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Join Julie today as she talks with best-selling author and award-winning playwright Ken Ludwig. Together, they explore their shared enthusiasm for Shakespeare and how to bring the Bard to life for our children. Learn about memorizing soliloquies, examining Shakespeare’s language, and the details of how Shakespeare’s plays have been preserved for us to enjoy (it’s a great story!).You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-startedSign up for the Brave Writer Newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2020 + you’ll get a free 7-Day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitzConnect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter--Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media

It’s a little thing: that one comment, the nudge in the acceptable direction, the calm and carefully-worded reminder. You had the right tone of voice, the best intentions, the least egregious expectation. And then your child flies off the handle anyway. The resistance, the tongue-lashing, the pushing past whatever small boundary you set—putting on shoes to go to Target, taking the bowl to the sink, not licking the jug of milk with his tongue, not making that scooching sound with his chair...When we face resistance or challenge, it’s so easy to abandon ourselves and declare: I’m overwhelmed!Today’s episode is all about overturning that overwhelm and reclaiming our power—especially for women (though men are welcome to listen along).You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-startedSign up for the Brave Writer Newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2020 + you’ll get a free 7-Day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitzCyber Monday: https://store.bravewriter.com/Connect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter--Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media

When you signed up for the task of homeschooling, you surely imagined what the ideal homeschooling life would look like. This is the life you are fighting for. In homeschool, the vision for natural learning is a powerful draw. It’s also worthy of fighting for that vision. But because it is not natural to many of us and we have this controlling memory of traditional school interfering with our new, fragile vision of what homeschool can be, we often wind up fighting about it more than for it. We’re going to unpack the differences between the two, and how you can focus on fighting for the things you want instead of fighting about them.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-startedSign up for the Brave Writer Newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2020 + you’ll get a free 7-Day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitzConnect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter--Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media

The number one question I get is not how to prepare kids for college, or what you need to start homeschooling, or even about homeschooling at all — it’s about chores. Should kids be assigned chores, should they be rewarded, and how do we enforce them?While we’ve got our little ones home all day, we’ve got to keep our house running and sanitary. We’re not necessarily looking for a perfectly presentable home, but we are looking for order and a sense that yesterday’s mess will not impede today’s progress.Let’s go over three myths regarding chores as well as practical solutions.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-startedSign up for the Brave Writer Newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2020 + you’ll get a free 7-Day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitzConnect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter--Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media

How do parents ensure that homeschooling is challenging and rigorous enough for their kids to become smart, successful adults?Many parents are under the impression that rigor is the best version of learning. Education that is rigorous means students are learning more, so many see rigor as a measuring tool for how serious the institution is for learning. But is that really the case? Let’s deconstruct the notion of rigor and see if there is something easier to implement and more effective for learning.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:Purchase A Gracious Space: Fall Edition at bravewriter.com/gsfallLearn more about the Brave Writer Lifestyle: store.bravewriter.com/collections/brave-writer-lifestyle-toolsThe Stanford Article: "Why Relaxed Alertness Provides the Optimum Emotional Climate for Learning"Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-startedSign up for the Brave Writer Newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2020 + you’ll get a free 7-Day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitzConnect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter--Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media

I heard from a mom who wanted to know how to shed the fear that her children won’t be ready to enter the school system one day. She wanted to be able to put her kids in school at any given moment—next semester, next year, maybe high school, definitely college.So, let’s talk about the difference between being educated and schooled, being a learner and being a student.Are you worried that you may “ruin” your kids? They may love learning but they will have serious academic gaffes if you keep your kids home. Or perhaps you worry they won’t be socialized or will miss out on school traditions like sports, marching band, prom, and Spanish club.Do you wonder how a child “catches up” if behind in a particular subject area? What happens to the child who wants to enter school but never kept up with math or skipped over science? What if your child is entering high school without ever having studied a foreign language? And finally, how can you tell if you are doing a good enough job at preparing your child for tests, lockers, or self-management in a classroom?The underlying belief that I hear behind this fear is: To be successful in school, you have to go to school for years without interruption. Is that really the case?Homeschoolers have proven for decades that they can enter the school system at any point in time and be successful. We know that in theory, but there’s always the feeling that your child may be the exception. So let’s take this topic one piece at a time and put that fear to rest.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-startedSign up for the Brave Writer Newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2020 + you’ll get a free 7-Day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitzConnect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter--Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media

Did you ever think of learning as training your brain chemistry?The goal of skill-building in learning is automaticity, fluency, ease of use. It’s as useful to the child learning to ride a bike as it is the teen learning to think critically. Becoming automatic looks just like ease, skill, or fluency. Think of what it’s like driving: You can sing along to the radio and think about the upcoming election simultaneously, all while changing lanes on a highway at 75 miles per hour. Driving is so automatic that you have the bandwidth to focus on other things—but it wasn’t like that when you were first learning, where just the radio could be a distraction. How can we facilitate this growth of a mind, skill, fluency? How can we train our children’s brain chemistry for learning?The three primary tools that we want to teach children and then build upon as teenagers are the “3 R’s” of reading, writing, arithmetic. These are the tools that help children get at everything they will ever want to know, but we often unload them in the most uninteresting way possible—through a workbook. For novice homeschoolers, teaching from the book seems like the easiest and most approachable way to educate. But what if you looked at the workbooks as a reinforcing tool, not the main teaching tool, and you found ways to convey the power of that subject outside of the book first? Let them have the same excitement for the subject they had when discovering the world.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-startedSign up for the Brave Writer Newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2020 + you’ll get a free 7-Day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitzConnect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter--Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media

Are you one of those people that thinks you just aren’t inventive enough to imagine creative learning experiences?We tend to think of creativity as something in the arts or something that is crafted—maybe even cooking, woodworking, and gardening. There’s a belief that creativity is attached to the imagination, and when we hear that word we are immediately thrust into the world of storytelling. It’s hard to summon a different definition for creativity and imagination—but that’s just what we’re going to do. Along with the true definition of creativity and imagination, I will walk you through the five stages of creativity in teaching so that anyone who believes “I am not a creative person” will be able to conjure creative ideas.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-startedSign up for the Brave Writer Newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2020 + you’ll get a free 7-Day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitzConnect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter--Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media

This episode addresses a specific question: What do I do about children who refuse to learn—children who balk, who throw fits, and who are consistently in a bad mood about their educations? How do we address this?What we need to do is step back from insistence and coercion and rediscover the joy of learning—whether that comes through interest or directed school subjects. I will offer you a strategy for how to recapture some of that connection and joy in learning, even in relation to academic subjects.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-startedSign up for the Brave Writer Newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2020 + you’ll get a free 7-Day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitzConnect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter--Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media

Ideally, homeschooling as a common interest should be enough to unite us and drive us forward to forge friendships with a variety of people and learn from a variety of cultures. It should, but for many, that’s not how it is. How do you create a healthy, diverse homeschool culture for your local group? What kinds of guidelines, policies, and practices help bridge difference within a homeschool group?Let’s talk about the answers to those questions, as well as why homeschooling became so siloed in the first place and the benefits of a deeply diverse community.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-startedSign up for the Brave Writer Newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2020 + you’ll get a free 7-Day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitzConnect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter--Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media

I have been asked the same question repeatedly over the past 10 years: How do I know if I should get a divorce? And this question has a friend: I am getting a divorce, so what do I do about my children?These two questions presuppose a third question, a bigger question: What’s a healthy home life for children? That’s what we’re going to address, including your marriage, reasons to divorce, reasons not to, and how to salvage or support homeschooling in the midst of all of those dynamics. Even if you’re in a happy relationship and you see no likelihood of divorce, this topic can give some insight into times where you are in conflict and how to be better friends to others in the community going through this.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:Read “Between Two Worlds”verbalabuse.comFinancial planning: wife.orgWant help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-startedSign up for the Brave Writer Newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2020 + you’ll get a free 7-Day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitzJoin the Brave Learner Home: bravewriter.com/special-offerConnect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter--Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media

Is it possible to work from home while doing homeschooling?This school year is different from any other. We are not going into it with the same sense of confidence or the same tools, resources, and experiences that we rely on to be good homeschoolers. Instead, we’re coming in with a lot of uncertainty amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. This has caused parents to think about the fall in a new way, and in addition to the garden variety homeschooler who chose this lifestyle long ago, there’s a new crop of homeschooling parents joining the community. Welcome.In this episode, we will cover what learning is NOT, how homeschooling differs from traditional school, and the essential steps to facilitate learning at home. Learning is not an activity that is confined to just school, and I want to teach you how to make learning a natural part of your life.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:When you spend $198 on any Brave Writer products after July 1st, get a free lifetime membership to Brave Learner Home: bravewriter.com/special-offerWant help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-startedSign up for the Brave Writer Newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2020 + you’ll get a free 7-Day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitzConnect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter--Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media

Millions of families have been forced to educate at home due to the pandemic of COVID-19. Millions of families also educate their kids this way by choice. Whether you are the former or the latter, all are welcome here.In the midst of this pandemic, Harvard Magazine published an article titled “The Risks of Homeschooling,” and I certainly have some thoughts about this. These are my own personal views, and I may push some buttons or challenge some ideas that you have, but I mean to do that. When we are confronted with someone who wants a presumptive ban on homeschooling, I want us to dig a little deeper and discover what this article is attempting to do.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-startedSign up for the Brave Writer Newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2020 + you’ll get a free 7-Day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitzConnect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter--Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media

Let’s address this global, unique moment where homeschooling is suddenly center-stage and millions of families are experiencing a lifestyle change that is in some ways similar and in some ways different than the choice many of us made to do this homeschooling project.The move from having kids in school to having their education thrust upon you is creating a serious amount of anxiety, confusion, and disruption to what was considered ordinary life. If that weren’t enough, parents who used to send their kids to school and then drive to an office are now also at home, trying to conduct a 40-hour workweek while they educate their children using a school system that they didn’t create.What I want to do today is look at homeschooling as a philosophy, and looking at the dynamic of what happens when you combine working from home with education from home. It is no easy thing to be confined in your house, to not have access to much of the entertainment and distractions we’re accustomed to, and to be so uncertain about what the future holds. For all of us in this conundrum, I want to talk about ways we can foster learning and play and cooperation while parents are trying to get their jobs done. I’m going to break this up into tips for those of us who are suddenly-at-home schoolers and then some tips for working from home while schooling.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-startedSign up for the Brave Writer Newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2020 + you’ll get a free 7-Day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitzConnect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter--Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media

Today’s question comes from an encounter I had at a homeschool conference several years ago. It echoed a feeling I’ve experienced myself in the homeschool space as both homeschooler and homeschool speaker/business owner. And then, as we ramped up to this new podcast season, and I asked for your current questions, the same wish resurfaced. See if you relate to this fundamental heart cry of so many of us.How do I find my people in the homeschool space? Why can’t being a “homeschooler” be common ground enough?We are built to have close ties with other people. When you embark on this lifestyle that challenges the status quo, the need for friends escalates because, let’s face it, it’s lonely in a world of institutional schooling filled with traditions and school mascots. Let’s talk about the ways you can find community, the different ways they break down, and the merits of wide or narrow tents.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-startedSign up for the Brave Writer Newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2020 + you’ll get a free 7-Day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitzConnect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter--Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media

What do you do when your child has no clear passion?When we exhaust the value of the planned learning model, and we pivot to our children’s passions — at least for a season — what do we do when our kids pick passions that look pointless? We say that our kids have no passions, but the truth is they will find things to do. It’s just you may not approve of what that is. It may not look like the education you feel you owe your kids.The truth is: no subject on the planet is isolated from school subjects. Chemists are as likely to work in a medical lab as at Proctor and Gamble improving the power of Tide Detergent.  A child who is obsessed with making memes (those ironic images that speak to a current social trend or political reality) requires clever use of language and audience awareness and staying up to date with what’s happening in the news. If you could see the meme-creation differently, you might discover a world of learning happening that you do value.It’s so easy to dismiss what looks like it’s a mere passing craze. But you never know where it might lead!You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:Download the Brave Learner Companion Guide here: http://go.bravewriter.com/download-the-companion-guideWant help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-startedSign up for the Brave Writer Newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2020 + you’ll get a free 7-Day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitzConnect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter--Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media

In this season of the podcast, my goal is to give you a chance to pause and consider ways to improve the experience of learning in your home and in your family by answering questions you’ve sent to me via Instagram, email, and through our customer help desk. One theme is clear as I glance through the list of growing topics: parenting!You want to know how to get your kids to cooperate with the plan or the lack of a plan, how to prepare them for their futures when they don’t seem to imagine life past age 15. You want to know how to help them fall in love with learning, and you want to do it without provoking resistance or anger or boredom or lethargy.So often we believe that the issue we are facing in our homeschools is about learning itself or the subject area (like math, writing, or science). What we are facing, though, is more universal in nature. Even parents of kids who attend traditional schools struggle to get their children to finish homework or to care about their grades or to feed the dog or to brush their teeth and make their beds. We ARE parents. But the question I want us to consider is: do we do an action called “parenting?” Do I do an action that can be described as “parenting?”You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-startedSign up for the Brave Writer Newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2020 + you’ll get a free 7-Day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitzConnect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter--Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media

Today’s question will likely feel very familiar to pretty much any parent: “What if you just don’t have the energy to do all the stuff? The magic-making, the planning, the execution of all the tasks? I know what needs to get done, but I just can’t get myself to do it all. Help.”I get it. There are seasons of life that make the ordinary tasks feel like bench pressing a truck. When you’re in a season like that, you can’t imagine ever getting out of it. So, to address this topic, let’s identify a few of the reasons we lose heart or energy for the tasks of homeschooling, as well as some solutions for finding your normal self again.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-startedSign up for the Brave Writer Newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2020 + you’ll get a free 7-Day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitzConnect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter--Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media

Our goal with this season is to focus on your questions, both the questions you’ve been asking Julie throughout this podcasting journey and the questions you haven’t asked yet. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook groups — wherever you have the opportunity to reach out, please send a message to Julie about what you’d like to learn during season six of Brave Writer.Today’s question: How do you balance your roles as a parent and a teacher?You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:Get Started with Brave Writer by watching Julie’s brand new video series that helps you understand how to use the program at bravewriter.com/getting-started. Each video is only a couple minutes long and will give you the necessary information to determine which level and which products are just right for your kids. If you have further questions, reach out to our trained staff for personal advice and help: help@bravewriter.comSign up for the Brave Writer Newsletter at go.bravewriter.com/tea-with-julieThe Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education Book by Ainsley ArmentConnect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter--Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media

Welcome back, Brave friends! We want to start this season with a big thank you to all of you for helping us achieve an incredible milestone: over one million downloads of the show! We couldn’t be more proud or more grateful.Our goal with this season is to focus on your questions, both the questions you’ve been asking Julie throughout this podcasting journey and the questions you haven’t asked yet. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook groups — wherever you have the opportunity to reach out, please send a message to Julie about what you’d like to learn during season six of Brave Writer.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:Get Started with Brave Writer by watching Julie’s brand new video series that helps you understand how to use the program at bravewriter.com/getting-started. Each video is only a couple minutes long and will give you the necessary information to determine which level and which products are just right for your kids. If you have further questions, reach out to our trained staff for personal advice and help: help@bravewriter.comSign up for the Brave Writer Newsletter at go.bravewriter.com/tea-with-julieJoin The Homeschool AllianceConnect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter--Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media