In this final Advent episode, join Lisa Bailey in re-examining the journey of the Wise Men; consider the gift of Celebration, and how and why we are called to celebrate this season. Find encouragement to slow down and allow God’s wonder to move you!
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What makes you wonder? What leaves you speechless? Has wonder ever moved you to change? Join Lisa Bailey on this Advent podcast considering the Gift of Wonder; learn from the shepherds’ response how to make room for wonder in your Christmas celebration this year! (Perfect for a personal reflection or a family devotional!)
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Thank you!
Listen in on this second episode of our Advent series as Lisa Bailey and her husband David explore the gift of listening. How did the gift of listening position Joseph for blessing? How can listening deepen your celebration of Christmas this year? Whether you listen devotionally, or as a family activity, we hope this podcast blesses your family this season.
Merry Christmas! All December the Everyday Educator podcasts will center on Advent, with devotional thoughts suitable for the whole family, and some ideas you can use for deeper reflections. This month we’ll focus on the gifts of attending, listening, wondering, and celebrating as embodied in the Christmas story; this week, we’ll look at how Mary’s gift of attending allowed her to hear God’s heart, and adjust her expectations for a blessing. Join us as we think about unexpected gifts and how our responses to them help or hinder our celebrations!
I know that we all are determined to be “the best teachers” for our kids, and we eagerly (at least usually!) join them in learning/re-learning literature, math, science, history…all the “main subjects” we’ve come to think of as vital. But, what about the subjects many DON”T see as “vital”? How are we to find the time or the talent for teaching the fine arts?! Is it possible that anything we’ve already learned can help us with the arts?! Join guests Jennifer Courtney and Marc Hays on this Everyday Educator Podcast and hear how the Five Common Topics make discussing, appreciating, and participating in art fun for the whole family.
Do you feel adequate for the task to teaching science to your kids?! If you are trying to prepare your child for a STEM career, you might already feel overwhelmed…but…is that what you should be doing?! Our podcast guests Leslie Hubbard and Marc Hays offer some perspective and encouragement for parents in this episode; listen as they tell us how to get started and how to use the Five Common Topics to lead our students to ask “troubling questions” in pursuit of science!
Are you worried about “studying history” with your students as they get older—especially if youdon’t know all the history details that they know?! The good news is, studying history doesn’t have to be complicated! Join Marc Hays, Karin Carpenter, and Lisa Bailey as they reveal how to use some simple questions to “connect the dots” of your history study, building a context for your knowledge that truly leads to deeper understanding. Our experienced parents will offer specifics on using the Five Common Topics to frame some great conversation-starters, and suggest some bigger reasons to study history as a family.
Have you noticed how argumentative your middle schooler can be? Wondering how to harness and channel this proclivity for good? We suggest logic studies! Join Lisa Bailey and Stephanie Meter as they advocate for studying logic with your middle schooler; as Stephanie says, teaching logic to your teens may just help them argue their way out of their own crazy ideas! You’ll also see how logic finds its way into all other studies, from Latin to math to Mock Trial. Listen in and discover how asking the right questions positions us all to find the right answers, logically speaking.
What IS the value of a “mental map of the world”? Does “where” really matter to our students? Whether you’re searching for the reason to study geography or looking for new ways to learn cartography, you’ll find fresh ideas on this Everyday Educator podcast. Marc Hays, Stephanie Meter and Lisa Bailey look at how to layer the learning from Foundations through Challenge as they talk about geography and current events, pointing out ways to use the Five Common Topics to jump start the learning.
What if teaching math could bring your family closer? Would you like to know how to “play with numbers” instead of only “solving problems”? Listen in as Lisa Bailey, Marc Hays, and Leslie Hubbard talk about math explorations at home and in community. Discover ways to ask good questions that model good thinking for your students, and begin the journey toward loving math—really!
The art of writing well focuses on three questions; do you know what they are? If you feel somewhat unequal to the task of teaching writing to your children, or if you just want some fresh ideas, tune into this week’s Everyday Educator Podcast “More Than Pen and Paper.” Lisa Bailey and Stephanie Meter give pointers on how to harness the Five Common Topics to ask key questions that will lead you and your students toward better writing, more open dialogue, and a truly hospitable exchange of ideas!
Whether you are a reader yourself or a parent eager to raise readers, you’ll love listening in as three lifelong readers discuss why children should read, what children should read, and how children should read. Join Jennifer Courtney, Stephanie Meter, and Lisa Bailey as they explore how parents can raise readers by using good questions to initiate conversations about what we are reading at home. You’ll go away equipped to ask good questions about a book even if you haven’t read it yourself! As a bonus, listen in to discover the hidden benefit of reading.
Let’s be honest: even after we make the decision to homeschool we have questions! “How do I know what to teach?” “How important are grades and assessments?” “What else should I be teaching?” In this episode based on chapter 3 of The Question, host Lisa Bailey and guests Marc Hays and Leslie Hubbard share insights on these and other frequently asked questions. Listen in as they ruminate on the point of education, the place of technology, and how classical education teaches self-control.
What do “rest” and “wrestling” have in common? How can one actually lead to the other? Find out on the latest Everyday Educator Podcast as Lisa Bailey, Marc Hays, and Leslie Hubbard talk about integration, reconciliation, harmony, and enjoying the journey with your middle school children. You’ll find encouragement and some good insight on asking the right questions as you learn alongside your kids.
Have you ever considered the purpose of education? Are you still formulating your goals for educating your children at home? Join Jennifer Courtney, Marc Hays, and Lisa Bailey as they think through the arts of the trivium and prepare to spend several weeks delving into the Art of Dialectic. This new series, based on the book The Question, will help you think through the philosophical and practical purposes for classically educating your children at home; you’ll gain valuable insight on how the Five Common Topics of Dialectic make wrestling with big ideas easier.
A tool that could produce better readers would be worth its weight in gold to many of us! Happily, just such a tool is waiting for us all: Active Reader Questions! Whether you want to become a more discerning reader, raise a more intentional thinker, or enjoy deep conversations about what you read with your family, this tool is a wonder. Join Lisa Bailey, Marc Hays and Stephanie Meter as they explore how asking questions (of ourselves and others) leads to richer reading.
Are you still on the fence about writing in your books, even after Practicum? Join Lisa Bailey, Marc Hays, and Stephanie Meter as they reveal how “marking the text” made reading Animal Farm a different experience this time around. You’ll gain some practical tips on methods of marking, and discover how marking your books leads to conversation: with the book, with the author, with yourself, and with others! (This is the second episode in a series using Animal Farm to illustrate the tools good readers use.)
How do you start a conversation about a book or story? Wouldn’t it be great if there was a tool that could ensure you remember all the important details, identify the key plot points, connect the aspects of the story, AND help you have a better conversation about what you’ve read? Good news: a story sequence chart can do just that! Listen in as Marc Hays and Stephanie Meter help host Lisa Bailey discover the vital aspects of George Orwell’s Animal Farm by following a story sequence chart. These readers and thinkers introduce the story in this first of three episodes demonstrating how to use the three tools learned during Practicum 2020 to talk about literature.
Edging closer to the start of the a new academic year are you filled with excitement, anticipation, or…nerves?! Join veteran homeschoolers Lisa Bailey and Jennifer Courtney for a conversation about what they wished they had known at the outset of their journeys. They’ll discuss the value of habits, relationships, and “pressing on”, and offer a suggestion for where to seek security and rest when the journey is challenging.
Are you still wrestling with your decision about homeschooling for this fall? Sometimes it can seem like you don’t know what you don’t know! Join veteran homeschoolers Jennifer Courtney and Lisa Bailey as they share the questions they wish they had known to ask, and the answers they found along the way. Homeschooling, it turns out, is about much more than academics!!
Families looking for a buffet of resources to enliven their homeschool journey are loving two new e-zines from Classical Conversations! The Sandbox and Onward have recently debuted to rave reviews, and a sneak peek inside these two resources reveals blessings for busy families practicing the arts of learning at home. Listen in as Kelli Wilt gives us the scoop on what we’ll find inside, how we’ll use them at home, and where we’ll go to get more issues.
How does a classical, Christian education lead to virtue? Can you even TEACH virtue?! As you ponder the home-centered education you are designing for your family, consider the place that Truth holds. Join Lisa Bailey, Melisa Weaver, and Stephanie Meter for a thoughtful conversation about “soul cultivation”, the “little t’s and Big T”, and how to embark on a homeschool journey that is not wandering!
What are the benefits to children when parents keep learning? How can we hope to give our children a better education at home than the one we received? Glean some keen insights and some reproducible ideas from Leigh Bortins, Jennifer Courtney, and Amy Jones as they think on these things in this episode of the “We Believe” series.
Have you ever wondered why “community” is emphasized by classical, Christian educators? At CC, we believe we were created for community--to support one another, teach one another, encourage one another--to do life together! Listen in as Michele Earles and Eva Zaldumbide share what learning in community has taught their families, and discover how “community” goes beyond in-person in the COVID-19 era. You might be surprised!
How does what you believe impact what you do? At Classical Conversations, we understand that what we believe drives what we do, educationally! Join us for this first episode of a new series, “We Believe…So We…”, and think with us about the purpose of education. Listen in as homeschooling parents Kristi Dye and Tim Knotts share how their beliefs about the purposes of education directs both their choices of what and how to teach at home and their motivations to be lifelong learners. What do classical educators DO because of their beliefs?