Kolbecast

AMDG. Catholic psychiatrist Dr. Kevin Majeres rejoins the Kolbecast for a discussion on anxiety: one of the most common, but also most misunderstood, emotions.  Working from the definition that anxiety is an urge to avoid challenge, Dr. Majeres describes how he helps his clients live by ideals that they freely commit to rather than living under the control of their past; explains how you don’t def...

AMDG.  The high school years are formative as teenagers develop autonomy and independence in the world.  In this episode, theology teachers Dan Angel, Brendan Murphy, and Nick Senz share their experiences of and perspectives on teaching apologetics, morality, and more to high schoolers.  The conversation includes discussions of open question boxes and cultural references in class, connecting on an...

AMDG.  The art of storytelling involves decisions about perspective, themes, and emphasis, and good storytelling goes on to inspire questions and discussions.  Dan Bielinski rejoins the Kolbecast on this special bonus episode to describe storytelling decisions and discussions related to his feature film, End of the Rope available for Kolbe families to stream as a financial aid fundraiser.  In the...

AMDG.  We’re all searching for something we’ve forgotten.  Today’s guest describes his search for reintroduction to reality through both foundational texts and sense experiences.  Trae Bailey, currently Director of Residence Life at Belmont Abbey College and formerly Dean of Student Life at Magdalen College, highlights familial and societal dynamics that are important conduits for the fullness of...

AMDG.  Just enrolled?  Considering enrolling?  Returning but feeling overwhelmed?  Today’s episode is for you.  Dean of Admissions Jeanne Anne Ford and customer support supervisor Colleen Pilon share their go-to guidance on organization and inspiration for a new school year, from answering the top questions they get on repeat to tips and tricks they recommend on the regular.  Together with Bonnie...

AMDG. As parents of five Kolbe alumni, Charlie and Dee-Dee Mihaliak have a wealth of experience with Kolbe and home education. They visit with Bonnie and Steven in this episode about how homeschooling grew from a project to a lifestyle for their family. The Mihaliaks describe their delight at the dinner table conversations their grown children now have, give an unvarnished account of challenges th...

AMDG. Our 2024 commencement ceremony featured voices of experience ranging from new graduates and experienced teachers to ancient philosophers and modern novelists. Listen in on this episode to those speeches, including student speakers Aiden Jagrowski and Jacob Kavanagh, faculty speaker Elizabeth Hoxie, and keynote speaker Msgr. James Shea.  Timestamps for the speeches:  01:05 Msgr. Shea’s invoca...

AMDG.  We live in unprecedented times—or do we?  Can a classics degree set you back in the job hunt? What do you do when primary sources seem daunting?  Longtime friend of Kolbe Academy Abigail Palmer joins Bonnie and Steven to talk about these big questions and more.  She describes how lack of familiarity with history leads to fear and how being fearful leads to being malleable, she explains how...

AMDG.  Families who homeschool in various states or countries during military service have all the complexities of “regular” families and then some. Kolbe moms and advisors Krysten Pizzurro and Jennifer Thomas share the wisdom they’ve gained from their lived experience of homeschooling on base. They highlight what questions to ask your advisors and when, the benefits and unique needs of military f...

AMDG.  Experienced Kolbe mom Deirdre Mundy joins Bonnie and Steven in this second half of a two-part conversation on the lessons and insights she’s gained from homeschooling her eight children.  She explains the ways her family has taken advantage of Kolbe’s flexibility, talks about developmental milestones and the changes in dynamics that come as kids grow into greater independence, and puts thin...

AMDG.  Current Kolbe students and brothers Jacob, Gabriel, and James visit with Bonnie and Steven today about their day-to-day lives, their experiences with Kolbe, and their insights for their fellow students. Highlights include their various extracurricular activities and how they juggle their commitments through various time management styles, how they prepare for graduation, what it’s like for...

AMDG.  In this episode, we gather alumni in various stages of life post-graduation to discuss the dividends their Kolbe education is now paying.  One-year alumnus Ian describes his transition to college life; five (ish)-year alumnus Charlie describes the ways his Kolbe formation serves him both in the work world and in his growing family; and ten (ish)-year alumna Hope describes the integrated wor...

AMDG.  Tune in to our newest two-parter of episodes last week and this, where we visit with longtime Kolbe moms recently hired on as Kolbe employees.  Elyse Williams puts the day to day of homeschooling life into perspective of the bigger picture to be seen as she visits with Bonnie and Steven.  She highlights the differences in various seasons of parenting, from elementary school to high school;...

AMDG.  Tune in to our newest two-parter of episodes this week and next, where we visit with longtime Kolbe moms recently hired on as Kolbe employees.  Margaret Malek joins Bonnie and Steven today to share her experience with peaceful, confident homeschooling through Kolbe and getting the important pieces done around being on the go.  She discusses identifying priorities, trusting God to multiply r...

AMDG. Actor, writer, homeschool alumnus, husband, and dad Kaiser Johnson joins Bonnie and Steven today for a conversation on the love story of creation.  Starting with sharing his experience of deepening faith as an adult, Kaiser discusses how he lives out his desire to love more like God loves while having a career, a job, and a vocation all at once.  He highlights the importance of doing the wor...

AMDG.  Education rightly formed helps students see and serve God in a practical way while both sustaining this current life and preparing them for the next.  Oxford graduate and VP of Finance for the College of St. Joseph the Worker, Jacob Imam, visits with Bonnie and Steven about how structural flaws in current higher education tend to cause an “ongoing adolescence,” how the College’s innovative...

AMDG.  In this episode, we bring back a style of podcast we haven’t done in a little while: a deep dive into part of Kolbe’s curriculum.  We focus on classical composition with instructors Sarah Foulkes and Grace Berg, who explain how classical composition is a curriculum which seeks to educate students to think logically and develop rhetorical skills for both writing and speaking; how the middle...

AMDG.  Experienced Kolbe mom Deirdre Mundy joins Bonnie and Steven in this first half of a two-part conversation on the lessons and insights she’s gained from homeschooling her eight children.  Deirdre shares reasons why her family chooses for traditional homeschool options and year-round school rather than online classes and summer breaks; advice for families where the parents do not have a class...

AMDG.  Join us for the second in our multi-movement reflection on music.  Carl Hasler and Olivia Knuffke visit with Bonnie, Steven, and Jordan about how music can be a kind of beauty that stretches your soul; the way that “classical” music can build stamina, attention, and the ability to sit with something new—but also the way that “classical” music can be a misnomer; reminiscences of the first ti...

AMDG. In the 200 episodes since we rebooted the Kolbecast, we’ve heard from a lot of significant voices. In this episode, we hear from two of the most significant Kolbeans: our students. Ninth graders Noah (who does a hybrid of self-paced and online classes) and Caleb (who does all online) visit with Bonnie and Steven, where the real-life long-distance friends share about their typical school days...

AMDG.  If you want to make boys into men, it requires a brotherhood of men to set a disciplined example.  Jason Craig joins the Kolbecast today to visit about calling men to conversion and brotherhood.  He, Bonnie, Steven, and Jordan discuss disorders of loneliness in today’s society, the imbalanced emphasis on mothers to the exclusion of fathers in various homeschooling discourses, and the necess...

AMDG.  The Shroud of Turin—a burial cloth evidencing Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection—has become a research focus for Dr. Gilbert Lavoie, a physician who’s been practicing medicine for many years. In this episode, Dr. Lavoie takes an unflinching, clinical, and forensic approach to recount how he used his medical training in service of examining and understanding the Shroud. He discusses w...

AMDG.  Children don’t come with instruction manuals, so having resources to help road map out various challenges can benefit everyone in a family.  In this episode, Karen Allgood and Krysten Pizzurro join Bonnie and Steven to describe the vast array of services available through Kolbe’s student support services and special education offerings.  They describe the individualized attention they provi...

AMDG.  Today’s episode demystifies the self-paced program and describes upcoming changes that will streamline and improve Kolbe’s asynchronous course offerings. Chrissy Almanzar, Bonnie, and Steven discuss how self-paced classes fit into Kolbe’s three ways to educate ; weaknesses in the older versions of self-paced courses that Kolbe is currently revising; and ways the upcoming changes support par...

AMDG. Brothers Bobby and Dan Angel visit with Bonnie and Steven today about how the human soul is meant to be challenged toward greatness.  Through a discussion ranging from video games to running marathons, they touch on ideas such as the fact that we’ll never grasp the fullness of truth in this life; the call the humans feel toward adventure, fellowship, and community; and the importance of anch...