Kolbecast

38: Substance Matters

AMDG. While standardized testing often elicits groans from students and anxiety from parents, what if it didn’t have to? Today Jordan and Bonnie visit with Jeremy Tate, President of the Classic Learning Test. He explains how high-stakes tests drive and dictate academic focus in America, how he decided to go up against the behemoth that is the College Board in designing a different kind of college admission test, and how he’s challenged the societal status quo that excludes great thinkers like C.S. Lewis and John Paul the Great from the literature that test takers must examine. The group also discusses the immense time spent in test prep and what messages are sent by the materials studied in that time. Jeremy describes how the goal of classical education isn’t to make people better employees—it's to make them better humans—but how the best humans often end up being the best employees, too. He reminds listeners that tests give a snapshot into key academic areas at a given point in time, but say nothing about the kind of person that a student is. And he distills his goals into a succinct call to action: read good books, read them a lot, and enjoy them. 
 
https://www.cltexam.com/home 
Anchored podcast 
Interview with CLT rep Brittany Higdon on Kolbe blog 
Student Spotlight: Interview with Kolbe Academy Student Meghan Rohatgi 
 
Have a question or suggestion for the Kolbecast team? Write to us: podcast@kolbe.org. Subscribe in your favorite podcast player for effortless episode delivery.  

37: Take a Moment

AMDG. Last week, we visited with Therese Prudlo about structuring school weeks to reflect care of the whole person. Today, Therese rejoins us to go deeper on the need for refreshment and reflection. What does it mean that the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath? What is the practice of “going to your desert” in the middle of busy family life? How do the movies Elf and Babette’s Feast both relate to the rhythm of our days? It all comes back to the idea of living our days as the gifts that they are, with a healthy dose of reality that it’s often harder to receive gifts than to give them. 
Jennifer Fulwiler – The Courage to Rest Screwtape Letter 15 (Narrated by John Cleese) Have a question or suggestion for the Kolbecast team? Write to us at podcast@kolbe.org. Subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast player for effortless episode delivery. 

36: Embrace the Fifth Day

AMDG. Ever wonder why Kolbe elementary and middle grade course plans are set up with four days, not five? Struggling to figure out how to divide up high school weekly course plans? Therese Prudlo rejoins the crew today to talk about how, yes, it’s important to get your work done, but it’s even more important to protect the margins of the day. Reflecting the Ignatian tenet of care of the whole person, the group discusses the importance of leisure and unstructured time, the idea of “schedule busting,” and the need to take a moment. Not only is it okay—it's important. 

35 - An Atmosphere of Opportunity

AMDG. Today Bonnie and Hope visit with Carola, a current Kolbe mom from Spain whose family started homeschooling during the pandemic. While sharing insights from her own Princeton University education, Carola discusses how she’s found in homeschooling an opportunity to teach both her children and herself. She also talks about balancing time with toddlers in the house, navigating working from home while simultaneously schooling from home, adapting expectations throughout the year, and how sometimes, students would just like to show what they’ve learned and get a nice cheer. 
 
Have a question or suggestion for the Kolbecast? Write to us at podcast@kolbe.org. Subscribe to the Kolbecast in your favorite podcast player for effortless episode delivery. 

34: A Beauty-Linked Life

AMDG. Today Bonnie dons her concert blacks for a visit with Dr. Carol Reynolds, “Professor Carol” as she’s widely known. She’s the creator of a host of art appreciation and music history offerings and a luminary on the classical education speaker circuit. From discussing Discovering Music, Professor Carol’s music history curriculum for high school students, to visiting about how the devil is in the details, the conversation is enriching and—dare we say it—harmonious with our goals as Kolbe educators and families. Also listen in for topics including how to feel more at ease teaching music appreciation, the need for friends and colleagues to provide much needed perspective, and the wisdom of knowing and enforcing your own limits. At the end of the day, even if the day has gone off the rails, if you’ve read, created, or gone outside with your children, you’re doing just fine.  
Resources: 
The Professor Carol website, home to the offerings discussed in the episode 
Articles of interest by Dr. Reynolds: 
Studying Music the Classical Way
My Approach to Composer Studies
Students Older than Average
Our go-to post on encouragement: “Get Thee behind Me: A Note on Discouragement” by Kolbe co-founder Dianne Muth 
Have a question or suggestion for the Kolbecast team? Write to us at podcast@kolbe.org. Subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast player for effortless episode delivery. 

33: Show Your Work

AMDG. Kolbe mathematics chair Kelly Powers joins the conversation today to share the awesomeness of mathematics and the awesomeness of God. On the math side, she talks about how she reassures parents who say they can’t teach math, the tricky middle school years’ developmental stage where students most resist showing their work, and the art of judicious calculator use. On the faith side, she talks about the importance of being around people who lead us to our vocations and how living out your vocation involves passion, love, joy, and the opportunity to lead by example. We also discuss “learning in the extra moments,” the benefits of playing board games, the necessity of strong reading and writing skills for STEM students, and the overarching idea that mistakes make you much stronger if you give yourself the opportunity to grow and build on them. Mrs. Powers brings it home with enthusiasm about all of the coolness that mathematics has to show – it is out there, and if you let it find and amaze you, it’ll win you over. 
 
Kelly Powers and Jordan Almanzar discussing distance education 
“Slow and Steady Wins the Race” by Kelly Powers on the Kolbe blog 
Mandelbrot set 
Homeschool math helps: 
Azul board game
Skyjocard game 
Catan
Monopoly
Ticket to Ride
any game with money 
Have a question or suggestion for the Kolbecast team? Write to us at podcast@kolbe.org. Subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player for effortless episode delivery. 

32: Reflections of His Light

AMDG. In this special Vocations Week edition of the Kolbecast, we visit with Sister Margaret Mary and Sister Anne of the Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa. With a sparkle in their tone, the sisters share their homeschooling experiences growing up from daily Mass to drivers’ ed. They also discuss the otherworldly life they now live, including their vocation stories and the ever-ancient, ever-new life of faith. In the end, their reflections come back to the guidance, “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2). 
Kolbecast Episode 30 referencing the Marian Sisters  
The Sisters will be moving to a new convent soon.  
Have a question or suggestion for the Kolbecast team? Send it to podcast@kolbe.org. Subscribe to the Kolbecast in your favorite podcast player for effortless episode delivery.  

31: Veteran Homeschoolers

AMDG. Jon and Chris Bates join us today to share their experience as a homeschooling military family and the insight they bring to their new roles as Kolbe academic advisors. The group talks about local history and Smithsonian field trips; tailoring curriculum to fit each individual student (including the Bates’ experience with giftedness, dyslexia, dyscalculia, and the autism spectrum); necessary habits for parents to bring themselves consistency and mental clarity in the middle of homeschooling; and the uniqueness of every family.  
Along with several other Kolbe academic advisors, Jon and Chris appear in A COVID Christmas Story. 
Have a question or suggestion for the Kolbecast team? Send it to podcast@kolbe.org. Subscribe to the Kolbecast in your favorite podcast player for effortless episode delivery.