In this episode, Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker discuss how children thrive when parents read aloud to them. Reading aloud builds family bonds and shared memories as well as increases vocabulary and comprehension. Listen to this episode to learn more.

Referenced Materials

• Summer Help from IEW
• “Is having a loving family an unfair advantage?”
• Episode 354: Paper and Pen — What the Research Says
• Read-Aloud Revival
• Structure and Style® for Students free lessons
• Theme-Based Writing Lessons
• Grammar for a Full Life by Lawrence Weinstein
• Transcript of Podcast Episode 486

If you have questions for Andrew, send them to [email protected]
Perhaps your question will be answered at the next Ask Andrew Anything (AAA).

If you have questions about IEW products or classes, contact customer service at 800.856.5815 or [email protected]

In this episode, Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker share their top tips for new homeschool families. They focus on overall lifestyle choices and priorities instead of specific curriculum recommendations. If you are considering homeschooling or know someone who is, this is the perfect episode. Grab a glass of iced tea or lemonade and glean some wisdom from Andrew and Julie.

Referenced Materials

• However Imperfectly audio talk by Andrew Pudewa
• Episode 326: Fatherhood and Family – A Dad Talk, Part 1
• Hacking High School audio talk by Andrew Pudewa
• The Etiquette Factory
• IEW Annual Educators’ Conference
• Transcript of Podcast Episode 485

If you have questions for Andrew, send them to [email protected]
Perhaps your question will be answered at the next Ask Andrew Anything (AAA).

If you have questions about IEW products or classes, contact customer service at 800.856.5815 or [email protected]

Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker continue diving into this year's theme: How to Think. In this episode, they talk about famous questions and quotations that have to do with thinking and learning, as well as some that spark thinking. Listen to glean some questions and quotations that will spark thoughtful conversations in your home or classroom.

Referenced Materials

• The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
• Episode 398: Think like Shakespeare, Part 1
• How to Think like Shakespeare: Lessons from a Renaissance Education by Scott Newstok
• What Are We Really Doing Here? by Andrew Pudewa 
  • Article
  • Audio talk
• However Imperfectly by Andrew Pudewa
• Transcript of Podcast Episode 484

If you have questions for Andrew, send them to [email protected]
Perhaps your question will be answered at the next Ask Andrew Anything (AAA).

If you have questions about IEW products or classes, contact customer service at 800.856.5815 or [email protected]

In this episode, Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker talk about how the use of AI for writing impacts the process of training students to be critical thinkers. While it may be tempting for students and parents alike to use AI for writing because it is faster and easier, Andrew encourages parents to realize the dangers, including inaccurate facts, imprecise thinking, and unfounded opinions.

Referenced Materials

• “Writing Maketh an Exact Man” article by Andrew Pudewa
• Arts of Language homeschool magalog
• Transcript of Podcast Episode 483

If you have questions for Andrew, send them to [email protected]
Perhaps your question will be answered at the next Ask Andrew Anything (AAA).

If you have questions about IEW products or classes, contact customer service at 800.856.5815 or [email protected]

In this episode, Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker are joined by IEW’s Customer Support Manager, Catherine Hafer, to discuss the many roles that the customer service team members fill as they serve you and IEW.

Referenced Materials

• Catherine Hafer
• Our Team
• Principles of Motivationaudio talk by Andrew Pudewa
• Four Deadly Errors of Teaching Writing audio talk by Andrew Pudewa
• Transcript of Podcast Episode 482

If you have questions for Andrew, send them to [email protected]
Perhaps your question will be answered at the next Ask Andrew Anything (AAA).

If you have questions about IEW products or classes, contact customer service at 800.856.5815 or [email protected]

In this engaging episode, Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker discuss the idea of writing across the curriculum with Dr. Kathleen O’Toole, Associate Vice President for K-12 Education at Hillsdale College. They discuss the exciting partnership IEW has formed with the Hillsdale K-12 program that provides guidance and partnership for classical schools as well as teacher training events. They also share the benefits for students and teachers when writing can be integrated with the overall curriculum. 

Referenced Materials

• Dr. James B. Webster
• Teaching Writing: Structure and Style® 
• Theme-Based Writing Lessons
• Hillsdale College
• Hillsdale K-12 Education
• Adventures in Writing
• Hoogland Center for Teacher Excellence
• K-12 at Home
• Transcript of Podcast Episode 481

If you have questions for Andrew, send them to [email protected]
Perhaps your question will be answered at the next Ask Andrew Anything (AAA).

If you have questions about IEW products or classes, contact customer service at 800.856.5815 or [email protected]

In this Live Ask Andrew Anything episode, Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker answer questions submitted by listeners. Listen as they discuss how to find the literature suggestions in IEW’s courses, how to decide what courses to use first with younger students, why the levels of some of the theme-based books have changed, what books Andrew is reading now, and more! 

Referenced Materials

• Structure and Style® for Students: Year 1 Level C
• Structure and Style for Students: Year 2 Level B
• The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
• Investigations in Writing
• Structure and Style for Students: Year 1 Level A
• Fix It!® Grammar
• Wonders of Science Writing Lessons
• Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons
• The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni
• The Plague by Albert Camus
• 1984 by George Orwell
• Silence by Shūsaku Endō
• Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
• The End of the World Is Just the Beginning by Peter Zeihan
• We Who Wrestle with God by Jordan B. Peterson
• IEW Online Classes
• Structure and Style for Students: Year 3 Level B
• Writing Contests
• Magnum Opus Magazine
• Structure and Style for Students: Year 2 Level C
• Paper and Pen – What the Research Says audio talk by Andrew Pudewa
• Link to Episode 480 video
• Transcript of Podcast Episode 480

If you have questions for Andrew, send them to [email protected]
Perhaps your question will be answered at the next Ask Andrew Anything (AAA).

If you have questions about IEW products or classes, contact customer service at 800.856.5815 or [email protected]

IEW’s instructor accreditation program is back and better than ever! In this episode, Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker sit down with Denise Kelley, Director of Product Development at IEW. They talk about the history and purpose of the accreditation program before explaining the new tiers of accreditation and the improved process for becoming accredited. If you want to know more about the new accreditation program, listen to this podcast and visit the IEW Accreditation Program web page.

Referenced Materials

• IEW Accreditation Program
• Apply for IEW Accreditation
• Teaching Writing: Structure and Style® Seminar
• Structure and Style for Students
• IEW® Gradebook
• Transcript of Podcast Episode 479

If you have questions for Andrew, send them to [email protected]
Perhaps your question will be answered at the next Ask Andrew Anything (AAA).

If you have questions about IEW products or classes, contact customer service at 800.856.5815 or [email protected]

May is often the month when IEW instructors are reaching Unit 9 in which students write formal critiques and Response to Literature compositions. Many of IEW’s courses include literature suggestions because we recognize the importance of connecting literature and writing. In this podcast, Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker discuss the impact literature has on thinking and the connections between memory, imagination, and words. Finally, they share some of their favorite books that are in their Audible accounts.

Go to Part 2.

Referenced Materials

• Episode 283: A Bookish Discussion, Part 1  
• Episode 398: Think like Shakespeare, Part 1  
• Lord of the Flies by William Golding
• Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
• The Chronicles of Narnia collection by C.S. Lewis
• Zorro: The Legend Begins by Johnston McCulley
• Homer Price by Robert McCloskey
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
• The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni
• Catherine of Siena by Sigrid Undset
• Kristen Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
• Wanting by Luke Burgis
• The Molecule of More by Daniel Z. Lieberman and Michael E. Long
• Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker
• Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
• Perelandra by C.S. Lewis
• That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis
• The Complete Novels of Jane Austen by Jane Austen
• Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry
• Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry
• Transcript of Podcast Episode 478

If you have questions for Andrew, send them to [email protected]
Perhaps your question will be answered at the next Ask Andrew Anything (AAA).

If you have questions about IEW products or classes, contact customer service at 800.856.5815 or [email protected]

In this episode Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker talk with Sarah Mackenzie about furnishing the mind with words and beauty by reading aloud. Listen as they discuss the importance of not just the words but also the artwork in children’s picture books. Sarah shares her passion for rightly ordered beauty in the words and art in the books they are publishing at Waxwing Books, and she gives a short summary of each of the picture books available.

Referenced Materials

• Nurturing Competent Communicators audio talk by Andrew Pudewa
• Read-Aloud Revival®
• Waxwing Books
• A Little More Beautiful by Sarah Mackenzie
• While Everyone Is Sleeping by Sarah Mackenzie
• Because Barbara by Sarah Mackenzie
• Dear Duck, Please Come! by Sarah Mackenzie
• Painting Wonder by Katie Wray Schon
• Read-Aloud Revival Podcast
• Read-Aloud Revival Booklists
• Transcript of Podcast Episode 477

If you have questions for Andrew, send them to [email protected]
Perhaps your question will be answered at the next Ask Andrew Anything (AAA).

If you have questions about IEW products or classes, contact customer service at 800.856.5815 or [email protected]