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Get Ready to FLEX!

Brave Writer Online Classes

Summer is a great time to: 

  • Wander down a learning rabbit trail 
  • Sharpen skills ahead of fall
  • Learn at a leisurely pace with our FLEX classes. (Keep reading!)

FLEX Online Writing Classes!

Back by popular demand: our Brave Writer FLEX classes, which help you flex your schedule around the rest of life …or just let you slow down the pace of our regular courses.

The details:

  • Take five weeks to complete your four-week class, scheduling around vacations, camps, and other summer fun.
  • Or just go “slo-mo,” giving your student more time with the material. 
  • Decide on the due dates that work best for you and your family. Your coach is ready when you are.
  • Grab this option while you can: FLEX classes are only offered in summer!   

Our students have been enthusiastic about this! 

“I liked this course better than the classes that I’ve taken in the past because of the amount of freedom I had. The way I was able to submit my work in my own time was great for me.” – Justin

Grab that free and easy feeling for yourself and make your schooling work for you.

We’ve got four FLEX options: 

Brave Writer Online Classes

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[Podcast #337] Life Skills

Brave Writer Podcast

What do our kids actually need to know before they leave home? 

In this Brave Writer podcast episode, we explore the everyday life skills that often get overlooked, from tying shoes and folding laundry to handling money, filling out forms, speaking with customer service, hosting guests, managing time, and learning how to do what life requires next.

We talk about why practical competence is part of education, not separate from it, and why homeschooling gives us a beautiful chance to teach these skills in real life, at the right moment. 

Join us for a conversation about raising capable, confident kids who know how to participate fully in the world.

Show Notes

Why Life Skills Matter in Homeschooling

For many of us, education was shaped by categories: academic subjects belonged in school, while the practical parts of life were picked up somewhere else, somehow, later. We learned to think of reading, writing, and math as the real work, and everything else as secondary.

But that division has never made much sense.

Children do not live in separate compartments. They live one whole life. They need to know how to read, yes, but also how to button a shirt, fold a towel, speak to a receptionist, make a snack, write a thank-you note, and solve the small daily problems that make up ordinary human life.

That kind of competence matters more than we sometimes realize.

Life skills are already part of learning

One of the gifts of homeschooling is that we are not limited to a narrow definition of education. Learning can happen while sorting socks, setting the table, addressing an envelope, measuring flour, filling out a form, or checking the air in a tire.

A child learning to zip a coat is learning. A child folding laundry is learning. A child comparing prices at the grocery store, helping cancel a subscription, or practicing how to order food in a restaurant is learning too.

These moments may not look like formal lessons, but they are full of attention, memory, coordination, and judgment. They build familiarity with the world. They help children feel less intimidated by daily life because they have already had a chance to participate in it.

When we notice that, we begin to see practical competence not as a distraction from education, but as one of the ways education becomes real.

Start with what children can actually do

Life skills do not have to wait until children are older. In fact, many of them are easiest to teach when children are young and eager to imitate the grown-ups around them.

A young child can learn to tie bows, use scissors, snap buttons, sort clothing, fold napkins, wipe a table, or help set out plates and cups. These are small tasks, but they carry real weight. They strengthen dexterity, coordination, and confidence. They let a child feel useful.

As children grow, the skills can grow with them. Typing, baking, laundry, handling tools, filling out forms, learning phone etiquette, managing money, reading a calendar, and breaking large assignments into smaller pieces all become part of that wider education.

The point is not to hand children adult responsibility all at once. It is to let them grow into capability, one meaningful task at a time.

Practical competence builds confidence

Children feel more secure when they know how to do things.

That does not mean they need to do everything perfectly. It means they need experience. They need chances to try, to fumble, to ask questions, and to try again. They need to see that mistakes are part of learning, not proof that they are incapable.

This is one reason life skills matter so deeply. A child who knows how to speak to a cashier, write a check, use a screwdriver, make toast, or organize a school deadline begins to trust that unfamiliar tasks can be learned too.

That trust is the deeper lesson.

We are not only teaching children how to complete household tasks. We are teaching them that they are able to meet life as it comes.

The goal is not just knowledge, but participation

It is easy to let modern life become too abstract. We can watch videos about how to do something, save ideas for later, admire the finished result, and still never actually begin. Children can drift into the same pattern, especially when so much of life now happens on screens.

Homeschooling gives us a chance to move in a different direction.

We can invite children to participate. To stir the batter, make the call, address the envelope, greet the guest, clean the table, plant the flower, read the instructions, and solve the problem in front of them. We can let them experience learning as something lived, not merely observed.

What we want is bigger than independence for its own sake. We want children who feel at home in the world. Children who know that learning is not only about mastering subjects, but also about becoming capable, generous, attentive human beings.

Homeschooling does not only prepare children for life later.

It lets them begin living it now.

Resources

Connect with Julie

Connect with Melissa

Produced by NOVA

Brave Writer Podcast

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Homeschool Without Indoctrination

Brave Learning

One of the topics I want to talk about is the current stream that I keep running across of antipathy toward homeschooling in general.

People who are pronouncing loudly on social media that there should never be any homeschooling, homeschooling is all indoctrination, homeschooling is always by unqualified adults and they are doing a disservice to children by pretending they can educate them.

But there is a way to home educate without indoctrinating. Watch this replay of a recent Brave Learning Substack live to find out how.

Brave Learning

Subscribe to Brave Learning on Substack where we chat, discuss, problem-solve, and create together. Here’s what you can expect: weekly themed content, freewriting prompts, and a podcast for kiddos called Monday Morning Meeting (first 6 are free)! 

Brave Learning with Julie Bogart on Substack

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Teaching Punctuation the Brave Writer Way: Commas

Brave Writer

Want a look at how Brave Writer teaches punctuation? Below is one example.

For commas, we start by making a passage make no sense so that when a child goes to make corrections, it is to improve the meaning and intelligibility of that passage.

Teaching Tip

Want to teach about commas?

  • Pick a short passage from a favorite book.
  • Do a little violence to it by putting a bunch of commas in lots of WRONG places.
  • Read aloud the passage, pausing for each comma.
  • Notice how that harms the writing (interrupts the natural flow, makes the meaning difficult, etc.)
  • Now, remove all of the commas.
  • Read aloud the passage again, not pausing at all.
  • Notice what that does to the writing (makes it hard to understand, sounds monotonous, etc.)
  • Finally, hand a copy of the passage with no commas to your child and ask them to add commas in the places where “it feels right.”
  • Talk how that helps the writing (sounds more natural, makes the meaning clearer, etc.)

Remember, teaching the “right” way by showing the “wrong” way first can help! It’s one of the strategies that makes grammar, punctuation, and spelling instruction stick.

Brave Writer

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[Podcast #336] Do You Suffer From an Adventure Deficit?

Brave Writer Podcast

What if the crankiness in your homeschool isn’t a behavior problem at all, but an adventure deficit? 

In this Brave Writer podcast episode, we explore how too much routine can flatten a family’s energy and how a little surprise, novelty, and wonder can bring learning back to life. We share simple ways to add adventure at home, outside, in literature, in language, and even on rainy days, plus ideas for building an “adventure list” before you need one.

Along the way, we talk about wonder walls, theater games, jump rope, gardening, punctuation, and the hilarious flow chart that asks the all-important question: “But did you die?” Listen in, then come share your own adventure ideas with us.

Show Notes

When Homeschooling Needs More Adventure

For many of us, learning was shaped by routine: sit down, do the assignment, finish the lesson, move on. There is comfort in rhythm, and children do benefit from knowing what to expect.

But routine is only part of a healthy learning life.

Children also need surprise. They need mystery, movement, novelty, and the feeling that something interesting might happen. They need moments that wake them up to the world again. When those moments disappear, homeschool can start to feel flat, even when everything is technically going fine.

That shift matters more than we sometimes realize.

Adventure is already part of learning

One of the gifts of homeschooling is that we are not limited to a classroom schedule or a narrow idea of what counts as education. Learning can happen in the kitchen, in the backyard, on a walk, during a thunderstorm, or while trying something that feels just a little unexpected.

A child pouring milk onto a plate and watching colors spread through it is learning. A child planting seeds in a clear cup and checking daily for roots is learning. A child jumping rope, making a paper chain of activities, or comparing old cartoons to modern ones is learning too.

These moments may not look like formal lessons, but they are full of attention, memory, and connection. They ask something of the child. They invite participation. They make room for wonder.

When we notice that, we begin to see adventure not as a break from learning, but as one of the ways learning comes alive.

Make room for surprise and discovery

Children understand more deeply when they are engaged by something real. Sometimes that means touching, making, testing, building, or observing. Sometimes it simply means doing something different enough to restore energy.

That might look like drawing with washable markers on bathtub walls, going outside in the rain with boots and buckets, using wet sidewalk chalk, or visiting a part of town you have never explored before. It might mean acting out a fable, recording a silly voiceover for the family pet, baking something special on a rainy afternoon, or turning a question into an experiment.

The point is not to invent elaborate activities every day. It is to notice when the atmosphere needs fresh air.

Children often show us when that moment has arrived. The clues are familiar: glazed eyes, bickering, fidgeting, sudden irritability, resistance to every small task. We may assume we are dealing with bad attitudes or lack of discipline. Sometimes we are simply seeing what happens when a family needs a little more adventure.

Wonder matters as much as structure

Of course, children need rhythm. Family life cannot run on novelty alone. Routines help us return to what matters, and many parts of learning do require consistency, repetition, and follow-through.

But structure works best when it supports life rather than flattening it.

Adventure brings back the sense that learning is connected to the real world. It invites children to ask questions, take risks, notice details, and stay open to what they do not yet know. A good question can do as much as a good lesson. A surprising moment can open more than an explanation.

This is why it helps to collect ideas before you need them. An adventure list, a jar of activity slips, or a wall of questions can give you somewhere to turn when the mood in your homeschool begins to sag. You do not have to create magic on demand. You can prepare for it.

Create an environment that welcomes curiosity

Sometimes the activity itself is simple, but the invitation makes the difference.

A candle at the table. A tray of face paint. A stack of Post-it notes for questions. A jump rope on the porch. A new walking route. A bowl of art supplies. A family challenge to notice something strange, beautiful, or unexplained.

These small choices shift the emotional atmosphere. They tell children that learning is not only about finishing. It is also about exploring.

We do not need to make every day dramatic. But we can make room for enchantment.

Help children experience learning as a living thing

What we want is bigger than cooperation. We want children who are alert to the world, willing to wonder, and able to follow a question into deeper understanding. We want them to know that learning is not confined to books and assignments. It lives in observation, experimentation, conversation, creativity, and play.

When we nurture adventure, we are doing more than adding fun to the week. We are helping our children reconnect with energy, curiosity, and delight.

Homeschool does not always need a new curriculum.

Sometimes it needs a question, a rainy walk, a kitchen experiment, a theater game, a jump rope, a wall of questions, or a child who wants to know what will happen if.

Resources

Connect with Julie

Connect with Melissa

Produced by NOVA

Brave Writer Podcast

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