Dwell

Listen as Renee and Karen chat about chapter 1 of Norms and Nobility by David Hicks. The title of the chapter is Virtue is the Fruit of Learning, and they discuss how classical education is the cultivation of wisdom and virtue and therefore virtue can be taught; how virtue is taught over time and in the community of a family; and how a mom can avoid the temptation of being a perfectionist while desiring the good life —the life of virtue for herself and her children.

Listen as Renee and Karen chat with Tim McIntosh, actor, teacher, and podcaster, about his infectious love for Shakespeare. He share his favorite plays and movie adaptions and offers advice and resources for enjoying Shakespeare's plays with your family. You will be inspired to choose a play, assign characters, and jump right in!

Join Renee and Karen as they chat with Lily Wilmoth, owner of the Hearth and Homestead Store, about her growing family business: the products they offer and how she manages a business and a busy homeschool/family life of four children and a fifth due soon! Check out her beautiful website at hearthandhomesteadstore.com.

Listen in as Renee and Karen interview Sara Osborne about her new book called Reading for the Long Run: Leading Struggling Students into the Reading Life. Sara tells her story of teaching her son to read using the metaphor of training for a marathon to apply principles, habits, and strategies which over a period of years, did indeed enable him to cross the finish line and enjoy the reading life. This delightful memoir is not just for the mother of the struggling reader but for every mother and teacher who needs encouragement to press on in any area of difficulty.

Renee and Karen initiate a once a month discussion on Norms and Nobility, beginning with the good news that it is being re-published with a new edition at a lower price! In this episode they discuss the highlights of the preface and prologue and why Norms and Nobility is a helpful book for the homeschool mom navigating classical education. If you have already read it and want to re-visit it, or if you have been thinking of reading it and want to do it with friends, join us!

Where there are two or more children, there is the inevitable and normal issue of sibling rivalry! Renee and Karen, having each raised 5 children, are sympathetic and while they don't have all the answers, they offer a few tips for handling conflict in your home and the hope that one day your children will grow up to be fast friends!

In this episode, Buck Holler, Circe Apprenticeship head mentor and Latin scholar, tells the story of his journey from riding and competing in rodeos to learning and teaching Latin as a teacher in classical schools. He describes how training horses prepared him for teaching in the classroom, and reminds us that being outdoors in nature is formative to the souls of our children.

In this episode, Renee and Karen chat with Alexandra Hudson, author of The Soul of Civility, Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves.They discuss how civility, the respect for the personhood of others, can bridge our political and cultural divide; they explore the difference between politeness and civility; they explain how we can create cultures of civility at home. You will be inspired to seek the good life in community with others.

Renee and Karen are joined by Karen's daughter, Katerina Hamilton, to talk about why, what, and how to memorize all the things: poems, psalms, lists, facts... that we want our children and ourselves to learn. Katerina draws on the ideas from the medieval world to explain the benefits of memorization and techniques to help us train our memories.