A homeschool schism: The fallout from Well-Trained Mind’s leftward turn

The Well-Trained Mind (and its associated curriculum and online academy) has been a major provider of curriculum and courses for the homeschooling community for over 2 decades. Its founder, Susan Bauer, wrote what many consider a foundational 'manual' for classical education.

Over the years, however, there has been a marked change in the angle of their curriculum and their advocacy. (the price of their classes has also skyrocketed)

So, even if you are homeschooling, you are not out of the leftist reach of militants. Always beware!

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For years, Well-Trained Mind occupied a rare and trusted position in the homeschooling world. It was not just a curriculum company, but a gatekeeper of sorts, shaping how hundreds of thousands of families taught history, literature, and civics outside the traditional school system. Parents turned to it precisely because it promised seriousness, intellectual rigor, and distance from the ideological churn overtaking public education.

That trust cracked recently, because of a single statement, and then because of how the company responded when parents objected.

When Well-Trained Mind publicly weighed in on immigration enforcement in January, it did so not as an educational observer but as an overtly political actor. In a lengthy social media statement, the company asserted as settled fact that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is detaining people based on skin color and accent, Supreme Court rulings explicitly permit racial profiling, masked federal officers are terrorizing schools and neighborhoods, and Department of Homeland Security social media posts are coded calls for the removal of “nonwhite” Americans up to “100 million deportations” — shorthand for ethnic cleansing. The post framed these claims not as opinion, but as moral truth, guiding readers to a singular political conclusion and leaving no room for alternative interpretation. It was, by any reasonable standard, an aggressively political statement from a curriculum provider whose core product is teaching children to understand history and civic life.

Susan Wise Bauer’s response last week to that criticism was telling. Rather than engaging the substance of the objections, she reframed them. Those who were offended, she suggested, should interrogate their own moral failings.