Kolbecast

AMDG. The change in seasons brings a great time to stop and look at how things are going with the new school year. Today we do just that, with Bonnie and Steven joined by Everett Buyarski, Megan Lengyel, and Nicole O’Connor. The group discusses midterms season, organization for elementary schoolers, Kolbe’s new National Honor Society chapter and the service opportunities involved, the similarities...

AMDG. At this midpoint of the first semester, Steven and Bonnie seek the wisdom and guidance of Kolbe Academy’s deans Celeste Cuellar and Ashley Massey. From time management to adjusting expectations to executive function, these advisors offer advice for the both the forest and the trees plus perspective on how the hiccups, obstacles, and frustrations can work for the good of everyone in the famil...

AMDG.  We’re thrilled to introduce a new cast member/podcast co-host: Steven Hayden, Kolbe’s new Development Director.  Steven joins us with a voice of experience and a wealth of knowledge from experience in both the secular corporate world and the Catholic homeschool world.  He discusses a range of topics in this introductory episode with Jordan and Bonnie, such as the camaraderie and goals Kolbe...

AMDG.  The people who serve as Kolbe Academy administration and faculty are a dedicated, highly-skilled group of Catholics committed to the pursuit of holiness, which for them includes serving Kolbe families as advisors, instructors, and sounding boards. They also serve each other in a spirit of collegiality as fellow pilgrims on the path to heaven. In today’s episode Bonnie converses with Ashley...

AMDG. When we asked Kolbe students which of their teachers they’d most like to hear on the Kolbecast, Melissa Johnson was high on their list. Melissa joins us today to talk about what life looks like for her teaching middle and high school English while raising eight children. With equal parts humor and candor, she describes her background, her experience with the many personalities present in a l...

AMDG. Professor, teacher, and all-around wise person Dr. Carl Hasler is our featured guest today, along with our dear friend and Kolbe teacher Therese Prudlo. Together, they and Bonnie discuss the little moments that take us through life and the necessity of being open to God’s grace in them. Dr. Hasler shares his background from working in a record store and telling his parents he wanted to study...

AMDG.   Holy Heroes  founders Ken and Kerri Davison—themselves the parents of a Kolbe homeschooling family —join Bonnie and Jordan on this special episode of the Kolbecast released on the Blessed Virgin Mary’s birthday, September 8. The Davisons share wisdom on homeschooling while running a family business as well as on fostering strong, devout commitment to the sacraments and the saints. They dis...

AMDG.  Senior counsel with the Home School Legal Defense Association, Darren Jones, joins Bonnie today.  A litigation attorney and homeschool graduate himself, Mr. Jones helps HSLDA member families resolve legal difficulties related to homeschooling.  During the conversation, he describes four areas of HSLDA’s work: legal defense, consulting, legislative tracking, and charitable outreach. He also...

AMDG. There’s a lot going on in a person’s middle school years, and it takes a special teacher (or several) to inspire and guide this formative period. Kolbe middle school teachers Amanda Hayes and Alexandra Pischke are two of those experts, and they join Bonnie today to share their insights. Together, they discuss the developmental stages of middle school, the combination of childhood silliness a...

AMDG. High school is an epic transition, especially for Kolbe ninth graders. Current student Xavier joins Bonnie and Jordan today to share his insight on the trials and triumphs of freshman year. The group discusses the biggest changes between eighth and ninth grades, some of the time management and workload strategies Xavier has found success in, and how to tell when a teacher thinks a topic is i...

AMDG. When the Kolbe years come to an end, students have big decisions to make. With that in mind, Kolbe’s academic services director, Everett Buyarski, and Erica Treat, who works as an academic advisor at Kolbe, return to the Kolbecast to consider the big picture, the discernment process of a student’s post-Kolbe options, the complexities that accompany that process, and the particulars for craft...

AMDG. Kolbe Academy Technical Assistant Lauren Hoang shares five takeaways about the technology that makes it possible for families all over the world to utilize Kolbe Academy’s materials and services. Beyond the specs and hardware, Lauren highlights how the technological dimension offers ample opportunity for growth in virtue and holiness. She has practical suggestions to help families and studen...

AMDG. The Faias are longtime members of the Kolbe Academy family. Their youngest child is a 2021 alumna. In this episode, Mrs. Margaret Faia shares both the long view and the detailed approach she took to educating her 14 children at home. Consider her a mentor to anyone seeking to keep God at the center of family life while tending to the temporal needs of everyone involved.   Mrs. Faia reference...

AMDG. Maria and her family were among many who turned on a dime in response to the pandemic-related impact on their schooling choices. This episode details the path that led Maria and her family to Kolbe and how her daughter’s experience in the inaugural year of the  online elementary program  went. With candor and grace, Maria shares how she and her husband worked through sticking points, how the...

AMDG. Heather, a longtime Kolbe Academy homeschooling mom, takes Bonnie back in time to the start of Heather’s family’s homeschooling experience. Along the way, Heather shares some of the struggles and sorrows they encountered. With much humor and compassion, Heather offers her pragmatic suggestions on how to deal with the opinions of others about family educational choices, when spouses aren’t on...

AMDG. Kolbe Academy’s Curriculum Development Manager Deana Muth sits down with Jordan and Bonnie to underscore the accessibility – and relevance – of Kolbe’s high caliber liberal arts curriculum to everyone, the principle of subsidiarity in the service of homeschooling families, and the role of Kolbe’s dedicated, skilled advisors in helping families customize and implement curriculum choices.   Ch...

AMDG. In this episode, Jordan, Bonnie, and Brigid are fielding questions and addressing common homeschooling sticking points. From looking back in time to trace how we got to the point of thinking parents aren’t qualified to teach their own children to demystifying the day-in, day-out homeschooling experience, this conversation covers a lot of ground and delivers a hefty dose of encouragement to h...

AMDG. Longtime Kolbe Academy online instructor and chair of the English and Literature Department Kim Crawford shines a light on the  philosophy of Kolbe’s literature curriculum , which employs four attitudes and a four-fold test to construct a lens through which to evaluate any piece of literature, from the timeless classic to the latest beach read. Kim and Bonnie also discuss the true meaning of...

AMDG. This episode of the Kolbecast features the speeches from Kolbe Academy’s 2021 live-streamed graduation ceremony with an opening prayer offered by Ryan Ma. Student speaker Caroline Painter, faculty speaker Wil Frey, and commencement speaker Bill Donaghy address the Kolbe Academy community with eloquence, wit, and sagacity. From the purpose of education to the importance of reflection on the t...

AMDG. Hats off to our 50th episode! Tune in today to hear the more casual side of the cast as we welcome back some of the guests we’ve had the pleasure of having on the show during our first rebooted season. We let our hair down, reminisce about the past year, and sketch out big dreams for the next. Ever heard the Socratic method applied to Star Wars combat walkers? Listen in and you will. On this...

AMDG. We are thrilled to welcome the keynote speaker of our portable homeschool convention: Joseph Pearce. With clear enthusiasm for the subjects he teaches, Joseph describes how God conveys the greatest lessons to us--theological, philosophical, moral, and historical--in terms of story and literature. He explains how humility gives us a sense of gratitude, gratitude opens the eyes in wonder, wond...

AMDG. Today Chrissy Almanzar,  theology department  chair and Jordan's wife, shares her experience of the richness of grace and faith as a convert to Christianity and intercultural theology scholar who is now a high school teacher. We discuss head knowledge versus heart knowledge of religion, why Kolbe’s high school theology curriculum does not use a catechetical approach, the connection between h...

AMDG. Gather around our metaphorical kitchen table as Kelly Powers and Chris Bates re-join Bonnie and Hope to talk about their shared love of cooking—both their own experience in the kitchen and the highs and lows of cooking with kids. We cover adapting meals to food sensitives and allergies, kids’ capabilities in the kitchen at various ages, safety habits for teaching children to work with knives...

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...

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...