Maya Payne Smart is a writer, parent educator, and literacy advocate who has served on the boards of numerous library and literacy organizations. She and her family live in Milwaukie, Wisconsin where she serves as affiliated faculty in Educational Policy and Leadership in the College of Education at Marquette University. At her website, MayaSmart.com, she provides tips and tools for parents to nurture, teach, and advocate for kids on the road to reading.

Maya’s new book, Reading for Our Lives, provides a powerful action plan to encourage and foster literacy skills in children from birth through six years of age. One of the beautiful things about this book is how well her philosophy dovetails with those of Brave Writer.

You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/

Resources:

• Website: MayaSmart.com
• Instagram: @mayasmarty
• Read: Reading for Our Lives, publishing August 2nd
• Growing Brave Writers
• Brave Learner Home Special Offer
• Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-started
• Sign up for the Brave Writer newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2022 and you’ll get a free seven-day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz

Connect with Julie:

• Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriter
• Twitter: twitter.com/bravewriter
• Facebook: facebook.com/bravewriter

Does it sometimes feel like your personality and your temperament are at odds with one another? Whether you keep a ship-shape house or you’re relaxed and casual, let me promise you this: There is no one personality type better suited to homeschooling than another. And no one personality type better for parenting, loving, or nurturing. Each has it’s own strengths and liabilities, and the goal is to work to become more self-aware, recognize when we are in our element, and find out what it means to best serve the moment.

You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/

Resources:

• If you’d like to get these Tea for Julie newsletters in your inbox every week, sign up at bravewriter.com/tea.
• Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-started
• Sign up for the Brave Writer newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2022 and you’ll get a free seven-day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz

Connect with Julie:

• Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriter
• Twitter: twitter.com/bravewriter
• Facebook: facebook.com/bravewriter

No one person can balance the needs of a family alone. There’s nothing wrong with prioritizing and taking care of your own needs. I’m going to offer some tips to help you make sure your needs are accounted for.

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-started
• Sign up for the Brave Writer newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2022 and you’ll get a free seven-day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz

Connect with Julie:

• Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriter
• Twitter: twitter.com/bravewriter
• Facebook: facebook.com/bravewriter

It takes courage to change. The moment we make changes in our lives, we feel uncomfortable—maybe even afraid—about how those changes will impact our relationships. Certainty and predictability are comforting, even when that certainty can be a dreaded rush hour commute to work. Yet on the other side of change, we often feel relief.

Here’s what’s amazing about change: Not only do we have a right to change our minds, but we can change our attitudes and desires, too.

When we make changes in our lives, however, the people in our lives have to adapt to our changes too. That can cause disruption in the relationship. That’s what we’re going to talk about today.

You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/

Resources:

• Raising Critical Thinkers is Julie’s new book that covers this topic!
• Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/stages
• Sign up for the Brave Writer newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2022 and you’ll get a free seven-day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz

Connect with Julie:

• Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriter
• Twitter: twitter.com/bravewriter
• Facebook: facebook.com/bravewriter

We’re continuing our conversation with the brilliant Rita Cevasco! In case you missed out last episode with the owner and creator of Rooted in Language, go listen to it now. In this second part, we’re going to dive into practical steps to help your kids learn to read.

In this podcast episode, we talk about:

• the difference in offerings between Brave Writer and Rooted in Language,
• who the Pinwheels program is for and what they’ll learn,
• and how reading comprehension affects kids’ recognition in all areas.

You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/

Resources:

• rootedinlanguage.com
• To learn more about Pinwheels, visit rootedinlanguage.com/pinwheels-program.
• Want a program that’s going to compliment Pinwheels? Check out our new program, the Quill!
• Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-started
• Sign up for the Brave Writer newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2022 and you’ll get a free seven-day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz

Connect with Julie:

• Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriter
• Twitter: twitter.com/bravewriter
• Facebook: facebook.com/bravewriter

Learning to read and write is absolutely life-changing, but it doesn’t come easily to all kids. Rita Cevasco is a friend and colleague of mine and the founder of Rooted in Language, a company dedicated to helping parents to feel effective in teaching their kids to read and to handwrite, especially if they struggle with language delays. We talk about what is going on in our kids’ brains when trying to process their thoughts as sounds, identifying reading disorders such as dyslexia, and how parents can set their expectations appropriately about their child’s progress.

You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/

Resources:

• rootedinlanguage.com
• Pinwheels Program
• Learn more about the Quill program here
• Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-started
• Sign up for the Brave Writer newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2022 and you’ll get a free seven-day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz

Connect with Julie:

• Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriter
• Twitter: twitter.com/bravewriter
• Facebook: facebook.com/bravewriter

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Brave Writer is produced and published by Crate Media.

Whitney Goodman is the radically honest psychotherapist behind the Instagram account @sitwithwit, and the owner of The Collaborative Counseling Center, a private therapy practice in Miami, Florida. Her new book, Toxic Positivity, talks about the downside of our cultural obsession with being happy – and how to better embrace and balance all of life’s emotions. Happiness has been commodified. We get sold the idea that, if we do all the right things, we can be rewarded with happiness. But we don’t feel any emotion – good or bad – all the time. Happiness can be part of your experience, but it won’t be all of it. In fact, holding onto happiness so tightly can keep us from pursuing other experiences that might challenge us or force us to grow because those experiences can often be difficult.

You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/

Resources:

• Instagram: @sitwithwhit
• sitwithwhit.com
• Purchase: Toxic Positivity
• Our big book reveal is happening on June 1st and 2nd! Sign up at bravewriter.com/reveal
• Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-started
• Sign up for the Brave Writer newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2022 and you’ll get a free seven-day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz

Connect with Julie:

• Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriter
• Twitter: twitter.com/bravewriter
• Facebook: facebook.com/bravewriter

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Brave Writer is produced and published by Crate Media.

Today we’re going to talk about motherhood like you’ve never heard it before. I have five grown children and two grandchildren (with another on the way), and have been deeply invested in the wellbeing of mothers and motherhood for decades. It feels as if there’s little left to learn in that space for me. Imagine my surprise when I discovered Erin Lane’s book, Someone Other Than a Mother: Flipping the Scripts on a Woman’s Purpose and Making Meaning Beyond Motherhood, and felt the full richness of myself as a woman, a mother, and a human. This conversation is going to deepen and enrich your sense of womanhood in ways you could not have imagined.

You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/

Resources:

• Erin's website is: erinslane.com
• Her Instagram is @heyerinlane
• Order her book: Someone Other Than a Mother by Erin S. Lane
• Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-started
• Sign up for the Brave Writer newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2022 and you’ll get a free seven-day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz

Connect with Julie:

• Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriter
• Twitter: twitter.com/bravewriter
• Facebook: facebook.com/bravewriter

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Brave Writer is produced and published by Crate Media.

Amber Johnston is a brand new author, debuting with her book, A Place to Belong: Celebrating Diversity and Kinship in the Home and Beyond. Her mission is to see all of us celebrate our cultural heritages while also honoring the unique expressions of identity in others. Her book is practical, beautifully conceived, and filled with transparent storytelling that makes you fall in love with Amber and her family. We talk about why she wanted to write it, finding what she wanted to say, how you can find and define your personal and family culture, how to have weighty conversations, and listening to stories with humility. We all come from unique cultures, and it’s our responsibility as parents to pass them on to our children.

You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/

Resources:

• heritagemom.com
• Instagram: @heritagemomblog
• Read: A Place to Belong
• The Writer’s Jungle is being retired! Head over to store.bravewriter.com/products/the-writers-jungle to get it at a discounted price until the end of May!
• Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-started
• Sign up for the Brave Writer newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2022 and you’ll get a free seven-day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz

Connect with Julie:

• Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriter
• Twitter: twitter.com/bravewriter
• Facebook: facebook.com/bravewriter

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Brave Writer is produced and published by Crate Media.

What do we do with regret?

On one hand, dwelling on our past – giving in to feelings of remorse, guilt, or shame – is not exactly productive. But on the other hand, regret is trying to tell you something, perhaps that you’ve been doing things wrong and could stand to make a change. So what do we do with that feeling and how do we channel it productively? Let’s explore.

You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/

Resources:

• raisingcriticalthinkers.com
• Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-started
• Sign up for the Brave Writer newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2022 and you’ll get a free seven-day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz

Connect with Julie:

• Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriter
• Twitter: twitter.com/bravewriter
• Facebook: facebook.com/bravewriter

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Brave Writer is produced by Crate Media