Scholé Sisters: Camaraderie for Classical Homeschooling Mamas

This has been one of my go-to podcasts for several years. I appreciate their deep-dives into different theological topics, books and homeschooling. I may not agree with everything they discuss but I 100% appreciate their time and energy that goes into encouraging those of us who’ve been homeschooling for over 10 years to continue our own education alongside our growing children.

“Ben Merkel and some other elders of Christ Church had begun taking pictures right at that point, which I thought was strange. Normally, if someone's going to take a picture of your kid, you ask them beforehand...They didn't take the picture until it was just our youngest daughter, because our other kids were all older…Even then, I said, well, they'll come up to me afterwards and say, hey, we've got a picture of your daughter, because we noticed nobody else is taking pictures. That didn't happen. I waited till the end of the service, and I approached Ben, and I said, hey, I couldn't help but notice that you were taking a picture of my daughter during her baptismal. He said, oh yeah, I did that because nobody else was taking a picture for your kids. Well, I don't know how he knew that, or why other elders were also taking pictures of my youngest daughter, but it just triggered something in the back of me just to say, hey, what's going on here” From Podcast - Sons of Patriarchy: Abuse Cover-Up at New Saint Andrews, Oct 16, 2025 As soon as I realized these women were Doug Wilson fangirls, I knew this was not for me! I love classical education done in a healthy way and do so in a way that honors Christ, these ladies are into something else totally obviously and it’s very uncomfortable to listen to.

I’m a second generation homeschool mom, and have listened to Schole Sisters for as long as I can remember. Recently, probably in the last year, I’ve noticed Mystie seems to be really promoting Doug Wilson and the people affiliated with him. I still have a stack of Doug and his wife Nancy’s books on my shelf from the mid 2000’s, and I really dislike having him pushed at me still, after all these years. Many prominent conservative pastors have expressed concern with Wilson’s manner of conducting himself…what you win people with is what you likely will win them to, as Kevin DeYoung says.

I’ve been listening to Schole Sisters for years and appreciate their book recommendations, homeschooling advice, and conversations regarding the family. However, ever since one of the members started attending Doug Wilson’s church in Moscow, Idaho, the podcast has taken a turn in content. They have on more CREC guests, discuss more CREC content, and tend to gravitate more toward Doug Wilson and his followers. This is concerning because Doug Wilson has been condemned by NAPARC churches as being a heretic, and preaching a false gospel. He gets people into the doors of his church with his familiolatry and homeschooling beliefs, and then keeps them in with abuse and heresy. Although I still appreciate some of what the Schole Sisters say in their podcast (and as they even mentioned in this latest podcast, we don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater), I’m finding it more and more concerning that they bring up Wilson’s beliefs and mindsets more often than not. I would caution anybody who listens to this podcast to be aware of that.