Originally written in 1999 by the mother-daughter team, Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer, The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home (revised in 2004) systematizes the “lost tools of learning” educational theory of Dorothy Sayers to train the child over a twelve year period. The authors are wildly popular within the classical home education community, and rightly so since they satisfied the desires of the many parents who were not classically educated by providing them with a detailed road map, by grade, for the rigorous content of a classical home education.

Learning is organized around three main stages in a child’s mental development which hypothetically correlate to the three stages of the classical trivium: grammar, logic, and rhetoric. According to Wise and Bauer, the grammar stage comprises the early elementary years when the child is absorbing facts and experiences like a sponge. Both oral and written narration is key to this stage. During the logic stage, the authors propose that the maturing youth begins to critically analyze information while the rhetoric stage involves the refinement of personal communication skills through public speaking and writing.

History is the foundational building block in this philosophical home education method and is segregated into four major periods: ancient, medieval, renaissance or revolutions, and modern. The family who follows this method all 12 years will rotate through each period of history three times.

Science and literature are coordinated with the period of history being studied. For example, when the student studies ancient history, he also studies life science which is what the people of that age would have known. Astronomy is studied with medieval history, chemistry is studied with revolutions, and physics is tackled with modern history.

Classical literature like Homer’s Iliad is read three times. During the grammar stage, the parent reads an abridged picture book version; during the logic stage, the student reads an abridged version. Finally, the student reads the original classic during the rhetoric stage. This pattern lends coherence; as the student matures, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom widens and deepens. Latin, formal logic, art, and music are also covered in this approach.

According to the authors, there are three major characteristics of their classical home education philosophy. Primarily, the “well-trained mind” classical education is language-focused; the conversion of words (symbols) into mental concepts requires different skills from those required for image-focused methods. Secondarily, skills are built over time in that knowledge is gained (grammar stage), logical tools are acquired to analyze such knowledge (logic stage) , and reasonable personal conclusions are expressed (rhetoric stage.) Finally, to the classical student, all knowledge is interrelated as evidenced by the coordination of disciplines like history, science, and literature.

Not only do Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer provide a thorough analysis of the philosophy of classical education but they also provide extensive practical application in resource lists and schedule by stage. This interpretation of classical home education is rigorous and demanding on both parents and students because it layers additional subjects like Latin on top of what looks like a traditional public school model of education.  Don’t try to do everything that is recommended in The Well-Trained Mind; instead, use it as a reference tool and tailor the suggestions to your own family situation if your own home education philosophy leans toward a highly structured, systematic education paradigm.

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Are you a fan of Susan Wise Bauer’s four volume, Story of the World, history for children? If so, you might want to download a few excerpts of her newest (released March 2007) adult history, The History of the Ancient World.

You can read more about Susan Wise Bauer at her blog.  She and her husband planted a church with her parents, she homeschools four kids, and she writes book after book. She is a 1st generation homeschool graduate.

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If you are interested in sharing ideas with other homeschool parents who relish the home education philosophy of “the well-trained mind,” consider joining one of the following free Yahoo Discussion Groups. [The following descriptions are provided by each Yahoo group.]

WellTrainedMindDscn (2835 members)

“The participants on this list discuss the book “The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home” (TWTM or WTM) by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer. Although we have a moderator, we do not have any “experts” — we’re all trying to figure out how to apply these principles in our own home, according to our own experiences. This group is open to all homeschoolers who are interested in learning more about classical education methods. Therefore, although religion may be mentioned, it is not to become a point of contention. The focus of the discussion is to remain on-topic, with short friendly side comments allowed. We will discuss one main topic per week, along with whatever items members want to bring to the group (questions, successes, comments).”

WellTrainedMindFamilies (556 members)

“The families on this list discuss the book “The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home” by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer. This group is open to all homeschooling families who are interested in learning more about classical education methods. This list is here to discuss how to implement TWTM into everyday life and all that goes along with it…from legal issues, to book suggestions, to discipline problems, to sleeping issues, to how to teach how to share. We believe homeschooling is 24/7, so for us, basically life is one big school.”

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Read more about the John Holt’s unschooling home education philosophy, the living books of the Charlotte Mason home education, and the leadership home education of Oliver DeMille, and discover that they all encourage love of learning even though different paths are suggested to achieve such a love. Do you need some help verbalizing your own home education philosophy? My post, “What Is Your Home Education Philosophy?,” offers 10 questions to get you started.