About Julie

Welcome to Brave Writer! #

I'm Julie Bogart, creator and owner of Brave Writer, the online writing and language arts program.

I love writing.
I love kids.
I love parents!

I consider it the most serendipitously wonderful collision of loves that I get to be involved with all three every day. Early on, I put in my time in the professional writing world through editing, ghost-writing, and freelancing. But when I got to the point where my kids were on the precipice between manual control of a pencil and self-expression in writing, I could see quickly that what I enjoyed most was coaching—being the person to facilitate the birth of original thought.

Brave Writer exists to recreate that experience in you, the homeschooling parent.
I liken what Brave Writer does to coaching a sport's team. Not every coach played professional sports. Success as a player is not necessary to being a good coach. Great coaches know the game better than the players. Their expertise has to do with crafting strategies and helping players see what they can't see while they are in the game. Coaches focus on how to make bodies move in the right ways to get maximum performance from their players. While never as athletic as their players, coaches enable gifted athletes to perform at the top of their game because coaches can convey the right kind of information that causes growth, self-awareness, and flexibility in critical moments.

Likewise, Brave Writer's mission is to empower you to be writing coaches for your kids. You don't have to be a fabulous writer yourself to call into being the best writing efforts your kids can muster. You just have to know the game better than they do; you need to be able to see the obstacles and devise strategies that help you empower your kids to transcend the challenges that stand in their way. With a little advice and support, Brave Writer products and instructors will help you make good calls and offer effective advice to your budding writers. This kind of coaching is not nearly as challenging as you might think.

My years of working in the professional world of writing equipped me to become an expert in the writing process. Graduate school and teaching at Xavier University have deepened my experience of academic writing, and keep me up to date with current trends in composition. The best writing (the kind you love to read) is that which combines the authentic, entertaining voice of the writer with the cool discipline of research and well-constructed argument or storyline. Brave Writer aims to bring that sensibility to all its classes and courses.

Biographical Details

I grew up in southern California, attended UCLA (Bachelor's in history, 1983), studied abroad in France, spent a summer in Democratic Republic of Congo, lived in Morocco for four years, and earned my Master's in theology from Xavier University (2007). I have five kids and homeschooled them for seventeen years. My professional writing credentials include ghostwriting, freelance writing, editing books, operating as the senior editor for a quarterly industry publication, and writing a weekly column for United Press International.

I've written Brave Writer's Home Study Courses and have written or supervised the writing of all other Brave Writer products.

My work in Brave Writer was recognized as an "outstanding contribution to society" in 2017 when I was awarded the Anne E. and William F. Madges Alumni Award from Xavier University.

My homeschool credentials include ten years teaching theater and writing for our Cincinnati homeschool co-op of 300 students, four year membership in the steering committee of a local Charlotte Mason organization, speaking in the US, UK, and Canada at homeschool conventions, and hosting Brave Writer events all over the United States. Brave Writer opened its doors in January 2000 and has taught tens of thousands of families from all around the globe. Today, I live in Cincinnati, Ohio where I enjoy swimming, PG tips tea every morning, and traveling to visit my globe-trotting kids.

Media Appearances #

August 6, 2020

Thinking of home schooling? Here's how to do it.
Interview with Julie Bogart in Chicago Tribune

March 31, 2020

Home Schooling, Simplified
Interview that includes Julie Bogart in New York Times

June 20, 2019

Encourage kids to read with Poetry Teatimes
Julie Bogart on WKRC Local 12 in Cincinnati

June 19, 2018

Poetry Teatime Keeps Kids Engaged Over Summer
Julie Bogart represents Poetry Teatime on WCPO in Cincinnati

Poetry Teatime
Julie Bogart on Fox 19 in Cincinnati

February 9, 2018

Cincinnati-based company makes educational guide for the Olympics
Julie Bogart shares on WLWT