May 2022 - A Brave Writer's Life in Brief A Brave Writer's Life in Brief
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A Brave Writer's Life in Brief

Thoughts from my home to yours

Archive for May, 2022

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Brave Learner Home: Measuring Your Child’s Progress

Brave Learner Home

As a homeschool parent, do you ever feel the heavy weight of:

  • showing progress,
  • measuring,
  • benchmarking,
  • and comparing your children to a standard? 

Whether you’re required to formally measure your child’s progress or not (it depends on where you live), the mindset is so dominant in our society, it can feel impossible to shake.

In Brave Learner Home, we’ll show you ways to more holistically “measure” your child’s progress—from the inside out!

We’ve got the perfect Master Class coming up in June to help you do just that! We’ll explore:

  • whether school standards are good benchmarks for homeschooled kids
  • how you can know if your kids really are making progress! 

Join us in Brave Learner Home and watch our webinar with Issy Buston’s (Stark Raving Dad): Measuring Your Child’s Progress from the Inside Out


    Join Brave Learner Home


    Brave Learner Home

    Posted in Brave Learner Home | Comments Off on Brave Learner Home: Measuring Your Child’s Progress

    Friday Freewrite: Helping

    Friday Freewrite

    Remember the last time you helped someone. Describe the experience.

    New to freewriting? Check out our online guide.

    Tags: Writing prompts
    Posted in Friday Freewrite | Comments Off on Friday Freewrite: Helping

    Exploring the Graphic Novel

    Brave Writer

    You know we love books, right? 

    We’ve read our fair share of the classics. Long, lengthy passages of prose. Poetic depictions of Victorian living rooms. Romantic visions of the countryside. 

    Our kids? Not so much. (Maybe you too!)

    The next generation grew up with IMAGES the same way we grew up with text. Their brains are used to input in a more multi-sensory way. But that doesn’t mean they can’t get the same robust education in literature.

    Brave Writer is here to answer that call! We’re bringing more VISUAL APPEAL to our class offerings this summer. 

    We’ve brought back a ton of your favorites, like writing based on TV and movies, building fictional worlds and developing comic strips.

    First up? In our online Boomerang Book Club (for teens) we’ll explore the graphic novel! Featuring in June 2022: AMERICAN BORN CHINESE by Gene Luen Yang.

    For $99, you’ll receive our literature guide AND your teen gets access to our book discussion online.

    We’ll cover:

    • The choices that comic creators make in developing their stories
    • How writers make graphic novels an interactive experience
    • Using a character’s particular experiences to explore universal themes
    • How images support the “description” work of a graphic novel

    There’s more to look at! Yang shares a TON of resources online. Save these!

    Listen to Gene Luen Yang:

    • talk comics,
    • walk through his process,
    • or catch his TED Talk! 

    What teen doesn’t want their school to include a graphic novel, YouTube, and an online forum like our discussion space? We’ve got what satisfies that multi-sensory itch.

    We’ll get started reading on June 1 and kick off a rousing discussion on June 13!

    Register

    Brave Writer Book Clubs

    Posted in Boomerang | Comments Off on Exploring the Graphic Novel

    Podcast: Toxic Positivity & the Downside of Always Looking Up

    Brave Writer Podcast

    On today’s Brave Writer podcast, our guest is Whitney Goodman, the radically honest psychotherapist and owner of The Collaborative Counseling Center, a private therapy practice in Miami, Florida. Her new book, Toxic Positivity, talks about the downside of our cultural obsession with being happy – and how to better embrace and balance all of life’s emotions. 

    Toxic positivity is “happiness at all costs” taken to its logical conclusion, and it paradoxically ends up making us miserable. Whitney explores the difference between optimism and toxic positivity, and how to live your life without pretending to be happy but still finding happiness.

    In this episode, we also discuss:

    • how to complain effectively,
    • how positive thinking can downplay real tragedies,
    • the benefits of living a value-driven life,
    • and how to instill that in your children.

    Show Notes

    Happiness has been commodified. We get sold the idea that, if we do all the right things, we can be rewarded with happiness. But we don’t feel any emotion – good or bad – all the time. Happiness can be part of your experience, but it won’t be all of it. In fact, holding onto happiness so tightly can keep us from pursuing other experiences that might challenge us or force us to grow because those experiences can often be difficult.

    Resources

    • Instagram: @sitwithwhit
    • sitwithwhit.com
    • Purchase: Toxic Positivity
    • Our big book reveal is happening on June 1st and 2nd! Sign up at bravewriter.com/reveal
    • Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-started
    • Sign up for the Brave Writer newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2022 and you’ll get a free seven-day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz
    • Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-started
    • Sign up for the Brave Writer newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2022 and you’ll get a free seven-day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz

    Connect with Julie

    • Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriter
    • Twitter: twitter.com/bravewriter
    • Facebook: facebook.com/bravewriter
    Brave Writer Podcast

    Posted in Podcasts | Comments Off on Podcast: Toxic Positivity & the Downside of Always Looking Up

    Customer Choice Awards: The Winners!

    Brave Writer Customer Choice Awards 2021-2022

    Whoa! Your votes poured in!

    We asked you: what are your family’s favorite read alouds from our 2021-2022 programs: 

    • Dart (8-10)
    • Arrow (11-12)
    • Boomerang (13-14)
    • Slingshot (15-18)?

    Every title received votes. All 35 of them!

    That means that every single title was at least one family’s favorite! We love that!

    The books we select to study are delightful, endearing, and sometimes heartbreaking. In those books, we find the nuggets to inspire Big Juicy Conversations about:

    • grammar
    • punctuation
    • spelling
    • literary devices
    • literary analysis
    • and more—hello connections to history, science, culture . . .

    While we adore all of the handbooks we produce for you and your kids, we know there are fan favorites. 

    This year, we wanted to hear from you! And you were ready to tell us!

    You’ve cast your votes! We’ve tallied the results!

    The winners are . . .

    • Dart (ages 8-10): Skunk and Badger
    • Arrow (ages 11-12): Amari and the Night Brothers
    • Boomerang (ages 13-14): The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
    • Slingshot (ages 15-18): The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

    Honorable mentions:

    • Dart (ages 8-10): Heartwood Hotel: A True Home
    • Arrow (ages 11-12): The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden
    • Boomerang (ages 13-14): Hidden Figures
    • Slingshot (ages 15-18): Braiding Sweetgrass

    Did your choice win?

    If you’re new to Brave Writer, now you’ve got a great shopping list of literature programs to try! Go to our Literature Singles page and select one of our Customer Choice Award Winners. Grab the book that goes with it from the library and you’ll be set for at least a month!

    Thank you for another fantastic year of language epiphanies and Big Juicy Conversations!


    2022-2023 Book Reveal!

    Join us June 1 and 2 for the Big Bonanza Book Reveal! We’ll share the 2022–2023 line up of read aloud titles—and so much more!

    Also: Psst! We’re adding a level called Quill (5-7 year olds).

    Click the links to register for the Zoom webinars.

    • Programs for kids ages 5-10: Wed. June 1 (12:00 pm EDT, 9:00 am PDT)
    • Programs for kids ages 11-18: Thurs. June 2 (12:00 pm EDT, 9:00 am PDT)

    Or watch live on Facebook.

    Get ready for an incredible journey through literature in 2022-2023!

    Brave Writer Book Reveal

    Posted in BW products | Comments Off on Customer Choice Awards: The Winners!

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