What if academic standards didn’t have to threaten your homeschool rhythm?

In this episode, we explore how to translate grade-level expectations into the rich, lived learning already happening in your home. From Poetry Teatime to bird watching, baking, narration, read-alouds, and everyday conversations, we look at how whole experiences often contain the very skills listed in scope-and-sequence documents. Rather than turning homeschool into school-at-home, we can use standards as information, not intimidation.

Join us as we make peace with checklists, protect our children’s investment in learning, and celebrate the evidence already unfolding in daily life.

Resources:

• Catch the replays of our free Brave Writer training webinars
• Shop our June sale!
• Visit the Brave Learner website at thebravelearner.com
• Order your copy of The Brave Learner from the Brave Writer Book Shop
• Brave Writer class registration is open!
• 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
• Find community at the Brave Learner Home
• Learn more about the Brave Writer Literature & Mechanics programs
• Start a free trial of CTCmath.com to try the math program that’s sure to grab and keep your child’s attention
• 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 [email protected]

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

When is schoolwork really finished? If your child refuses the last five math problems, drags through copywork, or resists the assignment you carefully planned, the issue may not be laziness or defiance. It may have meaning.

In this episode, we rethink what completion really means in homeschool. We explore intrinsic motivation, rote practice, sensory needs, Charlotte Mason’s wisdom, gaming “grind,” and the parent’s role as coach rather than taskmaster. We also talk about how to document learning without turning home into school.

Join us as we trade arbitrary finish lines for meaningful progress.

Resources:

• Register for the Brave Writer Book Reveal on June 1st and 2nd – our biggest event of the year!
• Sign up for our free training webinars in June. It’s professional development for parent educators!
• Find our favorite readalouds and nonfiction in the Brave Writer Book Shop
• Brave Writer class registration is open for summer classes!
• 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
• Find community at the Brave Learner Home
• Learn more about the Brave Writer Literature & Mechanics programs
• Start a free trial of CTCmath.com to try the math program that’s sure to grab and keep your child’s attention
• 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 [email protected]

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 your best homeschool resources are the small routines, songs, snacks, and tools your kids remember years later?

In this episode, we gather a treasure chest of family-tested ideas: read-alouds, Signing Time, Bob Books, captions, morning songs, poetry memorization, skip counting, quiet time, seasonal books, geography games, Postcrossing, DragonBox Algebra, Snap Circuits, and more. Along the way, we talk about why the imperfect moments often become the brightest memories, from dry Lucky Charms at Shakespeare Club to circus animal cookies at a recital.

Join us as we celebrate practical, playful ways to make learning stick.

Resources:

• DragonBox Math Apps - International Award Winning Series
• Postcrossing: Postcards connecting the world
• Find books and other resources mentioned in this episode in the Brave Writer Book Shop
• Brave Writer class registration is open!
• 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
• Find community at the Brave Learner Home
• Learn more about the Brave Writer Literature & Mechanics programs
• Start a free trial of CTCmath.com to try the math program that’s sure to grab and keep your child’s attention
• 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 [email protected]

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 does it mean to prepare our children for a future we can’t predict?

In this episode, we reflect on homeschooling, parenting, adult children, and the tender reality of endings. We talk about why “success” may be the wrong measure for family life, how love becomes the truest through-line, and why our kids’ adult reflections deserve to be heard without defensiveness. From changing job markets and AI uncertainty to theater outings, cancer treatment, and raisin bread metaphors, we explore how to keep relationship at the center.

Join us as we make room for love, complexity, feedback, and joy.

Resources:

• Find our favorite readalouds and nonfiction in the Brave Writer Book Shop
• Brave Writer class registration is open!
• 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
• Find community at the Brave Learner Home
• Learn more about the Brave Writer Literature & Mechanics programs
• Start a free trial of CTCmath.com to try the math program that’s sure to grab and keep your child’s attention
• 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 [email protected]

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 your child’s long, winding stories are not a distraction from learning, but the very foundation of it?

In this episode, we explore the art of narration: the natural ability children have to tell what they notice, remember, imagine, and understand. Inspired by Charlotte Mason and the astronauts of Artemis 2, we look at how vivid description, precise vocabulary, metaphor, and careful listening help kids turn experience into language.

We also talk about oral narration, written narration, jot-it-down practices, observation, public speaking, and why parents can become a child’s own Mission Control.

Listen in, and let’s learn how to say: Copy kid joy!

Resources:

• Learn more about Brave Writer’s Worldbuilding class and other enthusiasm-sparking online classes!
• Explore NASA’s “Observe the Moon Like an Astronaut” activity
• Find our favorite readalouds and nonfiction in the Brave Writer Book Shop
• Brave Writer class registration is open!
• 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
• Find community at the Brave Learner Home
• Learn more about the Brave Writer Literature & Mechanics programs
• Start a free trial of CTCmath.com to try the math program that’s sure to grab and keep your child’s attention
• 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 [email protected]

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 do our kids actually need to know before they leave home?

In this episode, we explore the everyday life skills that often get overlooked, from tying shoes and folding laundry to handling money, filling out forms, speaking with customer service, hosting guests, managing time, and learning how to do what life requires next. We talk about why practical competence is part of education, not separate from it, and why homeschooling gives us a beautiful chance to teach these skills in real life, at the right moment.

Join us for a conversation about raising capable, confident kids who know how to participate fully in the world.

Resources:

• Find our favorite readalouds and nonfiction in the Brave Writer Book Shop
• Brave Writer class registration is open!
• 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
• Find community at the Brave Learner Home
• Learn more about the Brave Writer Literature & Mechanics programs
• Start a free trial of CTCmath.com to try the math program that’s sure to grab and keep your child’s attention
• 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 [email protected]

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 crankiness in your homeschool isn’t a behavior problem at all, but an adventure deficit?

In this episode, we explore how too much routine can flatten a family’s energy and how a little surprise, novelty, and wonder can bring learning back to life. We share simple ways to add adventure at home, outside, in literature, in language, and even on rainy days, plus ideas for building an “adventure list” before you need one. Along the way, we talk about wonder walls, theater games, jump rope, gardening, punctuation, and the hilarious flow chart that asks the all-important question: “But did you die?” Listen in, then come share your own adventure ideas with us.

Resources:

• Check out the “Did You Have a Good Adventure?” flow chart at Semi-Rad.com
• Find Roots, Shoots, Buckets, and Boots and Whatever the Weather: Science Experiments and Art Activities That Explore the Wonders of Weather in the Brave Writer Book Shop
• Brave Writer class registration is open!
• 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
• Find community at the Brave Learner Home
• Learn more about the Brave Writer Literature & Mechanics programs
• Start a free trial of CTCmath.com to try the math program that’s sure to grab and keep your child’s attention
• 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 [email protected]
• 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

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 math felt less like drudgery and more like discovery?

In this episode, we explore “mathematical imagination” and the many ways math is already alive in everyday family life. We talk about counting, measuring, predicting, sports, video games, art, nature, and how curiosity can turn numbers into something meaningful. We also share practical ways to make formal math time more inviting, from manipulatives and mystery-based activities to math tea times and even bubblegum math. If you’ve ever wanted to help your child experience math as a language for describing the world, this conversation is for you.

Listen in, then come tell us what math looks like in your home.

Resources:

• Explore the Journey North Mystery Class archives
• Encounter solar system planet sizes and distances in this fun activity
• Find our favorite books for kids and parents in the Brave Writer Book Shop
• Visit Julie’s Substack to find her special podcast for kids (and a lot more!)
• Purchase Julie’s newest book, Help! My Kid Hates Writing
• Find community at the Brave Learner Home
• Learn more about the Brave Writer Literature & Mechanics programs
• Start a free trial of CTCmath.com to try the math program that’s sure to grab and keep your child’s attention
• 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 [email protected]

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 an online writing class didn’t mean Zoom fatigue, rigid schedules, or one more thing to manage?

In this episode, Melissa Wiley talks with Kirsten Merryman about what makes Brave Writer’s online classes so different: asynchronous discussions, text-based coaching, warm instructor feedback, and a structure that makes room for all kinds of learners. We explore how real writing growth happens, why parents learn right alongside their kids, and which classes might be the best fit for your family, from Story Switcheroo to Essay Prep, Gamers Write, and Media Literacy.

Kirsten Merryman is Brave Writer’s Vice President of Operations and former director of online classes. She is also a longtime homeschooler, writing coach, and curriculum creator who has helped shape Brave Writer’s approach to supporting both parents and young writers.

Join us to discover how writing support can feel personal, practical, and surprisingly freeing.

Resources:

• Explore our upcoming Brave Writer class schedule
• Got questions about classes? Reach out to us at [email protected]
• Find our favorite books for kids and parents in the Brave Writer Book Shop
• Visit Julie’s Substack to find her special podcast for kids (and a lot more!)
• Purchase Julie’s newest book, Help! My Kid Hates Writing
• Find community at the Brave Learner Home
• Learn more about the Brave Writer Literature & Mechanics programs
• Start a free trial of CTCmath.com to try the math program that’s sure to grab and keep your child’s attention
• 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 [email protected]

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 biggest obstacle in your homeschool isn’t what you’re missing—but the fear that you’re doing it wrong?

This week, we explore “fear of messing up” and how perfectionism quietly shapes our expectations, decisions, and confidence as parent educators. We unpack where that pressure comes from, how it shows up (hello, endless curriculum switching), and why chasing the “perfect” method keeps us stuck.

We also share practical ways to shift your focus toward connection, curiosity, and process—plus tools like interval training and a flexible writing app to support real learning.

Ready to trade perfection for progress? Let’s rethink what success actually looks like.

Resources:

• Pacemaker: pacemaker.press
• Julie’s Substack post on this topic: http://juliebogart.substack.com/p/fomu-fear-of-messing-up?r=bv7b0&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
• Find books mentioned in this episode in the Brave Writer Book Shop
• Brave Writer class registration is open!
• 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
• Find community at the Brave Learner Home
• Learn more about the Brave Writer Literature & Mechanics programs
• Start a free trial of CTCmath.com to try the math program that’s sure to grab and keep your child’s attention
• 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 [email protected]

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