Kolbecast

AMDG. Today we welcome homeschooling mother, historian, editor, and author Dr. Dixie Dillon Lane to the Kolbecast. Dixie has recently written a book about the history of homeschooling called Skipping School: A History of American Homeschooling and How it Went Mainstream. 
Through research, Dixie traces the origins of homeschooling through the lens of the homeschool movement in Southern California and its evolution to its current form today. In addition to this history, Dixie also shares her wisdom and experience as a homeschooling mother to talk about the benefits of homeschooling and navigating some of the challenges that it can present. 
Links mentioned & relevant: 
Dixie’s book Skipping School: A History of Homeschooling in the United States and How It Went Mainstream 
Dixie on Substack 
The Bad Moms Homeschool, Dixie's collaboration with Ivana Greco and Nadya Williams 
Hearth & Field  
Research by Ivana Greco & Elliot Haspel on stay-at-home parents 
Have questions or suggestions for future episodes or a story of your own experience that you’d like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to podcast@kolbe.org and be a part of the Kolbecast odyssey.  
We’d be grateful for your feedback! Please share your thoughts with us via this Kolbecast survey! 
The Kolbecast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most podcast apps. By leaving a rating and review in your podcast app of choice, you can help the Kolbecast reach more listeners. The Kolbecast is also on Kolbe's YouTube channel (audio only with subtitles).  Using the filters on our website, you can sort through the episodes to find just what you're looking for. However you listen, spread the word about the Kolbecast! 

AMDG. Today we’re joined by three experienced homeschooling mothers and Kolbe Academy academic advisors. Rylan Buchanan, Diana Hayes, and Sarah Turley take up the topic of common pitfalls and stumbling blocks that can come up when homeschooling. From planning to balancing multiple children, avoiding burnout and surviving times of illness and disruption, our guests provide us with a great deal of practical wisdom along with a reminder to be kind and patient with ourselves. 
Links mentioned & relevant: 
Kolbe Academy’s Family Advising Services 
Kolbe Academy’s Partnership Meetings 
Related Kolbecast episodes: 
Advisor series: 
313 Preparing for a Stellar School Year 
319 Tapestry in the Making 
320 College Considerations 
321 Building a Strong Extracurricular Profile 
323 Ordinary Days  
232 Part of the Family  
Have questions or suggestions for future episodes or a story of your own experience that you’d like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to podcast@kolbe.org and be a part of the Kolbecast odyssey.  
We’d be grateful for your feedback! Please share your thoughts with us via this Kolbecast survey! 
The Kolbecast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most podcast apps. By leaving a rating and review in your podcast app of choice, you can help the Kolbecast reach more listeners. The Kolbecast is also on Kolbe's YouTube channel (audio only with subtitles).  Using the filters on our website, you can sort through the episodes to find just what you're looking for. However you listen, spread the word about the Kolbecast! 

AMDG. Today, Kolbe Advisors Michelle Koechle, Jennifer Thomas and Sarah Turley join the Kolbecast to discuss approaches to homeschooling and what a day of homeschooling might look like.  
From schedules and spaces to adjusting to moves and when the unexpected comes up, our guests give us some models for what this can look like and some wisdom on how we can adjust. 
Links mentioned & relevant: 
Kolbe Academy’s Family Advising Services 
Kolbe Academy’s Student Support Services 
Related Kolbecast episodes: 
Advisor series: 
313 Preparing for a Stellar School Year 
319 Tapestry in the Making 
320 College Considerations 
321 Building a Strong Extracurricular Profile 
197 Tools in a Toolbox: Kolbe Student Support Services 
232 Part of the Family: Parents & Advisors as Partners 
269 Resources and Roadmaps 
203 Guided Freedom (Classical Composition) 
256 An Education that Reflects God’s Beauty with Nicole O’Connor and Maggie Hayden 
Have questions or suggestions for future episodes or a story of your own experience that you’d like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to podcast@kolbe.org and be a part of the Kolbecast odyssey.  
We’d be grateful for your feedback! Please share your thoughts with us via this Kolbecast survey! 
The Kolbecast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most podcast apps. By leaving a rating and review in your podcast app of choice, you can help the Kolbecast reach more listeners. The Kolbecast is also on Kolbe's YouTube channel (audio only with subtitles).  Using the filters on our website, you can sort through the episodes to find just what you're looking for. However you listen, spread the word about the Kolbecast! 

AMDG. Today, we bring to you the speakers from the 2026 Kolbe Commencement.  
Kolbe Academy’s senior enrollment director Jon Bates serves as Master of Ceremonies, introducing Fr. Raymond Pendelton, who gives the invocation, and Kolbe Academy’s chief academic officer Megan Lengyel, who gives the welcome address. Then we hear from student speakers Laura Hill and Holden Mora, Kolbe instructor and theology chair Nick Senz, and Dr. Stephen Minis, president of Benedictine College.  
We hope that you enjoy the words of wisdom from all of these individuals, however, if you’d like to jump to a particular speaker, here are the timestamps for each speaker: 
Invocation by Fr. Raymond Pendleton: 01:16 
Welcome address by Mrs. Megan Lengyel: 02:41 
Laura Hill: 04:36 
Holden Mora: 12:03 
Nicholas Senz: 31:14 
Stephen Minnis: 53:41 
Relevant links & Kolbecast episodes: 
Kolbecast episodes with faculty speaker Nick Senz:  
300 The Gift of the Sacraments with Brendan Murphy discussing Nick’s book on the sacraments 
91 Kernels of Truth with Chrissy Almanzar 
Watch the entire 2026 commencement ceremony here. 
Benedictine College in Atchison, KS, is one of Kolbe Academy’s college partners.  
Have questions or suggestions for future episodes or a story of your own experience that you’d like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to podcast@kolbe.org and be a part of the Kolbecast odyssey.  
We’d be grateful for your feedback! Please share your thoughts with us via this Kolbecast survey! 
The Kolbecast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most podcast apps. By leaving a rating and review in your podcast app of choice, you can help the Kolbecast reach more listeners. The Kolbecast is also on Kolbe's YouTube channel (audio only with subtitles).  Using the filters on our website, you can sort through the episodes to find just what you're looking for. However you listen, spread the word about the Kolbecast! 

AMDG. Today, Kolbe advisors Pam Castor, Abby Ehlers, and Krysten Pizzurrro join the Kolbecast to discuss extra-curricular activities in homeschooling. Homeschooling is certainly about educating the minds of our children, but we’re always striving to bring about the well-being of the whole person. Activities outside of schooling can play an important role in this, with activities such as sports, serving in the parish, and groups such as scouting.  
These advisors give us some examples of how this can be done and provide us with advice on how to find balance. 
Links mentioned & relevant: 
Articles from the Academics & Advising section of the Help Center: 
Scheduling Recommendations 
Cultivating Friendships and Enriching Social Activities for Homeschool Students  
Scheduling the Elementary and Middle School Day 
Extracurricular Activity Tracker 
High Academics, Non-Academics, and Activities 
Related Kolbecast episodes: 
258 Seeking, Finding, and Building Community - Groups and Extracurriculars 
313 Preparing for a Stellar School Year 
320 College Considerations 
125 Call the Advisor 
284 Flexibility and Structure for the Early Years with Pam Castor and Emmanuelle Wilhelm 
Have questions or suggestions for future episodes or a story of your own experience that you’d like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to podcast@kolbe.org and be a part of the Kolbecast odyssey.  
We’d be grateful for your feedback! Please share your thoughts with us via this Kolbecast survey! 
The Kolbecast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most podcast apps. By leaving a rating and review in your podcast app of choice, you can help the Kolbecast reach more listeners. The Kolbecast is also on Kolbe's YouTube channel (audio only with subtitles).  Using the filters on our website, you can sort through the episodes to find just what you're looking for. However you listen, spread the word about the Kolbecast! 

AMDG. Kolbe Academy advisors Cecilia Byers and Elyse Williams return to the Kolbecast in a conversation about preparing students for college.  
From early preparations to discerning what might be the right field and the right college, Cecilia and Elyse provide great advice on how to navigate this journey and also how our Kolbe families can lean on them as advisors to help them along the way. 
Links mentioned and relevant: 
Career Guidance and Discernment section of Kolbe’s Help Center website 
Interest & Ability Tools article 
High School Graduation Plan Progress article 
College Planning section of Help Center 
Related Kolbecast episodes: 
313 Preparing for a Stellar School Year 
230 A Multi-Pronged Approach to College Prep 
296 Tips for Testing Success 
241 Renew, Resolve, Reengage with Elyse, which discusses various types of career and aptitude testing 
84 The Essence of Catholic Education and 157 Renewal, Revival, Variety, and Unity with Patrick Reilly of the Cardinal Newman Society 
Episodes with the College Partners and Life after Kolbe tags on the Kolbe.org/Podcast page 
Have questions or suggestions for future episodes or a story of your own experience that you’d like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to podcast@kolbe.org and be a part of the Kolbecast odyssey.  
We’d be grateful for your feedback! Please share your thoughts with us via this Kolbecast survey! 
The Kolbecast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most podcast apps. By leaving a rating and review in your podcast app of choice, you can help the Kolbecast reach more listeners. The Kolbecast is also on Kolbe's YouTube channel (audio only with subtitles).  Using the filters on our website, you can sort through the episodes to find just what you're looking for. However you listen, spread the word about the Kolbecast! 

AMDG. Today, Kolbe Advisors Rylan Buchanan and Sarah Howard join the Kolbecast to offer some tips and advice on homeschooling. They also remind us of how Kolbe’s family advisors can help our parents effectively navigate their homeschooling journey. 
As Sarah points out, homeschooling can be a bit like making a tapestry. When you’re in the thick of it you can see the knots and it can look messy, but when you turn it around, you can see the beautiful work that has been done.  
Advisors like Rylan and Sarah help our families with that homeschooling work and can also encourage us to see the beautiful progress when we’re in the thick of it. 
Links mentioned & relevant: 
Kolbe Academy’s Family Advising Services 
HSLDA.org  
Help Center articles 
Grade Level Course Selection Guides 
6th-12th Grade Math & Science Sequence 
High School Graduation Plan Progress and Fillable Graduation Planner 
Scheduling Your Elementary and Middle School Day 
Scheduling Your High School Day 
Monitoring & Verifying Store Credit 
Related Kolbecast episodes:  
197 Tools in a Toolbox: Kolbe Student Support Services 
232 Part of the Family: Parents & Advisors as Partners 
269 Resources and Roadmaps 
243 Drawing Distinctions - Classical Education, Liberal Arts, and Liberal Education 
Have questions or suggestions for future episodes or a story of your own experience that you’d like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to podcast@kolbe.org and be a part of the Kolbecast odyssey.  
We’d be grateful for your feedback! Please share your thoughts with us via this Kolbecast survey! 
The Kolbecast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most podcast apps. By leaving a rating and review in your podcast app of choice, you can help the Kolbecast reach more listeners. The Kolbecast is also on Kolbe's YouTube channel (audio only with subtitles).  Using the filters on our website, you can sort through the episodes to find just what you're looking for. However you listen, spread the word about the Kolbecast! 

AMDG. Kolbe’s own Neva Hernandez joins Bonnie and Steven to welcome Dr. Matthew Mehan to the Kolbecast. Dr. Mehan is a best-selling author and the Associate Dean and Professor of Government at the Van Andel Graduate School of Government at Hillsdale College’s Washington D.C. campus.  
As we come to our country’s 250th birthday, we discuss history, poetry and Dr. Mehan’s new book The American Book of Fables.  
This new book explores our country and its history through the eyes of American animals and has materials for “Littles”, “Middles” and “Bigs” and with its beautiful illustrations can be enjoyed by the whole family. 
Links mentioned and relevant: 
The American Book of Fables by Dr. Matthew Mehan 
Trailer for The American Book of Fables 
Mr. Mehan’s Mildly Amusing Book of Mythical Mammals and The Handsome Little Cygnet, also written by Dr. Matthew Mehan and illustrated by artist John Folley 
Dr. Mehan is @mtmehan on Instagram and X 
Watch trailers for Dr. Mehan's books on YouTube 
Dr. Gerard Wegemer of the Thomas More Studies program at the University of Dallas 
Relevant Kolbecast episodes: 
192 Kitchen Doings, Neva’s Kolbecast debut 
175 A Both-And Approach with Dr. Jonathan Sanford, president of the University of Dallas 
312 Educating for Liberty with Dr. Tom Harmon 
Have questions or suggestions for future episodes or a story of your own experience that you’d like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Send your thoughts to podcast@kolbe.org and be a part of the Kolbecast odyssey.  
We’d be grateful for your feedback! Please share your thoughts with us via this Kolbecast survey! 
The Kolbecast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most podcast apps. By leaving a rating and review in your podcast app of choice, you can help the Kolbecast reach more listeners. The Kolbecast is also on Kolbe's YouTube channel (audio only with subtitles).  Using the filters on our website, you can sort through the episodes to find just what you're looking for. However you listen, spread the word about the Kolbecast!