Julie Kirkwood's guest appearances

Julie Kirkwood

Brave Writer

Industry Night

David Katz

Erin Lane

Lidia Bastianich

Melissa Wiley

Rita Cevasco

Kim Linnell

Leah Boden

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Dachelle McVey

Susan Wise Bauer

Janet Wong

Sylvia Vardell

Alicia Hutchinson

Angela Awald

Noah Bogart

OwlTail

Amy Brandwein

Leonard Watson

This week, Industry Night with Foodie and the Beast goes green with guests including Centrolina’s celebrity chef Amy Brandwein, a 2017 James Beard Foundation Award finalist for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic and owner of the 2016 RAMMY for DC’s best, new restaurant; Julie Kirkwood, founder of DC Urban Greens, a nonprofit, urban farm located in DC’s Ward 7 that serves the community with fresh-grown produce; Leonard Watson, an urban farmer working with DC Urban Greens and Urban Greens’ operations manager, Avery Snipes. Together, we’re taking a deep dive into how urban food desserts (meaning the closest grocery store is several miles away, and residents’ only nearby shopping options are convenience stores that don’t carry any fresh produce or other, good-for-you-foods) can be transformed into productive, economically successful urban farms, year-round!

This week, Industry Night with Foodie and the Beast goes green with guests including Centrolina’s celebrity chef Amy Brandwein, a 2017 James Beard Foundation Award finalist for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic and owner of the 2016 RAMMY for DC’s best, new restaurant; Julie Kirkwood, founder of DC Urban Greens, a nonprofit, urban farm located in DC’s Ward 7 that serves the community with fresh-grown produce; Leonard Watson, an urban farmer working with DC Urban Greens and Urban Greens’ operations manager, Avery Snipes. Together, we’re taking a deep dive into how urban food desserts (meaning the closest grocery store is several miles away, and residents’ only nearby shopping options are convenience stores that don’t carry any fresh produce or other, good-for-you-foods) can be transformed into productive, economically successful urban farms, year-round!

Going Green: Amy Brandwein, Julie Kirkwood & Leonard Watson

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’ 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’s a unique, effective tool – and it’s completely free!“The STEM stuff really grew out of my kids’ 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.”A huge aspect of the Brave Writer lifestyle is that we are trying to give our children a rich landscape of experiences – it’s 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’s family often experiences homeschooling outside of the home. The outings are intentional, but they have no agenda. It’s entirely child-led. She’s found that the learning then continues at home because her children see something and then they want to learn more about it.  “The 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.”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.“We’re in year seven right now and never, ever have my kids balked or fussed when I said it was time for Poetry Tea Time.”Julie’s 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’s 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.“It’s really interesting to see them face a new challenge with whatever video game they’re playing and figure stuff out, and I think there’s great value in that.”You can find all of Julie’s excellent resources at Creekside Learning for incorporating STEM, Naturalism and diversity into your home education. I know I’m going to print out a set of Positive Thought Cards for my family!You can download show notes for the podcast here: http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/You can download Free Writing Lessons here:http://go.bravewriter.com/free-writing-lessonsResources:Creekside Learning: Website | Pinterest | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook Positive Thought Cards for KidsBarton System - A great tutoring system for individuals who struggle with spelling, reading and writing due to dyslexia or a learning disability.

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 <a href="http://creeksidelearning.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Creekside Learning</a>.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’ biggest interest.Julie also shares a number of tools that she and her children develop, including <a href="http://creeksidelearning.com/positive-affirmations-for-learning/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"> Positive Thought Cards</a>. They are positive affirmations for learning that can act as a reset button when you get to a point where learning stops. It’s a unique, effective tool – and it’s completely free!“The STEM stuff really grew out of my kids’ 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.”A huge aspect of the Brave Writer lifestyle is that we are trying to give our children a rich landscape of experiences – it’s 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’s family often experiences homeschooling outside of the home. The outings are intentional, but they have no agenda. It’s entirely child-led. She’s found that the learning then continues at home because her children see something and then they want to learn more about it.  “The 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.”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.“We’re in year seven right now and never, ever have my kids balked or fussed when I said it was time for Poetry Tea Time.”Julie’s 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’s 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.“It’s really interesting to see them face a new challenge with whatever video game they’re playing and figure stuff out, and I think there’s great value in that.”You can find all of Julie’s excellent resources at <a href="http://creeksidelearning.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Creekside Learning</a> for incorporating STEM, Naturalism and diversity into your home education. I know I’m 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 nofollow" target="_blank">http://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/</a>You can download Free Writing Lessons here:<a href="http://go.bravewriter.com/free-writing-lessons" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">http://go.bravewriter.com/free-writing-lessons</a>Resources:<ul><li>Creekside Learning: <a href="http://creeksidelearning.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Website</a> | <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/creeksidelearn/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/juliecreeksidelearning/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/Creekside_Learn" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CreeksideLearning" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a></li><li><a href="http://creeksidelearning.com/positive-affirmations-for-learning/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"> Positive Thought Cards for Kids</a></li><li><a href="https://bartonreading.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Barton System</a> - A great tutoring system for individuals who struggle with spelling, reading and writing due to dyslexia or a learning disability.</li></ul>

22. (S2E3) Homeschooling Diverse Children Through Diverse Experiences - with Julie Kirkwood