The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home

This book had everything I wanted and needed for how to homeschool my children using the trivium. So many resources mentioned and concisely reviewed. This book will be on my shelf and used for years.

This is an excellent book to start with if you are considering homeschooling but don't know what to teach your kids. The author lists what subjects you should be teaching for each age and offers suggestions of different curriculums along with honest reviews. I love this book - it made something that seemed impossible into an attainable goal.

It's been a few months since I've finished this book, but it literally took me about a year of reading it in my spare time. I was pretty squarely in the unschooling camp, but my husband has always had a thing about our kids knowing the Trivium. Throughout my reading it, I slowly moved away from unschooling - it's so great in theory, but so lacking in practice. This clarified the Trivium for me, and made me a firm believer in giving children a solid foundation in all subjects for them to truly be able to think and articulate on their own. When one of my kids spent a year at a Sudbury school, I was shocked at how inarticulate the teens were at defending their graduation theses, and how much their responses lacked depth and substance. After reading this book, I thought "those kids are severely in need of the Trivium." It has been eye-opening, and truly a wonderful experience to read this book.

I got this book my second year of homeschooling my child. I got the ebook then got the actual book. It’s amazing. It has so many super helpful suggestions for everything. It really helps with picking the right curriculum for you and your homeschooler. It gives great resources and tips. They even list the prices of the books they have recommended and where you can find them. It goes by grade and age. They even put in a sample schedule for you. Putting together the curriculum is what I have found the hardest part of homeschooling. This book was so helpful in finding the right curriculum for my child and made it so easy for me. This book will help you every year you homeschool and even help when your child is getting ready to graduate. They go from baby/toddler all the way to getting ready for college. It is worth every single penny. I have found it to be the best resource for homeschooling. If you homeschool, and want your child to have a well rounded education, this book is for you.

When I decided to home school our children I had not known anyone growing up that had been home schooled. I was met by mixed reactions from family, and very much felt nervous about the whole endeavor. Eventually I came across this book, and I am so incredibly thankful for it! The first time reading it, I was horribly overwhelmed (I can be a bit of an idealist and like to do things by-the-book, so to speak). But, after further reflection, I re-read it, and began making small changes in our home school day using as many ideas as I could. Each year I take a few days before our school year begins and go through the various chapters. As my kids get older, I appreciate all the help on the chapters that pertain to the upper grades. It truly has become a guide for me. And an inspiration. That said, it would be an excellent resource for those wishing to supplement their children's current education too.One additonal thing I found helpful was to listen to some talks the author has given (available on well trained mind's website) and also to watch some youtube videos that give examples of dictation, etc. That helped me put the book in context (real children involved) and be less idealistic in regards to my expectation of my own kids.In all, I don't think I would be homeschooling today if it weren't for this book. It has been that helpful and that inspirational for me. I don't know why all authors write books, but I feel like mailing the authors flowers every year when I crack it open and plan out our school year.

My homeschool friends have recommended this book to me for a few years. When COVID hit and I went from homeschooling just my oldest, to homeschooling all of my kids, I broke down and bought this book. I already had the first edition, borrowed from a friend. But I wanted an edition with updates for technology and the latest resources. I also wanted to make my own notes.This book is very, very thorough. I appreciate the honesty of it. I can flip to the section dedicated to any of my kids' ages and get advice on teaching them, which curricula fit which learning styles, and how much a kid should be learning at that age. I can adjust this based on my kids' needs, but the general idea is extremely helpful for a homeschooling newbie. There is still a big chunk of the book that I haven't even tapped into: all the resources at the back. Oh, and I haven't looked at the high school section because my oldest is 6th grade.I will certainly be lending this book out, or recommending it to my friends who plan to offer their kids a classical education.

Todo pai que ensina seu filho em casa, seja com tarefas escolares para casa seja com qualquer disciplina que ele queira que o filho aprenda, com esse livro ele terá um guia. Todo professor também deveria ler esse livro. Parece que há uma tradução dele em língua portuguesa.

My teenage son requested that he be homeschooled recently and I turned to this book. I absolutely love it because it’s full if advice and guidance. It has excellent discussions on the three parts if the trivium and how to set up your homeschool for each part. There are text and curricula recommendations, sample schedules, advice on grading and creating transcripts, as well as detailed information about each subject, advice on how to teach the subjects and so much more. If you want your children to be classically educated at home this is the book to buy.

My friend recommended this book for me. It’s my first book about classic education. The book is easy to read with clear explanations, guidelines, and resources for every single stage and subject. Very good book for people who would like to start home school.

Great guide for designing a curriculum for your home schooling child. The author presents what is known as classical education method (trivium) adopted to modern homeschool situation.The books contains detailed information as to what and where to find resources for various materials for home schooling curriculum. though it is written with American audiences, it can be well adapted to Indian context (replace latin with Sanskrit etc).

I'm starting the home schooling journey and I'm not committed to any particular method. I find this a great reference book on every subject with lots of good advice for each developmental phase.