Friday Freewrite: Favorite Color

Friday Freewrite

Describe your favorite color without ever using the name of the color.

New to freewriting? Check out our online guide.

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Elementary Writing: Nonfiction Books

Brave Writer Online Classes

It’s here! The online class you requested for your littles.

Elementary Writing: Nonfiction Books!

Preheat the oven. Add the flour, crack the egg. You’re halfway through making a cake. 

BRRRRRING! Your timer goes off. Wipe off your hands, it’s time to do laundry!

Midway through folding the soft, warm towels… BRRRING! Stop, it’s time to send that email.

What is all this random dinging, you ask? It’s the bell, telling you it’s time to move on so you can get through your to-do list! 

Sound ridiculous? It’s how most of us did our schooling when we were younger! 

  • BELL! Math
  • BELL! English literature
  • BELL! Eat your lunch
  • BELL! Science
  • BELL! History
  • BELL! You can go home.

It’s part of a system that needs to accommodate hundreds of kids. Do you need such a system in your home? I’d say not! (By the way, other models of schooling ditch the compartments too: Montessori, Waldorf, Forest Schools…)

Real-life learning doesn’t get parceled out into different subjects. The most effective learning is the type where as many different connections are made as possible. 

You have that advantage. Your KIDS have that advantage.

We see that opportunity and we want to help you use it, especially with your youngest learners.

Enter Elementary Writing: Nonfiction Books!

Reading and writing doesn’t always need to be fiction. In fact, we can make even more sparks and connections by bringing in other subjects.

For this online class, topics can be anything that interests: science, art, cooking, history—the sky’s the limit! 

Why this class is a deal:

  • This is a family class with one tuition for the whole gang. 
  • YOU learn a lot since you’ll check in with your personal coach each week to get ideas about how to talk and write about the topic in a way that matches your kids’ natural stages of growth in writing.
  • Two-for-one. Three-for-one! You can take this class and count it toward both writing and whatever other subjects your nonfiction explorations take you.
  • It’s a deep dive. Cross-curricular. Interest-led. The type that can’t be done in traditional school.  

Join us!

Brave Writer Online Classes

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Podcast: Critically Thinking about the News with Mosheh Oinounou Pt. 1

Brave Writer Podcast

We’ve been discussing the importance of critical thinking lately, and today’s guest on the Brave Writer podcast is a perfect example of why it’s so important—and also incredibly difficult.

I’m speaking with Mosheh Oinounou, a journalist who has risen to fame on Instagram for his neutral:

  • approach to the news,
  • digging into headlines,
  • and discussing social issues.

On top of that, he is a fabulous conversationalist, which shines through in this interview. He focuses on verified headlines and is interested in facts above all else.

Show Notes

The confirmation bias trap

Mosheh’s news-neutral platform welcomes a variety of opinions and is a place for people to learn from each other and recognize where we each come from. We have historic levels of access to information, but it’s through filtering all of that information that we see biases come up. And yes, the truth is that everyone has biases. There are so many elements of your upbringing that shape who you are and how you see the world. Because of this, nobody is truly unbiased. Simply being an American shapes your worldview in a way that is remarkably different from people in other countries.

To Mosheh, what makes something newsworthy is determined by relevancy, interest, and whether or not it impacts people’s lives. It’s through that lens that he filters information and tries to present things in a neutral manner.

How we are reclaiming diversity of opinion through social media

Social media was not designed as a tool for news delivery—and yet it’s the primary way most of us are informed, whether we like it or not. “The algorithm” you may have heard so much about just means that the goal of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and the like is to keep you on the platform as long as possible—which inherently skews the kinds of news that gets shared and seen by more people to be more inflammatory and sensationalist. They know you will spend more time on that platform if you are mad than if you were happy.

Investigating our biases

We all live busy lives, which can make it hard to vet and verify sources on our own. But in a world where mainstream media is losing trust, why are so many people quick to trust a random website they’ve never heard of before? It may come down to confirmation bias: the innate desire to find—and believe—information that confirms and lines up with our current worldview. So how do we combat that?

One metric is to be aware of when a news article makes you happy. If you feel a slight sense of smugness when reading that headline, that’s a sign you may be experiencing confirmation bias and it’s time to double-check and verify your sources.

If you’re looking for tools and support in raising kids in a media-saturated environment, consider reading Raising Critical Thinkers. It is designed to raise kids who are mindful and know how to vet their own sources and think for themselves. In the world we live in today, I can hardly think of anything more important than that.

Listen to Part Two.

Resources

Connect with Julie

Brave Writer Podcast

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Tea with Julie: Starting a New Homeschool Year

Brave Writer

“Tea with Julie” is a weekly emailed missive that enhances your life as an educator, parent, and awesome adult. From time to time, we’ll share some of our past topics here on the blog.

Finding your footing, planning your year, creatively teaching, dealing with crankiness and overwhelm—these are experiences every parent faces as they take the responsibility to provide their kids an education.

Let me be your guide through those thorny patches and rocky trails. Pull on your hiking boots. Apply bug spray! We’re going in!

Starting a New Homeschool Year

Need more help? I’ve also written a primer in home education: The Brave Learner

If you’d like more hands-on coaching, join our Brave Learner Home coaching community. You’ll find a slew of Brave Writer staff coaches as well as thousands of members who share their experiences of homeschooling with each other.

The Brave Learner Home is for every level of homeschooler, from newbie to middle of the muddle to homeschooling high school. It provides:

  • professional development,
  • lesson plans,
  • community discussion,
  • self-care, and
  • guidance.

Can’t wait to help you have the best year of your life!

Brave Learner Home

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Podcast: Breaking the Rules

Brave Writer Podcast

I am recording some of my Tea with Julie emails for the podcast for those of you who prefer to listen. These are brief messages of support for parents and educators. If you’d like to receive the weekly emails, they are free. Sign up at bravewriter.com/tea

Continuing our series on the Four Forces of Enchantment, it’s time to look at the third force: RISK. Get ready to break the rules—it can be good for you!

Let go! Declare this week as “getting it wrong on purpose” week.

  • Push boundaries.
  • Break rules.
  • Make messes.
  • Play.
  • Open the space for creativity, not just accuracy.

All the teaching you want to do is possible when children know the space is safe for risk-taking.

Show Notes

Complete Tea with Julie notes can be found HERE.

Resources

Connect with Julie

Brave Writer Podcast

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