The Newest Edition of a Homeschool Classic

The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home has gone into its fourth edition! Here’s a list of the major differences in this most recent revision.

• Each chapter has been separated into two sections: first, how to teach a subject (methods, goals, expectations, etc.); and second, what resources to use (recommended texts and curricula.) This makes the book even more flexible, since parents can use the principles of teaching even if they choose to use other specific texts or programs than the ones we suggest.

• Completely updated book and curricula recommendations.

• New guidance on dealing with learning challenges and difficulties. Children who struggle with learning disabilities seem to make up a much higher percentage of home educated students than in previous years, since schools often are unable to provide the support they need. As home education has become more visible and additional resources have become available, many more parents are reacting to these very individual needs by choosing to remove struggling children from the classroom entirely.

• New online resources, including alternative curricula (not included in the book because they were too complicated, expensive, specialized or quirky—but all of which have enthusiastic support among many veteran home schoolers), additional help for struggling learners, apps and online learning games, and more.

• Brand-new maths and sciences chapters. Classical education has often been criticized as stronger in the humanities than in the maths and sciences. Working with highly qualified experts and experienced teachers, we have overhauled our approach to provide a much more rigorous and coherent maths and sciences education.

• Shift of quickly outdated appendices (list of suppliers and publishers, index of home education organizations, links to state laws, and other constantly changing resources) online, where they can be regularly updated.