Followership

Brave Writer

You know what topic rankles me more than most?

Leadership.

Please, dear blooming pear trees, can we stop telling people to be leaders or how to be leaders or that being a leader is a good idea?

I’m in CEO spaces, online membership communities, and have been a part of religious organizations. All are obsessed with training leaders, teaching about leadership, and then endowing you with authority that a “leader” deserves to have. Total status thing to be a leader (and then I wonder—who are the followers if everyone wants to be a leader?).

You know what podcasts about failed organizations tell me? That you can’t trust leaders!

Sure, managers of baseball teams are seen as de facto “leaders.” But who scores the runs?

I would love to see a revolution of followership. Maria Montessori does my favorite twist on leadership: “Follow your child, but follow as his leader.” Use that experience, resource, and maturity to follow your child. WHAT? Your child gets to have support for their agenda, not be “led” by yours. So good, right?

Collaboration Instead

Collaboration seems a better goal to me. What creates an environment where each person has agency?

I know sometimes decisions have to be made and there’s a point person who makes the call. But I’d rather name that for what it is: Responsibility.

Why dress it up in “leadership”? Feels coercive to me—like the “followers” need to trust me or look up to me. Responsibility just says: “I’ll take the heat if this is the wrong call.” Very different from “the leader knows best.”

Some questions to ask yourself:

  • What do I think about the term leadership?
  • Do I like being seen as someone’s follower?
  • If I see myself as a leader, do I know if my “followers” see me that way?
  • What is the advantage of not being a leader when in a relationship with others?

Above is a photo of me pretending to fly. It dawned on me that I should never be a pilot. I would be terrible at it. No margin for error. I need lots of margin.

Maybe that’s why being a “leader” feels fraudulent. People trust you! I want people to trust themselves.

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Friday Freewrite: The Agenda

Friday Freewrite

Imagine you’re in charge of tomorrow. What would be your agenda (plan) for the day?

New to freewriting? Check out our online guide.

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Mechanics & Literature: February 2023

Brave Writer

February’s Dart, Arrow, and Boomerang selections feature strong characters who are finding their way in the world even as it changes all around them.

These stories will sow the seeds for Big Juicy Conversations your kids won’t soon forget as your family explores:

  • writing,
  • mechanics,
  • and literary devices,

And this month’s Quill contains the flavorful ingredients you’ll need to explore cooking with kids!

Discover new foods and the places they come from while your children practice early reading, handwriting, and math skills.

[This post contains Amazon affiliate links. When you click on those links to make purchases, Brave Writer receives compensation at no extra cost to you. Thank you!]

Brave Writer Quill
Quill (ages 5-7)

Break out the measuring cups! The February Quill (Cooking) is here!

In this Quill we’ll keenly observe the spices of life; cook up comparisons with kitchen language; put nursery rhymes into action; bake in order with sequencing; and compare measurement systems.

Note: You can use any cooking picture books you have in your stacks or find at your library.

Some suggestions:

Get the Quill.

Brave Writer Dart
Dart (ages 8-10)

Maya and the Robot by Eve L. Ewing

Things get interesting when Maya meets Ralph, a forgotten homemade robot who comes to life!

You won’t want to miss our story’s opening scene—it’s a food fight, oh my! And this story ends right where it started! You’ll have to read the book to see what we mean, but trust us, it’s the perfect example of this month’s literary device, hook and return! 

We’ll also: 

  • shout about interjections and exclamation points!
  • take a peek behind the curtain at prepositions,
  • dive into some deliciously detailed descriptive language,
  • look at the biggest, boldest literary device in the galaxy—otherwise known as hyperbole,
  • snip out some syllables, thanks to contractions,
  • see how juicy verbs can inject energy into writing, and so much more!

Purchase the book.

Get the Dart.

Brave Writer Arrow
Arrow (ages 11-12)

Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome

This historical fiction novel takes us to Chicago’s postwar South Side where a boy named Langston discovers the power of poetry and the people who create it! A story that will warm your day, even if it’s snowing where you are!*

February’s literary device is First-person Narrative. Discover the power of stories told from a main character’s point of view.

We’ll also: 

  • assess apostrophes,
  • announce amazing articles,
  • play with poetry,
  • find out what’s happening with action beats,
  • locate, look at, and learn about commas, and so much more! 

*Note About Content: Although this gentle coming-of-age story is ultimately one of hope and understanding, parents should be aware that just before the book’s opening, the narrator’s mother passes away, a fact that’s wrestled with as the story unfolds.

Purchase the book.

Get the Arrow.

Brave Writer Boomerang
Boomerang (ages 13-14)

Angel of Greenwood by Randi Pink

Watch Isaiah and Angel debate the teachings of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois and then decide what your family thinks!*

In this Boomerang, we’ll:

  • justify juxtaposition,
  • highlight historical fiction,
  • pick apart point-of-view,
  • dabble in dependent clauses,
  • notice narrative tension,
  • label literary foils, and so much more! 

*Note About Content: While ultimately hopeful and uplifting, Angel of Greenwood addresses harsh realities of history and depicts teenage romance (including kissing but nothing sexually graphic). We encourage you, the parent, to pre-read this novel to be sure it is right for your family. 

Purchase the book.

Get the Boomerang.

For ages 15-18, check out the Slingshot.

Brave Writer

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[Podcast] 2023: The Complete List

Brave Writer Podcast

Did you miss a 2023 episode of the Brave Writer Podcast? Did you want to listen to an episode again?

Not to worry!

Here are the episodes of the podcast aired in 2023 in one convenient place so that you can listen (or re-listen) to them whenever you want. Show Notes are included!

Note: We switched to a new numbering system February 1st so the January episodes can be found here (starting with S8E48).

2023 Podcasts

Tune in to the Brave Writer podcast on Apple Podcasts (or your app of choice),
and also here on the Brave Writer blog.

Brave Writer Podcast

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NEW on the Podcast: Introducing Co-Host Melissa Wiley!

Brave Writer Podcast

I can’t wait for you to listen to today’s podcast episode!

Today’s show marks a new beginning in the Brave Writer podcast. I’m introducing a co-host to the show:

Meet Melissa Wiley, a long-time homeschooler, children’s book writer, and valued friend and colleague. Melissa has written two highly-regarded novels which we share in the Brave Writer world, The Prairie Thief and The Nerviest Girl in the World, and also works for Brave Writer, writing our Quills (writing program for 5-7) and Darts (writing program for 8-10) and teaching a number of our online classes.

Today’s show highlights Melissa’s unique approach to homeschooling, known as “tidal schooling,” a metaphor for the ocean tides. We’ll talk about the ebb and flow of learning using Melissa’s model!

  • How do you capitalize on a child’s interests while continuing to keep homeschool lessons rolling?
  • What’s the difference between unschooling and tidal schooling? 
  • Why do we tend to associate learning with effort?

You do not have to homeschool to benefit from the podcast, as much of what we will share are just great parenting ideas. So join in on the conversation and enjoy the new journey into the future as we get to know Melissa!

Show Notes

What is “tidal schooling”?

In her homeschooling philosophy, Melissa Wiley coined the term “tidal schooling” to describe the ebb and flow of structure and autonomy in her approach to education. She explains that in 2006, she was having conversations about labeling oneself as a certain type of homeschooler, such as a Charlotte Mason homeschooler or unschooler, but found that her own approach was a combination of both. She recognized that there were times when a more structured approach, where she planned and mapped out their journey, worked well for her family, while other times they needed a more unstructured approach, where they were free to explore their interests at their own pace. She compares this to the metaphor of the ocean tides, where high tide represents the more structured times and low tide represents the more unstructured times. During low tide, she acts as a facilitator, providing resources and experiences to feed their interests, and ensuring their safety, similar to how a parent would at the beach.

This philosophy was more of a description of what Melissa was already doing with her homeschooling that had been working — allowing her to ebb and flow, enjoying ideological variety without being locked into a specific mindset.

The purpose of homeschooling

When homeschooling, a significant part of our effort is to prepare our children for a healthy and fulfilling adult life. This includes teaching them how to assess their own well-being and make choices that align with their values and personal experience. One of the challenges with traditional education is that it often promotes a set of values that contradict our natural experience and can lead us to distrust our personal experience in favor of those values. For example, the belief that learning is only happening when it is difficult, that effort is more valuable than ease, or that learning has to happen in all subjects every day. These are structures that are designed for order and control, to manage large groups of students, but they do not align with the goals of creating a fulfilling life.

In fact, we have clear evidence that our current structure is not beneficial for most people. When I had vocal chord problems, my otolaryngologist told me that most of their clientele are teachers because no one should be expected to speak out loud for seven hours a day. It’s a difficult and demanding lifestyle, and we put our kids through it as if it’s ordinary.

We hope you enjoyed this conversation as just a taste of what’s to come — a whole new adventure for the Brave Writer world!

Resources

Connect with Julie

Brave Writer Podcast

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