The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had

Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: When I found out the Susan Bauer had put this book together for adults, I purchased it immediately. I am quite a fan of her texts for children and of the educational plan she co-write with her mother for homeschoolers. Because of this, I think I expected it "The Well-Educated Mind" to be organized along the same chronological framework.
However, this new reading plan for adults breaks literature into categories: novels, autobiography, history, plays, poetry, etc. and then approaches each category with an annotated list of suggested works to read. While I have no serious complaints about the works chosen (no list will be perfect), I really miss the integration of literature, biography, history, science, etc. as proposed in "The Well-Trained Mind". I have begun reading from the first list of novels in "The Well-Educated Mind", but I am considering delving into the reading lists from the last four years of "The Well-Trained Mind".
If I had to purchase only one of the books, it would definately be the first - the curriculum text for homeschoolers. This book could be tailored for adult reading and is an great curriculum for homeschooling, or as we do, a supplement for a public education.

Rating:
Summary: caveat emptor
Review: While the teaching of reading is an admirable goal, the selection of texts here demands more than a little caution. There might be agreement in a dozen countries that Cervantes, Herodotus and Homer are classical, but there is no agreement even in this country that writers like Ulrich, DeLillo, Gilroy, and Rita Dove constitute a classical or even a liberal education. Juxtaposing classics with recent writing of dubious merit insinuates that these writers too are "classical" and therefore good. You should educate your children at home, precisely in order to avoid their being subjected to writers like DeLillo and the others. And incidentally, although reading Cervantes and the others does broaden your cultural sophistication, it does not result in a "well-trained mind."