Archive for the ‘Homeschool Advice’ Category

Tea with Julie: Writing Voice

Brave Writer

Tea with Julie” is a weekly emailed missive that enhances your life as an educator, parent, and awesome adultFrom time to time, we’ll share some of our past topics here on the blog.


In this Tea with Julie series (linked below), I talk about writing voice. Writing voice is the sound and feel of the writing—the way you recognize one author over another, or the way one sort of writing connects with you while another type doesn’t. Authors with strong writing voices are those who stand out in a crowd of writers, those you return to because you want to hear what they have to say.

Honestly, your kids are naturals. If you support their self-expression by capturing it for them (jotting down their hot takes, their little narratives, their jokes), they come to trust their writing voices.

It’s when you ask them to sound like someone else—Aesop, some adult writer, the format prescribed in the writing assignment—that we lose the heart of their message and their natural, rich vocabulary.

I hope you enjoy your exploration of the magic of “voice.” In our world of echoes, we need powerful voices. You’re raising them!

Writing Voice

Glad you’re here! This is your time for tea and a break from the breakneck pace of your important life.


Some Tea with Julie messages have been
shared on the Brave Writer Podcast!


Growing Brave Writers

Alone or Independent?

Brave Writer

Some home educators believe (whether true or not) that kids in school are basically learning independently. School kids get themselves to and from class, jot down the homework assignment, complete the work often without assistance, and return that work to school.

Homeschool parents wish their children would get their work done without:

  • help,
  • reminders,
  • cajoling.

And yet: school kids are not independent learners. They are performing a set of tasks determined by the teacher, with due dates and clear instructions. School kids learn how to follow instructions and perform the assigned tasks on their own. I call this: “Doing schoolwork alone.”

Independent learning is something else!

The independent learner takes initiative to learn what is important to them. The independent learner finds resources to support learning: asks for help, conducts research, tries and fails, complains to an empathetic listener, suggests alternative methods for learning, and may want companionship just for the support it offers.

A child who can “do schoolwork alone” is not necessarily learning independently. Rather that child is good at cooperation or obedience without help.

Independent learning means caring about what you are learning and then:

  • gathering resources,
  • asking questions,
  • knowing when you need support,
  • trying, failing,
  • taking breaks and trying again.

The power of home education.

Being good at “doing schoolwork alone” is especially painful for homeschooled kids. They don’t even get to go to school for a break from all that alone schoolwork. Independent learning can be a joyful experience of companionship and adventure!

So remember: there’s a difference between independent learning and “doing schoolwork by yourself.” Independent learning means taking the initiative to teach yourself what you want to learn but does not mean you always have to learn alone.


Brave Learner Home

Simply Do It

Brave Writer

If you want your child to learn something, try the thing in your child’s presence. Work the math problem or copy the passage in full view. Don’t announce it. Simply do it. Be an object of curiosity rather than a teacher.

Pick something that you would love to do and then, just do it.

Perhaps you’d love to:

  • paint,
  • play with clay,
  • repot all your African violets,
  • run through the sprinklers,
  • quilt,
  • make pancakes from scratch,
  • map the constellations,
  • or learn how to play a new board game.

Do it.

In silence. No announcements, no declarations of “wouldn’t this be fun to do together?”

Rather, wake up and start doing the thing. Your kids may notice. When they do, scooch over. Let them handle the implement, or make a mark on a page, or run through the sprinklers in their pajamas.

Your task is to serve as a participant, not as a teacher. See what happens! You might be surprised.

Open the math book; work a problem. Copy your favorite quote from Emma into a notebook.

LEARN. See what happens.


This post is originally from Instagram and @juliebravewriter is my account there
so come follow along for more conversations like this one!


Brave Learner Home

Trust

Brave Writer

Home education is bringing learning to all of life—trusting the process, trusting our families, trusting ourselves.

That awful word “trust.” Trust sounds so risky, doesn’t it?

Like, how careless would I be to “trust” a process or my family or even myself? I want certainty! I want guarantees!

Alas—the fact of life is you can’t count on outcomes. But perhaps—just perhaps—you can count on resources to be there for you, however.

The whole energy of being human is to do everything in your power to mitigate risk! Avoid the warthog, get out of the blizzard, and never watch twaddle TV like SpongeBob Squarepants!

Everything Can Teach Anything

Yet, the truth is—learning abounds even in those risky, unnerving, or spurious moments of your life! Trust simply means that you believe you have enough resources to meet challenges and to transform experiences into learning.

Homeschooling is built on trust. I’m here to tell you that you have everything you need to be good at it—

  • community,
  • libraries,
  • curriculum that works for you,
  • friends who will troubleshoot your thorniest problems,
  • and your own bright mind that knows how to google when the going gets tough!

Trust is possible because you can always find what you need—you are NOT alone or without tools and support.

I trust you!


Brave Learner Home

Make Life Better

Brave Writer

It’s up to you! It’s not up to the school system, the homeschool community, your mother, or the books you love. The reason so many of us lose heart is we’ve delegated authority over our choices to someone outside ourselves.

One thing I’ve learned about being an adult is that when we recognize that we have the responsibility for our experience and lives, we gain power. The temptation to want to follow a plan, a curriculum, a school district’s scope and sequence to the letter means you are delegating your authority to an outside source.

But if you can recognize that you have freedom to make choices, to modify choices, and to pivot when you change your mind, you gain a sense of control over your own life. You stop being a victim of someone else’s choices.

Adulthood is the recognition that you own everything that happens to you. You’re in the driver’s seat. You make choices and grow.

A Gift of Home Education

One of the gifts of home education is that you become responsible for educating yourself—and the sheer joy of realizing that it is up to you holds freedom and power.

Once you take hold of that power, the victim narrative dies.

So make life better. You can be bold, you can make mistakes, you can recover.

It IS on you. That’s a good thing!


This post is originally from Instagram and @juliebravewriter is my account there so come follow along for more conversations like this one!


Brave Learner Home