Mamma's Top Pick #2 - The Well-Trained Mind

Well, I haven't written in a while. How is it already April 19th? This has been a very busy, very productive month. And now my body is telling me to slow down by bringin on a cold.

At the moment, I am listening. The children are having nap or quiet time and I am curled up under a blanket on the couch in my pajamas, my pillows brought out from our bedroom, Everybody Loves Raymond on the TV (my favorite), hot soup on a TV tray next to me and I'm finally ready to write about a book I've been meaning to post for several weeks . . .


The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise

Cover via Amazon

This book is seriously an answer to prayers that I haven't even prayed yet. Have you ever read a book only to find the author articulating thoughts and beliefs that you had in your mind and heart? So much of this book stated my own opinions, I felt like I could have written it myself, or that it was written for me personally.

I have put this book on hold from the library a couple of times, only to send it back, intimidated by its number of pages (about 700) and subject matter. But I finally tackled it and little did I know that this book was actually going to make my life easier!

I could give you a description of the book or give you a typical review, but you can find all of those at the above Amazon link. Rather, I'd like to explain the three main things this book has done for our family personally.

This book has first helped me understand some of the biggest difficulties that we have had with homeschooling so far. By explaining the three different stages of learning that children go through, I can now understand how to make the most of our homeschooling hours and how to most effectively teach Joshua and Noah right now. I have found that many of our challenges were due to trying to teach Joshua in a way that is beyond his years.

Secondly, the book has given me a vision for our homeschool for the next twelve years. I'm serious. Because of this book, I was able to come up with an outline to tell me when to teach the children about Shakespeare, zoology, physics, dinosaurs, Greek mythology, chemistry and on and on and on. This is such an enormous relief!

And lastly, the book has extensive resource lists. I mean pages and pages of recommended resources for each subject. Not only do I know what I will teach my children and when, but I also know how! We have begun using some of the books that are suggested and so far, we have loved them all.

If you are thinking about homeschooling at all or if you already are homeschooling and would like some guidance, I would highly recommend this book. I will say that if you are a homeschooling family that tends to favor the unschooling approach, this book probably won't be for you. To each their own, which is exactly why homeschooling rocks :)