Kolbecast

6: Off and Running

AMDG. As the school year kicks into gear, the day-to-day of homeschooling is the topic of the day. Bonnie and Hope offer a range of suggestions free for the taking or leaving about daily rhythms or practices, walking through school days, navigating when someone hits a figurative wall, regrouping when the wheels fall off an entire day, managing sick days, reframing the sometimes-daunting idea of being a “teacher” to the monikers of being a facilitator or air traffic controller (among others), trusting the Kolbe structure and process, and a few other big-picture thoughts.  
Circadian rhythm article: https://hbr.org/2015/01/the-ideal-work-schedule-as-determined-by-circadian-rhythms  
Sheet pan pancakes recipe: https://www.thekitchn.com/sheet-pan-pancakes-recipe-23059380  
I (Bonnie) use 2 ¼ cups AP flour and don’t stir in anything that would provide texture such as fruit, nuts, or chocolate chips. I also preheat the pan while mixing together the ingredients. When the ingredients are ready to be baked, I remove the pan from the oven and line it with parchment paper that I then brush with melted butter before pouring in the batter. Last time we made this recipe, we did without the powdered sugar topping. No one missed it.  For festive occasions we serve bacon and scrambled eggs with the sheet pan pancake.  
One Pan Wonders cookbook: https://www.americastestkitchen.com/guides/one-pan-wonders   
Morning offering coffee mug: https://roseharrington.com/products/morning-offering-mug-bright-white-14-oz 
Morning offering static cling: https://www.studiosenn.com/product-page/morning-offering-static-cling  
One example of a family litany: https://www.etsy.com/listing/775792338/family-litany-of-saints-family-prayer?ref=shop_home_active_11&pro=1&frs=1 
St. Maximilian Kolbe coffee mug: https://beaheart.com/collections/lifestyle/products/maximilian-kolbe-16oz-travel-mug 
St. Thomas Aquinas’s prayer for students: https://aleteia.org/2017/11/21/a-students-prayer-by-st-thomas-aquinas/ 
St. John XXIII’s bedtime prayer: https://aleteia.org/2019/03/31/when-falling-asleep-pray-this-prayer-to-rest-in-peace/ 
 

5: Planning on Paper and Online

AMDG. Developing a family and homeschool calendar can be daunting, but Bonnie and Hope break it down this episode of the Kolbecast. They talk about the pros and cons of paper planners and online calendars, the Schoology online platform’s various options, keeping family members up to date on meal plans and commitments, and how fostering use of a planner can be a prayerful act of both responsibility and surrender. 
Bonnie’s simple planner: this cover design but 8.5” x 11” 
Hope’s hourly and to-list planner: Simplified daily edition 
Completely customizable build-a-planner option 

4: Homeschool Workspaces

AMDG. Developing a workspace for homeschooling is one of those things that is specific and personal, and yet it’s almost impossible to get a foothold without knowing what works for other people. In this episode, Bonnie and Hope discuss their own homeschooling workspaces, things that worked and didn’t work for them in putting those workspaces together, how paperwork organization fits into their space, and the flexibility of being able to take schoolwork on the go. 
Letter tray organizer: https://www.amazon.com/SimpleHouseware-Desktop-Document-Letter-Organizer/dp/B01K07MYA6/  

3: Dramatic Arts with Dolores Mihaliak

AMDG. The dramatic arts are a profound combination of the spoken word and the human person, where actors embody fundamental ideas of creation along with significant literary and production components. In this episode, Kolbe Online teacher (and alumna!) Dolores Ann Mihaliak visits with Bonnie and Hope about these ideas and Kolbe’s new Drama Portfolio and Advanced Dramatic Arts classes, including how Kolbe’s curriculum addresses questions of humanity and relationships in context and the Zoom theater online creative endeavor developing in quarantine. 
Dolores’s upcoming online production of As You Like It: https://www.richmondcatholictheatre.com/ 
@TheInitiativeTheater on Facebook and Instagram 

2: Patron Saints

AMDG. Kolbe Academy was founded by three families in 1980, named for a 20th Century Polish Franciscan priest on his way to sainthood, and built upon the foundation of the Ignatian method of education. The feast days of these saints are just a few weeks apart: St. Maximilian Kolbe’s is celebrated on August 14th, while that of St. Ignatius Loyola is on July 31st. In this bonus episode of the Kolbecast, we offer a brief history of Kolbe Academy’s origins and an introduction to its patron saints.   
https://blog.kolbe.org/kolbecast-with-kolbe-academy-founder-dianne-muth/ 
https://kolbe.org/about-us/about/our-history/ 
https://kolbe.org/about-us/philosophy/ignatian-method/   
Music: Postcards by Scott Holmes 

1: Kolbecast Relaunch

In this episode, Jordan, Bonnie and Hope talk about their experiences with Kolbe Academy and give a preview of future episodes.
Bonnie and her family are starting their fourth year of homeschooling with Kolbe. She's a liturgical musician, podcast fanatic, and heavy library user, as well as a Kolbe Parent Ambassador.
Hope studied communication theory and philosophy in college, then went to law school. Now she's a complex litigation attorney, an avid home cook, and the fun aunt to Bonnie’s kids.
Bonnie and Hope are sisters whose perspectives complement each other: Bonnie is living out the day-to-day homeschooling reality with four bairns in grades between fifth and tenth, while Hope is relying on her Kolbe formation in a phase of life after being a student and before being a parent. 
https://kolbe.org/