Brave Writer

Latest Episodes:

151. (S8E35) Bekah McNeel: Raising Kids When You Question Your Faith Oct 20, 2022

Show notes

Content warning: We deal with topics of evangelical Christianity and parenting in the United States. While this conversation may be welcoming for some, it could be triggering for others. Despite any personal views expressed by myself or our guest Bekah McNeel, know that Brave Writer is a non-sectarian company that happily celebrates and includes members who hold a wide variety of worldviews, religious beliefs, non-religious beliefs, backgrounds, and political perspectives.

Bekah McNeel is the author of Bringing Up Kids When the Church Lets You Down: A Guide for Parents Questioning Their Faith. She’s a native of San Antonio, Texas where she’s been a reporter for nine years. Her work has appeared in Christianity Today, The Public Justice Review, Chrisitan Science Monitors, Texas Tribune, and numerous other outlets. She’s a graduate of the London School of Economics where she earned an MSC in Media Studies. She’s also a wife and mother of two very busy boys.

Here’s what you can expect in this podcast:

Why has Christianity fallen for Millennials and what role do their parents play in that?
Should children be baptized as a baby or only when they are old enough to consent?
Why does Christianity push us to rely on authority figures—and why do many who leave the church never learn to shed that reliance?

I know this is a difficult topic for many people. Whether you grew up religious and found yourself drifting away from the church, or you are still devoted and find it painful to hear these stories, know that the end goal here is for all of us to be able to move forward together.

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

Resources:

Twitter: @BekahMcneel
Website: bekahmcneel.com
Book: Bringing Up Kids When the Church Lets You Down
Join our 7-Day Writing Blitz and take your kids’ writing to the next level! Visit bravewriter.com/writing-blitz to download it
Sign up for Text Message Pod Ring: 1 (833) 947-3684 and text the word POD
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: https://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz

Connect with Julie:

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

150. (S8E34) Dr. Becky Kennedy: Raising Kids who are Good Inside Oct 12, 2022

Show notes

Dr. Becky Kennedy is a clinical psychologist and the founder and CEO of Good Inside, as well as a mom of three, and she’s rethinking the way we raise our kids. Her goal: To empower parents to feel sturdier and more equipped to manage all the challenges every parent faces.

As home educators, we know that you’ve compounded the challenge of parenting by spending every waking moment (and those rare times you’re actually getting some sleep) with your precious ones.

We tackle all the topics from video games to tolerating frustration to thinking through how to deal with a child that expresses a lot of resistance and anger. Dr. Becky Kennedy brings an internal family systems perspective to the job of parenting but offers us so many practical tools. She’s never one to offer advice without breaking down exactly how to implement it in your home.

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

Resources:

Learn more at goodinside.com
Read: "Good Inside"
Follow Dr. Becky on Instagram: @drbeckyatgoodinside
Far from the Tree by Andrew Solomon: Prologue
Brave Writer's Growing Brave Writers was designed with you in mind, and how to connect with a child to produce writing without pain or trauma. Learn more here: bravewriter.com/products/growing-brave-writers
Purchase one of our bundles or sign up for a class to be added to our Brave Learner community for free: bravewriter.com/special-offer
Sign up for Text Message Pod Ring: 1 (833) 947-3684 and text the word POD
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: https://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz

Connect with Julie:

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

149. (S8E33) Avoid the Meltdown Oct 05, 2022

Show notes

It feels like a natural part of teaching to look at our child’s work and note where it could be improved. Yet oftentimes, giving suggestions can often leave young writers feeling judged, inadequate, or underappreciated. It’s possible to offer your young writer editorial feedback without triggering a meltdown. I’ll share some tips you can use to give your kids helpful feedback that will help retain their confidence and independence.

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

Resources:

Growing Brave Writers: store.bravewriter.com/products/growing-brave-writers
Find the right Brave Writer program for your kids: bravewriter.com/stages
Sign up for Tea with Julie emails: go.bravewriter.com/tea-with-julie
Sign up for Text Message Pod Ring: (833) 947-3684 and text the word POD
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: https://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz

Connect with Julie:

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

148. (S8E32) Overcoming Resistance in Learning Sep 28, 2022

Show notes

What’s clear to me is that parents are confusing two important issues. They care about their students getting the appropriate education and so they are prioritizing what they consider the right subjects taught in the right ways through the right programs.

Meanwhile the child is resisting. That resistance is expressed as a global unhappiness with the subject or any effort required to address the subject. To create a desire to learn, the child must find the work personally meaningful and useful in some way. Let’s talk about how you can connect learning to something in the child’s current life

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

Resources:

If your interested in learning more about our award-winning classes, visit bravewriter.com/classes
Have suggestions for topics you’d like to hear discussed on the show? Reach out to our SMS platform at 1-833-947-3684 and text the word POD to be added to the group and text us any of your ideas, questions, or feedback.
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

Bonus. Best of: The Bermuda Triangle of Education Sep 21, 2022

Show notes

Note: To kick off the start of the school year, we’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes.

Even, and especially, when a task is easy for us, teaching children a life skill is harder than it seems. As a parent, this can be extremely frustrating. The positives, though, are worth the trouble. Consider this: the sooner our kids know how to help around the house, the sooner they can help us around the house!

More importantly, and beyond our own benefit, ensuring they’ve got the most recent software update on self-sustaining skills like tying their shoes and reading a clock provide the daily boosts of confidence and personal growth that a child needs. This comes down to one question we receive again and again when it comes to teaching children. It falls into something I call The Bermuda Triangle of Education. It’s a place where so many of us go wrong, and yet the principles to get out are actually quite simple. There are three parts of this triangle. Our own desire to teach leads us to believe that we should already know how to teach. When a child fails to learn, we pull in the other two aspects of this triangle of doom.

Children are smart: they feel the pressure and obligation that parents add to their teaching. These three features: a desire to teach, thwarted by pressure and obligation, lead to the cranky learning experience so many of us are trying to overcome in our homes! Listen to hear exactly where we’re going wrong and how we can approach teaching tasks and tools in a way that helps kids want to use them.

You can download show notes for the podcast here: https://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: https://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz

Connect with Julie:

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

147. (S8E31) Raising Happy Humans Sep 07, 2022

Show notes

For homeschooling parents, happiness feels like the lowest level of ambition. When other parents would say “I only want my kids to be happy,” we’d scoff. We wanted our kids to be virtuous, to make a difference, to be leaders in their generation. But we parents have very little control—over our own lives, let alone the lives of our kids. The struggle to become an adult means entering a world of complexity and ambiguity, no matter how much we mothers want to protect our kids from it. I’m going to share a story of when I came to realize that, hey, this happiness thing may not be so bad.

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

Resources:

Text POD to 1-833-947-3684 in order to join our texting community and message us any suggestions you may have for future episodes.
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: https://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz

Connect with Julie:

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

146. (S8E30) Mothering by the Book with Jenn Pepito Aug 31, 2022

Show notes

Jennifer Pepito and I have had many wonderful conversations on the WILD + FREE podcast, a community of moms seeking to give their children a beautiful childhood—whether that’s through homeschooling or not. She has a new book out now: Mothering by the Book: The Power of Reading Aloud to Overcome Fear and Recapture Joy. As parents, it’s common for us to feel afraid of things both big and small. You can read all of the self-help books out there, but one of the surest ways to overcome our fears is to hear the real stories of other moms navigating their own hardships and conquering them. We talk about the lessons you can learn from stories, combating perfectionism in parenting, and moving on from your mistakes.

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

Resources:

thepeacefulpreschool.com
Read: Mothering by the Book
Instagram: @jenniferpepito | @thepeacefulpress
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: https://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz

Connect with Julie:

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

145. (S8E29) Emotional Safety in Writing Aug 29, 2022

Show notes

Some writing programs don’t address the key condition needed to take risks in writing: emotional safety. Young writers need to learn to discover their own thoughts, externalize their feelings, and process what happens to them. Allow writing to emerge that is not read, not evaluated, but that creates space for it to become the writer’s own possession. This will build a sense of emotional safety that makes your young writers more confident and willing to take risks.

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

Resources:

Growing Brave Writers
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: https://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz

Connect with Julie:

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

144. (S8E28) Critically Thinking about the News Pt. 2 with Mosheh Oinounou Aug 24, 2022

Show notes

We’re continuing our conversation with Mosheh Oinounou, a journalist who breaks down daily headlines of the biggest, most relevant news stories on his Instagram. He also publishes a newsletter that aims to share real, verified news sources and hosts a daily news podcast as part of his Mo News Network. We discuss how to come together despite our division, how to handle differences of opinion within our communities, and what to do about our political polarization.

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

Resources:

Instagram: @mosheh
Subscribe to Mo’s newsletter: monews.bulletin.com
Read: Raising Critical Thinkers
Are your kids nervous to jump back into education after the summer? Consider one of our online courses to ease them back into the school year while tapping into their interests. Visit bravewriter.com/online-classes to learn more.
Book Club: Arrow is our book club recommended for kids ages 9-12.
Book Club: Boomerang is our book club recommended for kids 11-18.
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

143. (S8E27) Critically Thinking about the News with Mosheh Oinounou Aug 17, 2022

Show notes

We’ve been discussing the importance of critical thinking lately, and today’s guest is a perfect example of why it’s so important—and also incredibly difficult. I’m speaking with Mosheh Oinounou, a journalist who has risen to fame on Instagram for his neutral approach to the news, digging into headlines, and discussing social issues. On top of that, he is a fabulous conversationalist, which shines through in this interview. He focuses on verified headlines and is interested in facts above all else.

Mosheh’s news-neutral platform welcomes a variety of opinions and is a place for people to learn from each other and recognize where we each come from. We talk about the current wave of news coverage and journalism, why nobody is truly unbiased, why so much news gets turned into “infotainment,” and the difficulties of being unbiased in a social media world.

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

Resources:

Instagram: @mosheh
Subscribe to Mo’s newsletter: monews.bulletin.com
Read: Raising Critical Thinkers
Are your kids nervous to jump back into education after the summer? Consider one of our online courses to ease them back into the school year while tapping into their interests. Visit bravewriter.com/online-classes to learn more.
Book Club: Arrow is our book club recommended for kids ages 9-12.
Book Club: Boomerang is our book club recommended for kids 11-18.
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: https://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz

Connect with Julie:

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

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