Scholé Sisters: Camaraderie for Classical Homeschooling Mamas

Welcome back to Scholé Sisters. Today kicks off our 17th season of the show. This episode has been SIX YEARS in the making! It's our one hundredth episode! In honor of 100 episodes and also over a MILLION downloads, Mystie went through and figured out our top five most-referenced books. Today we're sharing a little bit of the personal history of the podcast, and then we jump into these top five bo...

Today is our annual so-called Christmas episode, and the least Christmassy one we've ever done. Oops . No matter! We were all together in Idaho and recorded this conversation, inspired by chapter 3 of the book The Supper of the Lamb just for you. It might not be super Christmassy, but we like to think this episode is a gift nonetheless. *** Please note: If you are not in the Sistership, you are re...

Today's episode is the second of the two that we are doing that cover ideas from CS Lewis' book The Abolition of Man – more specifically from his first essay in that book, entitled "Men Without Chests." If you haven't listened to episode 97 yet, we recommend you go back and do so before listening to this one. Today we're discussing yet another phrase that gets thrown around in classical circles: o...

Today's episode is the first of two that we (Brandy, Pam, Mystie, and Abby) are doing that covers ideas from CS Lewis' book The Abolition of Man – more specifically from his first essay in that book, entitled Men Without Chests . This book contains a lot of terminology that gets thrown around in classical circles and we're going to tackle those definitions together! *** Announcement: We are doing...

Today, Mystie, Pam, Abby and Brandy toss around the question of whether or not virtue can be taught. This can be a controversial subject, but we think you'll find it is worth talking about rather than avoiding. *** Last Saturday was our annual retreat and it went SO WELL. It was so refreshing to spend a whole day thinking about memory and remembering, why it's essential for education, and how we c...

Our guest today is Dr. Christopher Schlect. Dr. Schlect has been a fellow of history at New Saint Andrews College for many years where he teaches courses in ancient and medieval civilizations, US history, the history of American Christianity, medieval education, and Classical Rhetoric, among other subjects. Dr. Schlect is the Director of New Saint Andrews College's graduate program in Classical an...

Our guest today is Betsy Farquhar. A Southerner by birth, Betsy currently lives in the Northwest with her Renaissance man husband and their three amazing teenagers. She's the managing editor for Redeemed Reader where she and her team read ahead FOR you and review new books for children and teens. Betsy learned to make bread with her grandmother at age 11, owns several cast iron skillets, and belie...

Our guest today is Karen Harris. Karen Harris is married to Wes and is the homeschooling mother to 10 children. She and her family love to read, travel, and have adventures together. The author of "A Happy Mother of Children: Disciplines of Happiness," Karen continues to write and learn from her home in Maryland. Karen and a friend have been on a mission to give themselves the classical education...

Today, Brandy, Mystie, Pam, and Abby are tackling the big issue of censorship. They attempt to juxtapose some thoughts from Plato and John Milton and pursue questions like what is censorship, why would we do it, and when we should avoid it. *** If you want to dig into this topic with more depth and practical advice, you'll love our Spring Training event taught by Rosaria Butterfield: Intellectual...

This special summer season is one episode long and all about our annual retreat. We are in the process of making some major changes to it, all of which we think you're going to love. The purpose of the retreat has always been to foster, first and foremost, real life community. We've taken steps to make that time of homeschool fellowship even better than before. Want to know more about it? Listen u...

In today's episode, Pam, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy discuss portions of Saint Augustine's book On Christian Doctrine that deal with the need for background knowledge in order to read with understanding, especially understanding metaphors. This was a very fun reading assignment! *** Don't forget to become a Sophie level member of the Sistership! You will get our Spring Training sessions with Rosaria...

Renee Shepherd is back with us again today. Renee and her husband, who were both homeschooled, are now homeschooling their six children. She is currently finishing her graduate degree in Classical Christian Studies at New Saint Andrews College, where her favorite things to study are theology, Latin, and literature. Renee brought a lesser known article by Dorothy Sayers to our attention, and that's...

In today's episode, Pam, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy break down the transition to independent work from preschool all the way to high school and beyond. This conversation gives us a lot to think about! *** Spring Training is coming up next month! Registration is now open for our annual Spring Training Our coach this year is the one and only Rosaria Butterfield, author of a number of wonderful books,...

In today's episode, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy discuss their way through the entire Thinking Person's Checklist at the back of Alan Jacob's book, How to Think . This was a fun and interesting conversation to have and they think you're really going to enjoy it! *** Spring Training is coming up next month! Next month — the month of MAY — is our annual Spring Training, as you well know. We are pleased...

Today's guests are Karen Elliott and Erica Robertson from Rafiki Schools. Karen has served with Rafiki since 1990, including twelve years on the mission field, most of that time in Jos, Nigeria. Upon returning to the U.S., she became the Director of Africa Operations for the Rafiki Home Office and was responsible for managing the ChildCare and Education Programs for all ten Rafiki Villages as well...

Today's episode is our attempt to answer the question of what is scholé? And how do I know if I'm doing it right? Is scholé just restful learning? Or is there more to it than that? These are interesting questions to tackle! *** So what is scholé anyway? What gives with using such a weird Greek word? Scholé Sisters has a short, free guide to understanding what scholé is and how to get some in your...

Our guest today is Amber Johnston. Amber lives in Georgia nestled among pine trees, hammocks and ziplines with her husband and their four children. Her happy place is the back porch on a rainy day, preferably with a giant mug of hot tea and a good book. When they have the chance, her family enjoys extended worldschooling trips to immerse themselves in other cultures. Amber blogs about adding mirro...

Do you keep a commonplace book (or wish you did)? Today's episode is serves as a first half for our upcoming Commonplace Workshop. Pam, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy discuss what a commonplace book even is and why anyone would want to keep one. It's a great discussion you don't want to miss and will get you ready for the Workshop, which is happening this month! *** Ready for the Commonplace Workshop ?...

The death of culture and festivity is not a less important death than bodily. No matter what government officials say, Christmas is coming and must be honored with festive celebration – piety requires it. In this episode, Brandy Vencel, Pam Barnhill, Mystie Winckler, and Abby Wahl discuss how festivity and scholé fits into the curricular framework found in Kevin Clark & Ravi Jain's PGMAPT formulat...

Our guest today is Maria Bell. Maria educates her children at home in the Charlotte Mason tradition and enjoys studying and sharing with others the biblical roots of Miss Mason's philosophy. She is a linguist by training and profession, but her heart is for the ministry of motherhood and the pursuit of Truth. She resides in the Washington D.C. metro area with her husband and three children. Today'...

Today's discussion about physical training in classical education was one Brandy, Mystie, Pam, and Abby got to record when they were all together in Phoenix for the Loving Well retreat . They do get philosophical and discuss why these things are important, but they also get practical and talk about a bunch of ideas that they hope will help us all get started if we're ready to get physical in our h...

Our guest today is Ravi Jain, who is now tied with Cindy Rollins for the Scholé Sisters title for Most Appearances as this is his third time on the show. Ravi Jain has a BA from Davidson College, an M.A. from Reformed Theological Seminary, and a Graduate Certificate in Mathematics from the University of Central Florida. He coauthored The Liberal Arts Tradition with Kevin Clark, now translated into...

We are absolutely thrilled to have Susan Wise Bauer on the show today! Susan Wise Bauer is a writer, historian, educator, and farmer. She's the author of twenty books and the founder of the educational publishing company Well-Trained Mind Press . Susan's parents taught her at home for most of elementary and middle school, and all of high school.  She went on to earn graduate degrees in divinity, E...

Today's discussion between Brandy, Pam, Mystie, and Abby centers on the differences between communities and networks as spelled out by John Taylor Gatto in his wonderful little book Dumbing Us Down . To which do you belong? Is there an ideal? There's a lot of food for thought in this episode. *** Registration for Loving Well is now open! Registration is now open for this year's online local retrea...

Is there really such a thing as classical education for preschoolers? You may be surprised to learn that yes the ancients actually had opinions on what to do with the little ones entrusted to us. In today's episode, Mystie, Brandy, and Abby discuss a bit about what Plato, Aristotle, and Quintilian had to say on this subject. *** Registration for Loving Well is now open! Registration is now open fo...