Well Trained Mind [Hardcover]

Divided into the three sections of the trivium, it gives in-depth guidance on every aspect of the academics of the group in question. The authors supply resource lists and detailed step-by-step instructions on the way to teach each child each subject.

For the earlier reviewer who stated that the book was too long to be effective, I can only say that you have to approach the book as three SEPARATE books, addressing each stage of your child's learning career separately. To the person who said that it was useless for older children, there is a specific chapter on how to start a child midway through the program. My son, in fact, was pulled midway through second grade from a public school environment and has blossomed with this program.

This is the easiest method I have found to ensure that my children get a complete, traditionally thorough, education. It's not about keeping their noses to the grindstone, it's about making sure they have the educational tools they need when they venture out into the working world. As a matter of fact, with this method we have more time available for other things than we did before we put it into practice. Within the security of a complete and varied traditional education, we can enjoy our free time that much more.

Bravo, Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer -- you are truly stars -- and your book is a must-have for anyone considering the Classical method for their children's education. I wouldn't want to homeschool without it!

However, I think that the reader needs to realize that not everything and every suggestion should necessarily be followed to the "t." Each situation and each child is different. This program isn't always going to be reality for all people. For example, they strongly urge all preschoolers to learn to read and they repeatedly say that "reading is easy." But this is not always the case. Many have told me to tear those pages out! If your preschooler is not ready to learn to read (and many aren't), all the pushing in the world may only harm the child. I learnt to read (as did most of us) in the first grade, and I am one of the most voracious readers around. If anyone has read "Cathy Duffy's Christian Home Educator's Curriculum Manual," they will be aware of certain learning styles. The authors and their children seem to all be very similar in learning style - "competent carl." Not everyone fits that mold. This means they learn well with basic, no-frills approaches and like to see the big picture,
strengths would be things like analysis and thinking through situations, science and math or any area where they can achieve competency (as opposed to creativity/artistic expression). It's no wonder that a classical approach, worthless trivia (which this book is filled with lists of prescribed memorization for, not necessarily bad, just you have to admit it's rather trivial in the long run unless you want to be a history major in college),
and straightfoward books would appeal to them.

The other problem I have with this method is that it does tend to cause a lot of burn-out and take lots of time and money to prepare (costly if you don't have access to good libraries in your area).

Other than that, I love this book. I refer to it time and time again. I am glad that I got it. I respect the authors tremendously.