Everyday Educator

Looking for good reasons to study Latin alongside your student?  Join Latin students and tutors Denise Moore and Stephanie Bailey as they show us some unexpected benefits from studying Latin and other foreign languages.  Find out how the arts of grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric are sharpened, and how the Five Canons of Rhetoric can equip us to study with intention and success.

Parents, do you yearn to have lively and enlightening conversations with your high-schoolers about history—and everything else?  Join Lisa Bailey, Kelli Wilt, and Marc Hays as they talk about the real reasons we should study history.  Listen as they explore some great ways to start conversations about history, and reveal the real lesson that history should teach us all.

Are you a "discuss-er"?  Do you wish you were, or that your family had the habit of wrestling with big ideas together?  This week, Leslie Hubbard, Stephanie Meter, and Lisa Bailey talk about what entices family members to pursue truth together through conversations.  Listen and learn to ask good questions, find the value in timely examples, and see the usefulness of the Five Canons of Rhetoric in...

What's the easiest way to bring math into the conversations you're having with your family?  Get outside your math book and feast on the beauty and wonder in creation!  Guests Jennifer Courtney and Marc Hays help host Lisa Bailey discover the relationship between numbers, patterns, creation, and math conversations.  Listen in as these long-time lead learners discuss how the Five Canons of Rhetoric...

If you are missing the delight your children took in science explorations as little kids, take a listen to how we can keep the wonder and delight in this study, even as our students head into high school.  Join Leslie Hubbard and Amy Jones as they help host Lisa Bailey see that the best tools for studying science are wonder, imagination, our senses, and the ability and expectation to know God!  Th...

Do you or your student dread writing or do you embrace it excitedly? Join Jennifer Courtney and Stephanie Meter as they discuss writing across the curriculum—in literature, history, and science. Together, they explore how the five canons of rhetoric can help you write about any topic in an organized, interesting, and persuasive way to capture the minds and hearts of your audience.

Hoping to guide your student to towards gracious communication, sound judgment, and contemplation of virtue?  Teach them speech and debate skills, really!  Listen as Melisa Weaver, Leslie Hubbard, and Lisa Bailey talk about how the Five Canons of Rhetoric and the practice of political speech, forensic speech, and ceremonial speech lead our students toward the art of compassionate conversation.

Do we really  need to work on reading with our high schoolers?  Isn't it enough that they can  read and know what  to read and do  read?  Listen in as Jennifer Courtney, Stephanie Meter, and Lisa Bailey discuss the spiritual aspect of "why read?" as well as offer some insights for weaving the Five Canons of Rhetoric into reading, into experiencing books, and into family conversations.

For parents looking toward the high school years, the Everyday Educator Podcast offers "Defining Rhetoric" The Conversation Ch 2, a look at how moving into the arts of Rhetoric can bind your hearts together at home and make those high school years exhilarating and satisfying and full of conversation.  Join Marc Hays, Karin Carpenter, and Lisa Bailey as they talk about the canons of Rhetoric and wh...

Do you yearn to develop or strengthen your confidence as a homeschooler? Are you determined to redeem the Art of Rhetoric, and become an accomplished conversationalist who leads discussion on meaningful ideas?  Whether you're looking for a little encouragement as you continue the homeschool journey into high school or you're just testing the waters to see if you want to jump in, this first podcast...

In this final Advent episode, join Lisa Bailey in re-examining the journey of the Wise Men; consider the gift of Celebration, and how and why we are called to celebrate this season.  Find encouragement to slow down and allow God's wonder to move you! Please participate in an Everyday Educators short survey by clicking on this link:   survey

What makes you wonder? What leaves you speechless?  Has wonder ever moved you to change?  Join Lisa Bailey on this Advent podcast considering the Gift of Wonder; learn from the shepherds' response how to make room for wonder in your Christmas celebration this year!  (Perfect for a personal reflection or a family devotional!) Please participate in an Everyday Educators short survey by clicking on t...

Listen in on this second episode of our Advent series as Lisa Bailey and her husband David explore the gift of listening.  How did the gift of listening position Joseph for blessing? How can listening deepen your celebration of Christmas this year?  Whether you listen devotionally, or as a family activity, we hope this podcast blesses your family this season.

Merry Christmas!  All December the Everyday Educator podcasts will center on Advent, with devotional thoughts suitable for the whole family, and some ideas you can use for deeper reflections.   This month we'll focus on the gifts of attending, listening, wondering, and celebrating as embodied in the Christmas story; this week, we'll look at how Mary's gift of attending allowed her to hear God's he...

I know that we all are determined to be "the best teachers" for our kids, and we eagerly (at least usually!) join them in learning/re-learning literature, math, science, history…all the "main subjects" we've come to think of as vital.  But, what about the subjects many DON"T see as "vital"?  How are we to find the time or the talent for teaching the fine arts?! Is it possible that anything we've a...

Do you feel adequate for the task to teaching science to your kids?! If you are trying to prepare your child for a STEM career, you might already feel overwhelmed…but… is that what you should be doing?!    Our podcast guests Leslie Hubbard and Marc Hays offer some perspective and encouragement for parents in this episode; listen as they tell us how to get started and how to use the Five Common Top...

Are you worried about "studying history" with your students as they get older—especially if you don't know all the history details that they  know?!  The good news is, studying history doesn't have to be complicated!  Join Marc Hays, Karin Carpenter, and Lisa Bailey as they reveal how to use some simple questions to "connect the dots" of your history study, building a context for your knowledge th...

Have you noticed how argumentative your middle schooler can be? Wondering how to harness and channel this proclivity for good?  We suggest logic studies!  Join Lisa Bailey and Stephanie Meter as they advocate for studying logic with your middle schooler; as Stephanie says, teaching logic to your teens may just help them argue their way out of their own crazy ideas!  You'll also see how logic finds...

What IS the value of a "mental map of the world"?  Does "where" really  matter to our students?  Whether you're searching for the reason  to study geography or looking for new ways to learn cartography, you'll find fresh ideas on this Everyday Educator podcast.  Marc Hays, Stephanie Meter and Lisa Bailey look at how to layer the learning from Foundations through Challenge as they talk about geogra...

What if teaching math could bring your family closer ?  Would you like to know how to "play with numbers" instead of only "solving problems"? Listen in as Lisa Bailey, Marc Hays, and Leslie Hubbard talk about math explorations at home and in community. Discover ways to ask good questions that model good thinking for your students, and begin the journey toward loving math—really!

The art of writing well focuses on three questions; do you know what they are?  If you feel somewhat unequal to the task of teaching writing to your children, or if you just want some fresh ideas, tune into this week's Everyday Educator Podcast "More Than Pen and Paper."  Lisa Bailey and Stephanie Meter give pointers on how to harness the Five Common Topics to ask key questions that will lead you...

Whether you are a reader yourself or a parent eager to raise readers, you'll love listening in as three lifelong readers discuss why  children should read, what children should read, and how children should read.  Join Jennifer Courtney, Stephanie Meter, and Lisa Bailey as they explore how parents can raise readers by using good questions to initiate conversations about what we are reading at home...

Let's be honest:  even after we make the decision to homeschool we have questions!  "How do I know what to teach?"  "How important are grades and assessments?"  "What else  should I be teaching?" In this episode based on chapter 3 of The Question , host Lisa Bailey and guests Marc Hays and Leslie Hubbard share insights on these and other frequently asked questions.  Listen in as they ruminate on t...

What do "rest" and "wrestling" have in common?  How can one actually lead to the other?  Find out on the latest Everyday Educator Podcast as Lisa Bailey, Marc Hays, and Leslie Hubbard talk about integration, reconciliation, harmony, and enjoying the journey with your middle school children. You'll find encouragement and some good insight on asking the right questions as you learn alongside your ki...

Have you ever considered the purpose of education?  Are you still formulating your goals for educating your children at home?  Join Jennifer Courtney, Marc Hays, and Lisa Bailey as they think through the arts of the trivium and prepare to spend several weeks delving into the  Art of Dialectic.  This new series, based on the book The Question , will help you think through the philosophical and prac...