Scholé Sisters: Camaraderie for Classical Homeschooling Mamas

Our guest today is Karen Harris. Karen Harris is married to Wes and is the homeschooling mother to 10 children. She and her family love to read, travel, and have adventures together. The author of "A Happy Mother of Children: Disciplines of Happiness," Karen continues to write and learn from her home in Maryland. Karen and a friend have been on a mission to give themselves the classical education they never received using Susan Wise Bauer’s plan from her book The Well-Educated Mind. Abby and Brandy were SO inspired by Karen’s story of burnout and revival that they couldn't wait to share with you! *** Memory is an essential ingredient in our homeschools.​ We homeschool moms worry if we're doing it right, if we're doing it enough, if it's going to work at all. Want to sort out your ideas about memory in education? Come to the Scholé Sisters retreat — ​Homeschool Essentials: Memory —​ and rest assured that no matter how imperfect our efforts, they are all worthwhile. After the retreat day — which is basically a homeschool mom in-service — you will reenter your homeschool with renewed vigor and vitality and vision. Go to scholesisters.com/memory to register! *** Click here to access today's show notes. Click here to join the Sistership.

Today, Brandy, Mystie, Pam, and Abby are tackling the big issue of censorship. They attempt to juxtapose some thoughts from Plato and John Milton and pursue questions like what is censorship, why would we do it, and when we should avoid it. *** If you want to dig into this topic with more depth and practical advice, you'll love our Spring Training event taught by Rosaria Butterfield: Intellectual Hospitality. We only have so much time with our kids at home. Whether or not we censor particular books, we still have to choose where our time and energy will go, which books we will buy and read, and what to prioritize during our school hours. Rosaria's sessions are down-to-earth, relatable, and practical. Intellectual Hospitality is your next step to dig into today's topic. Find it at scholesisters.com/hospitality *** Click here to access today's show notes. Click here to join the Sistership.

This special summer season is one episode long and all about our annual retreat. We are in the process of making some major changes to it, all of which we think you’re going to love. The purpose of the retreat has always been to foster, first and foremost, real life community. We’ve taken steps to make that time of homeschool fellowship even better than before. Want to know more about it? Listen up! Pam, Mystie, Abby and Brandy are discussing all the many changes they’ve come up with so far and explaining the how and why behind them. You’re going to be as excited as they are about it! *** Don’t leave without registering for this year’s retreat! As you just heard, the new topic is Homeschool Essentials and this year’s theme is Memory. This retreat is going to be so much fun. Registration is open TODAY and you know you hostesses want to get your hands on that awesome hostess pack so go to scholesisters.com/memory to get yours. Early bird pricing ends August 6th, so don’t delay! *** Click here to access today's show notes. Click here to join the Sistership.

In today’s episode, Pam, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy discuss portions of Saint Augustine’s book On Christian Doctrine that deal with the need for background knowledge in order to read with understanding, especially understanding metaphors. This was a very fun reading assignment! *** Don’t forget to become a Sophie level member of the Sistership! You will get our Spring Training sessions with Rosaria Butterfield this month, along with access to all the other wonderful things going on, AND our annual summer gear! Click here to sign up. *** Click here to access today's show notes. Click here to join the Sistership.

Renee Shepherd is back with us again today. Renee and her husband, who were both homeschooled, are now homeschooling their six children. She is currently finishing her graduate degree in Classical Christian Studies at New Saint Andrews College, where her favorite things to study are theology, Latin, and literature. Renee brought a lesser known article by Dorothy Sayers to our attention, and that’s what Mystie and Brandy are discussing with her today. We think you will be interested in how it rounds out what Sayers said in her well known Lost Tools of Learning. *** Spring Training is coming up later this month! Registration is open for our annual Spring Training. Our coach is the one and only Rosaria Butterfield, author of a number of wonderful books, including The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert and The Gospel Comes with a House Key. We asked Rosaria to coach us on what we like to call Intellectual Hospitality. How do we read classics with discernment, handle disagreements with grace, or confront inconsistency & error with love? Rosaria is going to help us with all that and more. Just click here to register. *** Click here to access today's show notes. Click here to join the Sistership.

In today’s episode, Pam, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy break down the transition to independent work from preschool all the way to high school and beyond. This conversation gives us a lot to think about! *** Spring Training is coming up next month! Registration is now open for our annual Spring Training Our coach this year is the one and only Rosaria Butterfield, author of a number of wonderful books, including The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert and The Gospel Comes with a House Key. We have asked Rosaria to coach us on what we like to call Intellectual Hospitality. How do we read classics with discernment, handle disagreements with grace, or confront inconsistency & error with love? Rosaria is going to help us with all that and more. Just click here to register. *** Click here to access today's show notes. Click here to join the Sistership.

In today’s episode, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy discuss their way through the entire Thinking Person’s Checklist at the back of Alan Jacob’s book, How to Think. This was a fun and interesting conversation to have and they think you’re really going to enjoy it! *** Spring Training is coming up next month! Next month — the month of MAY — is our annual Spring Training, as you well know. We are pleased to announce that our coach this year is the one and only Rosaria Butterfield, author of a number of wonderful books, including The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert and The Gospel Comes with a House Key. While registration is not yet open, now is the PERFECT time to go ahead and sign up for your Sophie membership. You’ll get all the normal fabulous benefits of being a Sophie, and as usual the Spring Training sessions are included in your membership at no extra charge. Click here to sign up. *** Click here to access today's show notes. Click here to join the Sistership.

Today’s guests are Karen Elliott and Erica Robertson from Rafiki Schools. Karen has served with Rafiki since 1990, including twelve years on the mission field, most of that time in Jos, Nigeria. Upon returning to the U.S., she became the Director of Africa Operations for the Rafiki Home Office and was responsible for managing the ChildCare and Education Programs for all ten Rafiki Villages as well as curriculum development. She served at the Home Office for ten years before being named Rafiki's Executive Director in January of 2012. Erica has worked with the Rafiki Foundation since 2010. She was the headmaster of the Rafiki School in Rwanda for three years, and held the same position in Nigeria for five years. She currently serves as the Director for Africa Operations at the Rafiki Home Office in Florida. Today’s episode is our way of remembering that Christian classical education isn’t just about America or the West – it’s an attempt to raise up well-educated and faithful Christians around the whole globe. What does it look like to pursue this Christian heritage in Africa? Today you’ll get a very exciting glimpse! *** Are you thinking about summer reading for your kids or maybe even pulling together your book lists for next year? How do you know what books will be best for you and your family? How do you know which book lists to pay attention to and which to ignore? Can you defend your choices when people cast doubts on them? On March 27, at 9:30 am Pacific, Steven Rummelsburg will be teaching a workshop on How to Choose Good Books followed by a 45 minute Q&A session. By the end of the class, we will understand what makes a classic a true classic and why we should seek out and study the classics. Come get your bookish priorities reinforced and reinvigorated at Steven's How to Choose Good Books workshop. Click here to register. *** Click here to access today's show notes. Click here to join the Sistership.

Today’s episode is our attempt to answer the question of what is scholé? And how do I know if I’m doing it right? Is scholé just restful learning? Or is there more to it than that? These are interesting questions to tackle! *** So what is scholé anyway? What gives with using such a weird Greek word? Scholé Sisters has a short, free guide to understanding what scholé is and how to get some in your life and homeschool. We want to make scholé approachable and practical. Scholé is more than reading and more than restful learning. It's an approach and an attitude. Our Beginner’s Guide to Scholé will help you jumpstart your own schole practices. Click here to find it right on the front page of our website - for free. *** Click here to access today's show notes. Click here to join the Sistership. Click here to follow us on Instagram!

Our guest today is Amber Johnston. Amber lives in Georgia nestled among pine trees, hammocks and ziplines with her husband and their four children. Her happy place is the back porch on a rainy day, preferably with a giant mug of hot tea and a good book. When they have the chance, her family enjoys extended worldschooling trips to immerse themselves in other cultures. Amber blogs about adding mirrors and windows to a traditional Charlotte Mason education at HeritageMom.com and you can also find her on Instagram as @heritagemomblog. Today’s episode is all about tackling a foreign language. Amber is not just wonderful about telling you HOW to go about foreign language; she also gives you a big WHY. Let’s face it: foreign language can be intimidating and so we put it off until the kids are older. If we are going to get brave start ‘em young, we need a really big WHY. *** Ready for the Commonplace Workshop? Are you intimidated by commonplacing? Not sure if you're doing it right? Uncertain how to get started? You're not the only one. So, on February 20th at 9:30 am Pacific, join us for a LIVE Commonplace Workshop where we will break down the process of getting started and keeping up with commonplacing. It doesn't need to be complicated and you don't need to make it a keepsake. At the Commonplace Workshop we'll each share our own commonplace practices and real life examples, helping you see how doable and unfancy - and how beneficial! - commonplacing can be. Click here to register. *** Click here to access today's show notes. Click here to join the Sistership. Click here to follow us on Instagram!