Brave Writer

What rights do we forget we have when homeschooling becomes an all-consuming family project?
Staying home to educate our kids can be meaningful, joyful work, but it is still work. We deserve a voice in family finances, time to maintain employable skills, space for lesson preparation, personal interests, exercise, rest, and a say in the educational decisions we spend our days carrying out.
We also get to change our minds. Homeschooling does not require signing away the rest of our adulthood.
We’re talking about financial agency, shared household labor, professional development, supportive partnerships, and why caring for our own future belongs inside the homeschool plan too.
Listen in, then ask yourself: what would change if you treated homeschooling like the real career it is?

Resources:
Here’s our episode on homeschooling as a working parent
Registration is open now for Building Brave Writers: Description and many other Brave Writer classes!
Start a free trial of CTCmath.com to try the math program that’s sure to grab and keep your child’s attention
Find our favorite readalouds and nonfiction in the Brave Writer Book Shop
Visit Julie’s Substack to find her special podcast for kids (and a lot more!)
Purchase Julie’s new book, Help! My Kid Hates Writing
Melissa’s books make great readalouds—and there are Darts for The Prairie Thief and The Nerviest Girl in the World.
Find community at the Brave Learner Home
Learn more about the Brave Writer Literature & Mechanics programs
Subscribe to Julie’s Substack newsletters, Brave Learning with Julie Bogart and Julie Off Topic, and Melissa’s Catalog of Enthusiasms
Sign up for our Text Message Pod Ring to get podcast updates and more!
Send us podcast topic ideas by texting us: +1 (833) 947-3684
Interested in advertising with us? Reach out to media@bravewriter.com

Connect with Julie:
Instagram: @juliebravewriter
Threads: @juliebravewriter
Bluesky: @bravewriter.com
Facebook: facebook.com/bravewriter

Connect with Melissa:
Website: melissawiley.com
Substack: melissawiley.substack.com
Instagram: @melissawileybooks
Bluesky: @melissawiley.bsky.social

Produced by NOVA

What if movie day isn’t a break from learning, but one of the ways we build a rich education?
Movies give our kids stories, language, history, cultural references, and characters they can return to again and again. We talk about why rewatching counts, how film can make Shakespeare and Jane Austen more accessible, and what happens when favorite lines become family lore. We also explore modern adaptations, film clubs, fandom, and the joy of recognizing an old story in a new form.
So dim the lights, grab the popcorn, and give yourself permission to count the movie. Then tell us what your family is watching!

Resources:
Here’s the Andrew Scott performance of the “To be or not to be” soliloquy that Melissa was raving about!
Registration is open now for Essay Prep: Reading the Essay and many other Brave Writer classes!
Start a free trial of CTCmath.com to try the math program that’s sure to grab and keep your child’s attention
Find Shakespeare Stories by Leon Garfield (not Garfield the Cat) and our favorite readalouds and nonfiction in the Brave Writer Book Shop
Visit Julie’s Substack to find her special podcast for kids (and a lot more!)
Purchase Julie’s new book, Help! My Kid Hates Writing
Melissa’s books make great readalouds—and there are Darts for The Prairie Thief and The Nerviest Girl in the World.
Find community at the Brave Learner Home
Learn more about the Brave Writer Literature & Mechanics programs
Subscribe to Julie’s Substack newsletters, Brave Learning with Julie Bogart and Julie Off Topic, and Melissa’s Catalog of Enthusiasms
Sign up for our Text Message Pod Ring to get podcast updates and more!
Send us podcast topic ideas by texting us: +1 (833) 947-3684
Interested in advertising with us? Reach out to media@bravewriter.com

Connect with Julie:
Instagram: @juliebravewriter
Threads: @juliebravewriter
Bluesky: @bravewriter.com
Facebook: facebook.com/bravewriter

Connect with Melissa:
Website: melissawiley.com
Substack: melissawiley.substack.com
Instagram: @melissawileybooks
Bluesky: @melissawiley.bsky.social

Produced by NOVA

What if one of the best tools in your homeschool is already free?
We’re celebrating the library as a place where curiosity gets to roam and the default answer can be “yes.” We explore how browsing the stacks creates discoveries no search bar can replicate, why learning the Dewey Decimal System can empower kids, and how a regular library rhythm can enrich your homeschool.
Then we make the case for picture books at every age. From visual literacy and sophisticated vocabulary to science, art, emotional insight, and family traditions, these books offer far more than beginning reading practice.
Grab your library card and come rediscover the stacks with us!

Resources:
We love the Santa Clarita Public Library’s Dewey Decimal cheat sheet (customized for kid interests!)—a perfect starting point for kids to make a bookmark or bingo card.
Find Melissa’s Inch and Roly books, Chris Barton’s The Day-Glo Brothers, Jane Yolen’s Owl Moon, and many other Brave Writer favorites in the Brave Writer Book Shop
If you’d like to spend your school year celebrating the riches of picture books, be sure to take a look at Brave Writer’s Quill collections! These theme-based guides offer reading, writing, and math activities for ages 5-7, using picture books as portals for joyful learning.
Registration is open now for Middle School Writing: Nonfiction Projects and many other Brave Writer classes!
Start a free trial of CTCmath.com to try the math program that’s sure to grab and keep your child’s attention
Visit Julie’s Substack to find her special podcast for kids (and a lot more!)
Purchase Julie’s new book, Help! My Kid Hates Writing
Melissa’s books make great readalouds—and there are Darts for The Prairie Thief and The Nerviest Girl in the World.
Find community at the Brave Learner Home
Learn more about the Brave Writer Literature & Mechanics programs
Subscribe to Julie’s Substack newsletters, Brave Learning with Julie Bogart and Julie Off Topic, and Melissa’s Catalog of Enthusiasms
Sign up for our Text Message Pod Ring to get podcast updates and more!
Send us podcast topic ideas by texting us: +1 (833) 947-3684
Interested in advertising with us? Reach out to media@bravewriter.com

Connect with Julie:
Instagram: @juliebravewriter
Threads: @juliebravewriter
Bluesky: @bravewriter.com
Facebook: facebook.com/bravewriter

Connect with Melissa:
Website: melissawiley.com
Substack: melissawiley.substack.com
Instagram: @melissawileybooks
Bluesky: @melissawiley.bsky.social

Produced by NOVA

What if the missing ingredient in your homeschool isn’t a better curriculum, but a bigger toolkit for teaching?
When kids resist a lesson, it’s easy to reach for familiar parenting strategies: consequences, bargaining, reminders, and demands for cooperation. But learning asks something different of us. We need teaching tactics that spark curiosity, invite collaboration, leave room for contemplation, and celebrate real growth.
We explore playful, practical ways to make math, history, writing, and other subjects more meaningful, while helping our kids develop genuine ownership of what they learn.
Tune in and discover how to trade “Come on, you guys!” for richer learning experiences.

Resources:
Registration is open now for Middle School Writing: Nonfiction Projects and many other Brave Writer classes!
Interested in helping the Library of Congress transcribe old documents? Sign up here!
Start a free trial of CTCmath.com to try the math program that’s sure to grab and keep your child’s attention
Find Jim Weiss’s Greek Myths CD along with our favorite readalouds and nonfiction in the Brave Writer Book Shop
Visit Julie’s Substack to find her special podcast for kids (and a lot more!)
Purchase Julie’s new book, Help! My Kid Hates Writing
Melissa’s books make great readalouds—and there are Darts for The Prairie Thief and The Nerviest Girl in the World.
Find community at the Brave Learner Home
Learn more about the Brave Writer Literature & Mechanics programs
Subscribe to Julie’s Substack newsletters, Brave Learning with Julie Bogart and Julie Off Topic, and Melissa’s Catalog of Enthusiasms
Sign up for our Text Message Pod Ring to get podcast updates and more!
Send us podcast topic ideas by texting us: +1 (833) 947-3684
Interested in advertising with us? Reach out to media@bravewriter.com

Connect with Julie:
Instagram: @juliebravewriter
Threads: @juliebravewriter
Bluesky: @bravewriter.com
Facebook: facebook.com/bravewriter

Connect with Melissa:
Website: melissawiley.com
Substack: melissawiley.substack.com
Instagram: @melissawileybooks
Bluesky: @melissawiley.bsky.social

Produced by NOVA

What if feeding our kids didn’t have to feel like a test we could pass or fail?
Registered dietitian and Kids Eat in Color founder Jennifer Anderson joins us to talk about raising capable, curious eaters without getting trapped by nutrition trends, food guilt, or rigid rules. We explore picky eating, growth and weight concerns, food advertising, introducing unfamiliar foods, and why the “best practice” isn’t always the best fit for the child in front of us. Jennifer also shares ideas from her new book, Feed Them Well, for helping kids care for their bodies while enjoying food.
Come rethink what it means to feed our children well.

Resources:
Don’t miss out on the special pre-order bonuses for Jennifer’s new book, FEED THEM WELL! It comes out on Sept 8th, so be sure to order your copy before then. You’ll find all the details on Jennifer’s website: kidseatandcolor.com/landing-pages/feed-them-well-book
Registration is open now for Playing with Poetry: Discovery and many other Brave Writer classes!
Start a free trial of CTCmath.com to try the math program that’s sure to grab and keep your child’s attention
Find our favorite readalouds and nonfiction in the Brave Writer Book Shop
Visit Julie’s Substack to find her special podcast for kids (and a lot more!)
Purchase Julie’s new book, Help! My Kid Hates Writing
Melissa’s books make great readalouds—and there are Darts for The Prairie Thief and The Nerviest Girl in the World.
Find community at the Brave Learner Home
Learn more about the Brave Writer Literature & Mechanics programs
Subscribe to Julie’s Substack newsletters, Brave Learning with Julie Bogart and Julie Off Topic, and Melissa’s Catalog of Enthusiasms
Sign up for our Text Message Pod Ring to get podcast updates and more!
Send us podcast topic ideas by texting us: +1 (833) 947-3684
Interested in advertising with us? Reach out to media@bravewriter.com

Connect with Julie:
Instagram: @juliebravewriter
Threads: @juliebravewriter
Bluesky: @bravewriter.com
Facebook: facebook.com/bravewriter

Connect with Melissa:
Website: melissawiley.com
Substack: melissawiley.substack.com
Instagram: @melissawileybooks
Bluesky: @melissawiley.bsky.social

Produced by NOVA