Brave Writer News: January 2026

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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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NEW: Independent Study Courses!

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In an era of rapid-fire information and high academic stakes, the most radical thing a teen can do is become a master of the message—no matter the medium.

That’s why Brave Writer created our new Independent Study Courses. These are:

  • self-paced,
  • instructor-free,
  • and designed to let your student lead their own learning.

Our current courses are designed for teens ages 13-18.

Let’s dive in!

MLA Research Essay

Designed for older teens

Think: “No-stress” college prep. The Modern Language Association (MLA) sets the gold standard for scholarly writing. We don’t just teach your teen how to follow MLA rules to write a properly formatted essay; we teach them how to join a global conversation.

This course empowers your teen to take a stand on an issue they care about and back it up with the authority of expert evidence. We teach a repeatable, high-level process your teen can use to thrive in academic writing courses for years to come.

  • The Skills: Analyzing credible sources, using research to enhance thinking, crafting and proving a persuasive thesis, and mastering citations
  • The Outcome: A 1,500–2,000-word argumentative paper that fits any academic purpose

Media Literacy

Designed for ages 13-18

Think: “Safety goggles” for the internet. Our teens are swimming in a digital ocean of deepfakes and clickbait. They don’t need “internet rules” (which are obsolete by next Tuesday) to stay afloat. They need critical thinking muscles.

In this course, we turn your teens into media analyzers and then creators. With this approach, they will understand exactly how they are being influenced as consumers.

  • The Skills: Analyzing creator bias, “reading” audio and visual inputs, and engaging in persuasive digital storytelling.
  • The Outcome: An original Public Service Announcement (PSA) that uses imagery, sound, and scriptwriting to move an audience.
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[Podcast #322] Parenting a Spicy One with Mary Van Geffen

Brave Writer Podcast

What if your child’s hardest behaviors aren’t a problem to fix, but an invitation to grow?

In this Brave Writer podcast episode, we sit down with Mary Van Geffen, author of Parenting a Spicy One, to explore what it really means to raise a strong-willed, sensitive, or explosive child.

Mary Van Geffen
Mary Van Geffen

We talk about:

  • nervous systems,
  • repair after blow-ups,
  • and why slowing down is often the most effective parenting move.

You’ll hear practical strategies, deeply humane insights, and a reframing of “difficult” kids that just might change everything. Join us, and let’s rethink what supportive parenting can look like.

Show Notes

Some children arrive in our lives with intensity dialed all the way up. They ask more questions, feel more deeply, resist more strongly, and react more loudly. Parenting these kids can leave us wondering whether we’re doing something wrong or whether we’re simply not cut out for the job. That’s where the idea of the “spicy one” becomes such a relief.

What Is a “Spicy One”?

A spicy one isn’t a bad child or even a particularly unusual one. A spicy one is the child who presses directly against our own edges. Their behavior exposes our stress, our wounds, our exhaustion, and our expectations. In other words, the challenge isn’t just who they are. It’s what their nervous system stirs up in ours.

When we frame things this way, the focus shifts. Instead of asking how to fix the child, we start asking what’s happening inside us when things go off the rails. That shift alone can soften so much shame.

Why Parenting Feels Harder Than It Looks

When parenting feels most difficult, the instinct is often to move faster. We raise our voices, tighten control, and search for better techniques. But speed rarely brings clarity. What actually helps is slowing down enough to notice what’s fueling the reaction.

Time pressure, financial stress, feeling watched by others, or carrying unresolved trauma can all magnify a child’s behavior. Naming those pressures doesn’t excuse our reactions, but it does help us respond with more intention and less panic.

The Power of the Conscious Pause

One of the most practical tools we can develop is the conscious pause. This isn’t about shutting down or walking away forever. It’s about creating just enough space to regulate ourselves before responding.

That pause might involve movement, breathing, or sensing what’s happening in your body. Are your shoulders tight? Is your jaw clenched? Are you reacting to the child in front of you, or to the fear that this moment defines your entire parenting story? Slowing down gives us options we don’t have when we’re flooded.

Why Repair Matters More Than Perfection

None of us parents perfectly, and our kids don’t need perfection. They need repair. Repair means returning to the child after a rupture, naming the impact of our behavior without justifying it, and explaining how we’ll try again next time.

When we repair, we teach something powerful: relationships can stretch, break a little, and still be safe. That lesson builds trust far more deeply than always getting it right.

Rethinking Praise and Affirmation

Many parents rely on praise to communicate love, but praise often focuses on performance. For strong-willed kids especially, that can feel hollow or even pressuring. Affirmation works differently. It names who a child is, not just what they did.

Persistent. Curious. Open-hearted. Brave. When children hear those truths reflected back to them, they begin to internalize them. They don’t need to earn belonging; they already have it.

What Spicy Kids Teach Us

These kids often grow into adults with vision, courage, and leadership. But long before that, they teach us something essential about being human. They invite us to slow down, stay present, and love without conditions.

Parenting a spicy one isn’t about producing a polished outcome. It’s about showing up again and again with curiosity, humility, and care. And in the process, we often become the steadier, braver people our kids needed all along.

Resources

Connect with Julie

Connect with Melissa

Produced by NOVA

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Homeschooling Can Take It!

Brave Writer

Some homeschoolers mistakenly believe that we can parent and home educate unimpeachably. If anyone ever seems unhappy, we’re failing.

But let’s normalize…

  • boredom
  • reluctance
  • an unfinished art project
  • math pages that are too hard or too easy
  • a book no one likes
  • wandering attention
  • lackluster enthusiasm for fill-in-the-blank

Homeschooling is sturdy enough to take it!

In those moments when it does all come together and the magic occurs, those memories are like pearls strung on a necklace.

They linger. They last.

You can make the entire journey that way—lots of misses, a pearl every so often, eyes on the future, heart in the present on this amazing journey called life and learning.

Remember: most of us don’t know what we’re doing. We learn as we go with both notable failures and astonishing triumphs!

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Spark Children’s Creativity through Writing

Brave Writer

What if the real magic of learning isn’t found in a curriculum, but in the relationship between a child, a parent, and an idea?

In this episode of the Outspoken podcast, Julie Bogart, CEO and Founder of Brave Writer, talks about why protecting a child’s authentic writing voice matters more than teaching to evaluation. Julie:

  • provides suggestions for how parents can act as coaches who nurture insight rather than enforce correctness.
  • discusses AI and its impact on kids’ ability to think and struggle productively.
  • and explores how homeschooling has evolved and why relational learning outperforms traditional schooling. 

Tune in to hear how Julie is reshaping the future of writing and home education!

Here’s a clip from the episode:

Resources

Connect with Julie

Help! My Kid Hates Writing

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