The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home

By Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise

Book Overview

Is your child getting lost in the system, becoming bored, losing his or her natural eagerness to learn? If so, it may be time to take charge of your child's education by doing it yourself

The Well-Trained Mind will instruct you, step by step, on how to give your child an academically rigorous, comprehensive education from preschool through high school--one that will train him or her to read, to think, to understand, to be well-rounded and curious about learning. Veteran home educator Susan Wise Bauer outlines the classical pattern of education called the trivium, which organizes learning around the maturing capacity of the child's mind and comprises three stages: the elementary school "grammar stage," when the building blocks of information are absorbed through memorization and rules; the middle school "logic stage," in which the student begins to think more analytically; and the high-school "rhetoric stage," where the student learns to write and speak with force and originality. Using this theory as your model, you'll be able to instruct your child--whether full-time or as a supplement to classroom education--in all levels of reading, writing, history, geography, mathematics, science, foreign languages, rhetoric, logic, art, and music, regardless of your own aptitude in those subjects. A new optional Resource Recommendations Portal provides subscribers with curated lists of the best curricula for every grade level and learning style.

Thousands of parents have already used the methods described in The Well-Trained Mind to create a truly superior education for children in their care. You do have control over what and how your child learns. The Well-Trained Mind will give you the tools you'll need to teach your child with confidence and success.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 132407373X
• ISBN13: 9781324073734
• Release Date: April 2024
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 576 Pages
• Weight: 2.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Excellent resource from A to Z

A very well-organized, easy-to-follow guide explaining the three student stages and how to approach each with around 15+ vetted and reviewed curricula suggestions for every subject. In a world brimming with suggestions, this book is an excellent help in determining what will work for YOUR family's needs! Love it.

Helpful

Informative

Everything you need to teach your children Clasaically.

Susan’s Wise-Bauer gives detailed instructions for how to educate your child using the Classical method. Take notes and watch as this book implants itself into your psyche so that Classical Education-Know-How becomes second nature.

The "How To Guide" for Classical Home Education

To be honest I came across this book by total curiosity. I saw our pastor's wife carrying it with her to and from church so I asked her what it was. After she showed it to me I decided to check out the library copy to read for myself. Since I had attended an "accelerated" public school which taught classical education I was curious as to what it would look like in the home setting. "The Well Trained Mind" is authored by former public school teacher and homeschooling mother Jessie Wise, with additional commentary from daughter Susan Wise Bauer. The book begins with Jessie telling her own story of how she home educated her three children in the early 1970's when homeschooling was virtually unheard of. Susan adds her own commentary by giving the reader a personal look at classical education. From there the book is divided into the three components of classical education: Grammar Stage: Kindergarten-Grade 4, Logic Stage: Grades 5-8, and Rhetoric Stage: Grades 9-12. The book ends with the chapter on "How to Home Educate Your Child" and appendices. The Well Trained Mind is an excellant, non sectarian resource for those who would like to learn more about home education with a classical emphasis.