A True Good Beautiful Life

Welcome, welcome to my last episode of this limited series podcast! It is bittersweet for me for sure! While responsibilities take me away temporarily from this full format, I do plan to continue sharing helpful tips, resources, and insights through social media and my website, so please if you don't already, follow me on my Instagram and Facebook pages - A True Good Beautiful Life and my website:...

Today you will hear about an epic poem that you never knew you needed to know! The topic is also about a man whom you may have never heard of but is by no means insignificant in history and the literary world, past and present. His wisdom and character permeate society even today, after his death 89 years ago. G. K. Chesterton…. Do you recognize that name? Yes? No? Curious why you haven't heard of...

There are mysteries all around us. Like was there a real King Arthur? What happened to the colonists on Roanoke Island in 1590? Who was Jack the Ripper? Who killed JFK? Is Big Foot real? While these and many other mysteries perplex us, in the literary world, the mystery of who inspired Shakespeare's Sonnets, who is supposed to be the sonneteer, and who are the young man and dark lady in which the...

Welcome back to the second part of our discussion of Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice! I have my good friend Heather Usher back with us to finish talking about the signifcance of "countenance" in Jane's famous novel, what are entails, the life of a governess, using foils, and examining Austen's prayer life. Pride and Prejudice is a book about love, societal expectations, growth in sound judgeme...

Happy New Year to you all! Welcome to "A True Good Beautiful Life" podcast where we talk about life-long flourishing through the lens of Charlotte Mason and Classical educational philosophies. Perhaps my favorite thing to talk about is Literature and History and today I hope you will be as excited as I am about our topic of discussion.   When I thought about doing an episode on Jane Austen, I was...

Merry Christmas! Hello and welcome to A True Good Beautiful Life. I am your host, Jennifer Milligan and this podcast explores the ideas and practices of a Charlotte Mason and Classical Education. Today I am treated to a fascinating conversation with the Dean of Templeton Honors College , Dr. Brian Williams. We will discuss the telos or purpose of education and how to incorporate seven different ar...

Welcome!  On last month's episode, I had the honor of talking with Dr. Amy Richards of Templeton Honors College and Eastern University on her book, Disability and Classical Education . She shared about the "why" of education and the "how" of implementing telic attention and a doxological classroom for everyone. So if you missed that one, please go back and check it out after you listen to this as...

Welcome to A True Good Beautiful Life podcast! Today my guest and I will take some of you down an unknown path of life, for others maybe an all too worn path, and perchance even for others one that some have ventured a little ways in but yet do not know their way through or what is beyond the bend. We are going to talk about disabilities and how understanding disabilities is essential to human flo...

Welcome back to a new episode! The new school year has begun and I am sure you are filled with wonderful dreams and maybe a few nervous jitters! Fall is a wonderful time to begin educational endeavors fresh with new books, supplies, friends, and lesson plans. And while reading one's Bible tends to always start in January, in our first segments on the TRUE and the GOOD, I am going to propose to you...

Are you familiar with the Common Arts? Could you describe them if someone asked you the difference between the Liberal Arts, the Fine Arts, and the Common Arts? This month's podcast is going to delve into the definition of the Common Arts and practical activities you can incorporate into your schools and homes that nurture these vital arts. Today's episode is going to be a little different. For th...

Welcome to A TRUE GOOD BEAUTIFUL LIFE podcast!  Here we discuss all things Charlotte Mason in light of the ideas of the TRUE, the GOOD, and the BEAUTIFUL! I am your host, Jennifer Milligan, and throughout this series I share with you how to find and cultivate various elements of TRUTH, GOODNESS and BEAUTY in our homes and classrooms through conversations with homeschooling parents and classroom te...

Welcome to A TRUE GOOD BEAUTIFUL LIFE podcast!  A few episodes ago I introduced us to the topic of citizenship, something Charlotte Mason was very keen on instilling in her students. I highlighted one of the avenues of teaching this subject to students with Rachel Lebowitz of A Charlotte Mason Plenary, which is the study of Plutarch's Lives , an ancient piece of writing highlighting lives of the G...

Charlotte Mason's motto is "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life." In today's podcast, for our TRUTH and GOODNESS segments, we are going to focus in on the "life" part by talking about what Miss Mason claimed in her 8th Principle: "In saying that 'education is a life,' the need of intellectual and moral as well as of physical sustenance is implied. The mind feeds on ideas." And we will...

If you were asked to name a famous Roman leader, you might jump in and call out Julius Caesar or Ceasar Agustus. If you were asked to name a famous Egyptian leader, you might pause for a moment and then recall King Tutankhamun, Cleopatra, Queen Nerfertiti, or maybe even Rameses II. If you were asked to name a famous Greek leader, you might draw a blank. Greek leader, you say? Do philosophers count...

"While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease." - Genesis 8:22 These are the promising and encouraging words from God to Noah, after the world-wide flood of judgment centuries ago. And these are the first words you read when you open up Seedtime and Harvest , the newest book by author and gardener, Christie Purifoy .  I have never...

Welcome to A TRUE GOOD BEAUTIFUL LIFE podcast!   If you are at all familiar with English novels and period dramas on the big and little screen, you will by no doubt know of the heroine – Jane Eyre. It is a fascinating and chilling story that Charlotte Bronte wrote with the popular Romantic and Gothic story elements of her time. Now, after rereading it for the first time in decades, I am amazed at...

Welcome to A TRUE GOOD BEAUTIFUL LIFE podcast!  On today's episode you are treated in our TRUE and GOOD segments to a sweeping vision of what an ideal PreK-12 Writing program looks like according to my special guest, teacher, and mentor, Linda Cerynik of Roots to Wings Educational Support . We touch on writing methods from Charlotte Mason to Classical, an eclectic mix of our favorite things. Linda...

ON THIS EPISODE Hell. What do you think of when you hear the word "Hell?" A place full of gnashing of teeth? A pit deep in the center of the earth? A black hole? A realm filled with shades of Greek heroes and the god of the Underworld, Hades? And what about Heaven? What images and phrases flash in your mind?  These places, Heaven and Hell, are important elements of Christian theolog. On today's ep...

Welcome to A TRUE GOOD BEAUTIFUL LIFE podcast!  In this week's episode, we are going to take a deep dive into one of Charlotte Mason's classic subjects: Nature Study. In one of my earlier episodes, I chatted with my friend Stephanie Newcomb about the benefits of nature study and some of our favorite resources. Today, I am fortunate to talk to one of my sister-in-laws who comes to us from South Car...

Welcome to A TRUE GOOD BEAUTIFUL LIFE podcast!    ON THIS EPISODE Today, for our segment on the True, I have the privilege of talking with Erin LaMont of Classical Conversations about her love and the importance of studying Latin. She discusses the joys and difficulties of the subject and encourages us to keep on keeping on. Her Master Thesis sounds intriguing so I hope you get a chance to read th...

Happy New Year! Welcome back! It's been about six months since I started this podcast and so I thought I'd review what the purpose of this little dream is. Call me crazy but I just love learning about awesome ways to teach and encourage students, teachers, and parents . . . to help them find wonder, Beauty, and joy in the simple things in life as well as ideas to help them flourish as human beings...

Welcome to another episode of A True Good Beautiful Life! It is almost Christmas! Are you giddy like me? Are the twinkling lights reawakening the wonder of that first Noel?  Today I am letting you in on my first "Book Chat" with my dear friend Amanda Smedley, whom I have known for over 28 years, and is a great lover of books. Because this month I'm talking to you about Christmas things, starting l...

Merry Christmas! Advent season is here! Today on the podcast I am so excited to talk with Esther Anderson of the famous parenting channel, Story of This Life ! With a nice little mix of the True, Good, and Beautiful, we will be talking about the history of Christmas and Advent, some famous traditions surrounding Advent, and an example of a beautiful product that Esther and her team have created to...

ON THIS EPISODE Have you traveled across the ocean? Have you taught a class in another country? Have you or your students experienced trauma that needed to be cared for? Travel opens up multiple opportunities for learning TRUTH and embodying GOODNESS. Today my special guest is another old teaching colleague of mine from Ad Fontes Academy in Centreville, Virginia. Kirsten and I taught together for...