The Well-Trained Mind

Check the birth and death dates of the author, and the date of the book’s composition.
Look up the year, decade, or century of the book’s publication in a history atlas or encyclopedia. For more modern books, a decade will give you plenty of context; older books may require that you look at an entire century (or even two or three hundred years, in the case of the most ancient texts) to place the work in its times.
Write a one-page summary of this historical information, setting the book in historical perspective. Draw on the history encyclopedia, the texts you’re using for foundational historyknowledge, and any other resources that you find helpful.Give basic information about the author, major historical events taking place during the author’s life-span, the author’s country, and the author’s purposes in writing; summarize great events going on in the rest of the world.

Determine the book’s genre. Is it a novel, an autobiography, a work of history, philosophy, a play, a poem? The first time each genre is encountered, in each year of study, take the time to read the history of this genre and the instructions on how to read it.
Take notes on this reading about genre and keep the notes in the Book Notes section of the notebook.
Read through the text, pencil in hand. Note down the major events in the book. Mark any passages that seem significant, troubling, or puzzling. These notes should be brief; even for longer works, two to three pages of notes is plenty. Choose central and important events, rather than writing down long lists of less important points.

Discuss the text. Talk about its purposes, its strengths, its weaknesses. Have a conversation about the ideas and whether or not they are valid.
Write about the text. This is a flexible assignment; the student can write a book report, an evaluation, an argumentative essay proving some point about the book, or an analysis of the book’s ideas.

Before beginning each year’s Primary Source reading, read a brief history of the field of study (biology, physics, etc.).
While reading each text, keep notes (as in the Great Books readings) of the major points; when finished, write a brief (two-page) summary of the content or argument in the text (or at least the excerpt he read).

Use an art survey as a basic text to learn about schools, periods, artists, and techniques in architecture, painting, and sculpture, from prehistoric times through postmodernism. Read from your base text and use additional resources to study the artists and works of art discussed.
Record something you've learned, either writing briefly about it or using the distinctive characteristics of the artist or school under discussion to sketch something in that style.

Write a short biographical sketch (one to two pages long) for each composer encountered. Try to focus not just on facts (birth and death dates, training, posts held), but on the development of each composer as an artist. Did he ever express his purpose for composing? What were his musical models? What did he consider to be his greatest work? Why? Did he hold to his early training or break away from it?
Whenever a certain school of composition is mentioned, write a couple of paragraphs discussing the school’s characteristics and its major followers. Then make a brief list of important world events and philosophical movements going on at the same time.
For each composer studied, keep a list of works that you’ve listened to. Before you move on to another composer, write a couple of paragraphs describing the quality of this composer’s work (this is a creative assignment). What effect does the music have on you? Do you like it? dislike it? Are you excited by it? bored? Be sure to give specific reasons.