Kolbecast

AMDG.  Today we continue a conversation we started with Elizabeth Hoxie in Episode 112 on the Ignatian tenet of care for the whole person.  Far from being a trendy #selfcare fad, cura personalis captures the truth that what we do with ourselves during each day—our intellect, emotions, and bodies—forms us into the saint God wants us to be.  Through intentionality in approaching each day and recognizing that God didn’t make us to be frantic, cura personalis can help us avoid the temptation to over-commit regarding some things while under-committing to others.  In this way, we can live out the reality that we are created to love and be loved, to flourish and not just to live symptom-free. With all this in mind, Elizabeth shares her concern for special needs students and gives us a glimpse of how she homeschools.

Kolbecast episodes mentioned in this conversation & relevant:

• 112 Cura Personalis: The Intro with Elizabeth plus Therese Prudlo and Everett Buyarski

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.

Resources from Elizabeth:

• Family Examen: Daily Examen Storybook for Families - Catholic Sprouts

And two books on Ignatian discernment:

1. Discerning the Will of God: An Ignatian Guide to Christian Decision Making by Timothy M. Gallagher, OMV

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.  In this special Christmas break episode of the Kolbecast, Bonnie, Steven, and Jordan gather for a catch-up over coffee.  Jordan describes where he found inspiration for a new line of essays published in Prime Matters and gives listeners a preview of some of his future works in store.  The group reflects on the question of what life and virtue were like before the incarnation compared to after, as well as how Kolbe invites students into the discussion of this central part of our history.  They also discuss being known by saints, encountering their former selves’ writings along with the perspective that brings, and the changing of times from the ancient world to the current apostolic age.

Kolbecast episodes mentioned and relevant:

• 116 Things I Would Tell My Students

Jordan’s articles in Prime Matters:

• The Hidden Origins of Victim Culture

Other relevant links:

• From Christendom to Apostolic Mission by Msgr. James Shea and friends

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. Most people listen to podcasts like ours on their cell phones or other portable electronics, but how many of us actually know and appreciate how the devices in our pockets work?  Today, Kolbe dad and ham radio operator Chris Ranck joins Bonnie and Steven to talk about the geography, cross-generational communication, math, science, abstract concepts, and practical applications involved in the ham radio medium.  He highlights St. Max Kolbe’s engagement with media developments of his time, shares his own experience of how hobbies provide a way to explore learning as a family, and touches on the importance of mastering communication media rather than being mastered by them.

To learn more about ham radio, Chris tells us the best place to start is the ARRL website. 

He also recommends checking out

• Maximilian Kolbe Net

Relevant Kolbecast episodes:

• 100 In the Beginning with Mrs. Dianne Muth, one of Kolbe Academy’s founders, and a post-script about St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Ignatius of Loyola

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.  Pope Saint John Paul II was simultaneously a visionary and a devoutly orthodox leader (among many other saintly attributes), and a university bearing his name has a lot to draw inspiration from in his example.  Today students at John Paul the Great Catholic University join us to share their experience of their education and formation.  Students Bailey and Alan (a Kolbe alum) discuss the uniqueness of JPCatholic’s three-year program, particularly its fidelity to the Magisterium lived out through hands-on creative arts, digital media, and business education with a Catholic liberal arts foundation.  Listen for a snapshot of their daily lives along with some things Kolbe students could expect from JPCatholic.

JPCatholic links:

• John Paul the Great Catholic University

Relevant and referenced Kolbecast episodes:

• 85 Vibrant Campus Ministries

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.  Kolbe students form connections and community through online interactions. While many of these interactions happen through online classes, extracurricular activities are rich in opportunity for friendship and formation as well.  Today, student leaders from two online groups—the Spiritual Life Club and the Kolbe News Show—and some of their instructors and mentors join the Kolbecast to describe how clubs, assemblies, and other extracurricular projects work in a digital forum.  They describe how the liturgical life of the Church becomes integrated into students’ days, share some of their favorite memories and club events, and highlight their favorite study strategies as finals season nears.  Plus tune in to hear a sample of the Kolbe News Show and the backstory of students’ favorite special silent co-host.

Kolbecast episodes mentioned and relevant:

• 22 Imagine Being Homeschooled

As mentioned in the episode, Here’s more information about how to sell textbooks back to the Kolbe bookstore.

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.  Voice of experience and wisdom Danielle Bean joins the Kolbecast today to share insights from her path.  From being a self-described reluctant homeschool to describing homeschooling as the biggest, best, and hardest thing she’s ever done, Danielle describes the changing seasons of life that come with parenthood.  She, Bonnie, and Steven reflect on building a family culture, teaching by example, and embracing the season where you are.  Struggling to hang in there with your stage of family life?  Make sure to listen through the end for Danielle’s encouragement!

Danielle’s website and podcast Girlfriends

• podcast episode with Kolbe’s own Dr. Jordan Almanzar: Learning and Growing with Your Kids

Encouragement from Danielle

• Three Positive Reasons Why We Homeschool

Catholic College Conversations episodes mentioned

• ep 2 Dr. Jordan Almanzar (stay tuned for another episode coming soon!)

Relevant Kolbecast episodes

• 110 Choosing the Greatest Good with Matt & Erin Ingold

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.  Author, mother, and gracious example of hospitality Emily Stimpson Chapman joins us today. Emily has written on topics from encyclicals and Theology of the Body to good food and good socializing, and our conversation covers a little of everything: living in a way that deeply reverences the dignity of the human person, opening our homes to welcome people in, how it's in saying no to things that we’re able to say yes to God wants, and more. She also highlights some of her recent and upcoming publications that make tenets of our faith accessible for audiences of children, skeptics, and everyone in between.

Check out Emily’s Linktree for links to her ebooks and Substack, info about her upcoming Christmas book, social media presence, etc.

 Kolbecast episodes mentioned and relevant:

• 119 The Hope Throughout with Tom & Noelle Crowe

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. In this replay of a conversation from April 2021, Bonnie and her sister Hope visit with Dr. Don Prudlo to discuss the specifics of college visits and college transition. We talk about how to look under a college’s hood, so to speak, beyond what admissions counselors pitch, as well as a few things to consider when discerning what size and type of school is best for individual students. Dr. Prudlo emphasizes Kolbe’s college preparatory curriculum and also reminds students not to be so rigorous that they forget to be human.

The conversation references ep 9 with Don's daughter Monnica and  ep 39 Reclaiming the Territory, the precursor to this episode when it originally aired. In the interim, the Kolbecast has covered a lot more ground relating to “Life after Kolbe,” with episodes including

• 59 The Secret Whiteboard

Other resources mentioned:

• The Newman Guide by the Cardinal Newman Society

The filters on the Kolbecast landing page - including one called Life after Kolbe - can help you find episodes on a wide variety of topics. 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 the podcast reach more listeners. However you listen, please spread the word about the Kolbecast by sharing the social media posts or links or by old-fashioned word of mouth! We welcome your feedback and episode suggestions as well. Write to us at [email protected].

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.  Join us on a virtual college visit today to The Collegium, a unique Catholic college in Hagerstown, Maryland, with Dean of Students William Stover.  He shares how the Collegium and its innovative model provide a small, newly-opened liberal arts program grounded in the Catholic tradition and providing both education and formation. He also discusses the integration of spiritual, academic, and social aspects of life at the Collegium, as well as the vision that brought about the curriculum and the growth in confidence, maturity, and initiative that result from it.

More about and from The Collegium Sanctorum Angelorum:

• 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.  It's never too early to think about what life after Kolbe looks like.  Today, Kimberly Farley—director of homeschool partnerships for the Classic Learning Test—joins Bonnie and Steven with her background in homeschooling and her expertise in college preparation.  They discuss easing stress levels when approaching college prep, constructive understandings of standardized testing, and how to use testing as a tool for understanding.  Plus, they touch on considerations for dual enrollment, including both tangible and intangible benefits and drawbacks.

Kolbecast episodes mentioned and relevant:

• 120 Substance Matters with CLT founder Jeremy Tate

Resources and offers from CLT:

• Listen in for a discount code on all test registrations just for Kolbe families

Other links from the episode:

• Kolbe graduation requirements and diploma programs

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.