About the podcast
For the mom wondering if she can create an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life of such richness—
It’s easy to understand how a mom’s imagination and heart are captivated by the idea of living books, morning time, and composer studies. What mother doesn’t want an education that nourishes her child’s soul? Who wouldn’t delight in a day spent cultivating wisdom and virtue? It’s like a breath of fresh air to find an education that treats your child as a full person who exists not for the one-day 40 hour work week but for the glory of God in every area of their lives.
But then you notice everything mentions Plato or Boëthius or Plutarch. Classical educators toss out phrases like teleological ends, pedagogy, masterly inactivity, philosophical anthropology, and twaddle. And why is there so much Latin? You sit down to read one article but find yourself overwhelmed by new terms, obscure references, or your ever-growing booklist. What seemed doable when you searched the homeschooling hashtags on Instagram now seems out of reach, unattainable, and maybe just for another type of family.
But that’s not true. A classical Charlotte Mason education is for every child, for every home, for every mother.
The Commonplace podcast exists to bridge the gap between the starting line of the homeschooling journey and the resources in the classical world. It’s your homeschooling Virgil, leading you from the ideas floating high in the sky down to the dirt where you can wrap your hands around them and start planting them like seeds in your children’s lives.
Tune in as we get our bearings in the world of old ideas and old books, of wisdom and virtue, and of the means of grace by which God works in this world through the common places—which includes your home.
About the host
It was my love of C.S. Lewis and the Inklings that led me to Dorothy Sayers’ famous essay, “The Lost Tools of Learning,” and within those precious twelve minutes, I tripped through the classical education wardrobe.
And I have to say, I don’t think I’m ever coming out of it.
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 providential ways, it has been the greatest gift. After talking at length for years about classical education to anyone who would listen—and possibly some who wouldn’t—she was interrupted by the aforementioned man who encouraged her to hit ‘record’.
Find The Commonplace Elsewhere
“Expression: Chasing the Light” for Risen Motherhood
“The first words recorded in Scripture point to the artistic expression of God. Out of the joyous love of the Trinity spilled galaxies and color hues and rushing waters filled with coral reefs and brilliant sunrises and purple carrots and a plant that would one day become coffee. The things God made were all light beams to point back to his own infinite, immeasurable, incomprehensible nature. But his most stunning expression, most reflective creation, was mankind. In the face of one made of flesh and bone, he gave the ability to reflect his image, his light, into his world.”
Ep 60 “Mother Culture” | Young and Wifed Up
I joined the ladies of Young & Wifed Up to discuss “mother culture”: why you should do it, how to do it, and what it does to you. You can also watch the interview here.
“Autumn Kern: The Common Classical Charlotte Mason Mom” | Classical Education Podcast
I joined Trae Bailey to discuss Mason in the classical tradition and how the common moms are protecting and passing on the life of truth, goodness, and beauty.
I joined Jessica Jackson to share about classical Charlotte Mason home education and how a Victorian Englishwoman showed me how to create a humanizing life for my whole family. You can also watch the interview here.
“Why Switch to a Dumb Phone?” | A Drink with a Friend Podcast
I joined Tsh Oxenreider to talk about smartphones making us gnostics, depleting us of virtue, and depriving us of community. We would sound dystopian if we weren’t doing it for truth, goodness, and beauty.
“Growing Up with Autumn Kern” | Magdalen College's From the Summit
I joined Trae Bailey, Dean of Student Life at Magdalen College, for an interview full of things: the experience of growing up, learning to die to self, and learning to love things that last and raise children to do the same.
I joined Marcas Connolly to discuss Charlotte Mason in the classical tradition which meant a delightful discussion of Mason, C.S. Lewis, pedagogy, philosophy, imagination, habits, books, and more!
“Prioritizing Our Children’s Happiness” | Now That We’re a Family Podcast
I joined Elisha and Katie Voetberg to discuss story, formation, Charlotte Mason in the classical tradition, and the original definition of happiness. You can also watch the interview here.
Sponsor The Commonplace
For those interested in sponsoring an episode of The Commonplace podcast or a Common Mom video, please email hello[at]thecommonplacepodcast.com for more information.