Well-Trained Mind

Mr. Perfect and I knew that we wanted to homeschool our children before we even knew that we were going to get married.  Rather, I should say that I knew I would homeschool my children, and I let him know it before I let the relationship get too serious.  He really liked the idea, and that helped progress the relationship toward a more serious stage.



Some months after we were married, we picked up and moved from one side of the country to the other for Mr. Perfect's job.  I was able to find a teaching job (math teachers always seem to be in demand), and we lived a cozy little life.  But the reason this move is significant is because of the people we met.

A family in our new church congregation home schooled.  Mr. Perfect and I thought that their kids were so well behaved and were so articulate and social and intelligent.  So the first chance I got I asked this homeschool mom about her homeschool program.  She was more than happy to describe the program found in "The Well-Trained Mind" by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise.

As this new friend described this very structured homeschool program, Mr. Perfect and I kept getting more and more excited!  This is what we'd been looking for.  I hadn't expected to find a homeschool program before we were even pregnant, but we did.

After one year we again moved.  This time just a few States away, where Mr. Perfect is currently in graduate school.  A week before we moved we discovered that we were pregnant.  We were definitely happy about it, but I was violently ill for most of the pregnancy.

We were newly pregnant in a new place where we knew no one.  I wasn't working, and my husband was at school all day.  So I found the library.  I checked out a copy of "The Well-Trained Mind" and read the whole thing in 2 days.  I love every last bit of this program.

It's reading and writing intensive, which I like.  It's based around the trivium, which I had never heard of before, but which I really like.  It's flexible for individual needs, which I like.  It requires the students to learn discipline, which I like.  It acknowledges that children can learn hard things, which I fully believe.

I've named my blog "Well Trained Beginnings" because we will be using this system for homeschooling our children, and I'm documenting it in this blog from the beginning.  This program can be adapted for use starting at any point in your journey, but there are tips and ideas to be used from day one with your baby.

With Miss.SingSong we are in the phase of singing a lot, reading a lot, and talking a lot.  I am constantly talking about what I am doing, how I am doing it, and why I am doing it.  Now that Miss.SingSong is crawling around more, I will often narrate for her what she is doing, too!  And I can't count how many times we sing the ABCs each day.  All of these things are in the baby stage and help Miss.SingSong learn that words are used to communicate.  The more words she knows, the easier it will be for her to learn to read.  I hope that's true!