Author Archive

How to Be an Awesome Adult with Christy Thomas

Brave Shift Podcast S3E5 Christy Thomas

Today’s podcast features homeschool mom and awesome adult Christy Thomas! Christy came on my radar when I noticed that she did such a great job of selfcare and making personal growth a priority. She’s a stellar homeschool mama who helps other parents prioritize fun, play, and connection in their relationships with their kids.

Episode 5: Christy Thomas

Christy is a homeschool mother of three, military wife, daily runner, and co-founder of the popular community Play4Life Moms! Her mission: bring play and joy into the homeschool experience. This episode discusses how you can not only homeschool but be an awesome adult in your own right—growing, learning, and expanding as a person right along with your children.

I can’t wait for you to meet her!

Listen to the Podcast

Download the show notes here.

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Tune in to the Brave Writer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher (or your app of choice), and here on the Brave Writer blog.

Would you please post a review on Apple Podcasts for us?
Help a homeschooler like you find more joy in the journey. Thanks!

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Podcast: Susan Wise Bauer!

Brave Writer Podcast Season 3 Episode 1 with Susan Wise Bauer

It’s with great pleasure that I share with you the dynamic conversation I had with Susan Wise Bauer (beloved author and notable educator). Susan talks about her own homeschooled childhood, her experience home educating her children, and her thoughts on the homeschool culture and how it’s changed over the decades.

[This post contains Amazon affiliate links. When you click on those links to make purchases,
Brave Writer receives compensation at no extra cost to you. Thank you!]

Susan is frank, down-to-earth, and articulate about what it takes to be a homeschooler. She offers support and strategies for a satisfying healthy homeschool.

She has a Ph.D. in history, has written more than 20 books (such as The Well-Trained Mind and The Story of the World series, and is considered an expert on classical education. Her own journey as homeschooled student to home educating parent to homeschool movement thought leader makes her uniquely qualified to comment on the homeschooling culture and its future.

I’m happy to welcome Susan to the Brave Writer podcast! Enjoy!

Listen to the Podcast

Download the FREE Podcast Transcript

You can also sign up for the show notes.

Download Show Notes

Want to be notified when a new podcast is released?
Sign up here.

Tune in to the Brave Writer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher (or your app of choice), and here on the Brave Writer blog.

Would you please post a review on Apple Podcasts for us?
Help a homeschooler like you find more joy in the journey. Thanks!

Brave Writer Season 3 Podcast

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7-Day Writing BLITZ!

Brave Writer's 7-Day Writing Blitz

Introducing the 7-Day Writing Blitz!

What is a 7-Day Writing Blitz? It’s about EXPLODING the dynamics around language and helping your kids take that deep plunge into writing in an invitational, fun, enchanted way. Because writing is not about performing for school; it’s about life and self-expression.

For seven straight days, your kids will write, but it’s going to surprise them. Our FREE PDF comes with seven days of manageable writing projects appropriate for all writing ages. These daily prompts will encourage your kids to

  • play with language,
  • use unconventional writing utensils and surfaces,
  • and cultivate good writing habits.

Also in our free packet we give you directions for how to build a Writing Blitz Jet Pack (pictured in the image above) to help you enchant the writing experience for your kids.Brave Writer's 7-Day Writing Blitz

Download the guide HERE

And if your child decides they want to change the prompts? Excellent! There are no rules in Brave Writer. This is about being brave.

 

#BW7DayBlitz

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Catching up with Peter Elbow

Catching up with Peter Elbow

Peter Elbow is one of our favorite people here at Brave Writer! His ideas and published works about writing have greatly influenced our philosophy and practices.

Although he does not take credit for creating the idea of freewriting, Dr. Elbow has helped to popularize the practice and bring it further into the public consciousness, for which we are very grateful. Freewriting is an essential component of the Brave Writer Lifestyle (check out our writing prompts every Friday!).

Dr. Elbow has a helpful website, which hosts a vast amount of information and resources including:

Take a look around the site and hopefully you’ll end up as big a fan of Dr. Elbow as we are. And while you’re at it, watch our interview with Dr. Elbow from 2016!

Learn more about Freewriting

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Expectation vs. Reality

Expectation vs Reality

by Homeschool Alliance coach Stephanie Elms

Nothing feels more critical than picking a curriculum or choosing a homeschool approach—we homeschool parents put so much time and energy (and worry!) into the decision! The good news is that families can and do make all forms of education work and there is nothing inherently right or wrong with whatever choices we try.

That said, sometimes our expectations of what homeschooling “should” look like can affect whether or not what we choose works for us. We naturally go into the process with a variety of expectations, such as having happy, compliant kids, maintaining a certain level of organization or having peaceful days filled with productive learning.

And then our expectations run smack into the wall of our reality.

The kids are anything but happy and compliant. We can’t seem to stay on top of it all despite our best efforts. Our day feels anything but peaceful as we get pulled this way and that by life’s ups and downs.

Then the doubt sets in. We start second guessing ourselves and telling ourselves that we or our kids are just not cut out for doing this. We wonder why we are struggling when it seems like everyone else has this all figured out.

Sound familiar?

So what do we do when this doubt inevitably creeps in? As paradoxically as it might seem, the more that we can “accept what is” and let go of our expectations, the easier it is to figure out a path forward.

We can trust that uncertainty is not a sign that we are doing something wrong but rather a natural (and integral) part of how the homeschooling process works.

We can learn to make peace with that uncertainty recognizing that it comes with the territory.

We can use these moments of self-doubt as opportunities to work on letting go of our illusion of control and as a reminder that we can trust that things will be okay.

So take a deep breath and remember that everything is not solely dependent on you. It is okay if you don’t do everything perfectly. It is okay if you don’t know exactly how everything will turn out.

Because that is where the magic happens—in the process of:

  • getting to know your kids
  • getting to know yourself
  • growing and learning together

Lucky for us, homeschooling is not about having it all figured out but rather about the process of discovery along the way.

The Brave Writer Philosophy

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