When I saw that this week The Homeschool Village was asking “What book has encouraged/supported you in your homeschooling adventure??”, the book that immediately came to mind was The Well-Trained Mind.(Yes, I see the pun and decided to keep it.)
When I first started researching homeschooling, I found a curriculum that I fell in love with. It focused on reading wonderful books, and that greatly appealed to me. I joined a Yahoo group for preschoolers and started using the preschool curriculum. But it was on that group that I first heard of The Well Trained Mind. Intrigued by the title, I started reading reviews. Pretty soon I realized that I was going to have to read the book, so I bought it. (You really don’t have to twist my arm too much to buy a book.) I read the book from cover to cover. My husband read the book from cover to cover. After reading it, we both knew that this was the kind of education we had missed. It was the kind of education we would like for our children.
So our long-term plans shifted. We began to think in terms of the stages of learning. We started researching Latin curricula. We decided to study history chronologically.
This all happened over 7 years ago. Have we followed The Well-Trained Mind completely? No. If Susan Wise Bauer were to visit my home, would she recognize any of her ideas here? Probably not. (Though she would find all 4 volumes of Story of the World and First Language Lessons!) I’ve done more research. I’ve branched out and found some different ways of doing some things. I haven’t emphasized some of the things that I should have to be truly “classical”. Even so, the single most influential homeschooling book for our home has been The Well-Trained Mind. As a matter of fact, I want to purchase the 3rd edition and reread it now that I have a children in the logic stage. I could use the inspiration!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something, it will bring me closer to purchasing a new copy of The Well-Trained Mind.
By Kristen H.
okay – this makes it what … ten folks who have told me I’m missing out by not reading this book!
Thanks for sharing!!
Stef
LOVE this book – thanks for a great post!
Meghan
http://www.thetuckerstaketennessee.com
Agreed! I go back to it again and again.
It certainly seems to be a favorite of many!
lol. another vote for TWTM. I love Susan’s blog. Do you read it?
I think I’ve read it a time a two. I’ll have to add it to my extremely neglected reader.
Okay, look like I am going to have to buy the book. Not only have my friends told me about this book, I have seen it mentioned quite a bit in the Homeschool Village book reviews. Thanks so much for stopping by my place! We love it here in the mountains. We will be heading over to the TN side in just a bit to spend some days over there. Have a blessed day!
Great post. I’m not sure I’d put The Well Trained Mind at the tip-top of my list, but it would certainly make the top ten. Uhh, top 5. Top 3?
Jim Trelease’s The Read-Aloud Handbook would probably be #1.
LOL! The Read-Aloud Handbook is a good one. I think you must have been influenced by that one judging from the amount of time you spend reading aloud!
I love, love, love TWTM!!! It is the single best homeschooling book that I have EVER read.
TWTM definitely gave me food for thought, a lot with which I agreed. I borrowed it from the library but I am at the place where I would like to buy the last edition to have on hand.