Archive for the ‘Podcasts’ Category

[Podcast #333] Resisting FOMU, the Fear of Messing Up

Brave Writer Podcast

What if the biggest obstacle in your homeschool isn’t what you’re missing—but the fear that you’re doing it wrong?

This week on the Brave Writer podcast, we explore “fear of messing up” and how perfectionism quietly shapes our expectations, decisions, and confidence as parent educators.

We unpack:

  • where that pressure comes from,
  • how it shows up (hello, endless curriculum switching),
  • and why chasing the “perfect” method keeps us stuck.

We also share practical ways to shift your focus toward connection, curiosity, and process—plus tools like interval training and a flexible writing app to support real learning.

Ready to trade perfection for progress? Let’s rethink what success actually looks like.

Show Notes

Let Go of Getting It Right

Every homeschooling parent has felt it: the quiet worry that you might be doing it wrong.

You plan carefully, choose materials thoughtfully, and try to create meaningful learning experiences. But then your child resists, or something doesn’t click, or you see another family doing it differently—and suddenly, doubt creeps in.

What if that fear isn’t a sign you’re failing—but a sign you’ve been taught to expect perfection?

Much of us were shaped by systems that measured success by correctness. One hundred percent. Right answers. Completed work. Over time, we internalized the idea that learning should look polished and predictable.

But real learning rarely looks like that.

The Myth of the “Right Way”

It’s easy to assume there’s a correct path through education—a sequence of subjects, skills, and milestones that guarantees success.

Once you start homeschooling, that assumption quickly unravels.

Different philosophies emphasize different things. Some prioritize structure and sequence. Others focus on curiosity and exploration. Even school systems don’t agree on what should be taught or when.

There is no universal roadmap.

That realization can feel unsettling at first. But it also offers relief. If there isn’t one right way, then you’re free to respond to the learners in front of you.

The goal shifts from “getting it right” to “paying attention.”

Process Over Outcome

When we fixate on outcomes—reading by a certain age, mastering a concept on schedule—we start to measure every moment against a future result.

That creates pressure. And pressure often leads to frustration for both parent and child.

Learning happens in the present.

It happens when your child wrestles with a problem, asks a question, or makes a connection. It happens in the middle of the attempt, not just at the moment of success.

When we focus on process instead of outcome, we begin to notice those moments. We see growth where we once saw gaps.

And we create space for learning to unfold.

The Trap of the Endless Quest

One common response to uncertainty is to keep searching for something better.

A new curriculum. A different method. A promising system that seems like it might finally make everything work.

But constant switching often creates more disruption than progress.

Children need time to settle into a rhythm. What looks imperfect on the surface may actually be working just fine underneath.

Before changing course, it helps to ask: is something truly broken, or am I reacting to discomfort?

Sometimes the most productive choice is to stay the course.

Building Competency and Confidence

If perfection isn’t the goal, what is?

A more helpful aim is competency and confidence.

  • Competency grows through practice, variation, and time. It doesn’t require flawless performance—just steady engagement.
  • Confidence grows when children feel safe to try, struggle, and try again. Mistakes become part of the process, not evidence of failure.
  • Progress includes missteps. Choosing a program that doesn’t work or hitting resistance in a subject is information, not failure.
  • Growth happens when we stay responsive—adjusting, supporting, and continuing forward rather than starting over.

This applies to us as well.

We are learning how to homeschool in real time. We will choose materials that don’t fit. We will have days that feel off. We will question our decisions.

None of that means we’re doing it wrong.

It means we’re in the middle of learning.

The Long View

There will be moments that feel like missteps. A program that didn’t work. A subject that took longer than expected. A season that felt unproductive.

But those moments are not the whole story.

Learning is built over time—through repetition, adjustment, and lived experience.

What matters most is not whether every decision was perfect, but whether you stayed engaged, responsive, and willing to keep going.

That’s where growth happens.

And that’s more than enough.

Resources

Connect with Julie

Connect with Melissa

Produced by NOVA

Brave Writer Podcast

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[Podcast #332] Long-term and Working Memory

Brave Writer Podcast

Why does a child understand something one day and forget it the next? 

In this Brave Writer podcast episode, we explore what neuroscience reveals about how learning actually works. Drawing from Uncommon Sense Teaching and Make It Stick, we unpack the difference between working memory and long-term memory—and why retrieval, repetition, and even mistakes play a vital role in lasting learning.

We also share practical strategies like:

  • jotting notes,
  • sketching ideas,
  • and spaced repetition to help knowledge stick. 

When we understand the brain’s learning process, we can guide our kids with more patience and confidence. Listen in and discover how to turn everyday lessons into lasting knowledge.

Show Notes

When Learning Doesn’t “Stick”

Every homeschooling parent has experienced it: yesterday your child understood the concept perfectly. Today, it seems completely gone.

It can feel confusing—or even discouraging. But what if that cycle of remembering and forgetting is actually part of how learning works?

Research into cognitive science shows that learning depends on the interaction between two systems: working memory and long-term memory. Understanding the difference between the two can transform how we approach teaching our children.

Working Memory vs. Long-Term Memory

Working memory is like the brain’s temporary workspace. It holds information briefly while we use it, but it has limited capacity. Young children especially have much smaller working memories than adults.

That means when we give a child multiple instructions—change clothes, brush teeth, make the bed, and come downstairs—they may only remember the first step.

Long-term memory is different. Once information moves there, it becomes durable and accessible. Think about a childhood phone number or song lyrics you learned decades ago. They’re simply there.

The challenge in education isn’t storing information in the brain. Our brains have astonishing storage capacity. The real challenge is helping children retrieve what they’ve learned.

Retrieval Builds Memory

One of the most powerful discoveries in learning science is that retrieving knowledge strengthens it.

When students struggle to recall information—without looking at their notes—they strengthen the neural connections that store that knowledge.

That’s why practices like narration are so effective. When a child retells a story, explains a concept, or summarizes a reading in their own words, they are reinforcing the pathways that move information into long-term memory.

Even getting something wrong can help. The moment of struggle activates deeper processing in the brain, making the eventual correction more memorable.

Practical Ways to Reinforce Learning

Small strategies can make a big difference in helping learning stick.

One effective approach is student jotting—having kids record ideas in their own words.

They might:

  • Write brief notes explaining a math process
  • Sketch scenes from a history story
  • Jot keywords after reading a chapter.

Drawing can be particularly powerful. A simple comic-style sequence of events can help a child reconstruct an entire narrative.

Another helpful practice is spaced repetition. Before starting a new lesson, ask your child to recall what they learned yesterday. That small act of retrieval strengthens memory and builds continuity between lessons.

The Gift of Time

Perhaps the most reassuring insight from learning science is this: children develop working memory gradually. Adult-level capacity often isn’t reached until around age fourteen.

So when a child forgets something they understood yesterday, it isn’t a sign of laziness or lack of intelligence.

It’s simply the brain doing the work of learning.

Our role as homeschool parents is not to rush that process but to support it—to model, practice together, and give children opportunities to retrieve and apply knowledge over time.

Education isn’t about finishing learning by eighteen. It’s about building the habits and foundations that allow learning to continue for a lifetime.

Resources

Connect with Julie

Connect with Melissa

Produced by NOVA

Brave Writer Podcast

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[Podcast #331] A Slew of Practical Hacks for Your Homeschool

Brave Writer Podcast

Ever have one of those homeschool days when your brain feels completely empty?

We’ve been there too. In this Brave Writer podcast episode, we share a long list of practical, creative hacks that can revive your homeschool when energy is low. From painter’s tape timelines and DIY history games to geocaching adventures, urban walking tours, and quick art projects, we explore simple ways to bring curiosity back into learning.

We also talk about:

  • focus tools,
  • seasonal nature activities,
  • and building systems that make everyday homeschooling run smoothly.

If you need fresh inspiration or a reminder of the good ideas you already have, this conversation is for you. Tune in and start your own “good ideas” list today.

Show Notes

Every homeschooling parent eventually encounters it: the moment when ideas disappear.

Maybe life is busy. Maybe the news feels overwhelming. Maybe you are simply tired. Whatever the cause, there are seasons when creative energy feels low and the homeschool day begins to look flat.

One of the best antidotes is surprisingly simple. Start making a list.

When we sat down recently to brainstorm ideas, what began as a short list of practical homeschooling tricks quickly grew into page after page of small strategies that had helped our families over the years. Many were things we had used so often that we forgot they were clever at all.

That exercise reminded us how powerful small ideas can be.

Simple Tools That Unlock Learning

Some of the most effective homeschool tools are incredibly ordinary.

A strip of painter’s tape on the wall can become a history timeline. Add index cards with events, book covers, or drawings and suddenly history stretches across the living room.

A stack of blank index cards can become a homemade history game. Write events on the front, dates on the back, and challenge each other to place them in chronological order. Because kids help create the cards, they remember the information far more easily.

Even a cookie sheet can become a learning tool. Add magnets and it turns into a portable activity tray for car rides, hospital visits, or quiet moments during read-aloud time.

The point is not fancy materials. The point is flexibility.

Let the World Become Your Curriculum

Some of the richest learning happens outside textbooks.

Geocaching, for example, sends families searching for hidden treasures using GPS coordinates. Along the way you learn local geography, landmarks, and bits of community history.

Urban walking tours offer another doorway. Cities are full of stories if we slow down enough to notice them. Old stairways, public murals, historic buildings, and even the names of streets reveal layers of history beneath everyday life.

When children begin to see their own neighborhood as a place with a story, history suddenly becomes real.

Build Rhythms That Support Focus

A homeschool day runs more smoothly when it balances different kinds of energy.

One framework we love divides tasks into four categories:

  • Focus: deep work such as reading or writing
    Fire: medium tasks that create a sense of accomplishment
  • Fast: quick chores or small jobs
  • Fun: playful breaks that restore energy

Children thrive when both concentration and joy have space in the day.

Music can also help guide transitions. A familiar song can signal cleanup time or reading time without constant reminders.

Tiny Rituals Matter

Small rituals often carry the most meaning.

Planting peas in early spring, reading one poem a day, or keeping a sticker reading journal can become anchors in family life. These activities take only minutes, yet they create continuity and delight.

The deeper lesson is this: education does not always require grand plans.

Sometimes it begins with a scrap of tape on the wall, a handful of seeds, or a single good idea written down in a notebook.

To help you put these ideas into action, here’s the full checklist of practical homeschool hacks we discussed:

  • Adhesive whiteboard that sticks to your wall. Lap-sized whiteboards for math & handwriting practice & general doodling. 
  • Painter’s tape for timelines + write events on index cards and tape to wall.
  • Make-your-own Chronology game (this is an actual card game, but we made our own with index cards).
  • Combine geocaching with local geography & history.
  • Watch urban planning videos — you learn so much about how neighborhoods are constructed!
  • A spin on the above idea — put your own area into the YouTube search bar with “buildings” or “urban planning” or other terms. We’ve been learning about specific Portland buildings & landmarks this way. Also: look up the origin of place names in your area. Great local history!
  • Cookie sheet with magnets for car trips with littles (and other uses).
  • Make a FOCUS-FIRE-FAST-FUN grid for triaging tasks.
  • Pencil sharpening! A little thing that makes a big difference: assign pencil sharpening to a weekly time slot. Get a good sharpener. Also — scissors and tape in every room.
  • Create your own bookmarks. Have the kids do wet-on-wet watercolors and then cut into bookmarks. Leave a stash on every bookcase.
  • Take an afternoon to create playlists for yourselves: one for afternoon tidy-up chores, one for instrumental music while reading, one for songs you play to transition between daily activities, etc.
  • Check out Joshua MacNeill’s book: 101 Brain Breaks & Educational Activities.
  • Have a day for choosing the best squishy stuff for playing with during read alouds – what does each kid like best? Beeswax, Sculpey, modeling clay, silly putty, playdough, wiki stix. Make the texture exploration an activity by itself.
  • With spring coming — plant some peas & sweet peas! An old custom in some regions was to plant your peas on St Patrick’s Day. They like cold soil. Cheap, easy activity for rapid payoff.
  • Decorate by cutting out frames from black card stock, stick to clear contact paper, make designs out of pieces of tissue paper. Easy holiday window decor.
  • Look up local foraging groups. Might be able to join a walk & learn about edible plants.
  • Learn about wildlife corridors. Can your yard become one? Some easy ways to assist. Pick one species you’d like to help. Look up its needs: for example, if a butterfly: what host plant is native to your area? What nectar plants attract it? What else might it need – a dish of water with stones for perching on? Or – mason bees. Various birds. Start with a single species and learn how to spot it. Notice who else shows up. A literary tie-in for older kids: Read The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer. 
  • A nice tie in – a poetry anthology like The Wonder of Small Things (edited by James Crews) or Sing a Song of Seasons: A Nature Poem for Each Day of the Year  (Fiona Waters & Frann Preston-Gannon). Consider propping on a bookstand turned to each day’s page.
  • Any seasonal nature book is great to prop open. Like a field guide turned to a bird your kids might encounter. 
  • Make a list of short stories you’d like to discuss with your kids. Keep this on hand for times when you want a short-term literary activity — say, between longer books, or whenever life is filling up with appts/distractions/new baby/etc and you want something self-contained. A good short story immersion can span a single afternoon (but will likely stick with your kids forever).
  • Visual reading journal: Melissa’s daughter chooses a sticker to represent each book. When she finishes a book, she puts the sticker in her notebook with the date, gradually creating a page full of stickers. On the facing page, she writes details about the books. 

You don’t always know how much you know! Make a GOOD IDEAS notebook or Apple Note!

Resources

Connect with Julie

Connect with Melissa

Produced by NOVA

Brave Writer Podcast

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[Podcast #330] Board Games: Let Them Do the Teaching!

Brave Writer Podcast

What if the best critical thinking curriculum is already in your closet?

This week on the Brave Writer podcast, we explore why board games and card games do more than pass the time. From Monopoly and Settlers of Catan to Quiddler, Pandemic, and even Operation, we unpack how games build patience, strategy, communication skills, resource management, and flexible thinking—all through play.

We share personal stories, favorite family games, and one powerful rule: when your child asks to play, say yes.

Ready to rethink learning? Pull out a game tonight and let it do the teaching.

Show Notes

When we think about education, we often picture curriculum guides, lesson plans, and carefully sequenced objectives. But what if one of the most powerful learning tools has been sitting on your shelf all along?

  • Board games.
  • Card games.
  • Dice games.

Games invite children into what philosopher Bernard Suits called “the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles.” And that voluntary part matters. When a child chooses to play, they are already invested. They care. And caring is the gateway to thinking well.

Relaxed Alertness Is the Sweet Spot

In The Brave Learner, we talk about the brain state known as relaxed alertness—a combination of pleasure and meaningful risk. Games create exactly that condition. There’s enough challenge to matter. Enough uncertainty to spark curiosity. Enough safety to try again.

Children learn patience when they wait their turn. They learn deeper patience when they struggle through confusing rules. They learn resilience when they lose and try again.

And here’s the secret: they don’t experience it as “character training.” They experience it as play.

Academic Skills Hide in Plain Sight

Consider Monopoly. Yes, it can be long. Yes, feelings may flare. But it quietly teaches skip counting, making change, budgeting, and resource management.

  • Settlers of Catan introduces strategic allocation and trade.
  • Scrabble builds vocabulary and pattern recognition.
  • Quiddler strengthens spelling awareness.
  • Prime Climb makes prime numbers intuitive.
  • Operation develops fine motor control and body awareness.
  • Mousetrap introduces iteration and engineering logic—especially if you test each step as you build.

Even a simple score sheet in Yahtzee reinforces arithmetic and pencil fluency.

We search endlessly for engaging curriculum. Meanwhile, game designers have already done the hard work of making learning irresistible.

Explore, Explain, Experiment

When you bring home a new game, consider three phases:

  • Explore. Open the box. Examine the pieces. Look at the artwork. Estimate how long learning it will take.
  • Explain. Let one child read and interpret the rules. This builds communication skills and empathy. The explainer needs grace. The listeners need curiosity.
  • Experiment. Play a practice round. Break the rules on purpose. Test edge cases. See what happens. Lower the stakes so learning can rise.

That experimentation step is often skipped. Don’t skip it.

Competitive and Cooperative

Some games pit players against each other. Others, like Pandemic, unite players against the game itself. Both are valuable.

Competitive games teach strategy and sportsmanship. They also teach negotiation, shared problem-solving, and collective victory.

Your family can benefit from both.

The Most Important Rule

Years ago, we heard a simple piece of advice: Whenever a child asks to play a game, drop everything and play.

We tried it. It changed our families.

When children invite us into play, they are inviting connection. They are ready for the lesson. If we delay too often, they eventually stop asking.

Games teach content. They teach skills. But more than that, they build relationship. And relationship is where real learning thrives.

Tonight, instead of adding one more worksheet, pull out a deck of cards.

Let the game do the teaching.

Resources

Connect with Julie

Connect with Melissa

Produced by NOVA

Brave Writer Podcast

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[Podcast #329] Accidental vs. On-Purpose Learning

Brave Writer Podcast

Are you wondering if you’ve done “enough” this year? What if the real question isn’t about subjects completed—but about the atmosphere you’re creating?

Melissa developed a simple framework to help her notice what was filling her children’s days. She called it the “Rule of Six”:

  1. Living Books
  2. Encounters with Beauty
  3. Meaningful Work
  4. Imaginative Play
  5. Big Ideas to Ponder and Discuss
  6. Reflection

This week on the Brave Writer podcast, we revisit this concept as a method of filling our children’s days with living books, beauty, meaningful work, imaginative play, big ideas, and reflection. From accidental learning to on-purpose instruction, we explore how to balance immersion with explicit teaching—so our kids gain both joy and skill.

If you’re feeling that mid-year wobble, this conversation will help you notice what’s thriving, what’s missing, and how to move forward with clarity.

Show Notes

In homeschooling, we often feel pulled between two extremes. On one side, there’s the belief that if children are immersed in rich experiences, learning will unfold naturally. On the other, there’s pressure to replicate school at home—complete with structured lessons and measurable outcomes. The tension between those poles can leave us wondering: Are we doing enough?

Over the years, we’ve come to appreciate a both/and approach.

The Rule of Six: A Framework for a Full Life

Melissa developed what she calls the “Rule of Six” as a way to notice what was shaping her children’s days. It wasn’t a schedule. It wasn’t a curriculum. It was a way of life.

Here are the six elements:

  1. Living Books: Books written by real authors with passion and depth—not dry, committee-written textbooks.
  2. Encounters with Beauty: Art on the walls. Music in the background. Time in nature. Beauty as a daily companion.
  3. Meaningful Work: Work that matters. Caring for the home. Building academic skills. Effort that carries purpose, not just activity.
  4. Imaginative Play: Forts. Backyard soccer. Dress-up. Creative immersion. Space to explore without constant direction.
  5. Big Ideas to Ponder and Discuss: Narration. Conversation. Reflecting on books, experiences, and questions. Talking through what we’re learning.
  6. Reflection: Ending the day with gratitude, prayer, or simple review. Noticing where those other five elements showed up.

This list isn’t meant to create pressure. It’s a tool for noticing. If something feels thin, we can lean into it. If something is thriving, we can celebrate it.

Children Are Always Learning

Children absorb math through board games. They build vocabulary through read-alouds. They develop historical understanding through novels and documentaries. This kind of accidental learning is powerful. It grows out of curiosity, connection, and lived experience.

But some skills do not reliably emerge on their own.

No child accidentally masters long division. Most don’t spontaneously understand revision in writing. Learning to play the cello—or to write a cohesive essay—requires intentional guidance.

The key is not rigid schooling. The key is appropriate support.

Immersion First, Then Instruction

We like to think of it this way: immersion first, then instruction.

When children are saturated in a subject—reading myths, visiting museums, watching films—they eventually want to create something of their own. That’s the moment to offer tools. Show them how structure works. Demonstrate revision. Model technique.

Instruction lands when it has somewhere to land.

Explicit Teaching Without Crushing Courage

Explicit instruction doesn’t have to feel harsh or evaluative.

In writing, we begin with free writing to build fluency. Later, we introduce revision as a craft—moving sentences around, experimenting with order, expanding ideas. These low-stakes strategies build skill without undermining confidence.

The same principle applies everywhere. Appetite makes effort meaningful.

What Is the Goal?

At the heart of this balance is a simple question: What is the goal?

If the goal is merely to check boxes, we miss the deeper opportunity. But if the goal is to build skill, understanding, and agency—so that children can continue growing independently—then both immersion and instruction have their place.

As you reflect on your year, consider this: Where has learning unfolded naturally? Where might a bit of intentional teaching unlock growth?

You don’t have to choose between freedom and focus. The real work of homeschooling lives in the rhythm between the two.

Resources

Connect with Julie

Connect with Melissa

Produced by NOVA

Brave Writer Podcast

Posted in Podcasts | Comments Off on [Podcast #329] Accidental vs. On-Purpose Learning