Brave Writer Lifestyle Archives - A Brave Writer's Life in Brief A Brave Writer's Life in Brief
  • Start Here
    • For Families
      Multiple Ages
    • Ages 5-7
      Beginning Writers
    • Ages 8-10
      Emerging Writers
    • Ages 11-12
      Middle School Writers
    • Ages 13-14
      High School Writers
    • Ages 15-18
      College Prep Writers
  • Digital Products
    • Core Products
    • Bundles
    • Literature Singles
    • Practice Pages
    • Homeschool Help
    • Special Offers
  • Online Classes
    • Class Descriptions
    • Class Schedule
    • Classroom
    • How Our Classes Work
    • Our Writing Coaches
    • Classes FAQ
  • Community
    • Brave Learner Home
    • Blog
    • Podcast
    • Calendar
    • Brave Writer's Day Off
  • Cart
  • My Account
    • My Online Classes
    • My Account
  • My Account
    • My Online Classes
    • My Account
  • Start Here

    If you’re new to Brave Writer, or are looking for the best products for your child or family, choose from below:

    • For Families
      Multiple Ages
    • Ages 5-7
      Beginning Writers
    • Ages 8-10
      Emerging Writers
    • Ages 11-12
      Middle School Writers
    • Ages 13-14
      High School Writers
    • Ages 15-18
      College Prep Writers
  • Digital Products

    If you’re already familiar with Brave Writer products, go directly to what you’re looking for:

    • Core Products
    • Bundles
    • Literature Singles
    • Practice Pages
    • Homeschool Help
    • Special Offers
  • Online Classes
    • Class Descriptions
    • Class Schedule
    • Classroom
    • How Our Classes Work
    • Our Writing Coaches
    • Classes FAQ
  • Community
    • Brave Learner Home
    • Blog
    • Podcast
    • Calendar
    • Brave Writer's Day Off
  • Search
  • Cart

Search Bravewriter.com

  • Home
  • Blog

A Brave Writer's Life in Brief

Thoughts from my home to yours

Archive for the ‘Brave Writer Lifestyle’ Category

« Older Entries

Waste Time Talking

Brave Writer Waste Time Talking

We’ve talked about how we should Waste Time Learning.

Now let’s talk about talking.

Did you know that the most effective tool for learning is big, juicy conversations with you?

More learning happens on the drive to the dentist’s and at the lunch table than anywhere else. You get to give your child the tutorial, one-on-one (sometimes six-on-one!) conversation that allows them to do some pretty huge things as far as learning is concerned.

Some examples:

  • Narrate what they understand.
  • Ask questions.
  • Use new vocabulary.
  • Make connections.
  • Imagine scenarios.
  • Apply what they understand to new contexts.
  • Discover what an adult thinks about that topic.
  • Face contradictions and controversies.
  • Add depth and complexity to understanding.

All that and a bag of chips! (*chips not included)


This post is originally from Instagram and @juliebravewriter is my account there so come follow along for more conversations like this one!


Brave Learner Home

Posted in Brave Writer Lifestyle | Comments Off on Waste Time Talking

Amusement Day!

Brave Writer

Could amusement be the antidote to weariness?

I don’t know the evidence-based answer to that question. But does it matter if we know for sure? It’s worth the experiment!

If burnout can be caused by chronic exposure to emotionally draining environments, then flip it. Fill your cup with some fun!

So have an “Amusement Day!”

Literally, put amusement on your calendar if you need to.


More Inspiration

It’s Okay to Have Fun
Are We Having Fun Yet?
Put Fun on the Schedule—for YOU!


Brave Learner Home

Posted in Brave Writer Lifestyle | Comments Off on Amusement Day!

Reading Aloud: Connecting to Life Itself

Brave Writer Reading Aloud

Reading aloud is more than getting through the chapters to the end. Reading to your children is a chance for them to experience you—your values, your priorities, your heartfelt connection to life itself.

My daughter Johannah called me from college. “That’s why you cried,” she said.

Johannah had always wondered why I couldn’t get through the end of Charlotte’s Web without leaking tears. It’s that final sentence. It gets me every time.

“It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.”

Charlotte was both—sob! I’m all choked up again.

When Johannah was a child, this line seemed like a matter-of-fact statement about Charlotte. Johannah wondered what feelings I was having that she wasn’t. As a newly minted college student, Johannah reread the book to find out. Cue adulthood, and she experienced a different reaction to those legendary lines. She saw their poignancy, the subtle way E.B. White affirmed writers for their craft, and the power of loyalty in friendship until death. Values—she now understood—demonstrated in my tears, a decade earlier.

When we read to our kids, we aren’t just conveying words or a narrative. Our living, breathing reactions make impressions too. We:

  • show an appreciation for courage or hardship,
  • laugh at the plays on words,
  • smile with delight at alliterative phrases,
  • demonstrate surprise or moral outrage.

Our children, listening along, take in the story and adult response—both. Even when they don’t quite “get it yet.” These shared experiences with you form the bedrock of their values.

Next time you feel a little chagrined by your inability to read without tears streaming down your cheeks—let them flow. Let your children see the good, compassionate, sensitive feeling the story evokes from you.

That’s half the lesson.


Brave Learner Home

Posted in Brave Writer Lifestyle, Living Literature | Comments Off on Reading Aloud: Connecting to Life Itself

Brave Writer Listicle!

Brave Writer LIsticle

17 Things Only Brave Writer Homeschoolers Would Know

1. Wrinkled paper makes a freer writer.

2. A chair is essential to teaching prepositions.

3. The term “Elbow” is not a mid-joint in your arm.

4. Weapons make perfectly appropriate names for children’s curriculum.

5. Planning from behind does not involve toilet paper.

6. It takes more time to prep poetry teatime than to do it.

7. Copywork is better by candlelight.

8. Brave Writer lets parents be dictators—get it?

9. Dotty has an art table in your living room, even though you’ve never met Dotty.

10. Your lesson planner is a BINGO card.

11. If Brave Writer initially confuses your school-brain, you’re doing it right!

12. Writing in lipstick on a mirror counts.

13. Doing “not enough” is just enough.

14. Brownie mix is on the back-to-school materials list.

15. Watching the movie first is a legit book club.

16. Mouths are full of big juicy conversations, not hamburgers.

17. You’re haunted by the Ghost of Public School Past…less.


Brave Learner Home

Posted in Brave Writer Lifestyle | Comments Off on Brave Writer Listicle!

7 Key Ideas

7 Key Ideas

There are 7 key ideas (or so) that are good to know when practicing a Brave Writer Lifestyle.

Key Ideas

1. Jot down your child’s words when you hear an act of spontaneous passionate self expression. Value your child’s thoughts and get them written. Read them back later to an interested audience (family). Watch your child discover joy at being read and a reason to write.

2. Immerse your children in a language-rich environment—books, poetry teatime, big juicy conversations, movies, comic books, jokes, and lots of writing implements to explore.

3. You create an invisible education for your child with the atmosphere of your home and family life. Kindness matters. So does telling the truth and not pretending. Give your children a healthy family life, and improve the quality of your homeschool. Get help if you need it—no shame in that.

4. You get one life. It matters that you like the one you’re living. Home educating your kids can be a grand adventure—yours. When it stops feeling that way, find out why and make adjustments. No child wants to be the source of a parent’s unhappiness.

5. Your curiosity is enough for your homeschool and is just as important as your child’s (could be argued that it’s more important). Trust it to lead you.

6. Do one thing. Just one. Prepare. Do it well. Be present. Remember it fondly. Then do another thing.

7. Homeschooling is cutting-edge education reform. You are Charlotte Mason or John Holt. You and your family are testing and experimenting with new tactics every day, and will contribute insights to the project of education for all. Thank you for risking your kids. I salute you!


This post is originally from Instagram and @juliebravewriter is my account there so come follow along for more conversations like this one!


Brave Learner Home

Posted in Brave Writer Lifestyle | Comments Off on 7 Key Ideas

« Older Entries
  • Search the Blog

  • Julie Bogart
  • Welcome, I’m Julie Bogart.

    I’m a homeschooling alum -17 years, five kids. Now I run Brave Writer, the online writing and language arts program for families. More >>

    IMPORTANT: Please read our Privacy Policy.

  • New to Brave Writer? START HERE

  • FREE Resources

    • 7-Day Writing Blitz
    • Brave Writer Lifestyle Program
    • Brave Writer Sampler: Free Sample Products
    • Freewriting Prompts
    • Podcasts
  • Popular Posts

    • You have time
    • How writing is like sewing
    • Best curriculum for a 6 year old
    • Today's little unspoken homeschool secret
    • Do you like to homeschool?
    • Don't trust the schedule
    • You want to do a good job parenting?
    • If you've got a passel of kids
    • You are not a teacher
    • Natural Stages of Growth in Writing podcasts
  • Blog Topics

    • Brave Learner Home
    • Brave Writer Lifestyle
    • Classes
    • Contests/Giveaways
    • Friday Freewrite
    • High School
    • Homeschool Advice
    • Julie's Life
    • Language Arts
    • Movie Wednesday
    • Natural Stages of Growth
    • One Thing Principle
    • Our Team
    • Parenting
    • Philosophy of Education
    • Podcasts
    • Poetry Teatime
    • Products
    • Reviews
    • Speaking Schedule
    • Students
    • Writing about Writing
    • Young Writers
  • Archives

  • Brave Writer is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees (at no extra cost to you) by advertising and linking to amazon.com

    Content © Brave Writer unless otherwise stated.

What is Brave Writer?

  • Welcome to Brave Writer
  • Why Brave Writer Works
  • About Julie
  • Brave Writer Values
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Speaking Schedule

Brave Writer Program

  • Getting Started!
  • Stages of Growth in Writing
  • The Brave Writer Program
  • For Families and Students
  • Online Classes
  • Brave Writer Lifestyle

…and More!

  • Blog
  • Classroom
  • Store
  • Books in Brave Writer Programs
  • Contact Us
  • Customer Service
© 2025 Brave Writer
Privacy Policy
Children's Privacy Policy
Help Center