Values:
In writing the episodes, Heidi incorporates her own family values, which include compassion, love, kindness, honesty, and bravery - all inspired by her faith in God. With a strong emphasis on literature, episodes contain poetry, writings from many cultures, and excerpts from ancient literature such as the scriptures of the Bible. On Brilliant Mornings, every culture is valued and celebrated. Heidi wishes to find and write about the beauty in every nation and people.
Our philosophy in presenting history:
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The history of our beautiful world includes inspiring stories of bravery and love, sacrifice and loyalty which build into the development of our own characters. Sadly, history also includes accounts of horrific violence, dehumanizing actions, selfishness, and catastrophes. As we write living historical fiction stories and biographies, we seek to use primary sources and oral tradition to find the most accurate facts, creating an inclusive space which values every race and culture.
Our aim is to tell the truth without shying away from pointing out the wrong. We love to step into the shoes of those who lived in the past, learning from their stories and researching the time periods in which they lived to fully understand the political and social climates into which they were born. We do not interpret the past according to any political party of the present. We simply want to glean from the facts and absorb the lessons history teaches us. Because we seek to make our stories appropriate for family listening, we explore difficult subjects with tact, and encourage parents to delve deeper into topics in a manner appropriate for their children. Our hope is that learning about the world fascinates and delights families, inspiring creation, action, and compassion!
Brilliant Mornings stars a group of children, ages 4-12, who adventure around the world to discover stories from history, solve mysteries, and enjoy poetry together.
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Many of the children on the show are friends in real life, and Ms. Heidi hopes to one day take their families to all of the places they have visited in her writing, although she hopes they never encounter the lava thieves in Season 1!
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We love to welcome our listeners onto the podcast episodes, inviting all to become part of our discovering community!
Season 1: Math Mysteries and History includes a variety songs, poetry, math secrets, mystery countries, and Greek and Latin which we use daily, exploring people from the Renaissance.
It includes word problems and phonics awareness activities to build reading skills.
Season 2: As the World Changes explores stories of bravery from history, following Renaissance thinkers and inventors and finding out how they changed the world. Episodes include poetry, mystery countries, word problems, science concepts about seasons and life cycles, and phonics skills.
Season 3: Holidays dives into the history behind the holidays in the United States. It includes stories which paint an overview of our nation - from tales of Native Americans and Pilgrims, to American Independence from England, to Abraham Lincoln and civil rights with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It also includes several faith-based holidays and their exciting origins, and cultural holidays brought to the U.S. by immigrants!
Season 4: A Bird's Eye View of History follows the migrations of birds who travel over every continent, witnessing the events happening in many different countries in the year 1600; with this overview of all the key players of this era, we learn exciting things that help us to understand the world today - the conversations of kings and queens; the decisions of chiefs; battles, secret missions, and the way that normal people lived, whether in the African Congo, the villages of China, the streets of London, or the Native American villages of North America.
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Geography lessons are a huge part of this season! Print out the maps and use the many wonderful resources created to complement these episodes!