Mama Bear Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 I just realized it's been almost ten years since my first read through The Well-Trained Mind. How about you? What are your favorite parts? I loved the premise as soon as I cracked the book, though I did wonder if I was insane to think of doing ALL THAT. Ha! What hooked me, though, was the discussion of religion at the different stages. I'm such a geek. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jami Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Hmmm...I read WTM when my oldest was still just a future idea. LOL. So 12? years ago I guess. I was reading everything I could get my hands on about liberal arts education--Charlotte Mason, Marva Collins, Doug Wilson and on some website I found The Well-Trained Mind mentioned and the subtitle hooked me. I had already been convinced that I wanted a classical education for my kids, but up to that point had mostly just read about the Classical Christian school movement. Do it at home? Use my history and lit background to teach my own children? Perfect! Wouldn't it be great to feel like you were reading it again for the first time? The first edition is still honestly my favorite, I feel like the general philosophy comes through better without so much emphasis on specific resources. But I like the later resources too. The emphasis on reading real books, not readers, not textbooks, and being chronological about history were the big hooks for me. I was already convinced about Latin and the Great Books from other sources. But this made it make sense for me at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 I was the opposite: unconvinced about teaching latin, until I read The Well Trained Mind. I was already homeschooling a Ker when I first read it 5 yrs ago . I was trying to figure out our long term plans and which direction I should go curriculum wise, reading everything about hsing I could get my hands on. At the time, I was using Rod and Staff 1st grade math and really liked it. So I was looking at their materials for the future as well. I saw on a hs board somewhere that Well Trained Mind recommended Rod and Staff, so I thought I would pick it up since I also liked them. I also had been looking at Story of the World at convention and liked what I saw. And I am naturally a do it myself-er with books and such for the content subjects as opposed to a textbook person. It just all clicked. And we are now in our 2nd year of Latin, thanks to Well Trained Mind as well :tongue_smilie: I used the library's edition for the first year of hsing WTM way since the new edition was on its way. I just kept rechecking it when I needed to look something up. I ordered the 3rd edition as soon as it came out. Funny thing is that I went to our library's Friends of the Library used book sale recently and bought that same copy that I used to check out all of the time for $1. I was very excited about my find, though sad that they retired the older edition. I assume they kept a newer one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theYoungerMrsWarde Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 It's only been 5 years for me. We didn't think of homeschooling until ds5 was 6 months. I had WTM and The Well Educated Mind on my Amazon wishlist. Dh got them for me for Christmas and I was sold after the first 4 chapters /sections. Everything made so much sense! Both dh and I were like "Why weren't WE taught this?! " I recently got the 3rd edition (we had the 2nd edition first) and it's been a lot of fun re-reading it. I also bought SOTW in preparation for 1st grade. I had a blast reading it and the activities. Now dh is reading it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elinor Everywhere Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 I just realized it's been almost ten years since my first read through The Well-Trained Mind. How about you? What are your favorite parts? I loved the premise as soon as I cracked the book, though I did wonder if I was insane to think of doing ALL THAT. Ha! What hooked me, though, was the discussion of religion at the different stages. I'm such a geek. :D I read it 12 years ago, when my daughter was 2. I knew no homeschoolers, and hadn't really thought much about it, but I knew I wanted an excellent education for my kids, and I've always been a bit of a nonconformist. I was at Barnes & Noble with my 2yo dd for story time, and I happen to see TWTM on an end-cap. I picked it up and started perusing it while waiting for story time to begin, and that was IT! I loved everything it said, and I was hooked, excited, nervous, and ready for a life-changing event. And it was! I bought the book, read it all in 2 days, told my dh I was homeschooling our dd, and never looked back. What a ride it's been! THE most influential book of my life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 I read it about 6 years ago when my kids were toddlers. I was at a friend's house and she said she was pulling her daughter out of kinder and homeschooling her. I was shocked. Then she handed me TWTM and said, "You have to read this book." I stood there in front of her and read the first couple of paragraphs and it was all I could do to put the book down and continue my visit with her. As soon as I got home I ordered it and gobbled it down. It was then I knew I was going to homeschool. I think my favorite part is her philosophy of teaching history. That just resonates so much with me because that's how we end up viewing the world and our worldview is shaped. I read that chapter several times a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Me too. I joined the boards and bought the book in 2002. It seems like a lifetime ago! While I did skim through the logic and rhetoric stages, I read the grammar stage repeatedly, highlighting and writing notes in the margins. I only read the logic stage when my dd was in 5th and 6th grades, two more times I tried to follow the schedule. I hate to admit it, but I am a WTM dropout several times. I kept trying it again and again hoping it would finally work out. But alas, it wasn't meant to be. I am disappointed that I didn't stick with it though. Back in those days, I gave up way too easily. Hindsight... yeah yeah yeah. I kept my 1st copy and purchased the next two as they were released. Last year I sold the two newer ones. The 1st one is well read and kind of sentimental. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joanne Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 My favorite, reading the FIRST edition, was tying literature with the period being studied, and studying history chronologically in cycles. I came from Five in A Row, where the boards at the time were quite anti-WTM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 I read the first edition. I had already decided to homeschool, but was concerned about what direction to go and knew I didn't want a boxed curriculum. I don't remember how I stumbled upon it 11 + years ago, but once I found it I knew exactly how to start. I am especially grateful for TWTM showing me an approach to history that made sense. I finally learned history and history has always been the favorite subject to my oldest child, since starting it at home so long ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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