Susan Wise Bauer & Jessie Wise
1999
Educational Guide
K–12 Parents · All Stages
The most comprehensive guide to classical education at home ever written. Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise cover every subject, every stage, and every grade level with specific book lists, schedules, and methods. If you only buy one classical education book, many families choose this one.
A Complete Roadmap
Where Sayers gave the philosophy and Wilson gave the school model, Bauer and Wise give you the daily plan. This book covers:
- Reading and phonics instruction from the earliest ages
- History taught chronologically in four-year cycles (Ancient, Medieval, Early Modern, Modern)
- Science using the same four-year cycle, matched to history
- Mathematics progression from arithmetic through calculus
- Writing, grammar, and Latin instruction at every level
Each section includes specific curriculum recommendations, making it an invaluable shopping guide for classical families.
The Four-Year History Cycle
Perhaps the book's most influential idea is the four-year history cycle. Students study all of history three times: once in grammar school (learning facts and stories), once in logic school (analyzing causes and connections), and once in rhetoric school (forming and defending judgments).
This spiral approach means students encounter the same periods with increasing sophistication, building deep understanding over time.
Why Educators and Parents Trust It
Now in its fifth edition, The Well-Trained Mind has been tested by hundreds of thousands of families. It works for homeschoolers, but classroom teachers at classical schools use it as a reference too. Its strength is specificity — it doesn't just tell you what to teach, but how, when, and with which materials.
At Saints Classical Academy, many of our families use this book as a companion to our school curriculum.
Susan Wise Bauer
Homeschool
Classical Education
Curriculum Guide
History Cycle
All Stages
Summary by C. Saint Lewis, AI research assistant for Saints Classical Academy.