Well Trained Mind: Amazon.ca: Susan Bauer: Books

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"An excellent resource for any family with a desire to incorporate a classical education in their home, whether is a curriculum or as a reference."

Product Description

This book will instruct you, step by step, on how to give your child an academically rigorous, comprehensive education from preschool through high school. Two veteran home educators outline the classical pattern of education the trivium which organizes learning around the maturing capacity of the child's mind: the elementary school "grammar stage," the middle school "logic stage," and the high school "rhetoric stage." Using the trivium as your model, you'll be able to instruct your child 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.Newly revised and updated, "The Well-Trained Mind" includes detailed book lists with complete ordering information; up-to-date listings of resources, publications, and Internet links; and useful contacts.An excellent resource for any family with a desire to incorporate a classical education in their home, whether as a curriculum or as a reference. ("Educational Freedom Press")

Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
The first day I taught my three children at home, I cleaned up the playroom and set up three desks. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
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Average Customer Review

4.0 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow, I'm impressed with the amount of info packed in one book!, Mar 25 2008

By

Amy VG (Southern Ontario) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Well Trained Mind (Hardcover)

I have just finished reading this book and I'm so glad I did! It's really inspiring for me, as I would like to homeschool but I really didn't know where to start. The authors have laid out the curriculum from K to the end of high school, which is really great for us novices! A great resource for recommended books as well. I have noticed the authors do recommend their books over others, but in defence, the authors probably created these books because they couldn't find the right book for their recommended curriculum.
Given that, I don't think I'll be following the Classical Education to a tee, especially the history and geography, I'll be following the Ontario government's educational guidelines instead. But I will be using this as a major resource for many years.

EDITED TO ADD: I have now read this book twice, and I'm so thankful I did! It's amazing how much information can be packed into one book!

For parents who would like to keep their children in the school system, the authors do give suggestions on how to implement additional education, but for the most part the authors are helping those families who would like to teach the Classical Education for their children full-time.

I'd have to say, the program is intense, but exciting too. Though I will not be following this program exactly (I love Charlotte Mason's method as well, which allows for more creative and nature-based pursuits) I have started to use the authors recommendations. Their list of resources are wonderful, and extremely helpful, as well as their immense amount of clear and professional educational advice.

I highly recommend this book to anyone serious about homeschooling their children.

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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A Delightful Disappointment, July 12 2004

By

Amy Jo Waugh (Minnesota, God's Great United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Well Trained Mind (Hardcover)

This new "updated" edition is really identical to the original, except now the author is hawking her own newly published books in place of the ones she recommended (by other authors) in the first edition. This is an understandable (and brilliant) marketing technique, however she completely removed any reference to the originally recommended authors and I personally find her books lacking in substance. Especially the "Story of the World" series in which I was expecting a Christian worldview. The Well-Trained Mind is quite specific on her meticulous (but not complex) recordkeeping system so it is a good reference to have on hand (as opposed to borrowing from the library) if you have decided to follow a similar program. Classical education in and of itself is a wonderfully thorough education that has been around for centuries and is certainly not the brainchild of Mrs.Wise Bauer (or her mother), however, she does an excellent job of giving a clear and workable model for those of us who may find the task of educating our children in this manner a bit daunting. Overall the book is worth its price if you plan to follow the program she outlines (I consider the original edition superior). For those of you who are not yet convinced about classical education, this book is best checked out at your local library first. Also, anyone looking for a more exciting phonics and reading program than WTM recommends (either edition, I found all the options a bit dry) check out the Phonics Museum at www.veritaspress.com. It is muti-sensory, wonderfully engaging, thourough and very different from the other programs out there, as well as being visually beautiful.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Revision Is Even Better!, May 6 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Well Trained Mind (Hardcover)

I own both copies of the Well-Trained Mind--the original and the revision--and the revision is a wonderful improvement on a wonderfully helpful original. The "how to" sections are clearer. All of the information is up to date. Readers can choose from a number of different curricula options; the authors give pros and cons for each. The resources are much simpler to use. For some subjects, the authors have included curricula, developed since the publication of the first book, that line up with the classical principles laid out in the original ground-breaking TWTM. These new resources are uniformly simpler to use and more affordable--and, in many cases, academically superior--to the original recommendations. In a total of FOUR PLACES, the authors recommend materials that they have developed themselves. That's FOUR PLACES in a book with literally HUNDREDS of resources. Those resources--the Story of the World series, First Language Lessons, The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading, and The Well-Educated Mind--are offered in the place of resources which many readers had trouble using--the Usborne history, which is fragmented and cartoon like; English for the Thoughtful Child, which is dated and requires way too much handwriting for many kids; Phonics Pathways, which is a GREAT phonics primer with absolutely NO help for the parent/teacher; and How to Read A Book, which the authors acknowledge is a classic BUT very hard for many high school students to read. (My kids are still middle school aged, but I've heard my home school friends gripe about all four of these resources.) Buy this revision. You won't be disappointed.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guidelines
It is a great book and I'm using it to supplement my child's school education and in just one month my son's teacher has noticed improvements. Read more

Published on Jun 27 2009 by M Naqvi

3.0 out of 5 stars Good systematic organization; narrow educational scope
I liked the systematic way the authors take the reader through the homeschooling process, suggesting schedules, resources, amount of time per subject, how many binders to buy, and... Read more

Published on July 7 2004