The Brave Learner. Finished 7-22-20, 4/5 stars, education, 294 pages, pub. 2019
Parents who are deeply invested in their children’s education can be hard on themselves and their kids. When exhausted parents are living the day-to-day grind, it can seem impossible to muster enough energy to make learning fun or interesting. How do parents nurture a love of learning amid childhood chaos, parental self-doubt, the flu, and state academic standards?
In this book, Julie Bogart distills decades of experience–homeschooling her five now grown children, developing curricula, and training homeschooling families around the world–to show parents how to make education an exciting, even enchanting, experience for their kids, whether they’re in elementary or high school. from Goodreads
“When parents collaborate, kids learn” page 65
I checked out a lot of homeschooling books when I made the decision to jump in an do it this year. This was the first one I read and it was inspirational, to a point. This mother chose to do a more child-centered homeschool than I would be comfortable with attempting. The book is full of creative and positive ways that you might approach your day, your kids, and learning, but if you are looking for a nuts and bolts instructional book, this is probably not the one to use.
I loved the positive energy and the stories, but wondered about some of the things she recommends, like not having nice things, even going as far as denting your table early on so you don’t have to worry about it staying nice. Her approach to cleaning the house is another somewhat controversial area (at least given the amount of flak she’s taken about it on GR reviews). Kids will learn to clean toilets, dishes and floors as they need to as an adult so don’t feel bad about hiring help. In general, I’m not against help. When Gage was an infant we hired someone to come every other week for 2 1/2 hours to clean bathrooms and floors. But, somehow, now that Gage is home I feel like this needs to be part of what he learns to do. I say that now, I guess, in three months you might hear me admitting to having Henri come help out again 🙂
This is a very kid-centered way of learning and something that every parent could get inspiration from, not just ones choosing to teach at home. She is a facilitator and mentor, not necessary mom, when school is taking place. I enjoyed the perspective, creative energy, and vibe of the book. I would have loved attending her homeschool!
Taylor Stevens. I 
Thrity Umrigar is a bestselling author and she’s local. You can read 
Eloisa James was a fun evening. I love Shakespeare so 
Susan Elizabeth Phillips is one of my all-time romance faves and 
Anthony Doerr grew up in the Cleveland area and way before he won his Pulitzer Prize 
Paula McLain is another 
Ian Rankin 
Harlan Coben is one of my all-time favorites and I’ve read all of his books. Jason and I met him in Houston years and years ago and last year when he came to Cleveland I took my mom.
Kristan Higgins is another favorite and 
Bernie Kosar is a Cleveland legend and, yes, he wrote a book and came to our local Friends of the Library event. He spent and hour charming the crowd before talking to the almost 200 people who were able to get tickets.
Beth Hoffman is one of the warmest people you will ever meet. This is me 
Gage, who in the past has not shown any preference for how his hair is cut or even what clothes he wears, has been adamant that we not cut his hair. I think he had a haircut in January and my mom tricked him into trimming his bangs a few months ago. I’m just so happy to see that he cares about it to let it go for now. We were cuddling when I traded my pony tail for his. He was not impressed. His hair, “likes to be free.” lol
This was my library stack. I also have an Amazon/BN stack.
loved it! 
A good place to start.
Ongoing morning devotional. 
We went to a park last week and played Ticket to Ride New York before our nature walk.
Kearsley was delightful, as always. 
Jason and Gage love to talk about space, so I think Gage knew more about Galileo going into this book than I did!
I never got around to reading the book but we liked the movie.
Stacy's Books 