Combining The Well-Trained Mind and Robinson Curriculum

I get a few questions each month about how that's workin' for us. When my printer's working, the whole thing flows like a Class II river. Really. It's not that hard.

Now, I must add a caveat here: we eat sugar; I sit with my children; we do our things together. I answer questions. I don't know that Dr. Robinson would approve. (OK, I'm certain he wouldn't.) Do you know why we do things this way? Because I'm the Mommy. That's my job. We all like it this way, and are thankful for the enjoyment of learning together, living together and exploring together. (Not to mention the sheer joy of M&M's.) However, I'm not widowed, and not in a position where I have a need to make my children self-sufficient straight out of the gate. If something were to happen to me (like, say, a more permanent alien abduction), though, Zorak could sit down with the disks and, after a few pots of coffee and a new ink cartridge, pick right up with the boys and find a way to continue to give them a wonderful education.

Obviously, we aren't strict Well-Trained Minders, though, either. *sheepish grin* We use a combination of the two- and we love it. So, in light of receiving questions about this seemingly odd combination, I thought I'd write up our reasons for using both and how we make it work (and title it appropriately, so I can find it in the archives, unlike trying to track down the posts on "why we love Math-U-See", which has been, thus far, unfruitful.) So, here ya go-

I love the WTM because:
* it is rigorously structured, thorough, and produces the education Zorak and I most want for the boys. It goes deeper on content than any other program I've ever seen simply due to the four-year repeat cycle. Nothing is stale because each time you go deeper and broader, covering more and learning more. It's the education we wish we'd had. Having suffered through six full years of American History with no foundation in Western Civilization, I can say I know for certain that's not the way to develop competent citizens.
* The Well-Trained Mind does a better job of helping us prepare the boys for Citizenship and Statesmanship as adults than any other philosophy I've seen.
* I love the formal study of Logic, in all its forms. What a great way to corral a jr. high age child's natural tendency to question *everything*! That has a feel of, "Wow, God did that on purpose, didn't He?"
* Latin, which I don't consider optional in a Classical Education. Latin allows the brain to comprehend the logic and history in our culture. It opens the doors to the past in a way that translations do not. It creates a structure in the brain that I haven't seen replicated elsewhere, even in the harder engineering sciences. SO that's another point of TWTM that we love.

NOW, for what I love about RC! :-)

* The quality of literature for young minds, even for advanced young minds (or perhaps especially for them- as it's difficult to find higher level modern literature without delving into unsavory themes) is, for me, beyond value. The stories are phenomenal.
* The vocabulary is rich and varied.
* It's easy to follow and I love knowing that I can give the boys an RC book to read and not have to worry about them picking up sentence fragmentation (a la Magic Tree House), poor character emulation (a la most modern children's popular books), or encountering inappropriate content (such as premarital relations, dating- which isn't OK for a 6yo, anti-Christian themes... I could go on!)

*The science fits right in with how I prefer to "do" science for little guys. It's reading. They explore plenty on their own and don't need pre-made experiments right now. Right now they need exposure to the world around them, and RC's "science" books before the actual Physics book he recommends are exactly the kind of enjoyable, engaging, interesting stories that capture a child's imagination and open the door for discussion and exploration together after he's done reading. LOVE that aspect.

***And the biggie (this makes Zorak a bit twitchy to discuss, but if we're being honest here...) IF something should happen to me, RC would allow the boys to continue to be homeschooled. Admittedly, I'm the one who did all the legwork and research into homeschooling and curriculum preparation, so it's "my realm" by default. Zorak trusts me to make the best decision for our children that I can, and I did. But I don't know that he would have the resources available to teach three boys in the manner I've set up to do it. After all, I have all day, every day and thanks to his dedication and effort, I don't have to work. If I should die, he would have to take on my role as teacher, as well as picking up the slack everywhere else.

Since the boys are already familiar with RC, the transition wouldn't be that big for them. They would have to make some adjustment, because I just don't feel like they need to be quite as independent right now as Mr. Robinson does *wink* and I am admittedly a lot more involved, but at least it wouldn't be totally foreign. If they can read, Zorak can move them into RC. He could do it without having to learn all the ropes of the different programs. He can still give the boys a thorough, wonderful, academically rigorous education without me.

Finally, how we combine them!

We use Math-U-See for Math, Writing Road to Reading for Language Arts, Prima Latina for Latin, Plants Grown Up for Bible Study, SOTW for history. We use Robinson Curriculum for reading, science, vocabulary, and supplemental reading that corresponds to whatever else is going on.

Others may blend it differently. There is certainly room to maneuver without sacrificing the quality of education. It's a wonderful mix for our family and allows the perfect level of independent work and snuggle-time-work that I, personally, feel like we need. (The boys are 6, 4, and 1- as they get older, they will get more independent and will probably rely more heavily on the RC-style of independent study.)

I blend.

I print off and turn 'em loose.

Thanks for letting me put these thoughts in a more permanent place, so I don't have to re-type it so often. ;-) If you combine TWTM and RC, would you please share how you do it so that others can get more than one perspective?

Kiss those babies!
~Dy