The Well-Trained Mind Guide Review And Recommended Curriculums

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I am so excited to introduce a new blog series!! In this series I will be introducing you to some of my homeschooling friends. I will be interviewing each in turn to gain knowledge from them that I can share with you.

No one homeschooling parent can be completely familiar with all the different homeschooling curriculum and approaches out there. This series is an opportunity to learn from people who are experienced in different ways of homeschooling. Each article in this series will be focusing on a different homeschool curriculum or method. They will be in interview format and will each feature a different homeschooling mom. Read along, and learn from others’ experience right along with me. You never know; you might find someone whose story sounds similar to yours!!

From this point forward, my questions and comments will be in bold, while Jennifer’s answers will be in normal type.

Thank you, Jennifer, for agreeing to participate in this blog post! Please tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Jennifer, and I live in west central Wisconsin with my family. My husband and I determined before we even married that we would homeschool any children the Lord saw fit to give us. We both believe from God’s Word that He wants parents to train children in the way they ought to go. While we are members of an independent fundamental Baptist Church, we know that church life alone is not enough to train a child in the ways of the Lord. I have a Bachelor of Science degree in education from a secular state university, but as a homeschool parent, I focus on so much more than the traditional school subjects. I have Bible classes daily and also discuss all subject areas from a Biblical perspective, which is far different from a secular education. In addition, my husband and I spend quite a bit of time developing character qualities and life skills in each of our three children. Homeschooling opens the door for so many possibilities for learning!

What curriculum are we discussing today?
I use multiple curriculums for my three children, but many are recommendations given by the book The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide To Classical Education at Home. This book is separate from the Well-Trained Mind Press homeschool curriculum. It’s more of a guide for how to homeschool. It gives curriculum recommendations for different curriculums for different ages and learning abilities throughout each grade. It also gives scheduling ideas and recommendations for time spent on each subject for each grade. I use it when planning out my school year each year.

These are the texts we are currently using this school year.
Math-U-See (Demme Learning), Abeka Readers for appropriate grade levels, All about Spelling, Grammar for the Well Trained Mind, Writing with Skill, The Story of the World, Chemistry for the Logic Stage (Elemental Science), ARTistic Pursuits, God Made Music, and Homeschool Family Fitness: A Complete Curriculum Guide (Fifth Edition).

How long have you used this curriculum?
The appropriate levels of each of these curriculums have been used since each child began school. Since we follow the classical education guide, grades 1-4 were grammar stage appropriate and grades 5-8 were logic stage appropriate. My three children are currently in grades 5 and 7, so they all fall in the logic stage.

What made you want to try this curriculum initially?
I chose these curriculums because they have a logical and orderly sequence for learning. They also have assessment quizzes and/or tests. Many are also more suited for a student who learns differently than most. Orton-Gillingham based spelling and Math-U-See have been incredibly helpful for my child who has dyslexic tendencies and severe learning disabilities. Orton Gillingham is a method of teaching that uses multiple senses and is especially helpful for those who struggle with dyslexia. Dianne Craft also has some excellent reading and spelling resources for younger children learning to read. I used those with my oldest child when he was in the primary grades.

My other two children seem to do fine with any curriculum, but as a parent, it has been much easier for me to use the same curriculum for all. I also like how the children are grouped by their stages of development. We are able to combine classes for grammar and science currently because they are all in the logic stage. I also like that many of these can be used independently by my children with only a small amount of help and guidance from me. This allows me to more easily work with them individually, as needed, but also means they can do many things on their own when I am unavailable to help them.

For what grade levels did you use it?
I have used these for K-7 so far.

In your opinion, compared to other homeschool curriculum options what is the cost of using this curriculum? Low, medium, or high
Medium? I’m honestly not sure. I just buy what works for us, no matter the cost.

Is this curriculum reusable for younger students in the family? How much of it is consumable?
The Abeka Readers, The Story of the World texts, and the ARTistic Pursuits books are reusable. Most of the others come with consumable work texts, tests, and quizzes. I have retained the teacher guides, videos, and score keys for reuse with other children.

Is this curriculum all-inclusive or does it require additional items or time preparing?
Most of this curriculum comes with a very well-laid out teacher guide that explains what to do for each lesson. The science curriculum sometimes requires additional items or preparing for the experiments.

Would you say this curriculum is self-paced, teacher-dependent, or somewhere in between?
I would say somewhere in between. There are definitely parts that require direct instruction from a parent/teacher, but a lot of it can be done independently once that instruction has happened.

In your opinion, what are the strengths of this curriculum?
Minimal preparation is needed by the parent. It is well-organized content and instruction. The student can do much of the work independently.

In your opinion, what are the weaknesses of this curriculum?
Some of it is nominally Christian, especially the history. You have to make sure that real Christianity is defined separately from the worldly defined Christianity. Science can sometimes have resources that are not biblically correct. We use these as learning opportunities as well. I want my children to be able to identify errors like these when they come across them in real-life situations.

For what type of family/child would you say this curriculum would work best?
I think this curriculum is great for families who want to combine subjects as much as possible across grade levels. It is also very well suited to children who need a more hands-on and visual approach to learning. In my experience, all children benefit learning multi-modally, so any child could potentially benefit from this curriculum.

Thank you to Jennifer for the very informative interview! I learned a lot from it and hope it is helpful to my readers. To those reading this article, please feel free to send any comments or questions that you might have about this subject matter through our comments section.