Scholé Sisters: Camaraderie for Classical Homeschooling Mamas

Our special guest today is one of our favorite people, Karen Glass! Karen Glass has been homeschooling her children for 25 years, and she's not quite finished yet. She is one of the founders of the AmblesideOnline curriculum project and has delved deeply into Charlotte Mason's philosophy of education. She has lived in Poland, where her husband ministers, for over twenty years. In the last few year...

Today's episode is all about the fall retreat. In the first half, Brandy, Mystie, and Abby talk about Covid and lockdown … and how to manage a retreat if we're still on lockdown (including what Scholé Sisters plans to do to help support unique situations). In the second half we talk about how we overhauled part of our program to make room for something super special from Abby. *** Get your Beginne...

Today's episode is extra long! Our topic is scholé and how it changes with the seasons of motherhood. Brandy, Pam, Mystie, and Abby discussed having all preschoolers, starting to homeschool, the teen years, and then guessed what the particular challenges might be in launching children. It was a long episode because it's a big topic! *** Join us in the Sistership ! Many fun things are going on in t...

Our guest on the show this time is Dr. Kevin Clark. Kevin is the founder of The Ecclesial Schools Initiative , an organization that's partnering with local churches to plant a network of affordable and accessible Christian classical schools. Kevin is an Alcuin fellow with The Society for Classical Learning and a member of the teaching faculty in the Master of Arts in Classical Teaching program at...

Today's episode was recorded BEFORE the demise of 2020, before quaratines, lockdowns, and economic tragedies. We cut a couple things that no longer made sense, but the rest of it survives as useful and oh so encouraging. Our special guest today is Andrew Pudewa, the founder and director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing and a father of seven. Traveling and speaking around the world, he ad...

We've been promising you a bonus episode for a while and today is the day! The only thing is, Abby made us do a Scholé Everyday, and then we talked too long, so we did the logical thing in this situation: we decided to make it a "real" episode. What does this mean for the season? Well, it'll just be longer. There will be nine episodes instead of our usual eight, making this a sort of bonus after a...

Our special guest today is Renee Shepard. Renee has been married for 14 years. She 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. This episode is a follow up to an episode we did...

In today's episode, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy take on the trials and tribulations of classical homeschooling. The three of them talk solutions to rescue a ho-hum classical education. It's so easy to get away from scholé and become rabid box-checkers. How do we revive ourselves when that happens? That's what today's discussion is all about! *** Join the Sistership ! In these trying times, practicall...

Our special guest today is one of our favorite people, Karen Glass! Karen Glass has been homeschooling her children for 25 years, and she's not quite finished yet. She is one of the founders of the AmblesideOnline curriculum project and has delved deeply into Charlotte Mason's philosophy of education. She has lived in Poland, where her husband ministers, for over twenty years. In the last few year...

In today's episode, Brandy, Mystie, Pam, and Abby discuss the "faculty of friends" concept presented by Ravi Jain and Kevin Clark in the new revised edition of The Liberal Arts Tradition , an idea that also appears in Norms and Nobility , Poetic Knowledge , and more! We think you'll find this episode inspiring and encouraging. *** Jump into our Shakespeare mentorship! The Sistership Premier Shakes...

Our guest on the show today is Kelly Cumbee. Brandy and Mystie have known Kelly for over a decade because she was a participant in the old online book clubs led by Cindy Rollins. Brandy is very excited to introduce you to her. For over twenty-five years Kelly Cumbee has been educating her seven children at home, where she mostly sits in her rocking chair and reads aloud to them what she herself wa...

Today, we present our annual Christmas episode! We're using Josef Pieper's book In Tune with the World to discuss festivity, Christmas, and, of course, FUNERALS. That's right. You don't want to miss this one! Topical discussion begins at 15:04. *** Wondering what you want for Christmas but not sure? Allow us to suggest an annual membership to Sistership Premier ! We've got a great lineup for 2020...

In today's episode, Mystie and Brandy dig deeply into the four types of reading explained by AG Sertillanges in his wonderful book The Intellectual Life . Before Brandy read this, she didn't even know there were four types of reading! It's a very interesting distinction to make, and we think you'll love today's discussion. *** Have you joined Sistership Premier yet? We hope so! The Sistership Prem...

We're thrilled to have Ravi Jain back on the show today. Obviously, Ravi is co-author of the fabulous book, The Liberal Arts Tradition , but here's a little more about him: Ravi Jain graduated from Davidson College, received an M.A. from Reformed Theological Seminary, and later earned a Graduate Certificate in Mathematics from the University of Central Florida. He began teaching Calculus and Physi...

Today's episode was recorded live at the beach house while Brandy, Mystie, and Pam were at the fall retreat! The sound quality is a little less than usual, but it was very fun to record face-to-face. Our topic today is humility and teachableness. You'll enjoy this interesting conversation. Join our November challenge! We are hosting our first ever month-long CHALLENGE! As you know, principles aren...

Our guest today is the lovely and delightfully controversial Angelina Stanford. Angelina has an Honors Baccalaureate Degree and a Master's Degree in English Literature from the University of Louisiana. For over twenty-five years, she has shared her passion and enthusiasm for literature with students in a variety of settings — everywhere from university classrooms to homeschool co-ops to homeschool...

In today's episode, Brandy, Pam, and Mystie get real about Scholé Sisters groups. First, they talk about Pam's Scholé Salon, specifically what they've done and how it's going. From there, they transition to what to do when groups experience change or difficulty. Groups, even GOOD groups, will experience trials and setbacks, and it's important for all of us to think about how to respond. Don't forg...

In today's episode, Brandy and Mystie discuss so many good things with special guest Ashley Woleben — what scholé is and how it relates to what the book A Mind for Numbers calls "diffuse mode learning," plus how to make scholé a part of your life. Ashley is always a very interesting person to talk to and we know you'll love this episode. About Ashley Woleben: Ashley is a military wife and homescho...

It was something Wendi Capehart said at AmblesideOnline Camp during her talk that inspired this conversation. Mystie and Brandy are discussing why starting with heroes in a child's education is not white-washing, and why pointing out the darkness too young might backfire. Wendi Capehart from the AmblesideOnline Advisory board is a very busy lady, so we were thrilled when she — rightly dubbed "the...

We are pleased to have Cindy Rollins back on the show today. Cindy homeschooled her nine children for over 30 years. She is co-host with Angelina Stanford of the popular Literary Life Podcast and curates the Over the Back Fence Newsletter . She is the author of some wonderful books. My favorite is Mere Motherhood: Morning Time, Nursery Rhymes, and My Journey Toward Sanctification . The desire of C...

In today's episode, Mystie and Brandy are talking all things Scholé Sisters fall retreat planning with Jenn Discher and Danielle Cyrus. Jenn and Danielle both hosted large retreats last year and have lots of great tips for you. Jenn Discher and her husband and three kids (ages 9, 7, and 4) live in North Georgia, outside of Atlanta. Jenn was a high school history teacher for six years before her ol...

In today's episode, Mystie, Pam, and Brandy finish up their conversation about Dorothy Sayers' essay, The Lost Tools of Learning , which began in Episode 49 . In fact, if you haven't listened to Episode 49, you really should do that first. Anyhow, in this episode the Scholé Sisters discuss and debate the trivium portion of the essay. It's great fun you won't want to miss. *** This episode is spons...

In today's episode, Mystie and Brandy use part of CS Lewis' book The Four Loves to discuss friendship – how Lewis defines it, if we womenfolk are capable of it, and how it's different from other things like companionship and affection. We wrap up by applying this to … yes! … book clubs . We think you'll love this. *** This episode is sponsored by Scholé Sisters Spring Training Sessions ! If you ar...

Eric Hall is back on the show with us today. We had rave reviews when he appeared in Episode 29 called I'm Not the Holy Spirit . So many of you wanted to hear more from him, but let us introduce again in case you haven't yet heard that episode. Eric Hall is an adjunct professor of English at Bakersfield College where he teaches writing and literature. Eric has a B.A. in English from the Master's C...

Our guest on the show is Amanda Gauthier-Parker. Amanda is as a Christian, a wife, a mother, and a homeschooler. Her journey from John Holt unschooling to Charlotte Mason and classical education has taken its twists and turns, while always chasing truth, goodness and beauty, and the path God has set before her. This spring she will graduate her first of five children, and will have 15 more years o...