More Monday Morning Meetings

Brave Learning

Our five-minute weekly podcast for your kids is going strong on Substack!

We took a break for the summer but have new episodes available and they are FREE (they aren’t always).

The goal is to give your kids actionable steps to take control of their learning experience, to make it more meaningful and delightful to them.

So play a podcast for your kids then give them time to have fun with it.

Monday Morning Meetings

  • Back to Homeschool Hamburger: A gentle re-entry writing activity for your kids!
  • Subject Reset: What to do when you don’t want to do what you are supposed to do!
  • Snack Attack: Add a dash of literary devices to a delicious delicacy (see what I did there?)
  • Birds! Fall is a great time to kick off a bird-watching habit!

And if you missed the first six free episodes, here they are.

Subscribe to Brave Learning on Substack where we chat, discuss, problem-solve, and create together. Here’s what you can expect: weekly themed content, freewriting prompts, and a podcast for kiddos called Monday Morning Meeting! 

Brave Learning with Julie Bogart on Substack

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[Podcast #307] Italy, Literature, and Learning Connections

Brave Writer Podcast

Julie is back from her two-week trip to Italy (with a quick stop in Copenhagen!) and brings stories that weave together travel, literature, and layered learning. From visiting her aunt on the Mediterranean coast to finally stepping inside Florence’s Santa Croce—20 years after promising herself she would—Julie shares how books like A Room with a View transform sightseeing into soul-deep experiences.

She and Melissa explore how these kinds of connections—between story, place, and lived experience—are the essence of meaningful education. You’ll also hear about unexploded WWII bombs in a train station, the Leaning Tower of Pisa’s surprising wonder, naked bungee-jumping in Denmark, and a serendipitous plane conversation that led to the discovery of a century-old “living book.”

This Brave Writer podcast episode is a reminder to travel, talk to strangers, and create opportunities for our kids (and ourselves) to encounter the world twice: once through story, and once in real life.

Show Notes

Travel, Family, and Literature

This trip began as a chance to visit Julie’s aunt on the Mediterranean coast but soon became a deeply layered journey. Anchored in A Room with a View by E.M. Forster, Julie describes how reading about a place and then experiencing it firsthand adds dimension and delight—whether it’s stumbling upon Giotto’s frescoes, standing beneath Galileo’s tomb, or finally walking into Santa Croce. These encounters remind us that literature doesn’t just tell stories—it prepares us to live them.

Learning Twice: Experience + Story

Julie and Melissa explore the educational magic of encountering something more than once—first in books, films, or stories, and then in real life. From Sister Wendy’s art documentaries sparking awe in Florence’s Uffizi, to Melissa’s son recognizing dugouts from her novel The Prairie Thief, these layered connections create hooks for memory and deeper understanding. As Julie notes, “If you really want your kids to know something, they need it twice.”

Unexpected Encounters

The episode also celebrates the surprises of travel and conversation: unexploded WWII bombs unearthed in an Italian train station, Pisa’s leaning tower being more thrilling than expected, naked bungee-jumping in Denmark, and a chance plane-seat conversation that introduced Julie to Gordon MacQuarrie’s century-old Stories of the Old Duck Hunters and Other Drivel. These moments remind us that the world is full of unexpected teachers—if we’re willing to listen.

This episode is a joyful reflection on how travel, literature, and layered experiences enrich our lives and our children’s education. Whether through family stories, beloved books, or chance encounters with strangers, we are invited to step out of our comfort zones, connect deeply, and see the world with fresh eyes.

Resources

Connect with Julie

Connect with Melissa

Produced by NOVA

Brave Writer Podcast

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Your Child Is Already an Author

Brave Writer

One of the key concepts that I teach in writing is that kids are authors, not just students trying to write.

Children ought to have authorial control over their own writing. They get to decide what they keep and discard, and they decide which editing concepts to apply to their work.

A Truth

When we put our children in the driver’s seat of being authors rather than student writers, they actually care more about the end result.

Initially, they may prove they’re in charge by not taking any of your advice on this one paper. But if you continue to celebrate their right to determine what goes in their work, they may apply the advice from this paper that they discarded to the next one that they write

Be respectful, and share joy in their self expression. Nature journaling can be a great place to start.

P.S. For a collection of my reflections on my own kids’ writing, watch this!

Help! My Kid Hates Writing

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Your Child Is Smart

Brave Writer

It’s incredible to realize that we have front row seats to the unique intelligence of our children. We alone know when they are clever and maximizing their particular brand of smarts. Be the parent who notices and brags about those skills.

If you can, express that admiration in front of that child. Goes a long way toward building a child into a human being who trusts their capacity to:

  • problem solve,
  • troubleshoot,
  • aspire,
  • and learn!

Watch the Video

Need more support?

Listen to the Brave Writer podcast. Literally, I talk about this stuff there every single week!

You might also read my book, The Brave Learner.

I’m here for you!

Brave Learner Home

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[Podcast #306] Challenge Accepted: An Interview with Chris Balme

Brave Writer Podcast

One of the major perks of homeschooling is that the middle-school years can be about adventure instead of awkwardness.

In this Brave Writer podcast episode, Melissa chats with author Chris Balme about his book, Challenge Accepted: 50 Adventures to Make Middle School Awesome. Balme’s book invites young readers to discover how trust, agency, and meaningful challenges transform “awkward years” into growth years.

Chris Balme
Chris Balme

Join us for a conversation about kid-driven adventures—stealth art, teaching what you know, citizen science, apprenticeships, and building from scratch.

Plus we talk about practical ways to:

  • close the gap between social perception and interpretation,
  • repair friendships,
  • and use side-by-side activities to spark conversation.

We also share why modeling a beginner’s mind (learning an instrument, sketching, coding) invites kids to try, fail, and try again.

Listen to the full episode to gather specific challenge ideas you can use this week and to reframe these years as the great adventure they are.

Show Notes

When we think of middle school, cultural messaging often paints it as the “awkward years,” something to simply survive. But what if we told a better story? That’s exactly what educator and author Chris Balme invites us to do in his new book Challenge Accepted: 50 Adventures to Make Middle School Awesome.

Chris has spent more than two decades working with adolescents, founding innovative schools and training parents and teachers. His mission is to reframe these years as one of the most magical and formative stages of human growth, rather than a gauntlet to endure. His perspective resonates with our Brave Writer philosophy: middle schoolers deserve trust, agency, and meaningful challenges that help them see themselves as capable and valued.

From “get through it” to “step into it”

Chris reminds us that middle schoolers are the “ultimate underdogs”—underestimated and often misunderstood. Their social awareness turns on almost overnight, leaving them flooded with new perceptions but little guidance on interpretation. This can make them vulnerable to overreacting, misjudging, or retreating. Yet, it’s also the perfect moment to equip them with the tools of resilience, relationship repair, and courage.

Instead of assuming they can’t handle responsibility, Chris urges us to give them challenges that matter. Whether it’s apprenticing with a neighbor, running a student café, or staging a protest march, kids light up when they realize adults trust them to contribute.

Adventures that build confidence

In Challenge Accepted, Chris offers 50 practical adventures that middle schoolers can take on their own or with friends. These aren’t worksheets—they’re invitations into real life.

  • Be a stealth artist. Create and secretly “install” art in your community in playful, respectful ways.
  • Share what you know. Teach others about your passion—whether it’s Greek mythology, coding, or skateboarding.
  • Become a citizen scientist. Contribute to real research by logging birds, weather, or online data.
  • Build something from scratch. A treehouse, a business, a Rube Goldberg machine—the process matters more than perfection.
  • Forgive someone. Practice repairing friendships, an essential life skill often overlooked in adolescence.

Each adventure signals trust: We believe you are capable. And that message is what middle schoolers most need to hear.

Parallel growth—for kids and parents

One of our favorite takeaways from Chris is the reminder that kids watch how we approach challenges ourselves. When we pick up a cello, a guitar, or a sketchbook and let them see us fumble forward, we normalize imperfection. We show them it’s safe to begin again.

At Brave Writer, we call this the Building Confidence stage. Chris’s adventures align beautifully with our writing projects and practices, which emphasize real-world expression and connection. Together, we can rewrite the cultural script from “just survive” to “make it an adventure.”

Middle school doesn’t have to be a time of dread. With the right guidance—and the right adventures—it can become a story worth remembering.

Resources

Connect with Julie

Connect with Melissa

Produced by NOVA

Brave Writer Podcast

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