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 D…

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. Before joining Meritas, Hicks spent thirty years in independent education, heading St. Andre…

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 …

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 …

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 Or…

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 acade…

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, m…

SPONSOR Eighth Day Books is sponsoring our upcoming online conference AND this podcast episode. They are offering FREE standard shipping between March 8 and March 31, 2024 for our listeners. Coupon code: BEAUTIFUL (at the checkout, choose the "standard shipping rate." $4.95 will automatically be deducted from the total order. Click here For Adrienn…

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, …

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 c…

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…

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 …

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 traditi…

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…

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, Re…

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. Jon earned an M.A. in Religion from Reformed Theological Seminary, and a Certificate in…

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 inter…

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 mindfu…

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 podc…

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…

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…

About our Guest Andrew J. Zwerneman has been working in the classical education movement since 1983. In 2016 he co-founded Cana Academy where he serves as president. He blogs weekly at www.canaacademy.org and is author of History Forgotten and Remember (2020) and The Life We Have Together: A Case for Humane Studies, A Vision for Renewal (2022). Eac…

About our 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 oth…

About our Guest Dr. Christopher Perrin, is an author, consultant, and speaker, who specializes in classical education and is committed to the national renewal of the liberal arts tradition. He is the co-founder of Classical Academic Press (CAP) and serves full-time as the CEO/publisher. Through CAP, Christopher serves as a consultant to charter, pu…

About our Guest Joshua Gibbs is a teacher, a lecturer on pedagogy and great books, and the author of several books that are listed in the show notes. For the last thirteen years, Gibbs has taught classic literature in Christian schools and earned acclaim for his writing. He has been a frequent speaker at several excellent classical conferences and …

About The Guest Mark Signorelli currently serves as Headmaster at Lumen Gentium Academy, a classical Catholic high school located in Boonton, NJ. Prior to occupying this position, he was the Director for a Classical Studies program within the Chesterton Network of Schools. In addition to over twenty years of experience as an educator, Mark has also…

About The Guests Matthew Post, PhD, Acting Director of the St. Ambrose Center for Catholic Liberal Education and Culture and Assistant Professor of Humanities at the University of Dallas Dr. Post has spent his career teaching the Great Books of the Western tradition, having worked in Canada, Japan and Slovakia in addition to the U.S. In the Slovak …

About our Guests The Ancient Language Institute exists to transform the way ancient languages are taught and to recover the humanistic tradition for the modern world. Jonathan Roberts is the President and Co-Founder of the Ancient Language Institute. Jonathan graduated from The King’s College in New York City with a degree in Politics, Philosophy, …

About the Guest Dr. Daniel Gabelman grew up in the arid foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains but now finds himself in a contrapuntal landscape--the flat, marshy fenlands of Cambridgeshire. He studied in Virginia and Chicago before completing a doctorate at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Currently, he is Head of English at King's Ely…

About the Guest Patrick Egan is a founding director of Educational Renaissance and Academic Dean at Clapham School. He previously served as an administrator at Providence Classical Christian Academy in St. Louis, Missouri. He earned a B.Mus. in Music History and Literature from Illinois State University, an M.Div. and Th.M. from Trinity Evangelical…

About our Guest Kon Bouzikos is currently the President and cofounder of ACES (Australian Classical Education Society). The Australian Classical Education Society Inc. is an association for students, parents, educators, politicians, experts and like-minded individuals who wish to see classical education introduced within the Australian educational …

About the Guests Four Teachers from Coram Deo Academy (CDA): A Christian, classical, and collaborative university model network with three campuses in the DFW Metroplex. Yvette Cavender (Principal, Grammar School): Yvette Cavender began her partnership with Coram Deo Academies (CDA) as a parent in 2004, when her children were in grammar school. Soo…

About the Author Until his retirement in 2015, Vigen Guroian was Professor of Religious Studies in Orthodox Christianity at the University of Virginia. He is now a Permanent Senior Fellow of the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal, Senior Fellow at the Center on Law and Religion at Emory University, Distinguished Fellow of the John Jay Institu…

About our Guest: Dr. Forman is active in his community having served on the Roseville Joint Union High School District Governing Board from 2000 to 2004. He was the chair of the Placer County Republican party from 2005-06. He served as Board Member and President for CORE Academy, a charter school in Placer County from 2006 to 2009. He currently ser…

About our Guests Randan Steinhauser with Sweetwater Scholé in greater Austin: Randan Steinhauser is a mother of four who recently launched a Charlotte Mason-inspired homeschool co-op, Sweetwater Scholé. In addition to their home education, her children attend a University-Model Classical Christian collaborative school in Austin, Texas. Randan is th…

About our Guests Dr. Matthew Post: University of Dallas, Director of the St. Ambrose Center for Catholic Liberal Education and Culture; Assistant Professor of Humanities Dr. Matthew Bianco: Chief Operations Officer for the CiRCE Institute Dr. Gary Hartenburg: Houston Christian University, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of Honors Col…

About Our Guests Richard W. Rohlin is an Orthodox Christian, author, podcaster, medievalist, and data analyst living in Grand Prairie, TX. A husband and father, he is the co-host of The Amon Sul Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio, regularly contributes to Jonathan Pageau's The Symbolic World YouTube channel, has published several works of fiction and n…

About Our Guest Jarrid Looney was born and raise in southwestern Virginia until 2004. He then attended Berea College, from whence he graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor’s in Theatre and Classical Civilizations. He attended Royal Holloway, University of London for his Master’s Degree and Doctorate of Philosophy in Classics. Dr. Looney has taught Engli…

About Our Guest Diana Cunningham is the founding headmistress of Lindisfarne Hall, a classical Anglican school in Fernandina Beach, Florida. Learn more about the good work going on at this school at https://www.lindisfarnehall.com. Notes In this episode, Diana Cunningham shares with Trae how a homeschool resource center at a church turned into a fu…

About our Guest 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: Charl…

About Our Guest "Autumn Kern is a wife, mother, and keeper of an actual commonplace book. When she was twenty-one, she sat under a tree with a man who told her the woman he married would homeschool his children. Handsome as he was, she didn’t anticipate being that woman, but here she is with three little ones in tow, and, as in all God’s providenti…

About Our Guest Margarita Mooney Suarez (Clayton)* is an Associate Professor in the Department of Practical Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. She founded The Scala Foundation in 2016 and continues to serve as Scala’s Executive Director. Scala Foundation’s vision is to restore meaning and purpose to American culture by focusing on the inte…

About our Guests Dax Stokes is the host of the award-winning podcast "The Vampire Historian," and a frequent lecturer on the topics of Dracula and vampire folklore. As an academic librarian in the North Texas area, he has organized two symposia on vampire studies featuring scholars from across the United States. His published works on Dracula can b…

About Our Guest Ferdi McDermott studied Languages at Edinburgh University before a decade in Catholic publishing in London. In 2002 he founded Chavagnes International College, an international Catholic school for boys (www.chavagnes.org). He now combines leadership of the school with a lectureship in English literature at the Vendée Catholic univer…

About our Guest: Dr. Matthew Post Assistant Professor of Humanities and Associate Director, Saint Ambrose Center for Catholic Liberal Education and Culture at the University of Dallas. He has spent his career teaching the Great Books of the Western tradition, having worked in Canada, Japan and Slovakia in addition to the U.S. In the Slovak Republic…

About Our Guest Daniel Olushola is the founder and former headmaster of Reformation Wall School. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Covenant University and was trained in Business Management and Entrepreneurship by African Management Initiate (AMI), Kenya, and Global Business Foundation, Nigeria. Daniel Olushola is re…

About our Guest: Dr. Angel Parham is Associate Professor of Sociology and senior fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. Her area is historical sociology, where she engages in research and writing that examine the past in order to better understand how to live well in the present and envision wisely fo…

About our Guest: Dr. Richard Ferrier was born April 18th 1948, Berkeley California, married wife Kathyrn 1972, 8 children, 9 grandchildren. He is currently a faculty member with Thomas Aquinas College (1978-present). B.A. Liberal Arts 1971, St Johns College, Annapolis M.A. and Ph.D History of Science 1980, Indiana University Teacher at Key School, …

About our Guest: Steve Mittwede, PhD, EdS Dr. Mittwede is privileged to be a teacher of Earth Science at Randolph School in Huntsville (Rocket City!), Alabama, after having taught at two great classical schools in Texas for the past seven years. Heartily committed to lifelong learning, his most recent degree was an EdS in Educational Leadership fro…

About our Guests Kevin Moore is an experienced educator of young learners as well as a respected instructional leader. Presently, Kevin's attention and energies are consumed by two ventures of which he is a Co-Founder, Long-View Micro-School and The Number Lab. Long-View Micro School is a STEM focused, highly innovative, learner-centered educationa…