Kolbecast

70 First Draft – A Parent In-Service

AMDG. We talk a lot on the podcast about the importance of eloquence for people regardless of whether they’re in the liberal arts, STEM, or other professions. With that in mind, writing is an important part of the Kolbe curriculum across subject areas in keeping with principles of Ignatian pedagogy that listeners can learn more about on the Kolbe blog (see below).So how do we develop that art on a day-to-day basis? Bonnie and guest co-host Erica Treat (a Kolbe advisor and friend of the Kolbecast) endeavor to answer that today with the help of Kolbe instructors Chrissy Almanzar and Michelle Kim. We also hear more about Kolbe’s Homeschool Plus and Self-Paced Plus programs and get a preview of the Kolbe Academy Virtual College Fair on Friday, October 29, 2021. 
Kolbe Academy blog posts referenced: 
The Basics of Ignatian Pedagogy and subsequent posts in a six-part series by Stacey Jarzynka 
‘Mottoes’ by Willa Ryan  
Sign up here for Kolbe’s Virtual College Fair on October 29, 2021. Check out this blog post for how to prepare for the day. Related Kolbecast episodes include  
Ep 38: Substance Matters with CLT Founder Jeremy Tate 
Ep 40: Windshield Time with Dr. Donald Prudlo of the University of Tulsa 
Ep 59: The Secret Whiteboard with Everett Buyarski and Erica Treat 
For more information about Kolbe’s career planning services or to connect with an advisor, click here. Kolbe is proud to partner with a number of authentically Catholic colleges and universities to aid in the post-secondary school discernment process. 
For more information about Kolbe’s grading services, check out this section of the Kolbe website. To sign up for Homeschool Plus or Self-Paced courses, contact your child’s grade level advisor.  Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org.    
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. 
 

69 Temperature Check

AMDG. The change in seasons brings a great time to stop and look at how things are going with the new school year. Today we do just that, with Bonnie and Steven joined by Everett Buyarski, Megan Lengyel, and Nicole O’Connor. The group discusses midterms season, organization for elementary schoolers, Kolbe’s new National Honor Society chapter and the service opportunities involved, the similarities and differences between this school year and last year’s pandemic year, and the ever-expanding menu of club options available to Kolbe students. Listen to the end for a preview of the Christmas concert too. 
Sign up here for Kolbe’s Virtual College Fair on October 29, 2021.  
Kolbecast episodes mentioned and related: 
Ep 11: Truth, Wisdom, and Virtue with Everett Buyarski
Ep 14: We Don’t Think Those Words Mean What You Think They Mean with Nicole O’Connor
Ep 21: To Live Fully Alive with Elizabeth Hoxie
Ep 30: Guiding the Ship featuring Megan, Everett, and Nicole
Ep 33: Show Your Work with Kelly Powers
Ep 38: Substance Matters with CLT founder Jeremy Tate
Ep 43: The Grade Examen and Ep 59: The Secret Whiteboard with Everett and Kolbe advisor Erica Treat 
Ep 47: Among the Pots and Pans with Chris Bates and Kelly Powers
Ep 50: Backstage (Cast Party) with Everett and Megan in attendance
Ep 64: Stricken by Ideas with Dr. Carl Hasler
Ep 68: Grace for the Nitty-Gritty with Kolbe advisors and deans Celeste Cuellar and Ashley Massey
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.     

68 Grace for the Nitty-Gritty

AMDG. At this midpoint of the first semester, Steven and Bonnie seek the wisdom and guidance of Kolbe Academy’s deans Celeste Cuellar and Ashley Massey. From time management to adjusting expectations to executive function, these advisors offer advice for the both the forest and the trees plus perspective on how the hiccups, obstacles, and frustrations can work for the good of everyone in the family.
Resources mentioned:
Angela Duckworth’s TED Talk and book about grit.
Lumosity.com brain training
Kolbecast episodes that might be helpful:
Ep 12 Phone a Friend with Celeste Cuellar
Ep 60 Mission: Possible about the ninth-grade year
Ep 66 with Ashley Massey and Kim Crawford
Ep 23 Family Is the Center which covers one Kolbe family’s experience with dyslexia
Ep 10 In the Driver’s Seat
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.   

67 Mission Driven

AMDG.  We’re thrilled to introduce a new cast member/podcast co-host: Steven Hayden, Kolbe’s new Development Director.  Steven joins us with a voice of experience and a wealth of knowledge from experience in both the secular corporate world and the Catholic homeschool world.  He discusses a range of topics in this introductory episode with Jordan and Bonnie, such as the camaraderie and goals Kolbe fosters as an organization, the importance of identifying people’s strengths and systems’ flaws, and possibilities for philanthropy and outreach moving forward.
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.    

66 Bonhomie à la Kolbe

AMDG.  The people who serve as Kolbe Academy administration and faculty are a dedicated, highly-skilled group of Catholics committed to the pursuit of holiness, which for them includes serving Kolbe families as advisors, instructors, and sounding boards. They also serve each other in a spirit of collegiality as fellow pilgrims on the path to heaven.
In today’s episode Bonnie converses with Ashley Massey, an academic advisor and one of the deans of students, and Kim Crawford, a beloved instructor and department chair. They canvass the ways they approach building community and relationship across the miles to meet the needs we all have for connection. They also consider the concept and importance of families living as “domestic churches.”
Episodes that might be helpful:
Ep 54 Pro Omnibus Contendit with Deana Muth
Ep 61 Middle Ground concerning middle school
Ep 60 Mission: Possible about the ninth grade year
Kim Crawford can also be heard on Episode 50: Cast Party and Episode 52: Through a Catholic Lens. She appears on this Facebook Live about Kolbe’s AP courses. Ashley Massey leads this Facebook Friday session on grade reporting. 
For effortless episode delivery, subscribe to the Kolbecast in your favorite podcast app.  
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.    

65 Working Breakfast

AMDG. When we asked Kolbe students which of their teachers they’d most like to hear on the Kolbecast, Melissa Johnson was high on their list. Melissa joins us today to talk about what life looks like for her teaching middle and high school English while raising eight children. With equal parts humor and candor, she describes her background, her experience with the many personalities present in a large family, and her openness to embracing lively chaos of the day to day. 
Melissa references Holly Pierlot’s A Mother’s Rule of Life, also available on FORMED.org. Jordan draws upon some advice related by three Kolbe students in Episode 22: Imagine Being Homeschooled given to them by another beloved Kolbe teacher.
For effortless episode delivery, subscribe to the Kolbecast in your favorite podcast app.   
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.     

64 Stricken by Ideas

AMDG. Professor, teacher, and all-around wise person Dr. Carl Hasler is our featured guest today, along with our dear friend and Kolbe teacher Therese Prudlo. Together, they and Bonnie discuss the little moments that take us through life and the necessity of being open to God’s grace in them. Dr. Hasler shares his background from working in a record store and telling his parents he wanted to study philosophy to his experience with international adoption. He also describes how his conversion story involved encounters with Catholic thinkers and the young woman who would become Mrs. Dr. Hasler. The group brings things home with a discussion of Kolbe’s new philosophy course, the differences in definition between the word “liberal” as it is used in the current liberal/conservative political dichotomy compared to how it is used in the liberal arts, and the power of music. 
Among several other courses, Dr. Hasler teaches the live online version of Kolbe’s new philosophy course. He references Josef Pieper’s Abuse of Language, Abuse of Power, Great Dialogues of Plato, and Frederick Copleston’s nine-volume A History of Philosophy. 
Therese Prudlo first joined the Kolbecast in Episode 15: Asparagus Moments. She can also be heard on Episode 36: Embrace the Fifth Day and Episode 37: Take a Moment as well as on Episode 50: Backstage (Cast Party).  
For effortless episode delivery, subscribe to the Kolbecast in your favorite podcast app.   
Have a suggestion or question for the Kolbecast team? Write to usat podcast@kolbe.org. 
Interested in Kolbe Academy’s offerings? Visit kolbe.org.     

63 The Saints Speak for Themselves

AMDG.  
Holy Heroes founders Ken and Kerri Davison—themselves the parents of a Kolbe homeschooling family —join Bonnie and Jordan on this special episode of the Kolbecast released on the Blessed Virgin Mary’s birthday, September 8. The Davisons share wisdom on homeschooling while running a family business as well as on fostering strong, devout commitment to the sacraments and the saints. They discuss how homeschooling parents have discretion to plan their weeks and lives based on what their families need rather than on what a school demands, and they encourage liturgical living through celebrations of baptismal days, confirmation days, and name days as well as birthdays. They also have insight into the passive and active listening involved in video and audio entertainment, how important early formation is for children, and the challenge and joy of doing hard things. Finally, the Davisons share how homeschooling makes it easier to incorporate children into the running of the home since children can gain a greater appreciation of what really needs to be done throughout the day and can live lives that have far more dimensions than just schoolwork. To see the array of Holy Heroes offerings, check out https://holyheroes.com/. 
 
For effortless episode delivery, subscribe to the Kolbecast in your favorite podcast player.   
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.