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Today two Julies sit down to discuss how the Brave Writer lifestyle draws on diverse experiences to provide excellent home education.

Julie Kirkwood, our guest, is a mom to three kids who believes in the value of curiosity, exploration and a daily dose of nature in her homeschool world. She created the fantastic home education website Creekside Learning.

Creekside Learning is a space to share STEM and Naturalist learning resources for adventurous kids, as well as inspiration for homeschooling parents. The focus on STEM developed because it was her kids\u2019 biggest interest.

Julie also shares a number of tools that she and her children develop, including Positive Thought Cards. They are positive affirmations for learning that can act as a reset button when you get to a point where learning stops. It\u2019s a unique, effective tool \u2013 and it\u2019s completely free!

\u201cThe STEM stuff really grew out of my kids\u2019 interests. It was not my big interest, but when I saw how interested they were and how excited they were when we would learn about science and technology, it just grew and grew.\u201d

A huge aspect of the Brave Writer lifestyle is that we are trying to give our children a rich landscape of experiences \u2013 it\u2019s not just focusing on language arts properties. If we immerse them in experiences that call out access to language then we find ourselves more capable of writing and more able to draw on a richer and wider vocabulary.

Julie\u2019s family often experiences homeschooling outside of the home. The outings are intentional, but they have no agenda. It\u2019s entirely child-led. She\u2019s found that the learning then continues at home because her children see something and then they want to learn more about it.  

\u201cThe natural environment becomes important to them, and so it does come out in their writing, it comes out in what they talk about and it comes out in what they desire to do.\u201d

Like nature, a weekly Poetry Tea Time experience can be re-centering for the family. There is something about changing the routine, coming together and simply enjoying poetry (or the outdoors), as opposed to requiring learning to happen, that actually creates a safe space for learning to occur.

\u201cWe\u2019re in year seven right now and never, ever have my kids balked or fussed when I said it was time for Poetry Tea Time.\u201d

Julie\u2019s children love to build, which led to a fascination with LEGO and, of course, Minecraft.

Julie views Minecraft as a valuable learning tool. Her children think very analytically when they are building something and she\u2019s noticed that they now look at the rest of the world in a more analytical way.

Julie does have some anxiety about the frequency with which her children, and most children, are in front of screens. She talks to them about and encourages a balance between games, activity and nature.

\u201cIt\u2019s really interesting to see them face a new challenge with whatever video game they\u2019re playing and figure stuff out, and I think there\u2019s great value in that.\u201d

You can find all of Julie\u2019s excellent resources at Creekside Learning for incorporating STEM, Naturalism and diversity into your home education. I know I\u2019m going to print out a set of Positive Thought Cards for my family!

You can download show notes for the podcast here: <a href="http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/" rel="noopener noreferrer"...