Kolbecast

AMDG and bonjour! Today, language department chair and French teacher Madame Jenni Mammola joins the cast to share her enthusiasm and insight into the field. She takes on the idea that French can have a reputation as a superfluous or overly romantic “elective” and describes how the language is set to be the third-most spoken language in the world, is important in a variety of industries (including technology), and has had huge influence on how the English language has developed. Madame also talks about the practical side of language learning, from being silly with accents to having unstructured time where academic knowledge can become conversational. And stay tuned, s’il vous plait, to the end of the episode for a special version of the Kolbecast Litany. 

Madame Mammola’s tips for increased listening and practice in the home: 

*** Parents should always examine resources before sharing with their children. *** 

• Use YouTube for free episodes of children’s cartoons in French, such as Peppa Pig and Caillou 

• Access free children’s audio books in French online. 

• France 24 - world news in French and English 

• TV 5 – bilingual world news as well as free French lessons 

• Listen to French music! There are many free French playlists available on Amazon Music and Spotify.  This link takes you to a playlist with 600 French songs.    

• Listen to podcasts. There are many, many podcasts aimed at people who are learning French. A few suggestions (again, review first for any content you don’t want your children hearing): One Thing in a French Day; News in Slow French; Coffee Break French; Duolingo French Podcast 

• Wordreference (best French dictionary) 

• Cook! Learn French recipes! Try watching cooking tutorials in French. 

• Incorporate French traditions into some of your Catholic feast days, for instance, bake a galette des rois for Epiphany, serve crepes on La Chandeleur (Candlemas), or try a buche de noel at Christmas. Read about Poisson d’Avril on April Fool’s. 

Have a question or suggestion for the Kolbecast team? Drop us a line at [email protected]. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app for effortless episode delivery.  

AMDG. Today’s episode title comes from St. Thomas Aquinas by way of clinical psychologist Peter Malinoski, who joins us today along with registered clinical counselor Jody Garneau to discuss mental health and homeschooling. Dr. Peter and Jody speak from years of experience as both mental health practitioners and homeschool parents themselves—he, the father of seven children and she, the mother of four. Among today’s topics are human formation as foundation for spiritual formation, the importance of parents’ mental health when homeschooling, and how to broach the topic of mental health where there might be resistance or fear. Perfectionism and scrupulosity also come up, as does spiritual bypassing: the tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks. 

Jody’s practical tips for homeschool families are to prioritize: 

• Help forming feelings into words 

• Grounding (simple enough for kids) 

Links mentioned and resources: 

• Souls & Hearts, Dr. Peter’s online outreach with Dr. Gerry Crete 

• Mrs. Elizabeth Hoxie, science department chair and creator of Kolbe’s health course, recently hosted a Facebook Live on the subject of mental health which featured psychologist Dr. Courtney Minerd and one of Mrs. Hoxie’s students. 

Have a question or suggestion for the Kolbecast team? Drop us a line at [email protected]. Subscribe to the Kolbecast in your favorite podcast player for effortless episode delivery. 

AMDG. Last fall, we heard from three young men who are current Kolbe students. Today, we hear from three young women—Elena, Ellen, and Emily—who are active both in Kolbe academics and in Kolbe’s online clubs. They talk with Bonnie and Hope about their roles in putting together the monthly Kolbe Chronicle newsletter, as well as what they like and dislike about being homeschooled and what they spend their time doing when they’re not doing school.  

Have a question or suggestion for the Kolbecast team? Drop us a line at [email protected]. Subscribe to the Kolbecast in your favorite podcast player for effortless episode delivery.

AMDG. Are you staring down a pile of paperwork? Or maybe that pile feels more like an avalanche? Take a breath, cue up this episode, and listen in as Everett Buyarski and Erica Treat share with Bonnie and Hope what’s really necessary for grade reporting and record-keeping. With some insights from advisors who write letters of recommendation and tricks for PDF creation and viewing, the group discusses bringing the year home and reviewing what all you have to show for it. Hang in there—the end of the school year is closer than it appears. 

Links & resources mentioned 

• Welcome Packet for Enrolled Families

Have a question or suggestion for the Kolbecast team? Drop us a line at [email protected]. Subscribe in your favorite podcast player for effortless episode delivery.  

AMDG. Today, voice of experience and mother of four Kolbe graduates Louise Deal visits with Bonnie and Hope about homeschooling with space for life to happen. She shares how she and her husband, who both have engineering backgrounds, chose Kolbe for their children and where those children are now, including one who is a Ph.D. student in robotics and another who is a Ph.D. student in philosophy. Mrs. Deal describes how her family organized their homeschooling days, how the days differed when her children were different ages, and how she found Kolbe both rigorous and adaptable. The group also discusses why classical education is particularly important for students planning to go into STEM fields, the importance of focus on basic concepts and abstract thought, and the anchors of both family traditions and seeking support from others. 

During the conversation, Mrs. Deal discusses the merits of AP coursework. She sent along this note of clarification after recording: “Learning the content of an honors or AP Chemistry, Physics and/or Calculus course is great preparation for college STEM, but taking an AP exam and trying to get college credit for it is not. If [parents] want to get a jump on college credits with a high-achieving student, it would be better to just take an online or in-person local course from an actual, accredited college that would transfer to the college [the student] plan[s] to attend.  That would need to be verified ahead of time, so if [parents] don't know where [their] child will be going to college there would be some risk of the course not being accepted.” 

Have a question or suggestion for the Kolbecast team? Drop us a line at [email protected]. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app for effortless episode delivery or find the Kolbecast on YouTube. 

AMDG. The Kolbe employees who make the social media magic happen join us today to discuss outreach and evangelization in the digital realm. Brigid Tebaldi and Lauren Hoang share their insights and experiences about reaching families and fostering community through various platforms, developing healthy interactions with social media, and using the internet to share the good, the true, and the beautiful.  

Links mentioned: 

• Lauren’s Vocations Week talk

Have a question or suggestion for the Kolbecast team? Drop us a line at [email protected]. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app for effortless episode delivery or find the Kolbecast on YouTube. 

AMDG. After an enlightening conversation on higher education generally last week, Dr. Don Prudlo joins us again 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 Newman Guide by the Cardinal Newman Society 

Choosing the Right College (eBook) by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute 

Have a question or suggestion for the Kolbecast team? Drop us a line at [email protected]. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app for effortless episode delivery or find the KolbeCast on YouTube. 

AMDG. Dr. Don Prudlo, Warren Chair of Catholic Studies at the University of Tulsa and way cool Gen X’er, joins the cast today to discuss higher education and human formation. We start with Dr. Prudlo and Jordan comparing their Ph.D. experiences through discussion of small Catholic schools and large research universities. From there, the group discusses how students can make a good impression on their professors, finding community at large schools, the richness of studying world religions, the need to defend reason in the classroom when much of current discussion focuses on power relations, and what college classes are like with Gen-Z students. Dr. Prudlo also shares a bit about his current research on integrating virtue and leadership through case studies of saints.  

University of Tulsa article about Dr. Prudlo 

Christendom College article about Dr. Prudlo 

Dr. Prudlo’s presentation to the Alcuin Institute: “St. Thomas and the Incarnation” 

AMDG. While standardized testing often elicits groans from students and anxiety from parents, what if it didn’t have to? Today Jordan and Bonnie visit with Jeremy Tate, President of the Classic Learning Test. He explains how high-stakes tests drive and dictate academic focus in America, how he decided to go up against the behemoth that is the College Board in designing a different kind of college admission test, and how he’s challenged the societal status quo that excludes great thinkers like C.S. Lewis and John Paul the Great from the literature that test takers must examine. The group also discusses the immense time spent in test prep and what messages are sent by the materials studied in that time. Jeremy describes how the goal of classical education isn’t to make people better employees—it's to make them better humans—but how the best humans often end up being the best employees, too. He reminds listeners that tests give a snapshot into key academic areas at a given point in time, but say nothing about the kind of person that a student is. And he distills his goals into a succinct call to action: read good books, read them a lot, and enjoy them. 

https://www.cltexam.com/home 

Anchored podcast 

Interview with CLT rep Brittany Higdon on Kolbe blog 

Student Spotlight: Interview with Kolbe Academy Student Meghan Rohatgi 

Have a question or suggestion for the Kolbecast team? Write to us: [email protected]. Subscribe in your favorite podcast player for effortless episode delivery.  

AMDG. Last week, we visited with Therese Prudlo about structuring school weeks to reflect care of the whole person. Today, Therese rejoins us to go deeper on the need for refreshment and reflection. What does it mean that the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath? What is the practice of “going to your desert” in the middle of busy family life? How do the movies Elf and Babette’s Feast both relate to the rhythm of our days? It all comes back to the idea of living our days as the gifts that they are, with a healthy dose of reality that it’s often harder to receive gifts than to give them. 

Jennifer Fulwiler – The Courage to Rest