Over the last five years, we did a lot of this growing together through my free newsletter “Tea with Julie.” Since then, my hair got grey and your kids got older!

Today, it feels like time for something new. Substack beckons!

We can do more of what I’d like to do with you—with comment sections plus video and audio. I like the format (reminds me of old school internet where I grew the most as a homeschooler and human person).

Plus my ever-busy brain needs a place to keep writing!

Here’s what you can expect:

• Themed content delivered weekly (parenting, struggles with writing, teaching a specific subject, homeschool planning, managing multiples, dealing with burnout, taking care of your own brain, and more).
• Weekly freewriting prompts for your kids. We’ll encourage you to share their freewrites in the comments so you can get to know how freewriting works for kids besides your own! I can’t wait to read what they write!
• A podcast for your kiddos called Monday Morning Meeting! Five minutes of ideas to help them be revved up to learn. (Paid subscribers only)

Sometimes, we’ll send out public Substacks to everyone because it’s a topic that is better suited to the WHOLE WORLD. But the rest of the time, we’re going to focus on specific aspects of educating, parenting, and adulting—what I call brave learning. Paid subscribers will get to comment and read the entire message, and engage with me and one another.

See you there!

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Online friends are GOLD. They’re often your heart to heart people.

BUT there’s nothing like having a person in your life that you can call to go on a hike or to make baking soda volcanos with you. That in-person comrade may or may not be “best friend” material—and they don’t have to be. They bring their in-person energy! Precious!!

Be Brave

It takes courage to initiate with a human you don’t know. In the pre-internet days, there were no other options! Take a little of my chutzpah—be brave and ask someone you know a little (neighbor, soccer mom, person on the treadmill next to you at the gym) if they are interested in doing family-style stuff with you.

Pick one low stakes event. Trade phone numbers (for texting obvz—not scary TALKING), make it happen, see how it goes!

You’ll get some polite “no’s” but eventually, you may find just enough of what you need to stop feeling so alone and lonely outside of the internet.

You deserve in-person friends! (Psst: and they don’t even need to be homeschoolers…though after knowing you, who knows what might happen?!)

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