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Does anyone on here self-educate?


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I have self-educated whenever life has given me the time to do so. Right now, besides re-learning physics and chemistry and learning about human geography for the first time so that I can assist my homeschoolers, I'm currently researching the development of democracy and more importantly what aspects of society, culture, ways of being are necessary for liberty under democracy. In the past I have studied various authors, math and science topics, psychology/human development, history...all kinds of things. I love to learn, so I just pick a subject and study it for a year or two using books, articles, study guides...what ever I can get my hands on.

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Don't we all ? ;) Seriously, who remembers 5th grade math or 4th grade science? Definitely not me. I self-educate everyday, along with my kids, and it's amazing how much I have learned, the connections and "aha" moments I have had as I finally put world history together in my mind, for example. And of course, I read everything I can find time to about curriculum, teaching methods, child rearing, etc.

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Thanks for your replies.

 

Wow, Deb, that's great.

 

I would love to do more self-education, it is just hard to justify the time. I love to learn, and am studying French at the moment.

I have so many things that I would love to learn about, but I have a hard time justifying spending the time when there are a lot of more useful things to do! I would love to do more of it, though.

 

I saw the self-education section of this forum and thought I would see if there were people who self-educated and what they did.

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I do all of DSs math with him, as I had a very poor mathematics education.

 

Beyond that, I have been learning lay pharmacology for about... almost 5 years now. I suck at the statistical analysis, but my partner is really good at it. My job is primarily finding the correct research (which is where knowing the drugs part is necessary), and I leave it to him to figure out if the researchers fudged their stats...

 

I also love learning theology. Any religion. You'll see me writing on most of the religious threads here.

 

 

a

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Now we're over our house move and recovered from chest infections, dh and I will be getting back to our grammar study. We used to do it together, but that's no longer possible, so we're going to do it separately and correct together. Once my baby starts sleeping through the night again :glare:, I should be able to pick up my literature study again. I've got the second book on the list sitting there waiting. I'm to cook a Sri Lankan feast for lunch on Sunday, so a quick unit study is in order. The only book in our library system isn't due back until the week after, so I will be trawling the internet!

 

Rosie

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I suppose I can consider myself someone who self educates.

 

I researched everything, planned everything (the year, how many classes I'll be doing, what days, how long, etc) and I do all my work. Sometimes my mom grades my Math and Science, sometimes I don't feel like waiting so I do it myself.

 

I don't cheat because I know that would just be cheating me out of actually learning anything.

 

I suppose that really wasn't what you meant though...

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I am educating myself in the things that I somehow completely missed in my own schooling, and that I want to be included in our kids' education. These areas are history (ALL of it), mythology, classic literature, and geography. I also have all the materials I need to begin my studies of classical Latin, but just need the time. I am also learning to play the violin at the same time as our 7 yo (although I am quite a bit ahead of him because I have played several other instruments and this is his first). It helps me help him.

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I'm relearning algebra so that I can stay ahead of my daughter this year. I confess that I'm enjoying it! I studied art history and philosophy in college, with no interest in math, but now I really find it fascinating!

 

--Dawn

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I participate in a classic book club (1 book a month), and I'm studying Classical Greek (took a class at the local university last semester & will slow down to high school pace with The Potter's School this year). Other than that, I read some of the kids' school books and learn some of their memory work with them.

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I'm a self-educator... I'm currently using The Teaching Company DVDs to learn Basic Maths as my maths is attrocious and yet I loved it at school (shows what can happen if you don't use it for a couple of decades). I'm also using TTCs Foundations of Western Civilisation to supplement my historical reading.

 

I'm also trying to plough through the books recommended by SWB in TWEM and those on the reading list of the Hillsdale Academy.

 

Wish I had the time to do more, but I just do a little now and then. Just finished Emily Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights' and just started 'The Epic of Gilgamesh'. Figured that even if I don't study the books, I should read them as a minimum.

 

There are plenty of Great Books lists out there, just pick any book off any list and keep going.

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Thank you for the links, Kareni. I am looking at them now. I had tried searching the site, but didn't really find anything, so that is great, thanks.

 

Laundrycrisis, what Latin text are you using? After reading on the forum, I've started thinking about learning Latin. I've heard especially that it helps improve your knowledge of English. I've been looking at Wheelock's, and there are study groups that I could join, and that would keep me motivated, but I've heard that there are others that are better.

 

Rosie, the Sri Lankan meal sounds great!

 

Tigersgrowl, that is great. I had to do that when I homeschooled, too. I think it's fantastic that you are so motivated and that you really care about learning.

 

It's interesting to read everyone's replies.

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Laundrycrisis, what Latin text are you using? After reading on the forum, I've started thinking about learning Latin. I've heard especially that it helps improve your knowledge of English. I've been looking at Wheelock's, and there are study groups that I could join, and that would keep me motivated, but I've heard that there are others that are better.

 

 

I am using this:

 

http://www.jcmckeown.com/

 

I bought the book and the workbook. Earlier in the year I corresponded with the publishing company about allowing people like me to have copies of the answers to the exercises in the book (the workbook comes with the answers). I still need to follow up about that. The author has a very nice set of sound files up on the website including the vocabulary for each chapter. He has also provided a lot of other interesting information. I can't wait to get into it !!!

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I kept lamenting the fact that I never managed to fit in a college biology course due to a hectic double major. Last spring DH got to take bio and I was really jealous.... So a couple of weeks ago I was leafing through his textbook and discovered that it is linked to online video lectures and even quizzes! I finished up chapter 2 today, and I am having so much fun relearning things I haven't seen since high school.

 

I am also working my way through the first level of Oxford Latin.

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Thanks for this thread! I guess I never really thought about what I do as self-education. To me, it's just hobbies and homeschooling.

 

I love to read about sustainable gardening, farming, and food preservation, and put the ideas into practice as much as I can.

 

I also read (almost all) of the great books I chose for my two oldest for their high school lit. That was a wonderful experience, and I'm trying to keep up with more books in a haphazard way. I just finished King Lear. It took me so long to finish it that it really didn't make sense! I'm going to read it again along with the Cliff's Notes.

 

GardenMom

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I'm going through the "Well Educated Mind" reading lists and reading SWB's "History of the Ancient World" as well as trying to keep a step ahead of my kids in Latin, Science and Math. Whew!

 

My dh insists that I should soon start taking CLEP tests to get those college credits.:tongue_smilie:

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Guest naters

There are a bunch of different camps that do this, located at different parts of the country (and world), offered by Joni and Friends. The camps are different: some are for children with disabilities, some are for parents or family members, and some are for families with at least one member with a disability. Learning disabilities are included in this- or can be.

 

They also have local workshops, and I have gone to one that I think raised the self-esteem of many of the participants, family and friends included. The founder, Joni eareckson Tada, was in a diving accident as a teenager that left her a quadruplegiac, and now, decades later, she and the organization that grew out of her inspirational stories have encouraged many people.

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I researched everything, planned everything (the year, how many classes I'll be doing, what days, how long, etc) and I do all my work. Sometimes my mom grades my Math and Science, sometimes I don't feel like waiting so I do it myself.

 

Your posts make me happy. It's probably pure vanity. This was me in high school, right down to the participation in a forum occupied mainly by parents. They called me an unschooler. I called myself an autodidact, and still do.

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