http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=20

This is a post by late Michael Hart the inventor of e-books. http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=20

The Well Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education At Home

This is the concluding part of my review of the book: The Well Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer.

Lastly, for those that think the system is rigid, please you don't need to follow the methodology to detail, kindly adapt to your family's challenges. And if you think it's too Language/History focused then you can get curriculum books by "Bernard Nebel" as they are science focused to use along with this "Lost but found Treasure of a book".

Good enough this book is Eurocentric but then you can replace it with titles that are from your own geographical location and faith inclination i.e. I have a list of classic Islamic books to use with my kids based on the pristine Islam for religious studies and I also keep a list of African Writers' Series by Heinemann to use for my kids at the appropriate time along with some of the other classic books recommended in TWMT.

 May be your bilingual interest isn't Greek, Latin... like in my case then make do with your interest(s) i.e. Arabic and Yoruba Languages in my family's case.

CAVEAT: TWTM will not make your kids people of letters alone, as Bob, Jessie's first child is a software architect, Susan is a Prof. of Literature & Writing and the 3rd child is a Police officer.

So if you want a qualitative and quantitative education for your kids then get this "Treasure of a book".

Home educate your child the classical way.

The Well Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education At Home.

I am a young parent based in Lagos, Nigeria. While I have been bothered with the quality of education in my own immediate environment, I have always been thinking about how my kids education will be world class and alas I found The Well Trained Mind (TWMT) on Amazon, bought and read it and ever since then I have been consulting it and I've even recommended it to friends.

TWMT teaches you how to educate your child from age zero up to adulthood and the good thing is that the methodology is borderless and a lot of the recommended literature readings in the book are readily available, even in Lagos for as low as $1.
For me and my family this book as given us key information about education:

1. Rote learning is better and easier done between ages 0 to 10;

 2. Short 15-45 minutes consistent classes on daily/weekly basis of any subject is enough to master a subject over a period of 12 years;

3. It introduced the concept of developing a reader in a child by recommending a jewel of a book "The Read-Aloud Handbook: Sixth Edition" by Jim Trelease;

 4. The Authors' keep a very interactive online forum http://www.welltrainedmind.com/;

5. The Authors' are very responsive to your challenges even for someone like me in Lagos, Nigeria; they still responded to my family's educational challenge by proffering a solution that actually worked after I mailed them on an observation.

SUMMER TIME...

It’s summer and kids are going on holiday that’ll last for about six weeks and as parents we are usually concerned as to how our kids will spend their holiday positively.

While travelling might seem to be the best option for most kids this option does not really exist to most kids due to financial constraints on the part of their parents.

But travelling, every kid can make through the pages of good literary works, like visiting the famous River Niger in Nigeria through Chinua Achebe’s book “Chike and the River” or visiting the colonial era of Nigeria particularly the WWII era in Buchi Emecheta’s “The Joys of Motherhood”, also a visit to the recent military era in Nigeria’s history by having a cozy time with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s debut novel “Purple Hibiscus: A Novel”.

A trip to the United States of America isn’t out of the way in Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird [Paperback]” or just an adventure with Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Sterling Illustrated Classics)”.

 Excursions to places like museum, stadium, university campus or visits to relatives and family friends will surely give memorable holiday experience to most kids God’s willing.

Lastly, don’t forget about giving these kids the opportunity to acquire some life skills like cooking, gardening and cleaning. For an age graded  summer reading list for kids between age 0 and 9, you can check out: http://www.readingrockets.org/books/summer/2011/

Wish you a happy summer time.

Journey of a thousand miles...

This is to welcome you to the blog post of gosobooks.com. We hope that you have a lot of splendid experience with us.

Our posts will focus mainly on your children/wards’ education between kindergarten and high school level. We will be talking about issues like after/home schooling, reading aloud to children as well as encouraging self-education particularly among adults.

 So, if you’re an adult that’s interested in children’s education or you’re just out there to improve yourself through self-education then fasten your seat belt and be ready for this illustrious journey.

Thanks, happy reading from gosobooks.com