Scholé Sisters: Camaraderie for Classical Homeschooling Mamas

SS #172: Maximize Motivation (with Dr. Ben Merkle!!)

10 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Today's guest is Dr. Ben Merkle! Dr. Merkle is the President of New Saint Andrew's College. He has served as a minister at Christ Church, Moscow and a...

The Vice of Envy

20 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is a continuation of our ongoing conversation about vices – about the seven deadly sins. We're using the chapter of Rebecca Deyoung'...

SS #170: Saturation Love

06 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Today, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy discuss the essay "Saturation Love" by Jim Wilson. And yes! They remembered to discuss the tough questions that natura...

SS #169: Our 10th Anniversary Extravaganza (with Sarah Mackenzie and Pam Barnhill!!)

20 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Our guests today are our dear friends Sarah Mackenzie and Pam Barnhill! Sarah is the author of Teaching from Rest and The Read-Aloud Family. She's the...

SS #168: Your Child is Behind?

06 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome back! Today is the beginning of our spring season and we're kicking off with a discussion on being behind – how do we know if our child is b...

SS #167: The Causes of Christmas

12 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is what you've been waiting for. That's right! It's our annual Christmas episode. This time, we used a different approach, talking thr...

SS #166: Artificial Intelligence (with Jami Marstall!!)

21 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today is Jami Marstall. Jami has been homeschooling for almost 20 years with Charlotte Mason's rich, living methods. She and her husband Joh...

SS #165: Book Club Joy

07 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This is the fall episode recorded each year at the retreat. As usual, the Scholé Sisters apologize for the decline in sound quality. They feel like i...

SS #164: Teaching Courage

24 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is a continuation of our ongoing discussion of virtues and vices. Brandy, Mystie, and Abby contend that if classical education is supp...

SS #163: You Should Have an Opinion on These Things

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Charlotte Mason says our young adult daughters ought to develop their opinions rather than being tossed around by circumstance or culture. Ought a wel...

SS #162: Classical Preschool: Gymnastic

18 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is classical preschool even a thing?? In today's episode, Abby, Mystie and Brandy talk about gymnastic and explain how you can start training the body...

SS #161: Feminism Detox (Announcing the Fall Mentorship!!)

05 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, Abby, Mystie, and Brandy are discussing feminism and the view of women found in Herman Bavinck's book The Christian Family. You're...

SS #160: We Did a Thing (Announcing Our Book!!)

08 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, Abby, Mystie, and Brandy are announcing a secret project they've been working on for over a year. It's pretty exciting!! *** Don't...

SS #159: Curriculum Is More Than Something You Buy

25 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, Abby, Mystie, and Brandy are geeking out about curriculum, which is the topic of this year's annual retreat. Did you know? Curricu...

SS #158: Postmodernism Wants Your Kids

23 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy explain exactly why they chose this topic for the 2025 Spring Training Sessions and why they think it's i...

SS #157: Reward Systems in Sunday School?

09 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, Brandy, Mystie, and Abby revisit the topic of rewards and prize systems – specifically what to do when one is implemented at chu...

SS #156: Wonderfully Inconvenient Motherhood (with JoAnn Hallum!!)

25 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today is JoAnn Hallum! JoAnn is a first-generation homeschooler from the Central Valley of California who has been teaching her four boys fo...

SS #155: Improving Conversation

11 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is a discussion about conversation. Or maybe it's a conversation about discussion?? No matter, the point is that Isaac Watts has some ...

SS #154: Discussion is Part of a Classical Education (with Everett Vencel!!)

28 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today is Brandy's son, Everett Vencel. Everett recently graduated from New College Franklin and now works as an audiovisual engineer at Corn...

SS #153: You Probably Think This Episode is About You

14 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today's conversation is a discussion about the vice of vainglory. The sisters have been reading a book by Rebecca DeYoung called Vainglory: The Forgot...

SS #152: Freedom Isn't Free (with Lauren Scott!!)

28 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today is Lauren Scott! Lauren and her husband Nathaniel, a second generation homeschool dad, have enjoyed home educating their two sons from...

SS 151: Death of the Scrappy Homeschooler

14 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to Season 26 of Scholé Sisters! At the risk of sound like grumpy old ladies, we are kicking off this season with a conversation about homesch...

SS #150: 'Tis the Season of Joyful Sacrifice

13 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is our annual Christmas episode! Mystie, Abby, and Brandy are discussing one of their favorite Christmas books, The Year of the Perfec...

SS #149: Reimagining School

22 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is our annual retreat recording! We love recording when we are all together (even though the sound quality suffers). This episode is b...

SS #148: De-Institutionalizing School (featuring Heather Olsson!!)

08 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Our special guest today is Heather Olsson! Heather is wife to Dr. Phil Olsson, mother to seven, and Mimi to 14 grandchildren. She educated her childre...

SS #147: Strong Mothers, Special Needs (with Adelaide Garner!!)

01 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Our special guest today is Adelaide Garner. Adelaide is wife to Ben, and mother to four little treasures. They are Reformed Evangelical Christians. Sh...

SS #146: Education — Training Religious Habits

11 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is the fourth and final in our series exploring Charlotte Mason's chapters on habits from her book School Education and so Mystie, Abb...

SS #145: Why Latin? (with Angela Reed!!)

27 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today's guest is Latin teacher extraordinaire, Angela Reed! Angela has been a student of lingua Latina and classical civilization for over twenty-five...

SS #144: De-stress With Natural Consequences

13 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode Mystie, Abby, and Brandy discuss the idea of natural consequences with a perspective shift that can really de-stress your motherhoo...

SS #143: If You Build It, Moms Will Come

02 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy dig into the history of the Scholé Sisters annual retreat, giving you a behind-the-scenes glance at our ...

SS #142: Attention is a Homeschool Essential

19 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode Mystie, Abby, and Brandy discuss ATTENTION, because it's the topic of the 2024 Scholé Sisters retreat. They do this using a chapte...

SS #141: Raising Children Who Love to Learn

17 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode Mystie, Abby, and Brandy discuss what it means when we say we want to raise kids who love to learn. What are the implication of thi...

SS #140: Rewards and Motivation

03 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode Mystie, Abby, and Brandy discuss rewards and how to connect them to intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation. *** Don't forget to...

SS #139: A Classical College Education (with Andy Patton!!)

19 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today is Andy Patton. Andy Patton has held various roles in healthcare technology and venture capital. As an entrepreneur in the healthcare ...

SS #138: A Little More Conversation, Please (with Andrew Zwerneman!!)

05 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today is Andrew Zwerneman. Andrew J. Zwerneman serves as President and Master Teacher at Cana Academy. For 40 years, he has taught and consu...

SS #137: Fairy Tales are True (with Vigen Guroian!!)

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today's guest is Vigen Guroian. Until his retirement in 2015, Dr. Guroian was Professor of Religious Studies in Orthodox Christianity at the Universit...

SS #136: Moral Training with Charlotte Mason

08 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is the third in our four part series on Charlotte Mason's chapters from School Education that cover the training of physical, intellec...

SS #135: Unit Studies Are Overrated

23 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is on unit studies and why Charlotte Mason disapproved of them so much. You're going to love this conversation! *** Did you sign up to...

SS # 134: What is the 5x5 Reading Challenge?

12 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It has come to our attention that while we discuss and refer to the Scholé Sisters 5x5 Reading Challenge regularly, we've never actually done an epis...

SS #133: Mom is the Magic of Christmas

15 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is our annual Christmas episode. We begin by revisiting the theme of our very first Christmas episode, Don't Be the White Witch. We co...

SS #132: Intellectual Training with Charlotte Mason

24 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is the second in our four part series on habits and training. Last time, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy talked about physical training. Toda...

SS #131: Outsourcing for High School (with Jami Marstall!!)

03 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Our very special guest today is Jami Marstall. Jami has been homeschooling with Charlotte Mason's principles, primarily following AmblesideOnline, for...

SS# 130: Empathy Is Bad for Your Kids

20 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is the annual episode we recorded at the retreat when we were together in real life, which means we have to apologize to you for the s...

SS #129: Physical Training with Charlotte Mason

29 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's conversation is the first in a four-part series covering Charlotte Mason's chapters from School Education on training children physically, int...

SS #128: Division or Dialogue (with Pastor Chad Vegas!!)

15 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today is Chad Vegas. Chad is the founding pastor of Sovereign Grace Church in Bakersfield, CA, where he has served since 2006. Chad received...

SS #127: Curriculum as Crutch

01 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's conversation is all about curriculum. What does it mean to say that curriculum can be a crutch? Is that a bad thing? What does a healthy relat...

SS #126: Hosting a Desert Retreat (with Kara Hughes!!)

04 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today is Kara Hughes. Kara is a Christian homeschooling mama to 5 children – a toddler, and then a 4th grader, 5th grader, 7th grader and ...

SS #125: Numbering the Days of Your Homeschool

21 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today is the first of our two summer episodes. In this one, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy wax philosophical about this year's retreat topic: time. *** Are ...

SS #124: Redeeming the Five-Paragraph Essay (with Renee Shepard!!)

19 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today is Renee Shepard. Renee was one of the fortunate few to be homeschooled back when that wasn't really a thing. When she had her own chi...

SS #123: Honor Thy Philosophical Fathers (Brent Pinkall on Chinese Classical Education)

28 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today is Brent Pinkall, author of the fabulous new book, Redeeming the Six Arts: A Christian Approach to Chinese Classical Education, which ...

SS #122: Put the Masterly Back in Masterly Inactivity

14 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today, Mystie, Brandy, and Abby attempt to straighten out one of the biggest misunderstandings in the Charlotte Mason world: masterly inactivity. The ...

SS #121: Barefoot in the Kitchen with the Ideal Type (featuring David Hicks!!!)

31 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's very special guest is David Hicks. Does the famed author of one of the bestest books EVER, Norms and Nobility, really need any further introd...

SS #120: Let Them Go (Launching Boys with Toby Sumpter!!)

17 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today is Toby Sumpter. Toby pastors King's Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho. He and his wife Jenny have been married over twenty years and they...

SS #119: Rewards Revisited (with Jason Barney!!)

03 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today is Jason Barney from the Educational Renaissance Podcast! Jason serves as the Principal of Coram Deo Academy in Carmel, IN. In 2012 he...

SS #118: Grit and Bear It

17 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We're discussing GRIT today. What is grit REALLY? And do kids need grit? DO moms need grit? And if we need it … how do we get it? You're gonna enjoy...

SS #117: Religion is Essential

03 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Is real education necessarily religious? And if so, where does that leave modern claims to a secular education? These are the questions we raise in to...

SS #116: Feasting in a Time of Fasting

16 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today, we present our annual Christmas episode! In light of inflation and the fact that, for many of us, Christmas has to be different this year compa...

SS #115: Indoctrinate Me

08 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is a response to the popular saying that real education teaches kids "not WHAT to think, but HOW to think." We think this is a dangero...

SS #114: Well-Educated Daughters (with Rebekah Merkle!!)

11 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today is the one and only Rebekah Merkle. Rebekah has dabbled in a number of occupations ranging from running her own clothing label to desi...

SS #113: The Ideal Type

28 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is our annual retreat episode, meaning we recorded it when we were in Dallas. As is typical of that style of recording, the sound qual...

SS #112: How to Build an Educational Philosophy (Part 3: What Does a Well-Educated Person Look Like?)

14 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is the final in our three-part series designed to get you started on forming an educational philosophy. Whether you have been studying...

SS #111: How to Build an Educational Philosophy (Part 2: What is Education?)

23 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is the second in our three-part series designed to help you get started forming an educational philosophy. Whether you have been study...

SS #110: How to Build an Educational Philosophy (Part 1: What is Man?)

09 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is the first in three-part series designed to get you started on forming an educational philosophy. Whether you have been studying phi...

SS #109: Aristotle vs. The Behaviorists (The Habits Episode!)

12 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy discuss the new retreat format and why we love it, what's different compared to last year, and also take ...

SS #108: Hostess with the Mostess: It's Retreat Time (with Danielle Cyrus!)

29 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Our special guest today is Danielle Cyrus. Danielle was a pre-law student when God disrupted her plans and led her to education. She has 4 children an...

SS #107: Building a Community (with Melissa Cummings!!)

20 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Our special guest this week is Melissa Cummings. Melissa and her husband Steven are second generation Christian homeschooling parents of five. She dir...

SS #106: Stop Looking for Hacks (You Need a Philosophy)

06 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

So many people are turning to homeschooling these days, and the first question they usually ask is about curriculum – what should they use and how s...

SS #105: You're Not the Boss of Me, Now (A Discussion About Authority)

22 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

To prepare for today's episode, Abby, Mystie, and Brandy read the first two chapters of Charlotte Mason's third volume, School Education, which is all...

SS #104: Political Rehab (with Brett Stroud!!)

08 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today is Brett Stroud. Brett is the President of Providence Classical Academy in Bakersfield, California. He is a graduate of the Torrey Hon...

SS #103: Becoming More Human (How Could You Say Such Things?)

25 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, Brandy, Pam, Mystie, and Abby discuss the idea that classical education "makes you more human." Depending on what you think this m...

SS #102: Music to My Ears (with Greg Wilbur!!)

11 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Our special guest today is the one and only Gregory Wilbur! Greg is founder and president of New College Franklin—a Christian college that concentra...

SS #101: Tell Me What I Wanna Hear (Josef Pieper on Flattery and Lies)

25 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, Abby, Mystie, and Brandy dig into Josef Pieper's lesser-known work Abuse of Language, Abuse of Power. They end up spending a lot o...

SS #100: The 100th Episode Book Bash

11 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome back to Scholé Sisters. Today kicks off our 17th season of the show. This episode has been SIX YEARS in the making! It's our one hundredth ep...

SS #99: The Ordinary Homeschool

03 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today is our annual so-called Christmas episode, and the least Christmassy one we've ever done. Oops. No matter! We were all together in Idaho and rec...

SS #98: Ordo Amoris: Ordering the Affections

12 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is the second of the two that we are doing that cover ideas from CS Lewis' book The Abolition of Man – more specifically from his fi...

SS #97: Men Without Chests

29 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is the first of two that we (Brandy, Pam, Mystie, and Abby) are doing that covers ideas from CS Lewis' book The Abolition of Man – m...

SS #96: Can Virtue Be Taught?

15 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today, Mystie, Pam, Abby and Brandy toss around the question of whether or not virtue can be taught. This can be a controversial subject, but we think...

SS #95: What Is a Liberal Art? (with Dr. Christopher Schlect)

01 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today is Dr. Christopher Schlect. Dr. Schlect has been a fellow of history at New Saint Andrews College for many years where he teaches cour...

SS #94: Cooking Like It's 1999 (with Betsy Farquhar!)

17 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today is Betsy Farquhar. A Southerner by birth, Betsy currently lives in the Northwest with her Renaissance man husband and their three amaz...

SS #93: Revived by Reading (with Karen Harris!)

03 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today is Karen Harris. Karen Harris is married to Wes and is the homeschooling mother to 10 children. She and her family love to read, trave...

SS #92: Mother Knows Best: Censorship in the Home

20 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today, Brandy, Mystie, Pam, and Abby are tackling the big issue of censorship. They attempt to juxtapose some thoughts from Plato and John Milton and ...

SS #91: In Loving Memory

16 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This special summer season is one episode long and all about our annual retreat. We are in the process of making some major changes to it, all of whic...

SS #90: Background Knowledge: The Door to Understanding

21 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, Pam, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy discuss portions of Saint Augustine's book On Christian Doctrine that deal with the need for backgro...

SS #89: Dorothy Sayers' Latin Lament (with Renee Shepard)

07 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Renee Shepherd is back with us again today. Renee and her husband, who were both homeschooled, are now homeschooling their six children. She is curren...

SS #88: Transitioning to Independent Work

23 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, Pam, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy break down the transition to independent work from preschool all the way to high school and beyond. ...

SS #87: How to Contemplate

09 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy discuss their way through the entire Thinking Person's Checklist at the back of Alan Jacob's book, How to...

SS #86: What Has Athens to Do With Abuja? (Classical Education in Africa)

19 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today's guests are Karen Elliott and Erica Robertson from Rafiki Schools. Karen has served with Rafiki since 1990, including twelve years on the missi...

SS #85: Beyond Restful Learning

05 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is our attempt to answer the question of what is scholé? And how do I know if I'm doing it right? Is scholé just restful learning? O...

SS #84: Passport to Foreign Language (with Amber Johnston!!)

19 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today is Amber Johnston. Amber lives in Georgia nestled among pine trees, hammocks and ziplines with her husband and their four children. He...

SS #83: The Uncommon Commonplace

05 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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, ...

SS #82: You Can't Cancel Christmas

04 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

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...

SS #81: Don't Forget to Remember (Memory Work with Maria Bell!!)

20 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

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 bi...

SS #80: Let's Get Physical (Gymnastic in a Classical Education)

06 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

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 P...

SS #79: East Meets West: Classical Education in China (with Ravi Jain!!)

23 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today is Ravi Jain, who is now tied with Cindy Rollins for the Scholé Sisters title for Most Appearances as this is his third time on the s...

SS #78: Pursuing the Classical Education you Never Received (with Susan Wise Bauer!!)

02 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

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...

SS #77: Let's Get Together, Yeah Yeah Yeah (Communities vs. Networks)

18 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today's discussion between Brandy, Pam, Mystie, and Abby centers on the differences between communities and networks as spelled out by John Taylor Gat...

SS #76: The Wonder Years (Quintilian and the Classical Preschool)

04 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

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 wha...

SS #75: Love Chat, Baby, Love Chat (with Karen Glass!)

31 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

SS #74: Retreats Go Viral (Summer Bonus Season)

10 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

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 retre...

SS #73: A Scholé for All Seasons

29 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is extra long! Our topic is scholé and how it changes with the seasons of motherhood. Brandy, Pam, Mystie, and Abby discussed having ...