Blog Roundup: November 2015 Edition

Brave Writer Blog Roundup November 2015

Yeehaw! Welcome to the latest blog roundup! See how other homeschooling families practice the Brave Writer Lifestyle:

Year 7, Day 1 by Amy, Hope is the Word

During tea time I suggested a little month-long Brave Writer project in which we will all collect words and phrases we read that capture our imaginations and gather them in a basket. I didn’t reveal to the girls what we’ll do with these later, but the whole notion was well-received…read more.

Brave Writing by Mary, Not Before 7

Beautiful example of working through Brave Writer principles!…read more.

Homeschooling Around a Campfire by Erin, Homeschool Mentor Mom

Whoever said “school” needs to happen sitting at a desk or table….or even during the daytime hours?? We had one of my favorite homeschooling days ever last night! It didn’t even start until after dinner, but we went strong til well after 11:00…read more.

Homeschooling Translated by Angela, Nurtured Roots

Ever feel like you aren’t doing enough in your homeschooling? Maybe it’s outside pressure or your own internal dialogue, but often we doubt that what we are doing with and for our children is enough. I know I do, until I slow down and examine just how naturally full of learning our days really are…read more.

A Gracious Space: Spring review by Alexandra, Life on a Canadian Island

Julie Bogart continues to inspire and deliver practical advice. I personally continue to enjoy the daily entries, reading one each day with my breakfast. It’s a great way to start my homeschool day. …read more.

We hope to share more roundups in the future! If you write about an aspect of the Brave Writer Lifestyle, let us know! Email your post’s url to Jeannette, our Social Media admin (blog@bravewriter.com). Thanks!

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“What feelings and memories do I associate with writing?”

What feelings and memories do I associate with writing

Hi Julie,

My beautiful daughter has just started studying your Help for High School. I thought you might like to read how she answered one of your questions.

We only changed one word “gust” to “stampede.”

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Carolyn

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Poetry Teatime: Post-It Notes

Poetry Teatime

Hi Julie,

I’m Louise, mum of four poetry teatime lovers in the UK!

I thought I would share some pictures from our poetry tea time last week. We had a great time as usual, but this time we did something a bit different. I was inspired by someone on the Facebook group who spoke about using post it notes to write poetry. So I just added some to our table along with the cupcakes my youngest had made earlier in the day, and some new poetry books we had picked up from the library. I didn’t ‘make’ them write, but all wanted to give it a go!

Poetry Teatime

The small sized paper was so unthreatening and we had lots of different colours, so that made it fun too….We had a great time reading, writing and generally enjoying poetry.

Our work is now displayed on the wall for us to reread and appreciate throughout the week! What a fun and easy way to add a twist to our poetry teas!

Visit our NEW Poetry Teatime website!

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61 Things I Did Right in My Homeschool

61 Things I Did Right in My Homeschool

The balance to all I didn’t get to or all I didn’t do in our homeschool are the very real choices I made that made all the difference in my homeschool journey with my kids. It was incredibly satisfying to sit down with paper and pen and record all the stuff I’m proud of—the lessons I learned, the choices I made that I see having been valuable to my kids and their eventual success as persons.

I hope once you’ve listened to this scope and the 55 Things I Didn’t Do, you will make your own list—a Work in Progress (WIP) list that you can edit as you go. Just know that there is NO WAY to do it all—all the amazing ideas, all the terrific programs, all the varieties of good Pinterest worthy ideas. Some mix of what you find enticing and available will pop through the forest of good ideas and that unique constellation of subjects and projects and experiences will create the people your children need to become. YOUR family culture will be unique and the people you are will contribute to our global community in powerful ways.

Thanks for embarking on this journey and trusting the process. I am so glad you’ve chosen to homeschool… at least for now, for this season.

Julie

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55 Things I Didn’t Do as a Homeschooler

55 Things I Didn't Do as a Homeschooler

I listened one day to a Periscope (a live streaming video) of a business owner who explained that there were 45 things she had neglected to do despite having a successful million dollar business. It got me thinking. My kids are adults. They are thriving and living the kinds of lives I’d hoped they’d choose when I was in the trenches of home educating them. As I looked back, I knew there were at least 45 things I didn’t finish, do, get to. And I had this hunch that hearing about those neglected areas would be liberating for homeschoolers today.

So I pulled out a pen and paper and began a long list down a page. I blew by number 45, realizing I was not at all finished. My pace only slowed as I hit the golden number 55.

55 things I didn’t do as a homeschooler that in no way prevented my kids from having the lives they want! 55 things that didn’t prevent my kids from going to the colleges of their choice, or getting coveted scholarships. 55 things I didn’t do, yet one of the five is on a full ride at Columbia Law. 55 things I didn’t do and yet three of my adult kids are on the editorial boards of literary magazines. One of them runs the most popular student organization at his college (a poetry slam!).

Despite not completing those 55 things, two of my kids were president of Amnesty International at Ohio State. The one who didn’t read until she was ten is studying three languages simultaneously including Hindi. My oldest is teaching himself computer programming and bartending, and my oldest daughter is spending this year in South America just to learn Spanish before graduate school in social work.

Somehow, despite not getting through the four year history cycle, or reading all the classics, one of my kids is in Great Books Program at St. John’s College—this from the kid with dysgraphia who didn’t write for 3 years.

Whenever I look at who my adult kids are, I’m again reminded that so much went right that I couldn’t always appreciate while I home educated them. Some days I thought I was failing to give them what they deserved—what other homeschoolers told me were essentials.

Today, I know differently. Please enjoy this sometimes cringe-inducing look at what I didn’t do while I homeschooled. And then, please!! go to my scope about the 61 Things I Did Right. I feel naked and exposed when all you watch are the things I did wrong. 🙂

Julie

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