The Well-Trained Mind

"How do you know what to teach your kids?"  Over this past year I have had several people ask  me about how we operate our school.  When I started researching how to homeschool I was overwhelmed with all of the options and philosophies available.  I stayed up late night after night and read and read.  I read about unschooling and taking a more relaxed approach to school.  I loved the idea of encouraging my children to foster a love of learning as they discovered their talents and interests.  However, I did not feel comfortable taking such a relaxed approach to the point that there was no structure or routine.  I knew if we were going to be successful, we needed to find a philosophy that provided us with this. That is when I discovered The Well-Trained Mind, A Guide to Classical Education by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise.  This book takes a classical education approach and provides so much information about what resources to use at each age/stage of learning.  It as been so valuable to our school experience. 

What is a classical education?  It is an approach to education that has been used for generations.  When I think of the word "classic," I think of something that is timeless, which has been tested and proven to bring about excellence.  I believe this is the case with a classical education approach.  Jessie Wise and her daughter Susan Wise Bauer outline a pattern in this book called the trivium, which organizes the learning of the child's mind into three stages:

1.  Grammar Stage (K-4th grade)

2.  Logic Stage (5th-8th grade)

3.  Rhetoric Stage (9th-12th grade)

This book is such a blessing.  It provides curriculum suggestions for each age and stage of learning, which is appropriate for their individual development levels.  This book simply helps me cover all of my bases.  I don't follow ALL the suggestions in this book, because many of them are just that...suggestions, but I have found that this book has provided us with a structure for our school.  I have seen incredible results with my girls over this past year as we have implemented this philosophy and used much of the recommended material.  If you are a newbie to homeschool, I can't recommend this book enough.  The Well-Trained Mind is a must read.