Classical Education
Classical Education is a podcast perfect for learning about the tradition of a liberal arts education. We invite you to join us on a journey in pursuit of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful as we participate in the great conversation and listen to the many voices coming from the world of classical education.
Prudence: The Mother Virtue with Brandy Vencel
ABOUT THE GUEST
Brandy Vencel has been married to her husband, Josiah, for 25 years, and they have four children, an amazing daughter-in-law, and a sweet little grandson. Brandy is currently in her 20th and final year of homeschooling. She serves on the Auxiliary Board of AmblesideOnline (a free Charlotte Mason curriculum) and Board of Directors for Providence Classical Academy in Bakersfield, California. Brandy also runs Afterthoughts Blog (afterthoughtsblog.net) and the Charlotte Mason Think Tank (charlottemason.mn.co). One of her hobbies is being tired, which is to say: staying up extremely late in order to talk...
Musings with Dr. Joshua Herring: A Candid Conversation about Classical Education
About the Guest
Joshua Herring is the Curriculum Program Manager for the Rafiki Foundation, Director of the Logres Institute for Classical Liberal Studies, and author of Sons of Adam, Daughters of Eve: C.S. Lewis’s Images of Gender. He has taught 6-12th grade humanities, spend three years in high school administration, and built classical education programs at the college level. He loves helping teachers, leaders, and parents own their intellectual inheritance.
Logres Institute
Visit https://www.logresinstitute.org/, and apply for their programs after July 1.
About Joshua's Conference
https://theclassicalconsortium.co...
Encouragement for Homeschool Moms with Autumn Kern
About the Guest
Autumn Kern is the host of The Commonplace, a place to help new homeschooling moms get their bearings in the classical, Charlotte Mason world. She explores the Classical Tradition on her podcast, releases practical philosophy videos on YouTube, offers ongoing education for mother-teachers in Common House, and, more recently, leads directed programmes of study under Mother Academia. She and her husband are raising their four children in an old 1700s Pennsylvania farmhouse, hoping one of these wardrobes will bring them face-to-face with Aslan. Â
Show Notes
This episode is dedicated to homeschool m...
Creating Classroom Culture with Mandi Gerth
About the Guest
Mandi Gerth is a teacher and classical education consultant who lives in Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three of their five children. She currently serves as the Administrative Director of the Cowan Center at the University of Dallas. She holds a master of humanities degree from that institution with a concentration in classical education. Her first book, Thoroughness & Charm: Cultivating the Habits of a Classical Classroom, available exclusively from CiRCE Press, has quickly become one of their best-selling titles. In her definitive guide to classroom liturgy, she offers practical advice to the classical educator...
Education as a Lifetime Pursuit of Virtue with Dr. Keith Buhler
About the Guest
Dr. Keith Buhler is an entrepreneur, philosopher, and teacher. He co-founded the Saint Andrew Academy in Riverside CA, where he serves at Director of Advancement. When he is not teaching Great Books at Azusa Pacific University Honors College, he coaches other start-ups and serves in the west coast Alcuin Fellowship. His writings include Into the Light (a chapter on education); Virtue and Wisdom as Natural Ends (philosophy); and Sola Scriptura: A Dialogue (theology). He attends St Andrew Orthodox Church in Riverside, with his wife Elizabeth and their four children. Â
Show Notes
Orthodox Ch...
Advice for Opening a New Classical School with Chad and Melody Fowler
About the Guests
MELODY FOWLER: Roots Farm Education Founder, Director, Form III Instructor Ages 10-12
Melody is a happy wife of 28 years, a proud mother of three and now an over-the-moon grandma of four grandchildren. She was born in El Paso, Texas, and moved to Redding when she was five years old. She loved learning as a child and her favorite pastime was to play school in her garage with younger siblings and neighborhood friends on vintage desks her father bought at local yard sales.
After receiving her Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Studies and...
Narration in The Classroom with Classical Educator, Charlene Thompson
About the Guest
Charlene Thompson is a first grade teacher in her fourth year at Founders Classical Academy in Rogers, Arkansas. She holds a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Harding University and is a passionate learner of classical education. She believes in cultivating wisdom and virtue through rich literature, narration, and the development of lifelong habits of attention and expression. Her goal is to help young students grow into thoughtful, articulate, and joyful learners.
Show Notes
I met Charlene when I led a full-day workshop on narration at Founders Classical Academy in Rogers, Arkansas...
The Role of Memory Through Commonplace Notebooking with Dr. John Ahern from The Wilberforce School
About the Guest
Dr. John Ahern holds a PhD from Princeton University in historical musicology. He currently teaches at The Wilberforce School as an Upper School Humanities and Latin instructor. He is also faculty at the Theopolis Institute and directs their Te Deum Fellows Program in Liturgical Music. His writings on a variety of topics have appeared in First Things, Ad Fontes, The Lamp, Mere Orthodoxy, Eidolon, the Theopolis Institute blog, and the CiRCE Institute blog. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and four children.
Show Notes
John Ahern has successfully implemented the...
How Language Works with Philologist Dr Erik Ellis from the University of Dallas
Dr. Erik Ellis is Assistant Professor of Classical Education at the University of Dallas. After graduating from the University Scholars Program at Baylor University with concentrations in Greek and Latin, Dr. Ellis received an MA in History from the same institution and served as a middle school and high school Latin teacher for five years in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Along with Latin, Dr. Ellis was privileged to teach history, logic, and French, the last of which had a decisive effect on his teaching of Latin. Two years into his teaching career, Dr. Ellis began researching and investigating communicative language pedagogy...
Teaching Classically & Reading Josef Pieper with Dr. Fred Putnam
About the Guest: Dr. Fred Putnam
Fred Putnam retired after forty years of teaching high school, college, and graduate school; for twelve of those years he was Professor of Bible & Liberal Studies in the Templeton Honors College at Eastern University (2012-2024), where he helped to design, and taught in, the program leading to the MA in Teaching [MAT] in classical education.Â
Beginning as a seminary professor of Biblical Hebrew and Koiné Greek, his teaching expanded to include not only the languages and interpretation of the Bible, but also linguistics, translation theory and practice, En...
Jonathan Pageau: A Deep Dive Into Teaching Fairy Tales
About the Guest
Jonathan Pageau is a French Canadian liturgical artist, icon carver, writer, and public speaker. With a YouTube following of 191K, he has become a sought out interpreter of the deep patterns in stories. His podcast entitled The Symbolic World features, in both English and French, Jonathan's interpretations and conversations with other artists, thinkers and culture champions who are interested in restoring a collective respect for and use of these patterns as the very stuff of the cosmos.
The Symbolic World Press is Jonathan Pageau’s new collaborative publishing venture specializing in skillfully bound an...
Is Charlotte Mason Classical? A Response to Memoria Press with Kolby Atchison
About the Guest
Kolby Atchison serves as the head of school at Clapham School, a classical Christian school in Wheaton, Illinois, that implements the educational philosophy of Charlotte Mason. He is a founding director of Educational Renaissance where he speaks, writes, and podcasts on classical Christian education, Charlotte Mason, and modern research. He lives with his wife and three children in Chicagoland.
Show Notes
In this episode, Kolby and Adrienne dive into the philosophy of a person and the role of a teacher according to Charlotte Mason. Recently, several neoclassical programs (Memoria Press and Classical...
Coleridge and Charlotte Mason with Karen Glass and Dr. Robert Terry
About The Guests
Karen Glass is part of the Advisory of AmblesideOnline. She has four children, ages 13 to 27, who have been homeschooled using Charlotte Mason’s methods from beginning to end. Karen has been studying and writing about Charlotte Mason and Classical Education for over twenty years and has written the popular books Consider This: Charlotte Mason and The Classical Tradition, Know and Tell: The Art of Narration, In Vital Harmony, and her newest book A Thinking Love: Studies from Charlotte Mason's Home Education.
Dr. Robert Terry has over twenty years of experience in classical educ...
Is Charlotte Mason Classical? Panel: Dr. Louis Markos, Dr. Patrick Egan, and Jason Barney
GuestsÂ
Dr. Louis Markos: Houston Christian University:Â
Dr. Patrick Egan: Clapham Christian Classical School
Academic DeanContributor of Educational RenaissanceÂJason Barney: Coram Deo Academy in Carmel, IN
School PrincipalAuthor of Charlotte Mason: A Liberal Education for All (published by CAP)Contributor of Educational RenaissanceÂ
Show Notes
Panel Discussion: What Makes a School Classical?
Guests
Dr. Matthew Post:Â Founder and Former Director of the Classical Education Graduate program at The University of Dallas; Served with The National Classical Education Symposium, The Institute for Classical Education, and The National Council for Classical Educators; Currently serves as Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs, Honors College at The University of TulsaDr. Laura Eidt: University of Dallas- Affiliate Assistant Professor of Modern Languages, Humanities Program Director, Director of UD's K-5 Latin Curriculum Latin Through StoriesDr. Robert Terry: Over 25 years at a Classical University Model School teaching and serving as curriculum director and faculty development, Masters in Great B...Curriculum, Standards, Benchmarks, and Grading with Kiernan Fiore
About our Guest
Kiernan Fiore has worked as a teacher, administrator, trainer, and curriculum developer since 2011. Kiernan was classically home educated using a Charlotte Mason methodology, and her own educational experience is the inspiration for her work. She holds a BA in English from Hillsdale College and an MA in Shakespeare Studies from King’s College London and is certified in 4-8th Grade ELAR and Social Studies in Texas. After six years of working with the Founders Classical network of charter schools in Texas, she now serves as Dean of Curriculum at Holy Innocents School in Long Be...
Integrating Poetry in Science Lessons with Chris Hall
About our Guest
Chris earned a BA in Philosophy from Gettysburg College and an MAT in Elementary Education from Towson University. He has been a classroom educator and administrator for 29 years, having served in public, independent, and classical schools. His is an author, speaker, and consultant in classical education, as well as an online and in-person teacher, coach, and tutor.
Along with his professional pedigree, he is a lifelong practitioner of several of the common arts profiled in his book, Common Arts Education. For more than thirty years, Chris has sought out training for...
Leading & Assessing Seminars with Andrew Zwerneman from Cana Academy
About our Guest
Andrew J. Zwerneman serves as Cana Academy’s President and as one of their MasterTeachers. For 40 years, he has taught and consulted in secondary schools that emphasize classic humanities. For 19 years he headed schools—2 at the public charter school, Tempe Preparatory Academy in Tempe, Arizona, 17 at Trinity School at Meadow View in Falls Church, Virginia. He is the founder and owner of The Academy Project, LLC, which wrote the original curricula and trained faculties for Thomas MacLaren School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Trinity Academy in Portland, Oregon. Education: B.A., A.B.D., University of N...
Creating a Book of Century in Art Class to Support History and Music with Anna-Marie Carter
About The Guest
Anna-Marie Carter is an enthusiastic classical education convert. After years of disillusionment under the philosophy of progressive education, she had about given up teaching altogether. Her hope in education was saved by a call to teach music at Founders Classical Academy of Mesquite where she made lifelong friends and fell in love with the craft. She continues this love by sharing her joy for the fine arts with her students in and out of the classroom. Anna-Marie teaches alongside her gracious husband Daniel at Founders Classical in Tyler where they are raising their sweet children...
Mariah Martinez on Classical Pedagogy & Its Effects on Students
About The Guest
Mariah Martinez has worked in education since 2015 as a teacher, curriculum developer, and mentor teacher. Mariah attended the Honors College at Houston Baptist University where she received a B.A., double majoring in Philosophy and English. In 2021, she received a Master of Humanities in classical education from the University of Dallas. She is certified as a 7-12 ELAR instructor in the state of Texas. She began her teaching career at a Great Hearts school in San Antonio and now works at a Founders Classical charter school in Texas. She has eight years of middle and h...
An Interview with David V. Hicks, Author of Norms and Nobility
About The Guest
David V. Hicks retired in 2015 as Chief Academic Officer for Meritas LLC, a company based in Chicago that owned and operated K-12 college preparatory schools worldwide. The day after his retirement, Meritas was sold to Nord Anglia Education. Â
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Before joining Meritas, Hicks spent thirty years in independent education, heading St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Jackson, Mississippi; St. Mark’s School of Texas in Dallas; St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire; and the Darlington School in Rome, Georgia.Â
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After graduating from The Stony Brook School (New York) i...
Living Ideas with the Beautiful Teaching Team
This podcast is produced by Beautiful Teaching, LLC. Our team provides immersion courses, seminar led book studies, and comprehensive support for parents & K-12 classical educators.
This episode was sponsored by Classic Learning Test (CLT), Beautiful Feet Books, and Eighth Day Books!
Conference attendees have a chance to win gift certificates from these sponsors as well as our other conference sponsors!
Join us for our First Conference!Â
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Explore some of our Conference Sessions on this episode:
Discuss your conference topic and what can attendees expect to take away from your ses...
Bryan Smith: A Sage in the Liberal Arts Tradition
About The Guest
Bryan Smith has been in education for over thirty years, primarily in schools with a liberal arts or classical education philosophy. His own education at the University of Dallas was a solid classical liberal arts formation in great texts, classical Greek, and rhetorical practice.
Bryan has worked in private schools for most of his career, but for a decade he worked with Great Hearts Academies, a charter school network operating in Arizona and Texas. He began his employment at Great Hearts as the founding head of school for one of eleven Arizona...
Phonics Part 2: Access Literacy Team Interview with Melody Furno & Dorothy Kardatzke
About The Guests
ACCESS LITERACY TEAM
Dorothy Kardatzke
I live with my husband in Columbus, Ohio. I taught for more than 25 years in both general education classrooms and in classrooms for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Since 1997, when I was first trained in the English code, all my literacy instruction has been delivered using programs that are Orton-based. I left the classroom in 2018 to create space to write curriculum, and train/coach teachers. However, I will always be a teacher. It is who I am! I tutor little folks and big folks in...
Phonics Part 1: An Interview with Spell to Write and Read Trainers
Guests
Rhonda Bedee is an instructor endorsed by SWR author Wanda Sanseri for Spell to Write and Read seminars. My specialty is finding solutions for individual spelling needs via spelling coaching, Mom & Dad encouragement, accountability, and assessments. Experience comes from four decades of home education, public schools, private classical academies, homeschool co-ops, tutoring, English language ESL learners, and teaching special ability students.
Credentials: B.S. Secondary Education, Lamar University-Beaumont, Texas; extensive all-level SWR classes & mentoring under Wanda Sanseri.
Rhonda's Training Site
Niki Wise
Although Niki Wise currently resides in Georgia, her BASIC...
Knowledge, Genius, and Heart: Character Mapping at Northern Schoolhouse
Guests
Michael Fitzgerald (Principal)
Michael is an experienced educator with an M.S. in Brain-Based Education. After a decade teaching in a variety of school models, he is using his knowledge of classical education to lead Northern Schoolhouse, all while pursuing his doctorate in education.
A dabbler in logic, philosophy, hiking, archery, chess, music, and handiwork, he brings his deep interest in the great minds of history to our Schoolhouse culture.
Katherine Fitzgerald (Instructional Coordinator & Music Teacher)
Katie has nearly two decades’ experience with children in education and humanitarian work. He...
Art Appreciation with Rebecca, Founder of A Humble Place
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Coupon code: BEAUTIFUL (at the checkout, choose the "standard shipping rate." $4.95 will automatically be deducted from the total order.
Click here For Adrienne's Booklist
Click here for the YOUTUBE link if you want to watch this episdoe.
About the Guest
Rebecca was first introduced to Charlotte Mason in 2013 when her oldest child was 3. After exploring other educational methods, she felt she had finally found...
The Progymnasmata: Classical Writing with Benjamin Lyda
About the Guest
Benjamin Lyda has been head of a classical charter high school and founder of a Charlotte Mason inspired K-12 school. His more than 20 years of teaching experience is wide and varied including teaching in urban and suburban settings. In addition Benjamin regularly works with both advanced and struggling students in public, private, and homeschool settings. He founded and ran The Children’s Shakespeare Academy, directing full productions of the bard’s plays for homeschool children 9-18. He holds a Master of Humanities degree from The University of Dallas and is certified by the state of Texas to...
Beautiful Math: An Interview with RightStart Math
About the Guests
Kathleen Cotter Clayton is the daughter of Dr. Joan A. Cotter, author and developer of the RightStart™ Mathematics program. Kathleen is involved with curriculum development and has written or co-authored 17 manuals. She travels, teaches online middle-school classes, and speaks across the US and Canada, sharing the mission to help children understand, apply, and enjoy mathematics. Kathleen has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and has two Masters Degrees from the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota. In her spare time, Kathleen designs and creates mathematical quilts and loves to travel all arou...Dr. Junius Johnson on The Art of Teaching & Cultivating the Imagination
About the Guest
Junius Johnson is a writer, teacher, speaker, independent scholar, and musician. His work focuses on beauty, imagination, and wonder, and how these are at play in the Christian and Classical intellectual traditions. He is the executive director of Junius Johnson Academics, through which he offers innovative classes for both children and adults that aim to ignite student hearts with wonder and intellectual rigor. An avid devotee of story, he is especially drawn to fantasy, science fiction, and young adult fiction. He performs professionally on the french horn and electric bass. He holds a BA from...
Alex Markos on Creating a Spirit of Inquiry & Ordering the Affections
About the Guest
Alex Markos is part of the Humanities faculty at the Geneva School of Boerne, TX, where he currently teaches 9th grade Greek and Roman history and literature. Last year (2022-23), he created and taught a class on virtue for the freshmen and previously taught 3 rd -5 th grade Latin for six years at Geneva. He holds a B.A. in History and Classics from Hope College and an M.A. in Apologetics from Houston Baptist University (now Houston Christian University). For his Apologetics capstone project, he developed a curriculum for teaching virtue through Scripture and...
The Trivium with Dr. Phillip Donnelly: Grammar part 1
About The Guest
Dr. Phillip J. Donnelly is Professor of Literature for the Great Texts Program in the Honors College at Baylor University. His teaching and research focus on the connections between philosophy, theology, and imaginative literature, with particular attention to Renaissance literature and the reception of Classical educational traditions. He serves on the editorial board of Principia: A Journal of Classical Education. He is the Director of the Texas Chapter of the Alcuin Fellowship and serves on the national board for the Alcuin Fellowship. He is the author of The Lost Seeds of Learning: Grammar, Logic, and Rhe...
Master Penman Jake Weidmann on Penmanship for 21st Century Students
About The Guest
Jake Weidmann is a professional artist and certified as one of nine Master Penman in the world. Certified through IAMPETH (International Association of Master Penman, Engrossers and Teachers of Handwriting) in July 2011, Weidmann holds the title as the youngest Master Penman by three decades and the youngest to ever attain the title. Weidmann’s peers (other Masters) are noted for working with the White House, Queen Elizabeth and the Pope. His journey into calligraphy has been the “special sauce” for everything he now creates, incorporating the traditional calligraphic flourishing into his fine art. Weidmann is self-t...
Loving Literature with author, Karen Swallow Prior
About the Guest
Karen Swallow Prior, Ph. D., is a reader, writer, and professor. She is the author of The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis (Brazos, 2023); On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books (Brazos 2018); Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More—Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist (Thomas Nelson, 2014); and Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me (T. S. Poetry Press, 2012). She is co-editor of Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues (Zondervan 2019) and has contributed to numerous other books. She has a monthly column for Religion News Service. He...
Headmaster Jon Jordan on Creating a Virtue-Based School Mission
About the Guest
Jon has worked at Coram Deo Academy since 2010. Before serving as Dallas Campus Headmaster, he served as Dean of Students at the Flower Mound campus. He has taught a variety of Logic and Rhetoric level History, Theology, Latin, and Greek courses.Â
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Jon earned an M.A. in Religion from Reformed Theological Seminary, and a Certificate in Anglican Studies from Wycliffe College, University of Toronto. He also holds a B.A. in History and Education from the University of Texas at Dallas.Â
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Jon has found Coram Deo to be a p...
Dr. Brian Williams on "What is the Classical Tradition?"
About the Guest
Dr. Brian A. Williams is Dean of the Templeton Honors College, Associate Professor of Ethics & Liberal Studies, and Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities. Before coming to Eastern, he was Lecturer in Theology and Christian Ethics at the University of Oxford and Director of Oxford Conversations, a collection of curated video interviews with leading Christian academics and scholars at Oxford.
He holds an MPhil and DPhil in Christian Ethics from the University of Oxford (UK), where he was a Clarendon Scholar; an MA and ThM in Systematic and Historical Theology from...
John Muir Laws on Ordering the Affections Through Nature Journaling
About the Guest
John (Jack) Muir Laws is a principal leader and innovator of the worldwide nature journaling movement. Jack is a scientist, educator, and author, who helps people forge a deeper and more personal connection with nature through keeping illustrated nature journals and understanding science. His work intersects science, art, and mindfulness. Trained as a wildlife biologist and an associate of the California Academy of Sciences, he observes the world with rigorous attention. He looks for mysteries, plays with ideas, and seeks connections in all he sees. Attention, observation, curiosity, and creative thinking are not gifts, but...
Poetry for Children with Grace and Amy Sloan
About Our Guests
11-year-old Grace has loved poetry for as long as she can remember. When she's not climbing a tree, you can find her reading books or writing her own. She also loves to dance! Grace is the founder and host of the Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Poems Podcast and is a recurring guest co-host on the Kids Talk Church History podcast.Â
Amy and her husband John are 2nd-generation homeschoolers to five children from 8 to 18 years old, including a homeschool graduate. The Sloan family adventures together in NC where t...
The Importance of Civics and Economics Education for Hearts and Minds (republish S1E16)
About our Guests
Dr. Dave Rose is a Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He received his Ph.D. in Economics in 1987 from the University of Virginia. His primary areas of research interest are behavioral economics, political economy, and organization theory. He has published scholarly articles in a wide range of areas. His work has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the Weldon Spring Foundation, the HFL Foundation, the Earhart Foundation, and the John R. Templeton Foundation. He is currently in his second term on the U.S. Civil Rights...
Teacher Panel: The Joy of Teaching Plutarch (Republish from S1E4)
This episode originally aired in Season 1, episode 4. We have many new listeners now. We think this episode is worth a republish! Enjoy the show!
Four teachers join us to talk about their joyful experiences teaching Plutarch in both classrooms and homeschools. This episode highlights different perspectives and personal experiences with the writings of Plutarch. We discuss why classical schools ought to put forth effort to incorporate Plutarch in their curriculum.Â
Our guests give a contagious love for Plutarch to this episode and they are all active members in our Facebook Group.Â
Ph...