S/O: Were you a self learner?

[Jean in Newcastle]

How did it affect your school experience? Does it influence how you teach your children?

 

Me first: I was a self learner. I died a million deaths in school because I was interested in things and had to hold back on my questions etc. because the other students weren't ready, or the teacher hadn't come to that part in the book or because it was considered a rabbit trail. . . By the time I was 3rd grade I had already started to tune out. In high school, a spendy college prep school where everyone (not just AP kids) did college level work for the last 2 years, I "phoned it in". I did the work, took the tests, did well enough to pass with pretty good grades but I was not motivated to really work at all. In college, I was bored silly. I was terribly busy, mind you, but I didn't agree with my teachers on educational theory and practice so I spent my time filling in what they wanted to hear and then searching out what I wanted to know on my own. That's when I was first motivated to learn anyway even though I wasn't encouraged to do so.

 

How I school my kids. I absolutely encourage my kids to be self learners. We revel in rabbit trails. I get excited about learning and research things all the time. My kids do too. We do some drill work which nobody likes, but we do see the practical benefit of it because it helps us on our goal to really understand. We do study some subjects that are not as interesting to us. But over all, everything is interesting to us in some ways and we see how things interconnect. I have started to do some grading now (ds is 7th grade) but that really is just so that I am able to provide a transcript. It bothers me when a child gets things right but obviously doesn't really understand it!

[justamouse]

Were? :D I still am. I teach myself things every. day. It's a way of life. From what Dh and I have learned in life, it's the only way to get ahead. Hard work (learning constantly) and determination have been what got us where we are-not college.

[GWOB]

Oh heavens yes! I used to read atlases and the encyclopedia in my spare time. I grew up in a dysfunctional environment, so reading was my escape. My parents were of no help to me in my educational journey. Neither were my teachers. I taught myself most subjects. I obtained my degree mostly online, which requires an incredible amount of self-discipline and self-teaching.

 

How does this affect my teaching? I think the most important thing I can teach my kids, aside from a love of God, is a love of reading. We read. I make them read. If we have a question about something, we check out a book and read about it. I have books everywhere. I want them to love learning. I want to give them the tools to teach themselves. I am NOT a bottomless fount of wisdom and knowledge. I have no intention of pouring all my knowledge into my kids. But, I can teach them how to acquire knowledge. That is what is most important to me.

[Cedarmom]

The funny thing is my first reaction was no, I was not motivated to learn. I say that because I tuned out my teachers. But I read all the time. I loved the Little House on the Praire Books and was fascinated with that time. So, I read all sorts of nonfictions books about the early settlers. My parents had provided tons of reference type books (encyclopedia, books on the presidents, biographies, even a teach yourself spanish) and I read all these. So yes, I guess I was a self learner.

[ChristusG]

Hmmm....I'm not really sure. I wasn't all that motivated in school. I didn't do awful, but I didn't do wonderful. Just average. I was the kid sitting in my desk with a text book in front of me, but hidden in the textbook was a fiction book that I was currently reading while the teacher taught. I read a lot.

 

As an adult, I've taught myself a lot. I taught myself photography and Photoshop. If I need to learn something, I just research it and do what I need to do. So I guess you could say that I am a self learner to a degree.

[Natalieclare]

To my shame, I was not a self-learner. I loved getting good grades and high test scores and teacher approval, but most of what I learned stayed only in my short-term memory bank as I wasn't truly interested in anything beyond that external and immediate gratification.

 

Consequently, encouraging my children to be self-learners has been of the utmost importance to me!

[Rosy]

Very much so, and still am. If I want to know about something, I get books, do research, etc. In school I did ok but tended not to spend more time/effort than was necessary to get B's. But I went to a college where we customized our programs and had no letter grades and worked much harder than I ever had.

 

I didn't realize that wasn't normal until I saw myself in contrast with my husband. If he wants to learn something, he signs up for a class or asks someone to show him or help him. It doesn't occur to me to do that unless I really get desperate.

[Ester Maria]

I was a self-learner in sense that I preferred going over things on my own and at my own pace, and that I had interests unrelated to school (or related to some later stages of learning some field), which was usually a lot faster than my colleagues from school could follow. I grew up in the environment which had understanding for that. Not sure if I should write this :D, but I used to cut school A LOT (most of the kids did that occasionally and it was normal, but for me it was a habit) and spend that time reading, discussing things that interested me with other people and even attending university lectures. The vast majority of professors, especially in the final two years, were wonderful people who had so much understanding for "cases" like myself, and who allowed us to miss on school, or to read something else during the class, as long as the quality of our regular work for their class was not compromised. I even had other professors "taking" me in the time of some other lecture, while they were free, to talk to me, discuss things with me and work with me, particularly my Italian and Philosophy professors. I still keep in touch with those brilliant and wonderful people and I still feel thankful for all the extra time (their free time, the time they weren't paid for!) they gave me.

 

So, while I LOVED learning on my own, I found, and still find, the aspect of interaction to have been of the utmost importance to me - not the interaction with my classmates, who usually knew less than me on a topic, but with my professors, and other people I talked to about my interests that were in the field, who broadened my horizons, pointed me to other people, opened some doors for me.

 

I read a lot too, and there were periods when my schoolwork suffered due to the excessive reading, even in university. :D And yes, even though I attended excellent schools with challenging programs, I was bored a lot.

 

Of course it influences the way I teach. I basically organize our schooling as a sort of tutorship, my daughters work mostly alone, and then come to me prepared and then the interaction takes place and together we work on understanding more and confronting ideas. It's a kind of combination of self-study and meaningful interaction which comes after it.

[Carol in Cal.]

And I still am!

 

But I would never have learned grammar or math or memorization or handwriting on my own, I don't think. Some things I needed to be taught, more or less forced to learn.

[OrganicAnn]

I consider myself life long learner. I had a great example. My father was a life long learner. I did well in school and felt that what I learned outside of school helped my school experience. I didn't rely of school but I didn't hate school.

 

One thing I disliked was when textbooks would tell you how to read them. You know read the objectives at the beginning, read the summary at the end, then read the chapter. No way. Let me read it how *I* want to read it.

[KidsHappen]

Yes. I was a high school drop out because I was already an adult and had honestly learned everything that I could possibly learn there. Even the teachers and guidance counselors agreed that I was wasting my time there. So I got my GED at 16 and starting going to college. The first two years there were also incredibly easy. I got straight A's without even trying. It wasn't until I hit my third year that I actually had to put some effort in and I was totally surprised when that happened. I was in no way prepared for work and I really didn't learn as much as I could have if I had had a teacher who had really pushed me but I didn't realize that until I had children of my own approaching hgh school. I am still a self learner and I hope that I am demonstrating for my children a love and drive for learning.

[Parrothead]

In high school I was there to socialize. I don't think I learned anything after I learned algebra. It was 4 years of same stuff different day. Looking back if I had been interested enough to apply myself I'd have been one of the top of my class.

 

The year of college I took was okay. Better than high school. But I really wanted to work. Once I went to work the motivation to learn kicked it. I've been learning again ever since.

[Garga]

To my shame, I was not a self-learner. I loved getting good grades and high test scores and teacher approval, but most of what I learned stayed only in my short-term memory bank as I wasn't truly interested in anything beyond that external and immediate gratification.

 

 

That was me, exactly!!!!

 

I'm a self-learner now. I had a job that forced me to become a self-learner, or I'd have been fired. I wish I'd been a self-learner in school, so I'm very adamant about instilling this in my kids.

[mom2abcd]

Yes, I was and still am. I think that's why it can be frustrating to me to work with our dd who is not self-motivated at much of anything.

[Peela]

I was and am a self learner....I just found a lot of what they wanted me to learn at school ...well, I had no interest in it. I got by.

I would have been a great homeschooler, even unschooler. I would have been self motivated to learn what I wanted to learn. And that could have been all sorts of things if they were presented well.

Private Christian Girls school was great academically, but it was enough to turn me off learning and school for life...and I just didn't fit in.

 

My kids however have quite different personalities. Neither is very interested in learning except in certian areas. For dd15, she wants to write and to learn more about photography and to paint watercolours better...but the desire to learn certainly doesnt run across the board. With a structure in place, she learns well enough. he enjoys things like history and literature but wouldnt be motivated to learn much without me encouraging and pushing...I dont think, anyway.

Ds14 is still suffering from low self worth since leaving school at age 7. He is a perfectionist who wont try anything he doesnt feel he can already succeed at. It takes a lot of work to keep him moving forward. Hes great at working our computer games though, and he studied snakes when he was planning on buying one. But again, when put in a structured situation, he can learn.

 

I think I coudl have learned without the structure more than my kids are motivated to.

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

Yes, I was and still am. It was probably the only reason I made it through school. As soon as I got a textbook, I would skim through it and read all the parts that interested me. I was always ahead of my peers in understanding but not in memorization of facts. I hated memorization. I learned so much more when teaching my kids because I saw the need to master some basics that I hadn't in school. So, it has affected my teaching in that I take time to make sure mastery, which is not as easy, is part of our learning.

 

We also love to run to a dictionary or encyclopedia, or internet, when ever a question comes up. One thing I struggle with is not spouting off about what I've learned recently. Most people's eyes glaze over or they become offended if they think you are suggesting that you know more than they do. :-)

[Renee in NC]

I am a self-learner. I hated school! What a waste of time. Even in high school, I would go to school for 1st and 2nd period and then disappear for the rest of the day to the zoo, court, library - wherever my interest led me. I dropped out and got my GED. I still go to go to college, though, as I had high SATs and a 4.0 for one semester at a community college. College was a little better, but some professors were definitely better than others.

 

I am still a self-learner now. I love the MIT Opencourseware for that reason - I can pick a subject and use the expertise of the professor as a jumping off point for my studies. I am a big fan of objectives and frameworks, with freedom in there.

 

It does affect my school in some way, but I struggle with the fact that I can't do all these things I want to. I would rather them follow their interests, but so far they are not self-learners (yet.) At least not the way I was! My 16yo finally came into his own at about 14, so I hope for the same for my others. My 5yo is just like me, so I expect she'll take off as soon as she takes off reading (almost there.)

[Jen in PA]

I am a self-learner. All through school I found side projects to keep myself busy with research and reading. I managed to finish high school a semester early, and then found that I still didn't have enough money for college, and ended up taking off a year and a half while I searched for the perfect scholarship. During that period I worked full-time and studied full-time. I read through lists of classics, began a correspondence with a linguistics professor whose research I had come across in Scientific American (he was great -- sent me all sorts of things to study!), studied art history, and wrote daily. I used shortwave radio broadcasts to keep up with the languages I had studied in school. When I got to college (a small private liberal arts school) the payoff was tremendous and immediate. Right in my first semester there were half a dozen books assigned that I had recently read. The head of the political science department hired me as a research assistant at our first meeting after a casual discussion about what I had done in that long gap year. Although I had good experiences in college and grad school, I still consider that period of self education to be the most important in terms of shaping who I am today.

[mysticamethyst]

I am but didnt' realize it till I dropped out of high school my soph. year. I had heard of a program that would let me do it at my own pace. I got accepted into that and was done with high school within 6 mos. Like others, if I need to learn something I look it up and see what I have to do to get it done. I enjoy learning as long as its something that hold my interest, if not I am worse than my kids. :001_smile:

[Night Elf]

I suppose I can say I'm a self-learner now because of homeschooling. But honestly, I can't remember anything I wanted to learn when I was in school. I was a great student but not interested in any of the material I was required to know. I knew how to play the game though. I knew how to look interested in class while I wrote letters to my friends in my notebooks. I knew how to learn the key information for tests. I also remember that if we had a cumulative exam, I had to memorize the previous information as I didn't retain it from one test to another. But of course it was easy because the material was always pulled from the tests. I didn't have to reread textbooks.

 

I remember one teacher in particular. She took an interest in me and it motivated me to do even better in her classes. I know her name and that she taught Lang. Arts. My crowning achievement was a poem I wrote and she gave me a 100%.

 

College was more interesting. I had more freedom to choose courses. But I still used my skills of playing the game to earn A's and B's.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Yes, I was and still am. It was probably the only reason I made it through school. As soon as I got a textbook, I would skim through it and read all the parts that interested me. I was always ahead of my peers in understanding but not in memorization of facts. I hated memorization. I learned so much more when teaching my kids because I saw the need to master some basics that I hadn't in school. So, it has affected my teaching in that I take time to make sure mastery, which is not as easy, is part of our learning.

 

We also love to run to a dictionary or encyclopedia, or internet, when ever a question comes up. One thing I struggle with is not spouting off about what I've learned recently. Most people's eyes glaze over or they become offended if they think you are suggesting that you know more than they do. :-)

 

I hate memorization too and so do my self learner kids! I've seen the holes in my own education on those things that should be memorized, though. So in our homeschooling, I try to sneak it in sometimes and sometimes I just insist.

 

And your comment about eye glazing over if you spout off what you know. Arrrgh! How do you get a 12 year old boy to realize that people don't want to hear his encyclopedic knowledge even if it really is correct?!

[Dawn in OH]

Yes, and I still am. I often found subjects in school to move to slow for me and worked ahead. I was also interested in things that weren't being taught. I took the initiative to find books on the subjects I was interested in and read them in my free time. I also read some classics that were not school assigned.

 

I try to encourage my children to learn things that they are interested in and learn more about them whether or not it's included in part of our "school".