A Brave Writer's Life in Brief

“The problem—as I’ve said for years—is that it is hardly ever possible to separate what we think about something from how we feel about it.” ~John Holt

One of my favorite John Holt quotes. I remember being taken with the idea that our feelings provide the ground floor of our relationship to any subject.

I often tell parents who’ve neglected writing, at least they haven’t damaged their writers!

When you want to incite interest, pair the subject with a

• nurturing,
• surprising,
• mysterious, or
• adventurous context.

Imagine how the subject will feel, not just what information you expect your kids to retain. If you do that, you’re halfway there before you start!

If, however, the subject feels tedious or torturous, it may take a little recovery time.

• Take a break.
• Ease into the subject with a game or pair it with treats.
• Sidle up to your child (not standing over, not across from), and do it together.

Be the bridge of warmth and kindness while your child bravely faces what was previously painful.

You can do it!

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

I address the topic of what I call “The Invisible Education” in my book, The Brave Learner. I felt that it was important to squarely face the lived experiences of homeschooled children (many now adults) who grew up in toxic family environments that were hidden within the homeschool context.

Early adopters in particular had a stake in proving the superiority of home education and sometimes parents and their communities covered up their failures to protect the movement rather than children. It’s important to face that unique dynamic honestly and to put ourselves into healthy accountability (which is why I talk about abuse so frequently).

I have received messages from moms letting me know that they came to awareness of the abusive atmosphere in their families reading posts I’ve shared. That’s good. We need to do that—to tell the truth, to support women in particular as they stand up to control or mistreatment. It’s on us to name it for what it is.

Even with that awareness, I am still unhappy with the framing of the issue that somehow homeschooling creates a more dangerous context than traditionally schooled kids. Not true!

What we all want to face is the danger of:

• authoritarian control,
• shame,
• blame,
• bullying; and
• adults exploiting children when children are meant to trust them.

This kind of “power over” happens in loads of adult-child contexts.

Teachers, coaches, daycare workers, parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents, employers, directors, referees, and instructors—all carry responsibility to be fair and kind to children. It starts with all of us calling out abuse—learning what it is, then bravely naming it, then standing up to it for the sake of children. Period.

Let’s tend our garden of home education. Let’s not tolerate cruelty, toxic control, or violence against children in our space. That’s my plea. We work on this stuff with parents in our online classes, and in the Homeschool Alliance. Because it matters—and creates the best conditions for a thriving education—for learning.

xo Julie (recovering from abuse in my own life)

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

Which are you? A “less is more” or a “more is more” person?

I’m the latter who daily reminds herself to do less, that my less leads to more: more satisfaction, more ease, more peace, less clutter, less striving, less frazzled and self-defeating.

Whenever you need to ease into homeschooling (after the holidays or a vacation or a busy season of life) then you should feel free to test the “less is more” theory of learning.

I’ve made a SHORT list below (less is more!) to help you. The list covers:

• reading,
• science,
• history,
• literature,
• math,
• handwriting,
• original writing, and
• following directions.

This is enough for a whole month—in fact, pick one day a week for games, and you’ve got it!

Imagine the rabbit trails from a library visit alone. And baking and cooking lead to chemistry and math lessons in real life (Quick tip: read PIE by Sarah Weeks and bake the pies from each chapter).

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

“Just because it was easy doesn’t mean they didn’t learn anything new.” ~Julie Bogart

It’s so easy to associate learning with struggle and pain. Yet studies show that when you’re relaxed and happy, you’re more receptive to learning. Not only that, ease of practice gives your brain more room to notice details, to make your work more

• precise,
• accurate,
• beautiful,.
• or creative.

Repetition leads to confidence and competence. When a task becomes easy, you feel freer to

• improvise,
• test alternate strategies,
• and understand why, not just how.

For instance, think about cooking. The more familiar you are with a recipe, the more ideas you have to improve it, to alter the seasoning, to coordinate it with other parts of the meal.

Ease is your child’s friend too. Flying through the multiplication tables again may be establishing connections invisible to you.

Consider resisting the temptation to up the stakes in learning just because your child “got good at (fill in the blank).” Joy AND deeper intimacy are the fruit of mastery.

What if today your kids only did what they’re already good at? How might that help them learn and grow differently than struggle?

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