Kolbecast

AMDG.  The call to be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect can be intimidating, but God doesn’t ask us to live in a pressure cooker.  Today Bobby Angel—writer, speaker, youth minister, and homeschooling dad—joins Bonnie, Steven, and Kolbe’s communications and marketing director, Josh Beckman, to talk about answering the call to holiness in everyday life.  Bobby describes how to live differently from the culture in a way that doesn’t turn people off; how to bring gifts, quirks, and personality to the table as part of God’s plan for life in abundance; and the all-important part of life of just being human together.  The group also reflects on parents’ call to holiness in their families, including rupture and repair as well as emotional attunement.  In sum, Bobby’s message to podcast listeners is that the call to be holy is a call to be whole.

Kolbecast episodes mentioned and relevant:

• 123 A Change of the Ages with Msgr. James Shea

Visit JackieandBobby.com for more information about them and their ministry, projects, and offerings.

Kolbecast episodes cover a range of topics relating to school at home, the life of faith, and Catholic education. Using the filters on our website, you can sort the episodes to find just what you're looking for. If you listen to the Kolbecast via a podcast app/player, we'd be so grateful to you for leaving a rating and review. That helps broaden the reach of the podcast. However you listen, please spread the word about the Kolbecast!

What questions do you have about homeschooling, the life of faith, or the intersection of the two? Send your questions to [email protected] and stay tuned for answers. You may hear them answered in an upcoming Kolbecast episode!

Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org

AMDG.  Kolbe is committed to classical education, the western canon, sacred tradition, and academic rigor.  As the breadth and needs of students develops, we work to identify new needs and areas to support families so we can adapt to changing kinds of students while remaining committed to our core values.  Karen Allgood, Megan Lengyel, Tony Guzzaldo, Nicole O’Connor, Kelly Powers, Ashley Massey, and Elizabeth Hoxie visit with us today about the new Student Support Services program coming soon to Kolbe families.  They discuss identifying gaps and struggles, providing resources for special education and learning disabilities, offering multiple levels of support for customizable help, and the availability of accountability mentors for homeschool students.

Links mentioned and relevant:

• details about Kolbe’s Student Support Services

Kolbecast episodes cover a range of topics relating to school at home, the life of faith, and Catholic education. Using the filters on our website, you can sort the episodes to find just what you're looking for. If you listen to the Kolbecast via a podcast app/player, we'd be so grateful to you for leaving a rating and review. That helps broaden the reach of the podcast. However you listen, please spread the word about the Kolbecast!

What questions do you have about homeschooling, the life of faith, or the intersection of the two? Send your questions to [email protected] and stay tuned for answers. You may hear them answered in an upcoming Kolbecast episode!

Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org

AMDG.  The Gospel of John begins by describing the Word of God.  What does it mean to use words to study the Word—what joys, responsibilities, and opportunities lay in store?  Mark Brumley, president of Ignatius Press and president of the Kolbe board of advisors, shares his thoughts and experience with us today.  The discussion covers Mark’s longtime familiarity with Kolbe, the idea that Jesus as capital-W Word should shape our use of lowercase-w words, and the various features of spoken, written, and printed words.  Mark highlights the obligation to be clear where we can be in learning and teaching, the importance of humbly recognizing our limitations as knowers and understanders, and the benefits & tradeoffs of paper books versus eBooks.  Listen all the way through for advice and encouragement for students and parents both!

Links mentioned and relevant:

• More about Mark Brumley on the Ignatius Press website

Kolbecast episodes cover a range of topics relating to school at home, the life of faith, and Catholic education. Using the filters on our website, you can sort the episodes to find just what you're looking for. If you listen to the Kolbecast via a podcast app/player, we'd be so grateful to you for leaving a rating and review. That helps us reach more listeners. However you listen, please spread the word about the Kolbecast!

What questions do you have about homeschooling, the life of faith, or the intersection of the two? Send your questions to [email protected] and stay tuned for answers. You may hear them answered in an upcoming Kolbecast episode!

Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org

AMDG.  The harmony between education’s tangible and intangible features is our focus today as Soren Schwab of the Classic Learning Test joins us.  Soren shares some comparisons and contrasts between German and American education, discusses the hyper-specialization seen in some modern education, touches on the concept of school choice, and describes how the infrastructure to support and provide classical education has grown in the past decade.  He also highlights the proper relationship with standards or metrics as part of education.

Links mentioned:

• Kolbe’s Dr. Jordan Almanzar on CLT’s Anchored podcast

Relevant Kolbecast episodes:

• 120 Substance Matters with CLT founder Jeremy Tate

Kolbecast episodes cover a range of topics relating to school at home, the life of faith, and Catholic education. Using the filters on our website, you can sort the episodes to find just what you're looking for. If you listen to the Kolbecast via a podcast app/player, we'd be so grateful to you for leaving a rating and review. That helps us reach more listeners. However you listen, please spread the word about the Kolbecast!

What questions do you have about homeschooling, the life of faith, or the intersection of the two? Send your questions to [email protected] and stay tuned for answers. You may hear them answered in an upcoming Kolbecast episode!

Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org

AMDG.  Visit the Southern Hemisphere with us today as we get to know Mieke Byerley, a Kolbe alumna and homeschooling mother with a Dutch background and 30 years of residence in New Zealand. Mieke shares her experience transitioning to homeschooling as a high school student, including the conflict she had with her parents at first and the way her perspective has changed in the time since.  She describes how homeschooling fosters the ability to make sense of things that aren’t at all apparent at first sight, builds a systems thinking perspective, and offers opportunities for failure and experimentation.  She also discusses her husband’s initial reluctance to homeschool, the mutual symbiosis of learning and growth, and the logistics of homeschooling in a different country with a different calendar from a curriculum provider like Kolbe.

Relevant Kolbecast episodes

• 35 An Atmosphere of Opportunity with Kolbe mom Carola in Spain

Kolbecast episodes cover a range of topics relating to school at home, the life of faith, and Catholic education. Using the filters on our website, you can sort the episodes to find just what you're looking for. If you listen to the Kolbecast via a podcast app/player, we'd be so grateful to you for leaving a rating and review. That helps us reach more listeners. However you listen, please spread the word about the Kolbecast!

What questions do you have about homeschooling, the life of faith, or the intersection of the two? Send your questions to [email protected] and stay tuned for answers. You may hear them answered in an upcoming Kolbecast episode!

Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org

AMDG. Who am I, what is excellence, and what am I called to do here? These are three foundational questions here at Kolbe. Today homeschool graduate and entertainment professional Peter Atkinson of Relevant Radio’s The Merry Beggars visits with Bonnie and Steven about his experience, his calling, and his direction. Peter shares how growing up homeschooled nurtured him an atmosphere of creativity, discovery, and wonder; what his college transition was like; and how he lives out his wonder and love of education today as a young husband, father, and professional. Turning to his current projects with The Merry Beggars, Peter reflects on the danger of measuring success by external accomplishments, the unexpected road of divine providence, and his focus on inspiring lives of virtue and showing families that virtue is lively. 

Links mentioned and relevant:

• https://www.onthenighttrain.com/

Kolbecast episodes cover a range of topics relating to school at home, the life of faith, and Catholic education. Using the filters on our website, you can sort the episodes to find just what you're looking for. If you listen to the Kolbecast via a podcast app/player, we'd be so grateful to you for leaving a rating and review. That helps us reach more listeners. However you listen, please spread the word about the Kolbecast!

What questions do you have about homeschooling, the life of faith, or the intersection of the two? Send your questions to [email protected] and stay tuned for answers. You may hear them answered in an upcoming Kolbecast episode!

Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org

AMDG.  After making the choice to homeschool, it can be difficult to admit when hard days arrive.  After all, we signed up for this, right?  It’s easy to forget that every road comes with bumps and leads to blisters sometimes.  As the school year stretches on and the excitement of the holidays dissipates, Therese Prudlo, Amanda Hayes, and Krysten Pizzurro share their experiences with burnout: what it is, what it feels like, what it tells us we need, and what can make it better.  The group discusses ways to address and mitigate burnout, the reassurance of community and vulnerability, the importance of asking for help when you need it, and the power of silence and rest.

Related Kolbecast episodes:

• 61 Middle Ground with Amanda Hayes and Alex Pischke

Other resources:

• This blog post about mottoes might be helpful right about now.

Kolbecast episodes cover a range of topics relating to school at home, the life of faith, and Catholic education. Using the filters on our website, you can sort the episodes to find just what you're looking for. If you listen to the Kolbecast via a podcast app/player, we'd be so grateful to you for leaving a rating and review. That helps us reach more listeners. However you listen, please spread the word about the Kolbecast!

What questions do you have about homeschooling, the life of faith, or the intersection of the two? Send your questions to [email protected] and stay tuned for answers. You may hear them answered in an upcoming Kolbecast episode!

Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org

AMDG.  Storytelling is foundational to the human experience, and the more new media develop, the more options are available for families to select from.  Today filmmaker, homeschooling dad, MFA graduate of Columbia University, and chair of the dramatic arts department at the University of Mary Daniel Bielinski joins the Kolbecast to talk about making films that celebrate faith, perseverance, courage, grit, and redemption.  He describes his focus on telling good stories from the get-go and creating projects which are intrinsically Catholic but not preachy or stereotypical.  He also shares his perspective on approaching big questions and difficult matters of being human.  Together, the group discusses the daily unglamorous work that goes into grand productions—from movies to parenting.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Canticle Productions

Kolbecast episodes cover a range of topics relating to school at home, the life of faith, and Catholic education. Using the filters on our website, you can sort the episodes to find just what you're looking for. If you listen to the Kolbecast via a podcast app/player, we'd be so grateful to you for leaving a rating and review. That helps us reach more listeners. However you listen, please spread the word about the Kolbecast!

What questions do you have about homeschooling, the life of faith, or the intersection of the two? Send your questions to [email protected] and stay tuned for answers. You may hear them answered in an upcoming Kolbecast episode!

Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org

AMDG.  Come along with author, storyteller, and Kolbe mother Kathryn Swegart today as she shares her experience of homeschooling with Kolbe from 1998 to 2008 and her life after homeschooling.  She describes standout memories, the freedom and efficiency she found in home education, and how she balanced expectations and incentives with her three children.  She also describes her transition away from the season of homeschooling and the path to her current role as an author of children’s stories drawn from the treasury of the Catholic faith.

Links relevant and mentioned:

• Visit Kathryn online at kathrynswegart.com.

Support Kolbe Academy at no extra cost when you shop on Amazon by designating Kolbe as your intended beneficiary in the Amazon Smile program. Here’s a link to set that up.

Suggestions from Kathryn:

• Honey for a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt

Kolbecast episodes cover a range of topics relating to school at home, the life of faith, and Catholic education. Using the filters on our website, you can sort the episodes to find just what you're looking for. If you listen to the Kolbecast via a podcast app/player, we'd be so grateful to you for leaving a rating and review. That helps us reach more listeners. However you listen, please spread the word about the Kolbecast!

What questions do you have about homeschooling, the life of faith, or the intersection of the two? Send your questions to [email protected] and stay tuned for answers. You may hear them answered in an upcoming Kolbecast episode!

Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org

AMDG.  As the doldrums of January and February set in, we turn to one of the most important topics for homeschooling families: encouragement.  Karen Allgood, Julie Meyers, Jamie Coelho-Kostolny, and Maggie Hayden join us to share their whys for homeschooling, the highs and lows they see in their own families and their Kolbe families, and some affirming moments they've experienced that brought peace and reassurance during days of struggle.  If you’re in a time where some disasters are obvious and some solutions aren’t quite visible, or if you’re just feeling the weight of some cold short winter days, this episode is for you.

Previous Kolbecast episodes featuring today’s contributors:

• Karen on 124 In This Together and 125 Call the Advisor

Other relevant Kolbecast episodes:

• 9 with Kolbe alumna Monnica Prudlo

Other resources mentioned in the episode:

• How to connect with Kolbe families via the Schoology directory

Kolbecast episodes cover a range of topics relating to school at home, the life of faith, and Catholic education. Using the filters on our website, you can sort the episodes to find just what you're looking for. If you listen to the Kolbecast via a podcast app/player, we'd be so grateful to you for leaving a rating and review. That helps us reach more listeners. However you listen, please spread the word about the Kolbecast!

What questions do you have about homeschooling, the life of faith, or the intersection of the two? Send your questions to [email protected] and stay tuned for answers. You may hear them answered in an upcoming Kolbecast episode!

Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org