Joscelynn Tomaw is wife to Jacob Tomaw and homeschooling mother to five children. Joscelynn earned a BA from Indiana University with majors in both Political Science and Interdisciplinary Mathematics and Economics. While working in Chicago’s insurance and financial research industries, Joscelynn earned a Master’s in Business Administration with a concentration in economics from Loyola University Chicago. Upon turning her focus to family, she learned of the many blessings of classical education through The Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education’s summer conferences. In 2023 Joscelynn completed the CiRCE Institute’s three-year Master Teacher apprenticeship program and now uses her training in CiRCE’s The Lost Tools of Writing curriculum to teach four literature and composition courses to students in her homeschool community. Through the continued mentorship of CiRCE, Joscelynn is developing an economics curriculum designed to teach the art of economic deliberation using timeless texts. You can find Joscelynn’s writing and presentations on her Substack newsletter, Alveary, as well as various CiRCE Institute platforms.
Economics is the study of household management, that is the stewardship of the earthly gifts given to us by God as enumerated in Martin Luther’s explanation of the First Article of the Apostle’s Creed.
In this course we will practice the art of economic deliberation, the careful weighing and prioritizing of options, using timeless texts. We will keep Scripture at the forefront of our study as we learn the principles of personal finance and the practical wisdom of the ancients before reaching into the theoretical realms of ethics and political economy. Finally, we will address some of the most common economic fallacies that have crept into economic dialogue across the ages.
Students in this course will learn the tools of deliberation through imitation (mimesis) and uncover the truth of economic ideas dialectically (Socratic dialogue). We will use a structured reading technique and a modified Cornell notebook system to tackle difficult texts. The resulting compendium containing quotes, writing assignments, and two personal finance projects will serve as an ongoing assessment of the student’s understanding and engagement with course material.
Students will leave this course with a working budget and an organized and indexed catalog of economic ideas and insights to carry into young adulthood.
Course Resources: Bible: Leviticus, Ecclesiastes, 1st Timothy, Matthew – Parables; You Need a Budget by Jesse Meacham (optional to purchase); Aesop’s Fables – Selected Fables; I, Pencil by Leonard E. Read (FEE.org); Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlit (FEE.org); Nichomachean Ethics by Aristotle- Excerpts “On Just Price”, Summa Theologiae by Thomas Aquinas- Excerpts; An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith – Excerpts; Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville – Excerpts; The Law by Frederic Bastiat (FEE.org); The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek
Mondays, 2:00-3:30 p.m. Eastern
Contact: j.tomaw.rr@gmail.com
Restful Rigor Preceptorials 