[Podcast #306] Challenge Accepted: An Interview with Chris Balme

Brave Writer Podcast

One of the major perks of homeschooling is that the middle-school years can be about adventure instead of awkwardness.

In this Brave Writer podcast episode, Melissa chats with author Chris Balme about his book, Challenge Accepted: 50 Adventures to Make Middle School Awesome. Balme’s book invites young readers to discover how trust, agency, and meaningful challenges transform “awkward years” into growth years.

Chris Balme
Chris Balme

Join us for a conversation about kid-driven adventures—stealth art, teaching what you know, citizen science, apprenticeships, and building from scratch.

Plus we talk about practical ways to:

  • close the gap between social perception and interpretation,
  • repair friendships,
  • and use side-by-side activities to spark conversation.

We also share why modeling a beginner’s mind (learning an instrument, sketching, coding) invites kids to try, fail, and try again.

Listen to the full episode to gather specific challenge ideas you can use this week and to reframe these years as the great adventure they are.

Show Notes

When we think of middle school, cultural messaging often paints it as the “awkward years,” something to simply survive. But what if we told a better story? That’s exactly what educator and author Chris Balme invites us to do in his new book Challenge Accepted: 50 Adventures to Make Middle School Awesome.

Chris has spent more than two decades working with adolescents, founding innovative schools and training parents and teachers. His mission is to reframe these years as one of the most magical and formative stages of human growth, rather than a gauntlet to endure. His perspective resonates with our Brave Writer philosophy: middle schoolers deserve trust, agency, and meaningful challenges that help them see themselves as capable and valued.

From “get through it” to “step into it”

Chris reminds us that middle schoolers are the “ultimate underdogs”—underestimated and often misunderstood. Their social awareness turns on almost overnight, leaving them flooded with new perceptions but little guidance on interpretation. This can make them vulnerable to overreacting, misjudging, or retreating. Yet, it’s also the perfect moment to equip them with the tools of resilience, relationship repair, and courage.

Instead of assuming they can’t handle responsibility, Chris urges us to give them challenges that matter. Whether it’s apprenticing with a neighbor, running a student café, or staging a protest march, kids light up when they realize adults trust them to contribute.

Adventures that build confidence

In Challenge Accepted, Chris offers 50 practical adventures that middle schoolers can take on their own or with friends. These aren’t worksheets—they’re invitations into real life.

  • Be a stealth artist. Create and secretly “install” art in your community in playful, respectful ways.
  • Share what you know. Teach others about your passion—whether it’s Greek mythology, coding, or skateboarding.
  • Become a citizen scientist. Contribute to real research by logging birds, weather, or online data.
  • Build something from scratch. A treehouse, a business, a Rube Goldberg machine—the process matters more than perfection.
  • Forgive someone. Practice repairing friendships, an essential life skill often overlooked in adolescence.

Each adventure signals trust: We believe you are capable. And that message is what middle schoolers most need to hear.

Parallel growth—for kids and parents

One of our favorite takeaways from Chris is the reminder that kids watch how we approach challenges ourselves. When we pick up a cello, a guitar, or a sketchbook and let them see us fumble forward, we normalize imperfection. We show them it’s safe to begin again.

At Brave Writer, we call this the Building Confidence stage. Chris’s adventures align beautifully with our writing projects and practices, which emphasize real-world expression and connection. Together, we can rewrite the cultural script from “just survive” to “make it an adventure.”

Middle school doesn’t have to be a time of dread. With the right guidance—and the right adventures—it can become a story worth remembering.

Resources

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Produced by NOVA

Brave Writer Podcast

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