Kolbecast

82 Move and Groove

AMDG. Last week’s elementary school tour continues today with meeting two of Kolbe’s lower elementary teachers, Eileen Duryea and Sarah Lee.  These ladies share their expertise and enthusiasm for teaching Kindergarten through second grade students in Kolbe’s unique hybrid platform. They explain how limited online time and plentiful movement keep students physically and mentally engaged, how they foster fine motor development and a love of reading, and how parent involvement is a crucial component for success.
Links mentioned and related:
Kolbecast Episode 81: The When and the How of Online Elementary with 3 teachers from Kolbe’s upper elementary online program
Classical Education in the Elementary Years, a presentation by Sarah Foulkes during Catholic Schools Week 2021
The Classical Approach at Kolbe Academy, a webinar hosted by Nicole O’Connor, director of the Online Elementary Program
Look for the Kolbecast in your favorite podcast app and subscribe for effortless episode delivery.
Have a suggestion or question for the Kolbecast team? Write to us at podcast@kolbe.org.
Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org.    

81 The When and the How of Online Elementary

AMDG.  Tour the metaphorical halls of Kolbe’s elementary program today with teachers Sarah Foulkes, Anna Havens, and Emily Thibodeaux.  These ladies discuss with Bonnie and Steven the practicalities of the parent-teacher partnership that helps young students thrive.  From the hybrid combination of homeschooling and online education to the highlights of what the Kolbe elementary program is and is not, the discussion is a microcosm of Kolbe’s ancient and cutting-edge approach.
Links mentioned and related:
Classical Education in the Elementary Years, a presentation by Mrs. Foulkes during Catholic Schools Week 2021
Ep 7 Et Tu, Iordane? in which the newly-launched online elementary program is discussed
Ep 61 Middle Ground
Ep 70 First Draft: A Parent In-Service discusses rubrics, which Mrs. Thibodeaux mentions among her suggestions
The Classical Approach at Kolbe Academy, a webinar hosted by Nicole O’Connor, director of the Online Elementary Program
Look for the Kolbecast in your favorite podcast app and subscribe for effortless episode delivery.
Have a suggestion or question for the Kolbecast team? Write to us at podcast@kolbe.org.
Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org.    

80 The Journey That Is

AMDG.  What causes a learning disability or difficulty and how can we help a student exercise that part of their mind?  Margaret Walsh of Secret Garden Educational Pathways joins Bonnie and Steven today to discuss the Ignatian idea of cura personalis, or care of the whole person, in the context of special education.  Margaret shares how she draws on both her liberal arts degree from Thomas Aquinas College and her advanced specialized training in special ed to provide accessible support through remediation and education therapy.   Topics touched on today include strengthening students’ capabilities, the 13 categories of learning needs, how to distinguish diagnosable struggles from emotional immaturity or stubbornness, and the hesitance and stigma surrounding diagnoses.
 
Links referenced:
Secret Garden Educational Pathways, Margaret’s company
Margaret’s Facebook Friday presentation
org, which Margaret says is “an amazing resource for easy reading and exploring different struggles, symptoms, testing questions, etc. for families to use. Their platform and website is far easier to follow than many other "special education" websites.” Articles on that Margaret selected to go with this episode:
How to Get a Free or Low-Cost Evaluation for Your Child
The Difference between Tutors and Educational Therapists
13 different IDEA disabilities
https://www.mindware.orientaltrading.com/, according to Margaret, “has some great games to use to build skills. Often the students don't even realize they are doing something challenging, because they are more focused on the game.”
Kolbecast Ep 68 Grace for the Nitty Gritty with Kolbe advisors Ashley Massey and Celeste Cuellar
Kolbecast Ep 74 Special Teams: Kolbe Dads, during which Greg Simia recommends Margaret’s services
Kolbe's Special Needs Support 
 
Look for the Kolbecast in your favorite podcast app and subscribe for effortless episode delivery.
Have a suggestion or question for the Kolbecast team? Write to us at podcast@kolbe.org.
Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org.    

79 Doors to Your Memories

AMDG.  A familiar voice rejoins Bonnie, Steven, and Jordan today: Bonnie’s sister Hope, originally one of the relaunched Kolbecast’s co-hosts and now a frequent behind-the-scenes collaborator.  As the quartet gathers in the space between the old year and the new, we hear about Jordan’s newly published book and Hope’s introduction to Kolbe, as well as the long slow road of conversion and the significance of routines.
Referenced in this episode:
Jordan’s book When the Earth Was Flat
The Screwtape Letters
Kolbecast Episode 7 Et Tu, Iordane?
 
Look for the Kolbecast in your favorite podcast app and subscribe for effortless episode delivery.
Have a suggestion or question for the Kolbecast team? Write to us at podcast@kolbe.org.
Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org.    

78 The Kolbe Man Show

AMDG.  Four of Kolbe’s wisest guys—Jordan, Steven, Everett, and Don—gather for a virtual men’s night on this week’s episode.  Their discussion is one for the ages, spanning stories of childhood role models and adult cross-country moves before settling into a reflection on what strength is and isn’t.  With sacrificial love and the golden mean as their foundation, the gentlemen talk about virtues to encourage in young men, how the idea that “boys will be boys” works against healthy masculinity, the commonalities between Marcus Aurelius and Marvel, the revolution of Christian leadership, Augustine’s idea that those who give orders are the servants of those whom they appear to command, and so much more.
The impetus for the Buyarskis’ move to Tulsa: Ep 50 Backstage (Cast Party)
Articles mentioned:
How to Be on the Right Side of History by James Hankins in First Things
John Hardon, SJ, on the importance and necessity of homeschooling
Dr. Don Prudlo can be heard on these other Kolbecast episodes:
Ep 39 Reclaiming the Territory
Ep 40 Windshield Time
Ep 50 Backstage (Cast Party)
Kolbe Academy’s Academic Services Director Everett Buyarski is featured on these other Kolbecast episodes:
Ep 11 Truth, Wisdom, Virtue
Ep 30 Guiding the Ship and Ep 69 Temperature Check with Megan Lengyel and Nicole O’Connor
Ep 43 The Grade Examen and Ep 59 The Secret Whiteboard with Erica Treat
Ep 50 Backstage (Cast Party)
Look for the Kolbecast in your favorite podcast app and subscribe for effortless episode delivery.
Have a suggestion or question for the Kolbecast team? Write to us at podcast@kolbe.org.
Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org.    

77 The Road Less Traveled

AMDG.  Today Celeste Cuellar rejoins the Kolbecast to discuss non-college paths—trades, military service, religious life discernment, and more.  Celeste, Bonnie, and Steven muse on how God doesn’t require saints to have college degrees, how many of the activities and interests we’re drawn to indicate our paths, and how the preparation for life is indirect.  Along with these profound and accessible topics, they touch on personality and skill assessments such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, what gap years are and aren’t, and reckoning parents’ experience within themselves as their children grow to the age of adventuring beyond the nest.
 
Celeste can be heard on these other Kolbecast episodes
Ep 12 Phone a Friend
Ep 68 Grace for the Nitty Gritty also with Ashley Massey
Also referenced:
Ep 59 The Secret Whiteboard with Everett Buyarski & Erica Treat
Highlands Ability Battery
The Myers & Briggs Foundation
Labor Day Statement by Bishop John Barres of Rockville Center, NY
Harmel School of the Trades in Grand Rapids, MI
Kateri College of the Liberal and Practical Arts in Gallup, NM
Vocations week Ep 32 Reflections of His Light with Sr. Margaret Mary & Sr. Anne
Discerning a Path after High School section in Program Support Guide (in Welcome Packet)
 
Look for the Kolbecast in your favorite podcast app and subscribe for effortless episode delivery.
Have a suggestion or question for the Kolbecast team? Write to us at podcast@kolbe.org.
Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org.    

76 Study Buddies

AMDG. With the arrival of a new liturgical year and the culmination of the first semester comes finals week. That prospect might provoke some trepidation, so we call upon four ladies who address that uneasiness with sage, pragmatic advice on all things finals. In this episode we meet the student officers and lead advisor of Kolbe’s newly-formed chapter of National Honor Society and hear how the organization is already serving the Kolbe community through the peer tutoring program while actively seeking other ways to be of use. These wise ones cover all sorts of ground in signature Kolbe style. Thanks to Martina, Josephine, Claire, and Mrs. Mammola for offering their experience and advice on everything from study tips to self-care to maintaining perspective on these exams and what we can learn from them beyond letter grades.
Recommended in this episode: Quizlet
Kolbecast episodes referenced and that might be helpful:
Ep 43 The Grade Examen with advisors Everett Buyarski and Erica Treat
Ep 46 Language Lab with Jenni Mammola
Ep 22 Imagine Being Homeschooled
Ep 44 Student Spotlight: Newsletter Team
Ep 60 Mission: Possible
Look for the Kolbecast in your favorite podcast app and subscribe for effortless episode delivery.
Have a suggestion or question for the Kolbecast team? Write to us at podcast@kolbe.org.
Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org.    

75 Minor Victories

AMDG.  Today is all about minor victories--those day brightening graces and breaks in the clouds that give us reassurance and motivation on the homeschooling journey. And to celebrate our 75th episode since the Kolbecast relaunch, we wanted to celebrate you, our listeners! Bonnie, Steven, Brigid, and Lauren share their own minor victories as well as those sent in by parents, students, and teachers through our social media channels. Cheers to figuring out nap schedules, transitioning between brick-and-mortar school and homeschool, finding a rhythm, seeing independence and collaboration develop, growing in confidence and trust, and so much more. As a bonus, continuing the tradition of our 25th and 50th episodes, listen past the closing of the episode for a blooper reel.
 
Kolbecast episodes referenced and others that might be helpful:
Ep 12 Phone a Friend with Celeste Cuellar
Ep 68 Grace for the Nitty Gritty with Celeste Cuellar & Ashley Massey
Ep 54 Pro Omnibus Contendit with Deana Muth
Ep 61 Middle Ground with Amanda Hayes and Alex Pischke
Ep 25 Kolbecast Backstage
Ep 50 Kolbecast (Cast Party)
Look for the Kolbecast in your favorite podcast app and subscribe for effortless episode delivery.
Have a suggestion or question for the Kolbecast team? Write to us at podcast@kolbe.org.
Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org.