318. For the Kids: Meet the Lighthouse Family

Brave Writer

Julie Bogart and Melissa Wiley

Education For Kids, Education, Arts, Books, Kids & Family

4.8 • 927 Ratings

🗓️ 17 December 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What happens when we slow down and really listen to the language of a story? In this special episode for kids and parents, we cozy up with Cynthia Rylant’s Lighthouse Family series and unpack a delicious opening passage from The Storm. We notice how sound, mood, adjectives, and even compound words work together to paint Pandora the lighthouse cat’s lonely world—and we share simple ways to turn those discoveries into copywork, scavenger hunts, and rich family discussion.

Join us as we read, notice, and play with language—then keep the magic going in your own read-aloud time.

Resources:

Order the Lighthouse Family issue of the Dart here (available Jan. 1st)
Find the Lighthouse Family books in the Brave Writer Book Shop
Brave Writer class registration is open!
Visit Julie’s Substack to find her special podcast for kids (and a lot more!)
Purchase Julie’s new book, Help! My Kid Hates Writing
Find community at Brave Learner Home
Learn more about the Brave Writer Literature & Mechanics programs
Start a free trial of CTCmath.com to try the math program that’s sure to grab and keep your child’s attention
Subscribe to Julie’s Substack newsletters, Brave Learning with Julie Bogart and Julie Off Topic, and Melissa’s Catalog of Enthusiasms
Sign up for our Text Message Pod Ring to get podcast updates and more!
Send us podcast topic ideas by texting us: +1 (833) 947-3684
Interested in advertising with us? Reach out to media@bravewriter.com

Connect with Julie:

Connect with Melissa:

Produced by NOVA

Transcript

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0:00.0	Looking for a great math program?
0:03.0	CTC Math provides online video tutorials that make learning math easy and effective
0:10.0	by using creative graphics and animation that are sure to grab and keep your child's attention.
0:16.0	Here's a great testimonial from Lori.
0:18.0	She said one day my 10-year-old was in tears over math.
0:23.7	I tried my best to help, but I ended up in tears as well.
0:27.7	That very night, I received an email offer for CTC Math.
0:32.1	The following Monday, we reviewed the curriculum together.
0:35.8	She was willing to give it a shot, and we have never looked back.
0:39.9	Start your free trial today by visiting ctcmath.com.
0:49.9	Hello, friends, Melissa here.
0:52.6	Welcome to the Brave Writer podcast. To help prepare for our upcoming
0:57.4	holiday break, Julie and I are each recording a solo episode, and today is my turn. But this episode
1:05.5	is a bit of a departure for us, because this one is for the kids. Well, it's for kids and parents together. And I really
1:12.2	hope you enjoy what we're about to do. You see, every summer, Brave Rider holds a free online event
1:19.6	called Brave Rider Summer Camp, a full day of webinars for homeschooling parents presented by Julie
1:26.1	and other members of the Brave Writer team.
1:28.8	And every year, to give parents time to grab lunch in the middle of the day, we have a special
1:34.8	event just for kids. This past summer, Julie invited me to give kids of all ages a preview of
1:41.9	some upcoming dart, arrow, and boomerang books and discussion topics.
1:47.7	So I read a passage from each book and then we chatted about it for a bit, taking a look at the
1:53.5	language and the themes, the mechanics and literary devices that make a piece of writing sing.
	...

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