Scholé Sisters: Camaraderie for Classical Homeschooling Mamas

Do you keep a commonplace book (or wish you did)? Today’s episode is serves as a first half for our upcoming Commonplace Workshop. Pam, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy discuss what a commonplace book even is and why anyone would want to keep one. It’s a great discussion you don't want to miss and will get you ready for the Workshop, which is happening this month! *** 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!

The death of culture and festivity is not a less important death than bodily. No matter what government officials say, Christmas is coming and must be honored with festive celebration – piety requires it. In this episode, Brandy Vencel, Pam Barnhill, Mystie Winckler, and Abby Wahl discuss how festivity and scholé fits into the curricular framework found in Kevin Clark & Ravi Jain’s PGMAPT formulation in The Liberal Arts Tradition. With occasional timely musings about how festivity is different and difficult this season, they return to our responsibility to keep up the cheer – because we do have a hope that extends beyond the grave, a true reason to truly celebrate with as many of our number as we can. *** Join the Sistership Sophie Level to get Christmas gift access! Have you joined the Scholé Sistership yet? If not, you really should since the annual Christmas gift for Sophie level is so close to ready that it’ll be out by the time you listen to this. Santa’s elves have been working away for months on an amazing printable 5x5 Challenge Journal that is FREE for all of our Sophie members in December and January! Click here to join. *** Click here to access today's show notes. Click here to join the Sistership. Don't forget to find us on Facebook! Click here to follow us on Instagram!

Our guest today is Maria Bell. Maria educates her children at home in the Charlotte Mason tradition and enjoys studying and sharing with others the biblical roots of Miss Mason’s philosophy. She is a linguist by training and profession, but her heart is for the ministry of motherhood and the pursuit of Truth. She resides in the Washington D.C. metro area with her husband and three children. Today’s discussion about memory work and recitation is just delightful. Maria Bell sees these things not as building piles of knowledge, but as nourishing the soul in a way that promotes spiritual growth. Her words are a soothing balm to the soul *** Preparing for a new school year in January? If you need to teach logic this year, consider using the Scholé Sisters Liberty of Logic course. This is a very unique approach. Teacher Steven Rummelsburg will help you go deep into logic as a liberal art and then assist you in teaching your children the art using the class textbook. We cannot recommend this course enough! Click here to learn more. *** Click here to access today's show notes. Click here to join the Sistership. Don't forget to find us on Facebook!

Today’s discussion about physical training in classical education was one Brandy, Mystie, Pam, and Abby got to record when they were all together in Phoenix for the Loving Well retreat. They do get philosophical and discuss why these things are important, but they also get practical and talk about a bunch of ideas that they hope will help us all get started if we’re ready to get physical in our homeschools. *** Join the Sistership Sophie Level to get Christmas gift access! Have you joined the Scholé Sistership yet? If not, you really should since the annual Christmas gift for Sophie level is coming up soon. Santa’s elves have been working away and while Brandy isn't quite ready to tell you what it is, she wants you to know that (1) it’s nothing at all like last year and (2) it’s pretty awesome. Click here to join. *** Click here to access today's show notes. Click here to join the Sistership. Don't forget to find us on Facebook! Click here to follow us on Instagram!

Ravi Jain, an educator with expertise in mathematics and a background in classical education, joins the discussion. The conversation dives into the intersections of multiculturalism and classical education in China, exploring the challenges of introducing Christian teachings in an Eastern context. They reflect on significant literary works and their philosophical implications, while emphasizing the need for a respectful fusion of Western and Chinese cultures. Jain also shares insights on the difficulties faced by Chinese educators and the importance of community in navigating these complexities.

We are absolutely thrilled to have Susan Wise Bauer on the show today! Susan Wise Bauer is a writer, historian, educator, and farmer. She’s the author of twenty books and the founder of the educational publishing company Well-Trained Mind Press. Susan's parents taught her at home for most of elementary and middle school, and all of high school.  She went on to earn graduate degrees in divinity, English literature, and American studies. She has been married to Peter since 1990. They have four grown children, all taught at home; one child-in-law, one grandchild; and many, many sheep. Today’s discussion is all about giving ourselves the classical education we never received. That’s was Susan Wise Bauer’s book, The Well-Educated Mind, is all about, and it’s why we knew she was the perfect person to discuss this with. You are going to LOVE listening to her! *** Join the Sistership! Have you joined the Scholé Sisters Sistership yet? If not, you are missing out on some of the best conversations for classical homeschooling moms on the internets. There is always something going on designed to enrich your life as a mom for the better. Whether it’s a Sophie mentorship, a book club, or even a Scholé Everyday 7-day challenge with Abby, you’ll be glad you joined. Click here to sign up. *** Download this episode's Scholé Sheet! Scholé Sheets are designed to help you think through and apply the ideas you've taken in, then bring your thoughts into the Sistership and join the conversation happening there. Click here to download your copy for free. *** Click here to get the show notes for today's episode and download Your Scholé Sheet. Click here to join the Sistership. Don't forget to find us on Facebook! Click here to follow us on Instagram!

Today’s discussion between Brandy, Pam, Mystie, and Abby centers on the differences between communities and networks as spelled out by John Taylor Gatto in his wonderful little book Dumbing Us Down. To which do you belong? Is there an ideal? There's a lot of food for thought in this episode. *** Registration for Loving Well is now open! Registration is now open for this year’s online local retreats which will take place live on Saturday October 10th. The theme of this year’s retreat is Loving Well and our guest speaker is Karen Glass! This is going to be a wonderful time in which we deeply explore the topic of love as it relates to homeschooling, mothering, and continuing our own educations. Click here to register. If you want to host a local retreat event, just click here to fill out the form and we’ll help you pull it off. *** Download this episode's Scholé Sheet! Scholé Sheets are designed to help you think through and apply the ideas you've taken in, then bring your thoughts into the Sistership and join the conversation happening there. Click here to download your copy for free. *** Click here to get the show notes for today's episode and download Your Scholé Sheet. Click here to join the Sistership. Don't forget to find us on Facebook! Click here to follow us on Instagram!

Is there really such a thing as classical education for preschoolers? You may be surprised to learn that yes the ancients actually had opinions on what to do with the little ones entrusted to us. In today’s episode, Mystie, Brandy, and Abby discuss a bit about what Plato, Aristotle, and Quintilian had to say on this subject. *** Registration for Loving Well is now open! Registration is now open for this year’s online local retreats which will take place live on Saturday October 10th. The theme of this year’s retreat is Loving Well and our guest speaker is the one and only Karen Glass! This is going to be a wonderful time in which we deeply explore the topic of love as it relates to homeschooling, mothering, and continuing our own educations. Click here to register. If you want to host a local retreat event, just click here to fill out the form and we’ll help you pull it off. *** Download this episode's Scholé Sheet! Scholé Sheets are designed to help you think through and apply the ideas you've taken in, then bring your thoughts into the Sistership and join the conversation happening there. Click here to download your copy for free. *** Click here to get the show notes for today's episode and download Your Scholé Sheet. Click here to join the Sistership. Don't forget to find us on Facebook! Click here to follow us on Instagram!

Our special guest today is one of our favorite people, Karen Glass! Karen Glass has been homeschooling her children for 25 years, and she’s not quite finished yet. She is one of the founders of the AmblesideOnline curriculum project and has delved deeply into Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education. She has lived in Poland, where her husband ministers, for over twenty years. In the last few years, she has begun writing books to share some of the things she has learned along the way. Today’s episode covers more about the fall retreat. In the first part we formulate our response to the extrovert revolt that took place after Episode 74. After that, we discuss the Loving Well theme and how each of us (including Karen, who is this year's guest speaker) plan to approach it in our talks. *** Early-bird registration is now open! Our annual fall online local retreats are something we forward to every year, and this year is no exception. Click here for early-bird registration for the Loving Well retreat. If you want to host a local retreat event, we are still doing this (in states where it is legal). Just click here and fill out the form and we’ll help you pull it off. *** Click here to get the show notes for today's episode. Click here to join the Sistership. Click here to follow us on Instagram. Don't forget to find us on Facebook!

Today’s episode is all about the fall retreat. In the first half, Brandy, Mystie, and Abby talk about Covid and lockdown … and how to manage a retreat if we’re still on lockdown (including what Scholé Sisters plans to do to help support unique situations). In the second half we talk about how we overhauled part of our program to make room for something super special from Abby. *** Get your Beginner’s Guide to Scholé! We have a special treat for you today! You can download for free our new Beginner’s Guide to Scholé. If you are not a beginner, you still will like it, but even more important is that we’ve set it up where you can share it. That’s right. You know all those friends you’ve been trying to share scholé with? This is the resource you’ve been waiting for! Our gift to you. ♥ *** Click here to get the show notes for today's episode. Click here to join the Sistership. Click here to follow us on Instagram. Don't forget to find us on Facebook!