Joscelynn Tomaw is wife to Jacob Tomaw and homeschooling mother to five children. Together they live in South Bend, Indiana where they attend Emmaus Lutheran Church. 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; 2026 will begin her second year offering a Restful Rigor Preceptorial in economics. Through the continued mentorship of CiRCE, Joscelynn is developing an economics curriculum designed to teach the art of economic deliberation using timeless texts.
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 bare facts of economics didactically (catechesis), 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, and writing assignments 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.
Session 1: Personal Finance
Dates: August 31th – December 21st, Fall break on October 26th
Readings:
The Book of Genesis
Luther’s Large Catechism
God at Work by Gene Edward Veith, Jr.
Projects:
Building a Budget
Cost of Living Research Project
It’s a Wonderful Life: Money, Banking, and Risk
Session 2: Market Economics
Dates: January 11th – May 3rd, Spring break to be determined
Readings:
The Gospel According to Matthew – Parables
Aesop’s Fables – Selected Fables
The Foundation for Economic Education’s (FEE.org) Three Book Set
Projects:
Creating and interpreting Market Graphs
Stock Market Research Project
Final Thesis Paper
Course Resources: Much of the course material will be provided by the instructor as a pdf, but the student will be expected to supply or have access to. . .
Highlighters in pink, green, yellow, and blue
A Bible
Luther’s Small and Large Catechism
The two highlighted and linked texts above (Veith and FEE.org)
One Classic Lined Hardbound 5”x8.25” notebook similar to the Moleskine variety (https://a.co/d/f6MauGK)
Note on Assessment: The purpose of this course is to draw students further up and further into the great conversation of economics in such a way that they are confident to engage with it throughout their lives. Each class session will involve work in the notebook which will be discussed in class and sometimes emailed or entered into Google Classroom for feedback. In other words, I am far more concerned about meaningful formation in the student than letter grades. However, if you would like me to provide numeric scores for assignments and a letter grade for each semester, I am happy to do so for an additional $50 per semester fee.
Calendar: Mondays, 2-3:30 p.m. Eastern, Beginning Week of Aug. 31st
Contact: jgagnontomaw@gmail.com
Restful Rigor Preceptorials 