Kolbecast

AMDG. This episode is all about the accessibility of art history. Friend of the Kolbecast Therese Prudlo and co-host of the Catholic Art History Podcast Amanda Shepard (also the vice president of the Fort Wayne Museum of Art) visit with Bonnie and Steven about experiencing art and introducing it to children. Topics along the way include the sacramentality of creativity, the conversation modern art...

AMDG. We cover a trifecta of topics today that homeschooling parents tend to fret about: STEM, state schools, and sibling dynamics. Kolbe alumni Erin and Michael O’Donnell visit with Bonnie and Steven about their experience with Kolbe and how they transitioned to college, the tradeoffs that come with various kinds of college settings, and how the adjustments for a homeschooled college freshman ove...

AMDG.  Creativity and frugality, experimentation and reflection, community and solitude, fasting and feasting...the kitchen is a place for all of these pairings and more.  Today’s episode invites Kolbe online instructors Neva Hernandez and Chelsea Plesko into conversation with Bonnie and Steven about feeding family.  With voices representing multiple stages of parenthood, from toddlers waving in s...

AMDG. Mike Aquilina —vice president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, author of more than 50 books, homeschool father, and expert in Church history—joins Bonnie, Steven, and Jordan today for a discussion about the pre- and post-Incarnation world. The conversation includes lessons to be drawn from the apostolic fathers, the Church’s indispensable role in the development of charitable in...

AMDG. Today’s guest speaks from fourteen years of homeschool experience raising eight boys. Tricia Kavanagh joins the Kolbecast from Ontario, Canada, to share her approach, insights, and outlook on both work and rest. She, Bonnie, and Steven discuss homeschooling in times of both acute and chronic illness as well as the learning and formation that parents develop alongside their homeschooled child...

AMDG. St. John Paul the Great had a great love for the integration of physical activities and virtues. That passion is built into Kolbe’s approach to and curriculum for physical education. In this episode, Chris Bates and Christina Davin visit with Bonnie and Steven about how physical movement can be a daily source of joy for homeschooling families. From getting the wiggles out during class to sta...

AMDG. In this episode, Dr. Kevin Majeres, Catholic psychiatrist and co-founder of Optimal Work (among many other things), brings words of wisdom for the start of a new calendar year.   Dr. Majeres explains that many truths in psychiatry and neuroscience are in line with our Catholic faith, in particular how some of the concepts of reframing, mindfulness, and challenge are important steps in our li...

AMDG. Tune in to this episode for our hosts’ yearly Between the Years conversation—part retrospective, part preview of what’s to come. Bonnie, Steven, and Jordan talk about the apocalyptic side of Advent, share favorite Christmas and New Years family traditions, and talk about some of the things they’re looking forward to on the horizon of 2024.  Kolbecast episodes mentioned & relevant:  34 A...

AMDG. A harmony of voices joins together on today’s episode to discuss music. Bonnie, Steven, Dr. Jordan Almanzar, Dr. Carl Hasler, and Kolbe alumna-turned-teacher Olivia Knuffke share their musical backgrounds and memories, reflections and pedagogy. With topics such as the discipline and work ethic required of both music and a Kolbe education and the formative music of folks’ teenage years, the c...

AMDG.  This episode debuts in the dreary days of American wintertime, but our topic is far sunnier: summer camp.  Bonnie and Steven visit with Josh Wattenbarger and Alyssa Wollums of The Pines Catholic Camp about the highs, lows, benefits, and burdens of the camping experience both at The Pines itself and more generally.  The conversation ranges from fun and games to unhealthy socialization like c...

AMDG.  Advent is a time of active waiting, preparation, and reflection.  In this episode, guests Katie Bogner and Shari Van Vranken share their educational and artistic perspectives on Advent drawn from their professional backgrounds and their recent authorial collaboration in All About Advent and Christmas: Sharing the Seasons of Hope and Wonder with Children.  The group discusses how experiences...

AMDG.  Think about the idea of being the answer to someone else’s prayers.  Does that seem humbling or overwhelming, frightening or appealing...or maybe a mix of all of those?  In this episode, Sherry Weddell of the Catherine of Siena Institute visits with Bonnie and Steven about the idea of charisms.  These gifts are different from sanctifying graces in that they are given to us for us to give aw...

AMDG.  Last week, you heard from a few Kolbe-connected dads about their kitchen adventures.  The theme continues this week as Kolbe instructor moms Laura Roselli Insall and Christina Davin join us to talk about cooking, upcoming holidays, and kids in the kitchen.  The conversation covers vegetarian and food allergy accommodations, the utilitarian and joyful aspects of cooking, make-ahead meal stra...

AMDG.  Gather in our metaphorical kitchen with Bonnie, Steven, Tony Guzzaldo, Everett Buyarski, and Craig Lengyel as the men don their oven mitts and talk food and cooking.  From stories of learning to cook early in marriage to discovering the chemistry of cooking, the group muses on how the kitchen can be a place of socializing or of solitude, the importance of feasting as a foil to fasting, and...

 AMDG.  Family dynamics understandably influence the day to day of homeschooling.  When crisis comes—be it separation or divorce, job loss, health emergencies, anxiety and depression, relationship issues, or other trauma—feelings of isolation and stigma can cause ripple effects in a family. In this episode, Bonnie and Steven visit with homeschool alumni mother Anne DeSantis of the St. Raymond Nonn...

AMDG.  Professor and translator Dr. Matthew Minerd joins Bonnie, Steven, Jordan, and Everett in this episode about making connections across rites, languages, and disciplines.  Starting with a discussion of various Eastern rites of Catholicism, the group explores the blend of traditions throughout the Church, the art of finessing words from one language to another in translation, and the endeavor...

AMDG.  Kids in the kitchen can be enriching or unnerving for all involved. In this episode, Katie Kimball of Kitchen Stewardship and the creator of the Kids Cook Real Food course shares her passion and expertise for collaboration among family members in feeding and nourishing a household.  Building from her four pillars of health and nutrition, time, budget, and environment, Katie highlights some...

AMDG. Writer, theater maker, game designer, and alumnus of Kolbe and Yale University Alexi Sargeant joins the Kolbecast in this episode to discuss community and storytelling in the past, present, and future.  He speaks with experience as both a student and a teacher about encountering Shakespeare and other dramatic works meant to be spoken, highlights the intersection of theology and culture, and...

AMDG. Personality encompasses both nature and nurture, from biological traits and education to family of origin and cultural background.  Temperament is one important piece of personality.  In this episode, Art and Laraine Bennett describe the four classical temperaments, their long Catholic tradition, and their pragmatic applications for homeschooling families.  Working from the foundation that t...

AMDG.  University of Dallas president Dr. Jonathan Sanford joins Bonnie, Steven, and Chief Academic Officer Megan Lengyel in this episode to discuss how students flourish at UD, particularly when they have a Kolbe foundation. Dr. Sanford describes how the school is a thoroughly Catholic university with a bigger set of offerings than most and how multiple charisms present on campus help preserve an...

AMDG.  Our patron St. Maximilian Kolbe is known for the heroism of his final days, but those acts were the culmination of the virtuous life he lived before his internment at Auschwitz.  In this episode, visitor to the Kolbecast Anthony D’Ambrosio shares his special perspective on St. Max, which is based on his work developing the film  Kolbe’s Passion and the intimate connection he forged with the...

AMDG.  Good Catholic priests come from good Catholic men, and many good Catholic men begin as little boys with lots of energy.  Kolbe alumni Fr. Ambrose Dobrozsi and Dcn. Charles Ohotnicky visit with Bonnie and Steven in this episode about their Kolbe educations and their vocations.  From standout memories of their Kolbe years to the current lives they lead, today’s guests share their insights on...

AMDG.  Keeping young minds wondering, active, and curious can sometimes feel like a struggle.  With pop culture always debuting new ways to capture attention, strewing our homes with examples of the good, the beautiful, and the true is one of the best ways to raise well-rounded young adults who are in the world without being of it.  In this episode, writer Philip Kosloski— often found on Aleteia.o...

AMDG.  Many of us aren’t familiar with what the Catholic Church teaches on money, finances, and possessions.  We think of missionaries as being poor, but that isn’t always the case—from hair shirts to heiresses, the saints have had a wide range of financial situations and gifts.  In this episode, Jonathan and Amanda Teixeira of WalletWin join the Kolbecast crew to discuss handling money virtuously...

AMDG.  Thinking well is important.  Communicating those thoughts well is too.  As the school year kicks off, English and Literature department teachers Kim Crawford, Amanda Hayes, and Beth Dobrozsi share insights and tips for helping students learn to put thoughts to paper.  They describe the progression of writing approaches and skills throughout various grade levels, challenges for students with...