Brave Writer

Kim and Gabrielle Linnell are an amazing mother-daughter duo we invited on the show to share how Brave Writer — and homeschooling in general — has shaped their understanding of education.Gabrielle is 25 and was homeschooled for about nine years, also spending time in private and public schools. She currently works at Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., as the digital projects associate, where she gets to work on awesome digital initiatives relating to Shakespeare and his world.Gabrielle’s mom, Kim, has taught English as a second language for more than 20 years to international students in schools and universities, both in America and abroad… but she describes the 10 years she homeschooled her four daughters as the high water mark of her career.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:You can download Free Writing Lessons here: http://go.bravewriter.com/free-writing-lessonsRead some of Gabrielle’s writing at GabrielleLinnell.comSign up for Gabrielle’s TinyLetter about the ways maps change our minds: tinyletter.com/gclinnellFollow Kim’s writing at ESLOnlineMagazine.com

We were first introduced to Christina Celebi in the height of live streaming broadcasts like Periscope, and we were immediately attracted to her contagious passion and sparkle. We sat down to talk with her because her family have made a brave decision: they have taken their homeschool on the road abroad!Christina immediately fell in love with the freedom that homeschooling created for her family. That independence, mixed with her and her husband’s wanderlust, took root and blossomed into what she calls “World Schooling.”Christina shares how World Schooling changes her homeschooling experience, how she travels on a budget, and how you can start World Schooling if you’ve never travelled before.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:You can download Free Writing Lessons here: http://go.bravewriter.com/free-writing-lessonsRead Christina’s blog post: “World Schooling on a Budget”

Dotty Christensen is a one of Julie’s long-time friends, mentors, and partners in shared homeschooling. They sit down to discuss how families can create a warm, rich environment in their homeschool life, and why parents shouldn’t be afraid that homeschooling is a dead end – it can even be the catalyst for something exciting and new in your adult life!You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:You can download Free Writing Lessons here: http://go.bravewriter.com/free-writing-lessons

Susan Wise Bauer is best known for writing her homeschooling classic, The Well-Trained Mind, and she is a trusted authority in the homeschooling community. Her new book, Rethinking School: How to Take Charge of Your Child's Education, will be available later this year.Susan also has a uniquely comprehensive understanding of the history of the home education movement because she’s been a student, a teacher, and a homeschool business owner.We are starting this series about Brave Shifts with Susan because we want to learn, from her unique perspective, how the culture of homeschooling and education can shift to become even more powerful and effective in families around the world.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:You can download Free Writing Lessons here: http://go.bravewriter.com/free-writing-lessonsPre-order Rethinking School: How to Take Charge of Your Child's Education by Susan Wise BauerLearn more about Susan: SusanWiseBauer.com | Twitter | Facebook

Today’s guest, Mason Lawler, is 14-years-old and recently self-published his first book, How the Chameleon Got Its Colors.2016 was a rough year – Mason went through surgeries and long recoveries – so his mother focused on a big project that would lead to a satisfying outcome. They decided to write a book.We discuss...self-teaching the self-publishing processcommissioning illustrationsand why there is a grain of truth behind all good fiction.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:You can download Free Writing Lessons here: http://go.bravewriter.com/free-writing-lessonsHow The Chameleon Got Its Colors by M. G. Lawler: Amazon | Barnes & Noble The Writer’s Jungle home-study course

We’ve reached the finale of this Brave Writer Lifestyle Series. The past interviews have shared literally decades of homeschool experience, including all of the challenges, discoveries, family relationships, and friendships that have resulted from this Brave Writer lifestyle of love and learning. (Don’t worry! We’ll be back with a new episode next week!)We’re going to wrap up the series with the wisdom and wit of the wonderful friend, author and homeschooling pro Melissa Wiley.Melissa is mom to “a small army of children” and she has been writing children’s books since 1995, including her Brave Writer featured book The Prairie Thief (affiliate link). In 2005, Melissa started her blog Here in the Bonny Glen to document her family adventures – it’s my favorite homeschooling blog and it’s hilarious, so make sure you head over there and read it.Melissa will also be teaching two Brave Writer classes in the Spring! One class is about comic strips and the other is titled “Penning the Past.”Melissa was drawn to many of the great ideas in Unschooling, Charlotte-Mason and the classical method – but she didn’t like how strict the teaching methodologies were. She found that her family was constantly learning in different ways.Shifting between more and less structure was working, though. The tide would come in and the tide would go out, but they were learning at every level. She observed her home education style and coined the term Tidal Homeschooling. It’s not a method, it’s a description.High Tide – The family charters the ship and maps out the journey. The parents are the captain and the children are the crew. They’re open to side trips and adventure, but the captain is in charge and there’s a planned course of action.Low Tide – The family is at the beach. The children are all wandering along the shore, exploring their own interests. Although the children are all doing their own thing, the parents are still involved and can act as a facilitator.Everyone is present at every stage of the journey, but their roles may change along the way.One of the benefits of looking at home education through the lens of Tidal Homeschooling is recognizing that we go through these seasonal changes. Tying ourselves to only one point of view about learning sometimes limits our creativity and causes us to miss a natural ebb and flow in how learning gets expressed by our children.When I talk about the Enchanted Education I talk about surprise, mystery, risk and adventure. It can be an adventure to go solo, but it can also be an adventure to participate in a well-prepared lesson or plan.It’s a beautiful metaphor that expresses how the seasonal shift can make us feel and why we should move with the flow of things rather than fighting it.Melissa’s oldest child is in college right now, and overall she feels that Tidal Homeschooling was an effective primary education.During her first year, Melissa’s daughter realized, laughing through tears, that she didn’t have a bad teacher until she was 18.She said she could have used more practice doing timed tests.While many of her peers relayed a high school experience full of pressure and AP classes, Melissa’s daughter loved her high school years.Melissa’s husband, Scott Peterson, is a comic book author. Her kids grew up on comics and comics played a role in their home education.The images support the text and the text supports the images, and so kids have multiple shots at decoding comics. They can actually invite children into decoding risks and provide them with the courage to read.Melissa’s 3rd daughter learned to read using The Adventures of Tintin. Her youngest child did the same thing with Calvin & Hobbes. The vocabulary is often more advanced than what you might find in an early reader’s book, too.“She had so much motivation to decode those words in the bubbles, in the balloons, because she wanted to have the whole story, not just the half that the art was telling.”The images can also offer assistance to children who struggle with reading. The art will help them make sense of the story, and going through that process teaches them to decode context clues for meaning.We’re in a golden age when it comes to comic books for kids. They’re bound in sturdy collections that can stand up to young children, distributed digitally, and available at most libraries.To close out this Brave Writer Podcast Series, here are Melissa’s five things that should fill every child’s day (based on Charlotte-Mason):Good booksImaginative PlayMeaningful WorkEncounters with BeautyIdeas to Ponder and DiscussYou can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:You can download Free Writing Lessons here: http://go.bravewriter.com/free-writing-lessonsConnect with Melissa: MelissaWiley.com | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | PinterestInch and Roly by Melissa Wiley Fox and Crow Are Not Friends by Melissa WileyThe Prairie Thief by Melissa Wiley: The Arrow | The Book (affiliate link)

Angela Awald wears a lot of hats. She is a mother of six kids, a certified teacher, a writer, and a doula. She also runs the blog NurturedRoots.net.“I came across the Brave Writer lifestyle and it clicked. Everything that I had read and felt in my heart just clicked when I read about it.”Angela is a classroom teacher turned homeschooler, and transitioning to homeschooling was more difficult than she expected. She spent a long time trying to force school at home.Moving away from school at home took a lot of trial and error. Instead of looking at a list of what they need to cover, she learned to look at what was best for her children. When she stopped trying to meet other people’s standards, the home education process started coming together.In 2014, she came across the Brave Writer lifestyle and it clicked. The days started to flow more smoothly because everyone was more engaged and connected.“That’s what I love about the Brave Writer lifestyle … I think of it as a framework that allows a lot of grace and flexibility.”Angela created a delightful twist on Poetry Teatime – Poetry & Pajamas day! Every Thursday, the family comes to the table for breakfast treats, poetry and a project relating to the theme of the day.The treats bring everyone to the table and the flexibility of the activity allows everyone to participate when they want to. By being flexible, she doesn’t pressure anyone to engage more than they want to while leaving an open opportunity for them to participate when they feel inspired.Angela lives an inspired homeschooling lifestyle, meaning she develops an education guide that allows for inspiration. Angela steers clear of the word “plan” and, instead, focuses on intention.Based on the Brave Writer lifestyle, she created a visual planning guide that covers everything she intends to get to in the next month. At the beginning of the month, she assesses what requires more focus so that she can better respond to the needs of her family.“I try to think of it as intentions. As soon as I say the word “plan,” I automatically become rigid in my own thinking.”Angela’s experience with homeschooling six children has taught her a lot. She says the keys to homeschooling are an open mind, a spirit of adventure, flexibility and love.“An open mind is just being open to the other ideas that might pop up. The input of our children. Some of the best learning that has happened in our home was not my idea. It was the idea of a child.”“A spirit of adventure means just being willing to step outside of our own comfort zone … being open to the things our kids can teach us, the the things the world has to offer, and not being afraid to go out there and experience them.”“Before we had children, I was a very by the book. You start at point A and you go to point B. There’s no detour. Well, I have learned that that just doesn’t work anymore so flexibility is the name of the game around here.”“If all else fails, or even if it’s all going well, just love ‘em … If we just keep focusing on the love we have for the child who’s right in front of us, it puts everything in perspective.”At NurturedRoots.net and on her Pinterest page, Angela offers a lot of awesome resources for homeschoolers, parents and doula care. You’ll find...A Brave Writer-inspired planning guide, which is like a one-page menu listing all of the elements of Brave Writer.If you are running out of reading material, the Big Book Pile-Up has 30 days of reading ideas for your family.The 20 literary devices that she wants her kids to know before they leave the house, tips for using board games for education and other fun things you can tailor to your own home education experience.“If we nurture ourselves and our families, those are our roots, and that’s what’s going to change the world.”You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:You can download Free Writing Lessons here: http://go.bravewriter.com/free-writing-lessonsConnect with Angela: NurturedRoots.net | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter Brave Writer-inspired planning guide Big Book Pile-Up

Chantelle Grubbs, her husband Tony and her five beautiful kids have been using the Brave Writer lifestyle since 2014. In Spring 2016, Chantelle and her friend Christy Thomas launched a venture they call Play 4 Life Moms based on their experiences with the Brave Writer lifestyle.Chantelle fell into homeschooling because she didn’t think public schools were offering enough to her first two boys. She felt the school expected every child to perform and act the same way, and that’s just not the case.Chantelle was first introduced to the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling, but she had difficulty implementing it. When she started, she didn’t know how to translate the ideas into actual lesson plans. It ended up looking a lot like school at home, and that didn’t work.“It took a lot of tears and trying over and over again to come to a place where we were enjoying ourselves and also learning at the same time.”Chantelle noticed that her kids were more engaged with learning when they were having fun with activities. This is because, when children are problem solving and using their bodies, they’re imprinting the lesson in a different way than just reading about it.When Chantelle started a weekly Poetry Tea Time in her household, her two oldest children were reluctant to enjoy poetry. Of course, they still came for the snacks. Over time, they came to enjoy the poetry too.Now everyone in the Grubbs household is excited for Poetry Tea Time, although not everyone likes tea and some of the older children aren’t able to be there for a whole hour – but that’s fine! Lemonade, snacks and poetry for 10 minutes is still a great family learning experience.Chantelle’s biggest challenge has been figuring out what is best for each child, and accepting that they all need something different. No two people learn in exactly the way.One of her children is actually finding the support and education she needs in a public school environment, and Chantelle couldn’t be happier.“I think you have to do what’s best for each child. That’s the biggest obstacle. It’s not always the easiest thing – the easiest thing is to pick one thing and have everyone do it – but that doesn’t make it the best thing for each child.”Play 4 Life Moms allows you to sign up for encouraging texts or emails that inspire you to build connections in your home through play.The service started after Chantelle and Christy interacted during one of my Facebook Live videos. They both wanted a solution to remind themselves, as homeschooling mothers, to slow down and embrace play.The text messages range from challenges to positive comments to inspiring quotes that help homeschooling parents live up to their best intentions.“Those little reminders help bring you back to where you want to be. That’s what we’re trying to achieve for other moms.”Some example texts:Drink a warm cup of tea today and savor the warm decorations in your house.“Play builds the kind of free-and-easy, try-it-out, do-it-yourself character that our future needs.” –James Hines, Jr.Try to sit down to eat during lunch this week. Enjoy your food. You’re important <3Having these quotes and reminders on a daily basis help create a sustained imagination and allow mothers to tap into their own experiences and best intentions. You can sign up for Play 4 Life Moms text messages here.Having your own story is what counts – not being somebody’s poster child for their story. Every home education experience is different. Chantelle’s incredible story and willingness to adapt will be an inspiration for any #BraveSchooler.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:You can download Free Writing Lessons here: http://go.bravewriter.com/free-writing-lessonsSign up for Play 4 Life Moms messages & join the private community ($5/month)Follow Play 4 Life Moms: Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram

Amy Milcic is a former mental health therapist and a homeschooling parent of five active, busy boys. She has a great blog, Rock Your Homeschool, that will add sparkle to your family’s learning fun.I first ran into Amy on Periscope, where she starts her day by pumping up other homeschool moms (I think coffee is one of her secrets!). Today, she is going to help pump you up in your homeschool efforts, too.Amy’s kids are drawn to the freedom of the Brave Writer lifestyle. It allows them to embrace who they are as an individual and keep out of any cookie cutters.“The Friday Freewrites have been… oh my goodness! I could cry when I think about the effect it has had on our family.”Friday Freewrites have been hugely beneficial for Amy’s family. They have helped her kids be comfortable in who they are, their thought processes and how they can express their thoughts on paper.  One of her children even said, “Mom, I never knew writing could feel this good.” Before Friday Freewriting, it was a struggle. The same child would crumple into a fetal position at the first mention of writing.Poetry Teatime has also been very meaningful for Amy’s family. It’s so popular that they want to do it more than once a week!“As a mental health therapist, I feel that self-expression is so important and poetry is just a beautiful way of carefully selecting words to express your thoughts and feelings.”Poetry has helped Amy’s boys realize that there are different writing formats and different ways to express yourself. Poetry Teatime opens up a world of new conversation and discussion that, otherwise, they never would have had. For the athletes in Amy’s family, poetry also helps them find a part of themselves that they never knew existed.If you want to see some wonderful examples of Poetry Teatime with five boys, check out Amy on Instagram @rockyourhomeschool.As a former mental health professional, Amy is acutely aware of the importance of self-care in homeschooling. As parents, we want to give everything to our children – yet, we need that time to reconnect with ourselves.“Self-care as to be a priority. Otherwise, if my cup is empty, I can not be there for my family. I feel that is a vital part of a homeschooler’s life.“Whether it’s self-care or lesson plans, there is no one way to do it. Many homeschooling parents and children feel boxed in, feel overwhelmed or feel like they should do something differently. That is simply not true.One of the wonderful things about the Brave Writer lifestyle is that there are so many different ways to do any one thing, and we can focus on using our own individual gifts to help our children.There’s many different ways to teach any one thing. We all can use our own individual gifts to help our children with that “and, in the process, learn more about our children and help them discover their unique potential.”You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/ Resources:You can download Free Writing Lessons here: http://go.bravewriter.com/free-writing-lessonsAmy Milcic: Rock Your Homeschool | Instagram | Periscope | Facebook | Google+ | Pinterest | Twitter Poetry Teatime Companion

Mary Wilson is a popular Brave Writer blogger and the only person I know who may love tea more than I do. In her blog, Not Before 7, she writes about homeschooling, parenting and adventure.In 2016, I put out a challenge for parents to show how they are leading an Enchanted Education lifestyle via Periscope. Mary used the hashtag #EnchantedEducation and walked us through her amazing child-friendly home to showcase the power of an Enchanted lifestyle.For Mary, there’s a Brave Writer lifestyle and then there’s a Brave Writer philosophy, which helps guide all of the other choices we are making. Mary first incorporated elements of the Brave Writer lifestyle into her home, and the philosophy naturally followed.She started by implementing pieces of the Brave Writer lifestyle that connected right away, like Poetry Tea Time, The Arrow and free writing. Mary was drawn to resources that allowed her to teach all four of her children together and effectively.“It was so great to move to this place where I could teach all my children together and accomplish so much.”Mary also started hosting book club meetings for her family and other families, but she takes the meetings to another level. She brings in appropriately-themed activities, puzzles, experiments, foods and even invitations to turn book clubs into an adventure.For “The Mysterious Benedict Society” by Trenton Lee Stewart, Mary sent out invitations that looked like a newspaper ad, set out a series of clues, used a red bucket to collect items and communicated using morse code using flashlights in the dark.For “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, Mary turned her home into a jungle, procured a conch shell, started a fire and made food in the shape of pigs.Children aren’t just learning at these parties – they’re also excited to keep coming back. Mary has seen kids start public high school and continue to remain in the homeschool book club because it’s such a highlight of their learning education and their social life.The Brave Writer philosophy has encouraged Mary to look at her relationship with the child first, to look at the total person in front of her. Adopting this philosophy helped her take a year to focus on improving one of her children’s mental health. The extra focus was extremely beneficial and it greatly improved academic progress for her whole family.“Now we’re making so much more progress academically because we’re not fighting against the way my child is programmed. Now we’re working with the way that she is programmed.”Embracing this philosophy has also helped Mary shift from a Teacher-Student role to a Partnership role. This shift helped her overcome the preconceived notion that the teacher’s goal is to, eventually, not be needed in the education process.Collaboration through partnership is not only a useful tool for the education – it’s also a critical skill in the workplace. The most effective employees, workers and entrepreneurs of the future are those who know how to collaborate on a peer-level with their fellow co-workers.The Brave Writer wants to free parents from any obligation they may feel to make their student self-directed in learning without any conversation, direction or lesson preparation. Freeing yourself will allow you to invest in your children’s education, as opposed to controlling it.You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:You can download Free Writing Lessons here: http://go.bravewriter.com/free-writing-lessonsMary Wilson: Not Before 7 | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | YouTube