is the featured title for the October Arrow. You may purchase […]

This podcast discusses the role of the brain in writing as well as how to teach the mechanics in a way that actually leads to their incorporation in the original writing task. Be sure, too, to sign up for Rita’s Class: Foundations in Writing. It starts October 1 and always fills up so don’t miss […]

Hi everyone! This is our 7th podcast, 5th in the series related to the Natural Stages of Growth in writing. We started discussing the Transition to Ownership in podcast 06 and this is the second half of that conversation. You’ll want to listen to that half first. We continue our discussion of your role in the […]

This is our first of a two part discussion of the Transition to Ownership stage of writing growth. This is the time when your 13-14 year olds (8th-9th graders) are making the somewhat treacherous journey from adorable, fact-centered child to rhetorical imagination (the awareness that the world is inhabited by unlimited numbers of perspectives). Noah […]

Today’s podcast features the characteristics of writers between the ages of 11-12. Join us as we look at how you can create the conditions for growth and joy in writing with your kids. Julie UPDATED: Faltering Ownership product now available A Year-Long Language Arts Plan! 11-12 year olds (age range is approximate) Developmentally appropriate projects. […]