A Brave Writer's Life in Brief

As you enter an exciting season like the holidays, remember—everyone may be feeling a little bored by the routine (you can see pumpkin pies and twinkle lights on the horizon). So here are some tips to help break through the boredom so you can finish strong!

Strategies to try:

• Make the lesson cozier—snuggly blanket, cup of tea, a pet to pet!
• Change the order of the activities.
• Give a child a candle to light and extinguish.
• Add a clipboard.
• Practice the skill in a board or card game.
• Move the lesson outside, weather permitting.
• Use colorful paper and pens/pencils.

Need more ideas?

Here are a few blog posts to check out:

• Boredom is a Red Flag
• Boredom is Not the Enemy
• Three Fail-Safe Activities

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

It’s that time of year when some family and friends decide to quiz your children to prove that you’re doing a good job home educating.

Here are three tips if that happens to you and your kids.

Tip Number 1

“Please don’t quiz my children. We’re on holiday break.”

When the relatives ask your child what 2×3 is or hand them a book and ask them to read it aloud or test them on whether they know their own address or the capital of their state, you step in and remind them that your kids are on break.

Tip Number 2

Alternatively, some homeschool parents coach their kids to give outrageously wrong answers to startle the questioner into a laugh. Others have their kids flip the Q&A around by asking the adult a question drawn from the child’s unique area of expertise (seems like every homeschooled kid has a store of obscure facts ready to share!).

These ideas are a little more antagonistic, but in playful families, they can break the ice and create some humor.

Tip Number 3

Feed them pie!

Need more help?

When They Don’t Get It: Surviving the Holidays

Today’s freewriting prompt:

Create your own new words! Spell them however you like (though be sure you can pronounce them) and give them any definition. Now, use a few of your new words in a story. Go!

New to freewriting?

Freewriting is that wonderful key that unlocks the writer within. It’s the vehicle by which we trick our inner selves into divesting the words and ideas that we want to share but are afraid won’t come out right on paper if we do. So, read the freewriting prompt, set the timer for 5-10 minutes then write whatever comes to mind. Just keep the pencil moving!

Need more help? Check out our free online guide.

The Washington Post once put out a controversial article about homeschooling. It showed that the number of homeschooling families has exploded since the Covid pandemic for all kinds of reasons. John Oliver did an entire episode on homeschooling and highlighted what he sees as some of its dangers as well as benefits.

Whenever home education is the topic of national conversation, the smaller percentage of homeschooling families (compared to traditional education) feel under scrutiny (the exact place none of us wants to be!). Our defensiveness rises.

What I have noticed is that we get further in these conversations when we validate the concerns offered and, rather than pitting personal experience against personal experience, we give:

• data,
• educational theory,
• and principles to discuss.

Yes, some homeschooled adults resent how they were raised. There are others who champion their educations. Both are also true of public and private education—it works for some and it fails others.

Where to Start

What we want to do is shift the conversation to showcasing the theory of education that leads to learning, which is what home ed offers the entire world of educational research. We have people like Peter Grey and John Holt to thank for corroborating our experiences with quality research. Also, Renate and Geoffrey Caine’s work in brain-based ed is best realized in a home environment.

Start there. Show substance, take concerns seriously, and look at your own homeschool to ensure you are addressing the critiques in your own family.

This post was originally shared on Instagram.
Watch the accompanying reel for more.

We wish there were a formula for raising kids.

I wish we cared more about the privilege of knowing them.

If the parenting tricks and tips don’t work for you, could it be that your goal is not connection but control? Control through the “guise” of relationship?

• Know your children.
• Drop the shoulds.
• Stay curious and connected.

Cooperation is for your comfort. Relationship is for theirs.

Be interested in why they threw their food or won’t stay asleep or hate wearing shoes or refuse to listen.

Lean in.

Know your kids: who they are over how they are.

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