Scholé Sisters: Camaraderie for the Classical Homeschooling Mama

Ep 014: Reading Pagan Literature with Highly Resistant Children (with Wes Callihan!)

On today’s show, Pam and Brandy discuss learning styles and the fact that there is no scientific evidence whatsoever to back them up. (Obviously, Pam is trying to get us into trouble.) It was a great discussion, even if somewhat controversial. Also, if you’ve ever wondered how learning styles intersect -- or not -- with the classical tradition, we manage to Go There. In our Nitty Gritty Question, we also confess our regrets and do over desires in regard to early childhood education in our homes.

Our guest today is Kathy Wickward, former homeschool mom (she's graduated, folks!), one of the founders of CM West, and one of the masterminds behind AmblesideOnline's living science curriculum. On today’s show, Kathy and Brandy discuss leading our children through encounters with viewpoints with which we don’t agree. Is there ever an age not to do this? And how DO we do this? Kathy shares with us her theory of six degrees of separation from a subject, and more!

On today’s show, Mystie and Brandy discuss the ancient Latin motto multum non multa – meaning, much not many. Applied to education, and somehow misapplied to education, we chat about who used the motto in reference to education, what they meant, and what this has to do with Charlotte Mason and The Latin-Centered Curriculum. We also bring up one of the great unmentionables: the dangers of taking a minimalistic approach to life and homeschooling.

Today’s show is our version of the which-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg dilemma. In this case, though, it’s which comes first – the principles or the practices. And how do we practice when we know that we don’t know all we NEED to know? We go around and around in circles, drawing on folks like James K.A. Smith, Cindy Rollins, Karen, Glass, and MORE. In the end, we made our peace with the issue, and we hope you can, too.

In this episode, Mystie and Brandy explore the relationship between personality types and scholé. Mystie draws a distinction Brandy had never thought about before -- that some types of scholé are restorative, while others bring about more of a stretching and growing -- and different types serve these purposes for different personality types. The bottom line is that if you are in need of some restoration, knowing your personality type and what restores it can be super helpful.

Ep 008: Making the Most of Summer with Habits and Virtue

In today’s episode, Brandy discusses virtual Scholé Sisters groups and technology tools with Amber Vanderpol. What happens when you live in an isolated place? Are you doomed to loneliness? Or are virtual groups a possibility? And, if so, how are they best organized? What technology exists to support them? And how hard is it to learn to use these unfamiliar tools? We talk about all this and more on today’s episode.

In today’s episode, Brandy interrogates Art Middlekauff! For a long while now, she's had some questions about how to do Bible lessons and whether there is a deep, effective, and yet non-analytical way to teach Scripture in the homeschool context. Join us as we discuss what analysis is, compare it to what is sometimes called poetic or synthetic knowledge, and hear what solutions are offered to us by the Bible lesson practices of the 19th century educational philosopher Charlotte Mason.

Today Pam and Brandy have talk with Ravi Jain, co-author of The Liberal Arts Tradition, on the subject of balancing work with wonder. How do both of those fit together? What happens when our students (or we, ourselves) seem to have lost the wonder? We also discussed piety in our Nitty Gritty Homeschool question– in The Liberal Arts Tradition, we’re told that piety is the foundation of learning. What are some practical ways to nurture and build it? We discuss these questions and more in today’s epis

Today, Mystie and Brandy are daring you to be brave and read a classic, even if you don’t feel like you’re qualified. We tackle questions like why we feel intimidated by reading classic books, strategies for helping ourselves read them, and a whole lot more. In addition, our nitty gritty homeschool question is all about starting Latin, so you won’t want to miss it.

Pam is not only Brandy's co-host, she's also the guest this time around. That’s because Brandy really wanted to hear more about her classical co-op and all the changes they have made over the years and how those have come about. Since Brandy doesn't have a co-op herself, what she really wanted to do was listen and learn -- and Pam was full of great lessons, that's for sure! Get ready to be inspired to continue to learn and grow and allow that process to bear fruit in other endeavors, such as co-ops.

Today’s episode is a conversation about the connection between love and learning. Is it important that our students love their subjects? Is it important that WE love the subjects we’re teaching? What do we do if we’re without love? We tackle all these questions and more.

February is often called Homeschool Mom Burnout Month, which is only sort of a joke. The main thing we’re discussing today is the idea that levity – that not taking ourselves too seriously – is a key to preventing that dreaded homeschool mom burnout. We make sure to refer to sources like GK Chesterton, Charlotte Mason, Catherine Levison, and Carole Joy Seid, just to name a few. It's a lot of food for thought, to be sure!

An introductory episode, naturally, needs to cover all the basics. In this episode, we start by introducing ourselves. Then, we discuss the word scholé – how is it pronounced? What does it mean? After that, we discuss Scholé Sisters groups. Pam and Brandy have more formal groups, while Mystie has mastered the fine art of informal scholé with friends. We finish up by explaining the podcast itself – what it’s for, the format of the show, how it’s going to work, that sort of thing.