Julie Bogart and Melissa Wiley
369 episodes listed below
Gentle rigor for parent educators.
Brave Writer treats homeschooling as a lived family practice, not a stack of assignments to get through. Julie Bogart and Melissa Wiley turn ordinary scenes, from board games to messy freewrites, into calm guidance for parent educators.
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Brave Writer is a warm, reflective education show built around the daily work of parent educators. Its center of gravity is homeschooling, but its concerns are broader than curriculum. The show cares about how children think, remember, write, play, resist, and recover. It also cares about the adults trying to guide them without turning every hard moment into a verdict. Julie Bogart and Melissa Wiley often begin with something concrete. A child plays a farming game. A freewrite looks like a page of refusal. A family spends long hours in the car. A parent buys another program because the current one suddenly feels inadequate. From there, the conversation widens into principles that are both practical and emotionally astute. Math can live inside budgeting, seed choices, word counts, and game strategy. Writing can begin with one sentence worth honoring. Memory can fail for reasons that have more to do with brain development than motivation. Critical thinking can be practiced through care, attention, and a willingness to revise. The show is especially useful when school at home has become tense or overmanaged. It does not ask families to perform a flawless educational philosophy. It asks them to look again. Board games, walking tours, magnets on cookie sheets, retrieval practice, and familiar routines become tools for teaching without always announcing a lesson. The conversations also make room for parental anxiety, especially the fear of choosing wrong or messing up. Brave Writer stands out because it joins pedagogy to ordinary family life. Its advice is specific enough to try and spacious enough to adapt.
Made for: Brave Writer is for homeschool parents, parent educators, and writing-focused families who want practical ideas without shame or curriculum panic. It also suits educators interested in memory, critical thinking, and child-centered learning.
What sets it apart: The show turns small household moments into usable teaching insight. Its strength is the way it connects emotional safety, academic skill, and everyday observation without sounding clinical or sales-driven.
The Brave Writer podcast is a big juicy conversation about how to bring learning to life for your kids! Julie Bogart and guests talk about how parents and children are partners in the learning adventure, especially when approaching the daunting task of writing. Brave Writer appeals to homeschoolers, educators, and parents who want more out of "school" than merely passing tests. Visit us at http://bravewriter.com and follow along at the blog for show notes: http://blog.bravewriter.com
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Brave Writer turns ordinary homeschool friction into specific teaching choices, with close attention to how children remember, calculate, resist, and write.
Brave Writer treats home education as a practice of close observation. Julie Bogart and Melissa Wiley move through memory, perfectionism, everyday mathematics, writing resistance, and practical teaching ideas in warm, detailed conversations.
A cookie sheet becomes a homeschool toolkit, and suddenly your rough Tuesday has options.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Math is framed as a practical tool woven through writing and everyday decisions.
Brave Writer treats math as a practical partner to writing rather than a separate subject. It starts with the numbers writers already handle in word counts, essays, chapters, and nonfiction, then moves into the business side of writing and even resource management in games.
A steady case for finding something worth naming inside messy student writing.
Brave Writer presents its online classes around a plain but durable idea: writing can be messy, and that mess can still leave behind something worth keeping.
A steady reset for parents who treat every curriculum wobble like a disaster.
Fear of messing up sits at the center of this Brave Writer conversation. It treats that anxiety as familiar to many homeschool parents: comparing curricula, second-guessing choices, and calling a detour failure before the dust has settled.
A steady reset for parents trying to make sense of forgetting.
Brave Writer takes a familiar school frustration and gives it shape: a child can seem to have a skill one day and lose it the next. The conversation stays close to dictation, free writing, double-digit addition, and the irritation of having to teach the same idea again, then…
Practical homeschool ideas that turn ordinary errands, objects, and streets into learning.
This episode frames homeschool as a set of practical, low-drama choices rather than a polished system, and that keeps it grounded. It moves easily from city walking tours to car-time lessons and simple household tools like cookie sheets and magnets, showing how learning can be…
Homeschooling talk for real family seasons.
Practical homeschool talk for real family learning.
The Brave Writer Podcast hosts Julie and Melissa discuss how to build mathematical imagination in children through everyday life, play, and curiosity rather than textbook instruction.
Melissa Wiley hosts this week, with Julie Bogart away.
The hosts open with FOMO, the fear of messing up.
Brave Writer takes on the frustration of a child who can do something one day and seem to lose it the next.
Melissa and Julie swap practical homeschool hacks after both start out feeling mentally blank.
Julie Bogart and Melissa discuss a teacher's plea for parents to play board games with their kids to build critical thinking and patience.
Julie Bogart and Melissa discuss Charlotte Mason's rule of six and how it applies to homeschooling and writing.
Julie Bogart and Melissa discuss critical thinking principles for homeschooling parents, inspired by Julie's Substack article on a critical thinking bill of rights.
Julie Bogart discusses homeschooling and writing, with a sponsor ad for CTC Math, and transitions into a conversation about current events and coping.
Julie Bogart and Melissa discuss strategies for homeschooling children in both large and small families, focusing on creating a happy learning environment.
Julie Bogart and Melissa discuss how to enchant a child's education without high-prep production.
Julie Bogart interviews Mary Van Geffen about her new book on parenting spirited children, with a focus on homeschooling and writing.
Julie Bogart and Melissa discuss how adults can grow as writers during the holiday season, including setting writing goals for the new year.
Melissa Wiley discusses current happenings in her homeschool, focusing on teens and reading, and shares how things have shifted in this chapter of their lives.
This episode features an interview with Alisha Brignall, a homeschooling expert from Canada with over 15 years of experience, discussing changes in the homeschool movement and advocating for individualized approaches to education.
Julie Bogart discusses the history of homeschooling and her personal background in education.
Julie Bogart returns from Italy and discusses her trip with a co-host, while the episode includes a sponsor ad for CTC Math.
This episode features an interview with Chris Balme about his book 'Challenge Accepted: 50 Adventures to Make Middle School Awesome', which provides engaging challenges for middle school-aged kids to explore their potential.
Julie Bogart and Ash Brandon discuss Ash's new book on managing screen time for families, with a focus on homeschooling and education.
A podcast about homeschooling teens, focusing on books, reading, and discussing literature with teenagers.
Julie Bogart discusses why a former public school teacher left the classroom to homeschool her children, featuring a sponsored segment for CTC Math.
Julie Bogart discusses homeschooling challenges and interviews Dr.
Julie Bogart shares a talk on making grammar, punctuation, and spelling stick with books for homeschooling families.
Julie Bogart shares a talk on homeschooling essentials including legal requirements, curriculum choices, and creating a learning environment.
Dawn Smith and a co-host discuss the DART literature guides and the upcoming book reveal event for Brave Writer families.
This episode shares a webinar about embracing the unique journey of homeschooling, distinguishing it from school at home.
Julie shares an interview where Katie Doughty asks perceptive questions about Julie's new book 'Help My Kid Hates Writing', focusing on homeschooling, kindness, and communication.
This episode discusses the challenges of publishing and format writing, with a sponsor segment for CTC Math.
This episode features a conversation where the hosts discuss a math learning program and then shift to Julie sharing stories about her recent trip to a retreat with her women's business owner group.
This episode features an interview with Sharon McMahon, an educator and author, discussing government, politics, and her work on social media and history.