Everyday Educator

Whether you are a reader yourself or a parent eager to raise readers, you'll love listening in as three lifelong readers discuss why children should read, what children should read, and how children should read. Join Jennifer Courtney, Stephanie Meter, and Lisa Bailey as they explore how parents can raise readers by using good questions to initiate conversations about what we are reading at home. You'll go away equipped to ask good questions about a book even if you haven't read it yourself! As a bonus, listen in to discover the hidden benefit of reading.

Let's be honest: even after we make the decision to homeschool we have questions! "How do I know what to teach?" "How important are grades and assessments?" "What else should I be teaching?" In this episode based on chapter 3 of The Question, host Lisa Bailey and guests Marc Hays and Leslie Hubbard share insights on these and other frequently asked questions. Listen in as they ruminate on the point of education, the place of technology, and how classical education teaches self-control.

What do "rest" and "wrestling" have in common? How can one actually lead to the other? Find out on the latest Everyday Educator Podcast as Lisa Bailey, Marc Hays, and Leslie Hubbard talk about integration, reconciliation, harmony, and enjoying the journey with your middle school children. You'll find encouragement and some good insight on asking the right questions as you learn alongside your kids.

Have you ever considered the purpose of education? Are you still formulating your goals for educating your children at home? Join Jennifer Courtney, Marc Hays, and Lisa Bailey as they think through the arts of the trivium and prepare to spend several weeks delving into the Art of Dialectic. This new series, based on the book The Question, will help you think through the philosophical and practical purposes for classically educating your children at home; you'll gain valuable insight on how the Five Common Topics of Dialectic make wrestling with big ideas easier.

A tool that could produce better readers would be worth its weight in gold to many of us! Happily, just such a tool is waiting for us all: Active Reader Questions! Whether you want to become a more discerning reader, raise a more intentional thinker, or enjoy deep conversations about what you read with your family, this tool is a wonder. Join Lisa Bailey, Marc Hays and Stephanie Meter as they explore how asking questions (of ourselves and others) leads to richer reading.

Are you still on the fence about writing in your books, even after Practicum? Join Lisa Bailey, Marc Hays, and Stephanie Meter as they reveal how "marking the text" made reading Animal Farm a different experience this time around. You'll gain some practical tips on methods of marking, and discover how marking your books leads to conversation: with the book, with the author, with yourself, and with others! (This is the second episode in a series using Animal Farm to illustrate the tools good readers use.)

How do you start a conversation about a book or story? Wouldn't it be great if there was a tool that could ensure you remember all the important details, identify the key plot points, connect the aspects of the story, AND help you have a better conversation about what you've read? Good news: a story sequence chart can do just that! Listen in as Marc Hays and Stephanie Meter help host Lisa Bailey discover the vital aspects of George Orwell's Animal Farm by following a story sequence chart. These readers and thinkers introduce the story in this first of three episodes demonstrating how to use the three tools learned during Practicum 2020 to talk about literature.

Edging closer to the start of the a new academic year are you filled with excitement, anticipation, or…nerves?! Join veteran homeschoolers Lisa Bailey and Jennifer Courtney for a conversation about what they wished they had known at the outset of their journeys. They'll discuss the value of habits, relationships, and "pressing on", and offer a suggestion for where to seek security and rest when the journey is challenging.

Are you still wrestling with your decision about homeschooling for this fall? Sometimes it can seem like you don't know what you don't know! Join veteran homeschoolers Jennifer Courtney and Lisa Bailey as they share the questions they wish they had known to ask, and the answers they found along the way. Homeschooling, it turns out, is about much more than academics!!

Families looking for a buffet of resources to enliven their homeschool journey are loving two new e-zines from Classical Conversations! The Sandbox and Onward have recently debuted to rave reviews, and a sneak peek inside these two resources reveals blessings for busy families practicing the arts of learning at home. Listen in as Kelli Wilt gives us the scoop on what we'll find inside, how we'll use them at home, and where we'll go to get more issues.