Kolbecast

147: Building Blocks for Reading Success

AMDG.  Learning to read is different for every child and every family, but there are resources and helpful hints that can reduce frustration and bring joy to the process.  Elementary teachers Sarah Lee and Kristen Crook share some of those resources and tips today, including how to incorporate small things into your home environment, the benefits of phonics and tactile involvement, and some little-known but important facts about letters and their sounds.  They also discuss when reading intervention might be appropriate, the Orton-Gillingham technique, and tech options for enrichment.
For more discussion on the early elementary years, check out these Kolbecast episodes:
82 Move & Groove with Sarah Lee & Eileen Duryea
122 Bridge Year with Colleen Goodwin, Marissa Piñon, and Nicole O’Connor
81 The When and the How of Online Elementary with Sarah Foulkes, Anna Havens, and Emily Thibideaux
Resources & recommendations from Kristin and Sarah:
ABC Mouse
Starfall
Bob books
Learning at the Primary Pond
The Phonics Song
Learning Letter Sounds song
another Letter Sounds song
Kolbecast episodes cover a range of topics relating to school at home, the life of faith, and Catholic education. Using the filters on our website, you can sort the episodes to find just what you're looking for. If you listen to the Kolbecast via a podcast app/player, we'd be so grateful to you for leaving a rating and review. That helps us reach more listeners. However you listen, please spread the word about the Kolbecast!
What questions do you have about homeschooling, the life of faith, or the intersection of the two? Send your questions to podcast@kolbe.org and stay tuned for answers. You may hear them answered in an upcoming Kolbecast episode!
Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org

146: Stepping into the Arena: Bobby Angel on Our Call to Holiness

AMDG.  The call to be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect can be intimidating, but God doesn’t ask us to live in a pressure cooker.  Today Bobby Angel—writer, speaker, youth minister, and homeschooling dad—joins Bonnie, Steven, and Kolbe’s communications and marketing director, Josh Beckman, to talk about answering the call to holiness in everyday life.  Bobby describes how to live differently from the culture in a way that doesn’t turn people off; how to bring gifts, quirks, and personality to the table as part of God’s plan for life in abundance; and the all-important part of life of just being human together.  The group also reflects on parents’ call to holiness in their families, including rupture and repair as well as emotional attunement.  In sum, Bobby’s message to podcast listeners is that the call to be holy is a call to be whole.
Kolbecast episodes mentioned and relevant:
123 A Change of the Ages with Msgr. James Shea
138 Stories to Treasure Together with author (and Kolbe mom) Kathryn Swegart
131 It’s All about Relationship with Danielle Bean
 
Visit JackieandBobby.com for more information about them and their ministry, projects, and offerings.
Kolbecast episodes cover a range of topics relating to school at home, the life of faith, and Catholic education. Using the filters on our website, you can sort the episodes to find just what you're looking for. If you listen to the Kolbecast via a podcast app/player, we'd be so grateful to you for leaving a rating and review. That helps broaden the reach of the podcast. However you listen, please spread the word about the Kolbecast!
What questions do you have about homeschooling, the life of faith, or the intersection of the two? Send your questions to podcast@kolbe.org and stay tuned for answers. You may hear them answered in an upcoming Kolbecast episode!
Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org

145: Subsidiarity, Support, and Resources

AMDG.  Kolbe is committed to classical education, the western canon, sacred tradition, and academic rigor.  As the breadth and needs of students develops, we work to identify new needs and areas to support families so we can adapt to changing kinds of students while remaining committed to our core values.  Karen Allgood, Megan Lengyel, Tony Guzzaldo, Nicole O’Connor, Kelly Powers, Ashley Massey, and Elizabeth Hoxie visit with us today about the new Student Support Services program coming soon to Kolbe families.  They discuss identifying gaps and struggles, providing resources for special education and learning disabilities, offering multiple levels of support for customizable help, and the availability of accountability mentors for homeschool students.
Links mentioned and relevant:
details about Kolbe’s Student Support Services
Feb 2023 Schoolwide Address
Student Support Services webinar
K-12 Online Program webinar
new Preschool Program webinar
upcoming Shadow Weeks
Kolbecast episodes cover a range of topics relating to school at home, the life of faith, and Catholic education. Using the filters on our website, you can sort the episodes to find just what you're looking for. If you listen to the Kolbecast via a podcast app/player, we'd be so grateful to you for leaving a rating and review. That helps broaden the reach of the podcast. However you listen, please spread the word about the Kolbecast!
What questions do you have about homeschooling, the life of faith, or the intersection of the two? Send your questions to podcast@kolbe.org and stay tuned for answers. You may hear them answered in an upcoming Kolbecast episode!
Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org

144: The Word Made Known with Mark Brumley of Ignatius Press

AMDG.  The Gospel of John begins by describing the Word of God.  What does it mean to use words to study the Word—what joys, responsibilities, and opportunities lay in store?  Mark Brumley, president of Ignatius Press and president of the Kolbe board of advisors, shares his thoughts and experience with us today.  The discussion covers Mark’s longtime familiarity with Kolbe, the idea that Jesus as capital-W Word should shape our use of lowercase-w words, and the various features of spoken, written, and printed words.  Mark highlights the obligation to be clear where we can be in learning and teaching, the importance of humbly recognizing our limitations as knowers and understanders, and the benefits & tradeoffs of paper books versus eBooks.  Listen all the way through for advice and encouragement for students and parents both!
Links mentioned and relevant:
More about Mark Brumley on the Ignatius Press website
Ignatius Press Podcast (also available in podcast apps)
Brandon Vogt writing about Platitudes Undone by G.K. Chesterton
Kolbecast episodes cover a range of topics relating to school at home, the life of faith, and Catholic education. Using the filters on our website, you can sort the episodes to find just what you're looking for. If you listen to the Kolbecast via a podcast app/player, we'd be so grateful to you for leaving a rating and review. That helps us reach more listeners. However you listen, please spread the word about the Kolbecast!
What questions do you have about homeschooling, the life of faith, or the intersection of the two? Send your questions to podcast@kolbe.org and stay tuned for answers. You may hear them answered in an upcoming Kolbecast episode!
Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org

143: Partners in a Liberal Arts Renewal with CLT’s Soren Schwab

AMDG.  The harmony between education’s tangible and intangible features is our focus today as Soren Schwab of the Classic Learning Test joins us.  Soren shares some comparisons and contrasts between German and American education, discusses the hyper-specialization seen in some modern education, touches on the concept of school choice, and describes how the infrastructure to support and provide classical education has grown in the past decade.  He also highlights the proper relationship with standards or metrics as part of education.
Links mentioned:
Kolbe’s Dr. Jordan Almanzar on CLT’s Anchored podcast
Return to the Classics and The K-12 Education Renaissance by CLT founder Jeremy Tate
Information about the new CLT exams for grades 3-6
Relevant Kolbecast episodes:
120 Substance Matters with CLT founder Jeremy Tate
127 Forging a Path with Kimberly Farley, CLT’s Director of Homeschool Partnerships
83 This Is Only a Test with Kolbe testing specialists Jon and Chris Bates and curriculum director Maggie Hayden
Kolbecast episodes cover a range of topics relating to school at home, the life of faith, and Catholic education. Using the filters on our website, you can sort the episodes to find just what you're looking for. If you listen to the Kolbecast via a podcast app/player, we'd be so grateful to you for leaving a rating and review. That helps us reach more listeners. However you listen, please spread the word about the Kolbecast!
What questions do you have about homeschooling, the life of faith, or the intersection of the two? Send your questions to podcast@kolbe.org and stay tuned for answers. You may hear them answered in an upcoming Kolbecast episode!
Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org

142: Kolbe Kiwis

AMDG.  Visit the Southern Hemisphere with us today as we get to know Mieke Byerley, a Kolbe alumna and homeschooling mother with a Dutch background and 30 years of residence in New Zealand. Mieke shares her experience transitioning to homeschooling as a high school student, including the conflict she had with her parents at first and the way her perspective has changed in the time since.  She describes how homeschooling fosters the ability to make sense of things that aren’t at all apparent at first sight, builds a systems thinking perspective, and offers opportunities for failure and experimentation.  She also discusses her husband’s initial reluctance to homeschool, the mutual symbiosis of learning and growth, and the logistics of homeschooling in a different country with a different calendar from a curriculum provider like Kolbe.
Relevant Kolbecast episodes
35 An Atmosphere of Opportunity with Kolbe mom Carola in Spain
104 World Tour of Homeschooling with Kolbe moms Amy in Nigeria and Ria in the Philippines
107 Wander & Wonder with Nikki in Germany and Vanessa in her RV
103 Above and Beyond with Kolbe bookstore manager Nancy Nelson
Kolbecast episodes cover a range of topics relating to school at home, the life of faith, and Catholic education. Using the filters on our website, you can sort the episodes to find just what you're looking for. If you listen to the Kolbecast via a podcast app/player, we'd be so grateful to you for leaving a rating and review. That helps us reach more listeners. However you listen, please spread the word about the Kolbecast!
What questions do you have about homeschooling, the life of faith, or the intersection of the two? Send your questions to podcast@kolbe.org and stay tuned for answers. You may hear them answered in an upcoming Kolbecast episode!
Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org

141: From Homeschooling to The Night Train with Peter Atkinson of The Merry Beggars

AMDG. Who am I, what is excellence, and what am I called to do here? These are three foundational questions here at Kolbe. Today homeschool graduate and entertainment professional Peter Atkinson of Relevant Radio’s The Merry Beggars visits with Bonnie and Steven about his experience, his calling, and his direction. Peter shares how growing up homeschooled nurtured him an atmosphere of creativity, discovery, and wonder; what his college transition was like; and how he lives out his wonder and love of education today as a young husband, father, and professional. Turning to his current projects with The Merry Beggars, Peter reflects on the danger of measuring success by external accomplishments, the unexpected road of divine providence, and his focus on inspiring lives of virtue and showing families that virtue is lively. 
 
Links mentioned and relevant:
https://www.onthenighttrain.com/
Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death
Kolbecast ep 49 Revealed through Story with Joseph Pearce
Aardman Studios, creators of Wallace & Gromit
 
Kolbecast episodes cover a range of topics relating to school at home, the life of faith, and Catholic education. Using the filters on our website, you can sort the episodes to find just what you're looking for. If you listen to the Kolbecast via a podcast app/player, we'd be so grateful to you for leaving a rating and review. That helps us reach more listeners. However you listen, please spread the word about the Kolbecast!
What questions do you have about homeschooling, the life of faith, or the intersection of the two? Send your questions to podcast@kolbe.org and stay tuned for answers. You may hear them answered in an upcoming Kolbecast episode!
Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org

140: Burnout Happens

AMDG.  After making the choice to homeschool, it can be difficult to admit when hard days arrive.  After all, we signed up for this, right?  It’s easy to forget that every road comes with bumps and leads to blisters sometimes.  As the school year stretches on and the excitement of the holidays dissipates, Therese Prudlo, Amanda Hayes, and Krysten Pizzurro share their experiences with burnout: what it is, what it feels like, what it tells us we need, and what can make it better.  The group discusses ways to address and mitigate burnout, the reassurance of community and vulnerability, the importance of asking for help when you need it, and the power of silence and rest.
Related Kolbecast episodes:
61 Middle Ground with Amanda Hayes and Alex Pischke
124 In This Together and 125 Call the Advisor with Krysten Pizzurro, Karen Allgood, and Erica Treat
36 Embrace the Fifth Day and 37 Take a Moment with Therese Prudlo
29 The February Staredown
Other resources:
This blog post about mottoes might be helpful right about now.
Schedule a call with your Kolbe advisor.
How to connect with Kolbe families via the Schoology directory
org Help Center
Kolbecast episodes cover a range of topics relating to school at home, the life of faith, and Catholic education. Using the filters on our website, you can sort the episodes to find just what you're looking for. If you listen to the Kolbecast via a podcast app/player, we'd be so grateful to you for leaving a rating and review. That helps us reach more listeners. However you listen, please spread the word about the Kolbecast!
What questions do you have about homeschooling, the life of faith, or the intersection of the two? Send your questions to podcast@kolbe.org and stay tuned for answers. You may hear them answered in an upcoming Kolbecast episode!
Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org