Archive for November, 2016

Brave Writer’s Holiday Gift Shoppe!

Brave Writer 2016 Holiday Gift ShoppeThe Brave Writer Holiday Shoppe is NOW OPEN

PLUS

Cyber Monday 30% OFF Store Wide Discount!

The Brave Writer store is on sale! Take 30% off of any purchase* in the brand new Holiday Shoppe and the regular Brave Writer Store for 24 hours: 9:00 AM EST 11/28—9:00 AM EST 11/29. (*excluded sales: Amazon, Create Space, Zazzle, Vimeo, and Online Classes)

To get the 30% off discount code, however, we’ve got a little puzzle for you to solve. No worries, though. It’s EASY.

Clues for the 30% off code

  • A popular holiday Brave Writer hashtag (HINT: from a video on our YouTube channel)
  • Fill in the blanks below, eliminate the spaces and the hashtag, and you’ll have the code (use ALL CAPS)!

#___ ___ ___ ___      ___ ___ ___ ___      ___ ___ ___

Still wondering what the 30% off discount code for Cyber Monday is?

SCROLL DOWN to the bottom of this post for a REALLY BIG CLUE!

 The 2016 Brave Writer Holiday Shoppe

Poetry Teatime Gilgamesh Tea Blend
*NEW* Poetry Teatime Custom Blend: Gilgamesh Herbal Tea

Named for the oldest written poem in human history, “Gilgamesh” is a fruit and herbal blend with a warm spice flavor profile that is slightly sweet. It’s perfect for children just learning to enjoy a cup of tea with hints of the season: apple, cinnamon, and pomegranate.

Each tin contains enough loose tea for about 15 cups. If you don’t use a teapot and diffuser, no worries: we’re including a package of paper filter tea bags with each tin.

BUY NOW

Brave writer Hashtag Shirts*NEW* Brave Writer T-Shirts

Brave Schoolers know ‘em and love ‘em: Brave Writer hashtags! It seemed impossible to choose just one, so we didn’t! The Brave Writer #tshirts are now available in black or white, short or long sleeved, hoodies, and more! Check out the variety of necklines too!

(The shirts are only available through Zazzle, so the discount code does not apply.)

BUY NOW

The Homeschool Alliance Gift Card 2016*NEW* Homeschool Alliance Gift Card

Shopping for your homeschooling friends, but not sure what to give them? Give them the gift of choice with a Brave Writer Homeschool Alliance gift card!

Gift cards are delivered by email and contain instructions to redeem them at checkout. Our gift cards have no additional processing fees.

BUY NOW

A Gracious Space: WinterA Gracious Space: Winter

A Gracious Space: Winter Edition gives you brand new readings for the next leg of your year’s homeschool journey. Daily readings are provided to give you support and encouragement in your homeschool adventure. These 50 non-sectarian essays are designed to offer you new ways to think about homeschooling, comfort for when you run up against your limitations, and energy for tackling your highest aspirations!

(The Digital Kindle Version is eligible for the 30% off discount. The paperback book is available at regular price on Amazon.)

BUY NOW

Nurturing Brave Writer Families DVD SetNurturing Brave Writer Families DVD Set

Brave Writer’s core teachings about writing and home education are now available as professionally produced DVDs!

These five discs, filmed at the “Nurturing Brave Writers Retreat” in Cincinnati, explore how to create a nurturing relationship with your reluctant writers, the importance of partnering with students for their writing and academic growth, the elements of the Brave Writer Lifestyle, how to create a homeschool that matches the one you wish you had, and the essentials necessary for high school writing and college preparation.

BUY NOW

Poetry Teatime CompanionPoetry Teatime Companion:
A Brave Writer Sampler of British and American Poems

Poems for the whole family! Available in a paperback print edition, this illustrated, full-color volume of poems hand-picked by Brave Writer is organized by season and theme. The Poetry Teatime Companion presents 52 poems by 52 poets, to cover a full year of Poetry Teatimes. Includes brief biographies, questions to think about, and a few activities to try.

(The Poetry Teatime Companion is only available through Amazon, so the discount code does not apply.)

BUY NOW

Poetry Teatime Tea CoziesTea Cozies

Table Magic for Poetry Teatime Spice up your spread! Brave Writer’s limited edition Poetry Teatime tea cozy will swaddle your teapot so you can linger over poetry and conversation without fearing a lukewarm refill.

BUY NOW

BIG Discount Code Clue!

Give Them...

Using the Instagram photo above as a MASSIVE HINT, fill in the blanks below based on what you see in the photo, eliminate the spaces and the hashtag, and you’ll have the code (use ALL CAPS)!

Give Them...

Visit the Holiday Shoppe today!

Posted in BW products, Poetry Teatime | Comments Off on Brave Writer’s Holiday Gift Shoppe!

What to say when asked about “socialization”

Homeschooling and Socialization

Ways you might respond to questions about homeschooling and socialization:

Homeschooling really is different than traditional school. I totally get why you have those questions. I had to do a lot of research before I felt comfortable with it myself. And I’m still learning.

OR

Yeah, that’s a great question. I get it a lot. I’m still figuring it out. But I take heart that homeschooling has been around now for 50 years and lots of those kids are grown. Seems like they’re doing all right as adults.

OR

You can share what you do too. I used to give a day in the life to questions like “What do you use for…?” I had a bunch of public school moms as running partners and they asked lots of questions. So one run I just told them a typical day in our lives. By the end, they were all saying, “That’s so cool. I don’t know if I could ever do that. Sounds really fun.”

Like that.

Need more encouragement? Check out these posts:

Is it confusing? Is it difficult? Are you worried?

The cumulative effects are good (aka: it all works out in the end)

What are they doing now: The Bogart Kids 2013

The Homeschool Alliance

Posted in Homeschool Advice | Comments Off on What to say when asked about “socialization”

Friday Freewrite: Who’s the Turkey?

Friday Freewrite

 List the dishes that were prepared for Thanksgiving (or whatever your last big meal was). Now pair a family member or friend (based on personality) with each dish. Explain your choices.

New to freewriting? Check out our online guide.

Posted in Friday Freewrite | Comments Off on Friday Freewrite: Who’s the Turkey?

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving dear Brave Writer friends!

This past year has seen explosive growth in our community of caring. I’m moved and touched by your participation with one another and the way you’ve opened space in your families for joy, peace, messes, and poetry. I love being a part of your lives. Thanks for letting me peek in and eavesdrop.

Each Thanksgiving, I like to remind you of all you do and how appreciated that effort is, even if hidden or taken for granted by the people you love. I see you. I see ALL you do. Thank you on behalf of the ones who count on you for your love and devotion.

I am thankful for you…

and for all the ways you give, give, and give.

Thanks for getting up in the middle of the night—again—with the baby and bed-wetter.

Thank you for holding back your tired, angry voice.

Thank you for hunkering down with a curriculum you don’t like but can’t afford to replace.

Thank you for making magic with vegetables and healthy snacks for reluctant-to-try-anything-new kids.

Thank you for overlooking the insensitive jab from your trusted partner because s/he is stressed and being a blockhead.

Thank you for examining your motives.

Thanks for exercising and/or eating right and/or taking your meds and/or trying hard to be healthy when it’s easier to give up.

Thanks for excusing childishness.

Thank you for celebrating childishness.

Thank you for being childlike with your children!

Thank you for the thankless hours you spend comforting your teen who doesn’t even like you sometimes.

Thanks for calling that friend, or your mother, or the sibling that wears you out because they needed you today.

Thank you for keeping house as best you can, in spite of the never-ending assault on your living space by all the people who love you but love your house less.

Thank you for washing an unending parade of dishes, for laundering every last pair of socks, for cleaning behind the couches once a year, for hanging pretty things to look at on the walls.

Thank you for research done, appointments scheduled, payments made on time, and performances attended with camera and heart in hand.

Thank you for not falling apart.

Thank you for getting up again when you do.

Thank you for holding it together long after you thought you couldn’t.

Thank you for pies, potatoes, gluten free rolls, vegan hot corn, turkey or tofurkey, and watching football and the extended edition of Lord of the Rings (again).

Thank you for the look of love that comes over your face when you consider how lucky you feel to be in this family with these people.

The work you do is invisible to many but well known to all of us who lead the same life you do. Well done!

Life morphs and changes; demands emerge and fade. Pay attention to your life; make choices that ensure the peace and well being of your loved ones.

That responsibility does fall to you, and we can be grateful that it does.

With power, comes responsibility. Use it wisely.

As I like to say: “Keep going.”

Happiest of Thanksgiving friends!

Posted in On Being a Mother | Comments Off on Happy Thanksgiving

Sneak Peek! Brave Writer Holiday Shoppe coming soon!

Coming Soon! Brave Writer Holiday Shoppe!

Happy Holidays!

Monday is the grand opening of our Holiday Shoppe! In it you’ll find a slew of goodies that are just right for stocking stuffers (hint hint to spouses), homeschool support group gift exchanges, and your best homeschooling friend. (Your texting, voxer, Facebook buddy!)

We’re also giving you a 30% off coupon code that can be used on ALL our store products (not classes). Keep reading for more details.

Sneak Peek: Gilgamesh Herbal Tea

Poetry Teatime Tea Blend: Gilgamesh Herbal Tea

Check out our beautifully wrapped Poetry Teatime Gilgamesh loose herbal tea blend in a custom tin created especially for us! Gilgamesh (the oldest epic poem in English) is perfect for kids. Hints of pomegranate, orange peel, hibiscus, and cinnamon throughout. It’s fragrant and delicious! (Giftwrap included!)

Regular price: $14.95
30% off: $10.47

The Extremely Rare Store-Wide Discount

Brave Writer rarely puts the whole store on sale (it’s been years since the last time). If you’ve been waiting, now’s your chance to scoop up those items you’ve had your eye on at a dramatically reduced price.

We open the Holiday Shoppe on Cyber Monday (11/28) at 9:00 AM EST with a bang!

Take 30% off of any purchase* in the Holiday Shoppe and the Brave Writer Store for 24 hours.
(*excluded sales: Amazon, Create Space, Zazzle, Vimeo, and Online Classes)

To get the 30% off discount code, however, we’ve got a little puzzle for you to solve. Yes, yes, we are going to make you work for it. But it will be fun and easy!

Clues for the 30% off code

#___ ___ ___ ___      ___ ___ ___ ___      ___ ___ ___

Recap

The Holiday Shoppe (opens on Cyber Monday, 11/28/2016) is your chance to “fan-girl” or “fan-boy” over all things Brave Writer and Poetry Teatime. We’ve got tea cozies, books, DVDs, private label tea, and One More Item (surprise!) for you to buy for yourself and/or a friend!

Get ready

  • Take a look around the store now for Brave Writer materials and curricula.
  • Solve the riddle of the 30% off discount code.
  • Forward this blog post to a friend (or spouse! or parent!).
  • Come Monday to the Holiday Shoppe!

Posted in BW products | Comments Off on Sneak Peek! Brave Writer Holiday Shoppe coming soon!