Brave Writer News: January 2026

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[Podcast #324] The Practice of Active Wondering

Brave Writer Podcast

What happens when we slow down long enough to really wonder?

In this Brave Writer podcast episode, we explore the difference between rabbit trails and rabbit holes—and why both matter in learning and in life. From telephone poles and faded signs to classic children’s literature and everyday neighborhood mysteries, we reflect on how curiosity deepens when we resist quick answers and allow questions to linger.

We talk about:

  • active wondering,
  • mental stillness,
  • and the surprising richness of slow learning in a fast world.

Join us as we rediscover how noticing, wondering, and waiting can transform ordinary moments into meaningful education.

Show Notes

Some of the most meaningful learning moments don’t begin with a lesson plan. They begin with noticing.

When we give ourselves permission to slow down, to look closely at something ordinary, and to ask questions without rushing toward answers, we step into what we like to call active wondering. This kind of curiosity isn’t passive. It’s deliberate, embodied, and alive.

Active wondering shows up when a child stares at a manhole cover and asks who put it there. It shows up when a family notices the numbers stamped on a telephone pole and starts asking why they exist at all. These moments may look like nothing is happening, but something profound is unfolding beneath the surface.

Rabbit Trails and Rabbit Holes

Learning often moves in two complementary ways. Sometimes curiosity skips from one idea to another, forming connections across subjects. These are rabbit trails. One question leads to another, then another, until a web of understanding begins to take shape.

Other times, interest pulls us into a deep dive. A single subject captures attention for weeks or months. That’s a rabbit hole. This kind of immersion allows for mastery, intimacy, and sustained focus.

Both are valuable. Together, they create a learning life that has both breadth and depth.

The Case for Slower Questions

We live in a time when nearly every answer is seconds away. That convenience is extraordinary. It’s also disruptive.

When we look things up too quickly, we sometimes lose the chance to live with a question. We skip the wondering and jump straight to the conclusion. In doing so, we miss the mental work that builds meaning, memory, and connection.

Slow questions invite observation. They ask us to notice patterns, gather context, talk with others, and return to an idea again and again. The answer matters less than the path we take to reach it.

Stillness Is Not Idleness

Active wondering requires space. That space often looks like stillness.

A child sitting quietly may not be disengaged. They may be thinking, imagining, or assembling ideas that haven’t yet found words. When we rush to fill silence with tasks or explanations, we interrupt that process.

Stillness is where creativity is born. It’s where questions arise in the first place.

Seeing the World Anew

Once we practice active wondering, the world becomes richer. Infrastructure turns into history. Small details open doors to big stories. A neighborhood walk becomes an exploration.

We don’t need special materials or elaborate plans. We only need time, attention, and the courage to let questions remain unanswered for a while.

When we model this way of learning for our children, we give them something lasting: the habit of noticing, the patience to wonder, and the confidence to follow curiosity wherever it leads.

Resources

Connect with Julie

Connect with Melissa

Produced by NOVA

Brave Writer Podcast

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Student Spotlights

Brave Writer Student Spotlights

Need inspiration? Here’s a look at some of our amazing Brave Writers!

Beginning Writers (ages 5-7)

Emerging Writers (ages 8-10)

Middle School Writers (ages 11-12)

High School Writers & College Prep (ages 13-18)

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Are Home Educators Entrepreneurs?

Brave Writer

I see you!

It takes courage and a little naive confidence to homeschool.

Your faith in the idea that you can create a learning experience for your kids that rivals (or betters!) school is often seen as reckless.

That’s just how entrepreneurs feel and are often seen.

“What a harebrained idea!”
“What makes you think you can do that?”

Despite the nay-sayers, somehow you know you can homeschool! I admire that—entrepreneur to entrepreneur! I believe in your courage and your confidence.

Like a new business owner, it does help to get support and training to do a great job. Brave Writer would love to help you grow your homeschool vision. Join our community, Brave Learner Home, and create a homeschool that brings both joy and academic achievement.

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[Podcast #323] Silent Reading Parties

Brave Writer Podcast

What if the most powerful way to strengthen focus, creativity, and connection in your home is…quiet?

In this Brave Writer podcast episode, we explore the growing trend of silent reading parties and why shared, sustained reading helps both kids and adults reclaim attention in a scrolling world.

We talk about:

  • body doubling,
  • device fatigue,
  • reading rituals that actually work,
  • and how simple practices like DEAR time or candlelit reading can change the rhythm of a homeschool day.

If your family struggles to settle into books, this conversation offers gentle, practical ways to read together again. Join us—and then grab a book.

Show Notes

We are surrounded by noise that doesn’t sound loud. Notifications, infinite feeds, constant refresh. Even when a room is quiet, our minds are trained to anticipate interruption. That’s why sitting down with a book can feel strangely uncomfortable, for us and for our kids.

One gentle antidote is something surprisingly simple: reading together in silence.

Silent reading isn’t new. Many of us remember Sustained Silent Reading or DEAR time from school, moments when the entire room paused and everyone entered a book at once. What we’re seeing now is a revival of that practice in a fresh form: silent reading parties. Groups gather in bookstores, pubs, living rooms, or libraries, not to discuss books but to read quietly side by side.

What makes this so effective is shared focus.

Reading as a Shared Practice

There’s a concept called body doubling, where doing a task alongside someone else helps regulate attention. It’s not about instruction or accountability. It’s about presence. When everyone in the room is reading, the nervous system settles. There’s nothing else to miss, nowhere else to be.

This works beautifully in homeschool families. When parents read alongside their kids instead of multitasking, reading becomes visible. A physical book or e-reader sends a different message than a phone, even if the phone technically holds a book. Kids read what we model.

We’ve found that setting the stage matters. Lighting a candle. Setting a short timer. Removing phones from the room entirely. Even five minutes can be enough to help the brain drop in. Once that threshold is crossed, longer stretches often follow naturally.

Attention Is a Skill

Many kids today have never experienced being lost in a book. That isn’t a failure of character. It’s a reflection of the environments we all inhabit. Sustained attention has to be practiced.

Sometimes that practice looks unconventional. Chewing crunchy snacks while reading can help some kids focus. Switching between poetry, nonfiction, and stories during a single reading session can lower resistance. Reading doesn’t have to be linear to be meaningful.

What matters is helping kids notice how attention works and giving them safe places to stretch it.

Reading Feeds Creativity

When we talk about protecting reading time, we aren’t defending nostalgia. We’re making space for creativity, interior life, and original thought. Books ask us to stay. To follow an idea all the way through. To inhabit someone else’s perspective long enough for it to change us.

In homeschooling, choosing reading is a statement of trust. Trust that:

  • learning happens through relationship,
  • not everything meaningful can be measured,
  • and when kids are nourished by ideas, language, and story, growth follows.

A silent reading party doesn’t need decorations or discussion questions. It just needs a shared agreement: for this time, we read. Together. Quietly. And let that be enough.

Resources

Connect with Julie

Connect with Melissa

Produced by NOVA

Brave Writer Podcast

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Writing and Your Child’s Mental Health

Brave Writer

We think we’re teaching our kids how to write for academic achievement, but what if we’re actually teaching kids how to write for their mental health?

To help their clients stabilize internal chaos, clinicians use:

  • journaling,
  • freewriting prompts,
  • poetry,
  • and the communication game.

Foundaton of Self-Awareness

The art of writing and self-examination create a foundation of self-awareness that leads to mental health.

So why try a traditional writing program that has proven to damage the mental health of so many students? I’m not being a alarmist. Adults everywhere tell me their stories of the damage caused by a writing instructor in their lives. The evaluation model of writing instruction is failing so many.

Yet writing is one of the most important and effective tools for mental health and recovery.

If your kids learn to write because it helps them know themselves, they may never need it as a recovery tool, but as an ongoing conversation with themselves that leads them to self-confidence and a feeling of personal power.

Liberate your kids to enjoy writing! And if you need support, Brave Writer is here to help.

This post was originally shared on Instagram.
Watch the accompanying reel for more.

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