Raising Little Shoots Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Hello there I am setting out on a journey of formal self education. (I have always self educated, just did not plan & give it a formal title) :) I am wondering if there are any online groups out there dedicated to this topic? Any groups here on WTM? (I am new here, so not yet familiar) A place to discuss ideas, book, curriculum, motivation etc? thank you for reading! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 I am formally self-educating. This is the official self-educating subforum at this forum, but I spend more time at the k-8 forum than anywhere else. There is a lot of focus here, on rigor and transcripts and long fiction, which are totally boring subjects to me :-) I seem to be acting younger and younger as I get older. I've got some serious memory loss issues that encourage this, but it's much more than that. It's an attitude of awe and wonder at my fascinating world, that I am able to see more and more as I let go of the brainwashing of my youth and as I attempt to recover from my post trauma issues. To stop studying is to stop breathing for me. I need constant input to be able to sit still. Otherwise I need to pace, and I'm getting too old to pace nonstop :-) And it's expensive to replace the shoes I wear out :-) I once went to buy new hiking boots and the sales person who knew the model I had worn out had only come out 1 1/4 years before, asked me how I could possible have trashed a pair of premium boots so fast. He had been promising people that this model of boots would last for years. The treads were worn off, and the side of my bigger foot was actually blown out and gaping. He just kept holding the boot and looking back and forth from me to the boot in his hands, with this really upset and confused look on his face. And it's kind of dangerous to pace around the city after midnight, as I'm known to do. It's much safer to be posting here or watching a brainpop video. Last night I started my baseball unit study :-) That was all probably more than you wanted to know :-) Welcome fellow self-educator! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raising Little Shoots Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share Posted July 10, 2011 thank you for the welcome! I wish i had your energy : ) please may i ask if you would share a little about your own self education...perhaps how you plan your studies, keep organised etc with thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 As Hunter said, this is the right place! Start a thread whenever you feel inspired. My studies are on hiatus at the moment due to winter weather and two small people who don't nap; cabin fever is a common illness here at present. Generally speaking, when the weather is right and the stars are aligned, most of my self ed is inspired by the Rule Of "I Feel Like An Idiot Because I Don't Know That." Or occasionally, the "I'm Going To Feel Like An Idiot Within The Next Few Years If I Still Don't Know This" Rule. :) Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 HA! You don't want my energy! Trust me. It's hyperness from feeling chronically terrified and it's toxic to the body...or so they tell me, when they try to get me to take sedatives...which I will NOT take :-) I'm one of the few people in this country that the doctors BEG to take the good drugs :-0 I just tell them to "dart and net me", if they think they must! And I promise I will TRY and stay indoors after midnight. My main curricula is Students of the Word. I like to use the KJV Bible as my main literature text. There is no other piece of literature so well supported with study helps at every level, from cut and paste, to doctorate level lectures. Teaching with God's Heart for the World is a free Geography/Missions unit study that is supposed to be for one year, but It will take me YEARS to finish, as a supplement to SOW and with extra geography added to it. It gives me some nice structure and a more modern emphasis than sticking with just SOW. My PTSD is a major factor in my lack of faith, but despite not having faith, I have CHOSEN to structure my education around Christian materials and to follow the Christian holiday structure. The rhythm and structure are dependable and comfortable to me. I tried goddess based paganism for a bit, but after reading the Bible studies at abigails.org I was able to make peace with a patriarchal religion again. I use whatever materials I think are most efficient to learn what I currently want to learn. I don't care if it is a kindergarten book or a college textbook. Lately I'm having to assemble my resources with the ability to review. My memory loss is ongoing and huge gaps constantly reappear. So I use less library materials than I did, and I'm far more choosy about what I add to my list of things I want to master. Some stuff is fun enough to study that I don't care if I forget it. But in general, I'm having to have smaller and fewer goals, and must make the effort to aquire premium supplies to accomplish my goals. This month I am studying Genesis AGAIN with most of my language arts taught from it unit study style, our solar system, the beginning of world missions, baseball, and I have switched my handwriting font again, this time to the one used at spellingcity.com and in the Happy Scribe workbooks that were on sale for $1.00 at currclick this past week. This months artist is Jasper John's after I found a great picture of his painting of "Flags". Okay it's the 10th of the month and I've done zilch for music! My best friend works at a science museum and the queen bee took off with half the hive. We've been having a great time watching and studying the whole process of making a new queen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edithcrawley Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 (edited) I'm currently using whatever I can find really, be it textbooks at Goodwill or free lectures at Yale ( http://oyc.yale.edu/ ) MIT ( http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm ) Old PBS videos from ( http://www.learner.org/resources/browse.html ), as well as ( http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ ). Soon I'll start another language study here (possibly French): ( http://fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php ). I also do a lot of reading from books on project Gutenberg because they are free ebooks. This year I hope to get a good chunk of this: ( http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Harvard_Classics_%28Bookshelf%29) read. Right now, I'm working on a review of Geometry from a workbook called "Contemporary's Number Power Geometry" by Robert Mitchell and Donald Prickel (ISBN 0809255839) as well as a Geology Text called "Understanding Earth" 5th ed. by Grotzinger (ISBN 9780716766827), a Chem book calld "Chemistry" 7th ed. by Chang (ISBN 0073656011), plus a listening to music free lecture series (http://oyc.yale.edu/music/listening-to-music/) at the Yale website, a Wheelock's latin text (6th ed) from the library, an English grammar review book "Better Grammar in 30 minutes a day" (ISBN 1564142043) (this one starts out at the very beginning, so I am skipping around a bit. (because some of the latin grammar is tripping me up because I don't know what certain things are called in English). I'm also reading through all of Shakespeare's plays, an act every other day. Edited July 10, 2011 by jennifermarie adding source locations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Oh, and I'm making a giant and detailed map of my neighborhood. I thought is was my memory loss issues that were making it so hard for me to maneuver around it, but now I realize, as I map it, that it a WEIRD place. The fact that the "north" part of town is southeast of me was really throwing me off! The map is getting REALLY big. I want it to cover as far as I often walk in all directions...but that is pretty far...and may not be doable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raising Little Shoots Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share Posted July 10, 2011 Rosie, I really like your style! lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raising Little Shoots Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share Posted July 10, 2011 My PTSD is a major factor in my lack of faith, but despite not having faith, I have CHOSEN to structure my education around Christian materials and to follow the Christian holiday structure. The rhythm and structure are dependable and comfortable to me. I tried goddess based paganism for a bit, but after reading the Bible studies at abigails.org I was able to make peace with a patriarchal religion again. I really am inspired by your personal study & this part really surprised me! I had read your signature & assumed you were a Christian. I am a Christian, but I do not think i am your 'regular' Christian! I have a lot more questions than i have answers & I do not particularly share my faith, unless people ask. (Then I can talk & talk! lol!) One of the things I would like to study one day is the religion / faith of the early Britons (I am English) I find it so interesting - how people would relate to a Higher Power when they lived in the forests, reliant on the seasons, sun & stars etc. Nowadays we are so far removed from these things with electricity at our fingertips & a supermarket full of groceries in our towns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raising Little Shoots Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share Posted July 10, 2011 thank you so much for taking the time to share your links. I shall be investigating those! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raising Little Shoots Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share Posted July 10, 2011 again, that sounds really interesting. Mapmaking with Children: Sense of Place Education for the Elementary Years is a book I have used with my wee girls a few times. Inspiring! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 again, that sounds really interesting.Mapmaking with Children: Sense of Place Education for the Elementary Years is a book I have used with my wee girls a few times. Inspiring! What an awesome sounding book! It's on my wishlist. There are no cheap used copies and my library system doesn't have it. I'll have to look into interlibrary loan tomorrow. There are people here at this tarot forum who worship as you are speaking about. http://www.tarotforum.net/ I haven't visited the site in awhile, but in the past you had to pay a subscription fee to be able to use the spirituality sub forum, but you could sneak some free spirituality talk in, if you talked about an oracle or tarot deck that was of the theme of spirituality you are interested in. There are lots of tarot and oracle decks on pagan old Europe! You might like the Druidcraft to start with. Check it out at the tarot forum. I have chosen the Hebrew God as my diety. That is the best I can do right now, as far as faith. I'm told I may never have true faith is any diety again. We shall see. There are some wonderful ladies at the SOW board who pray for me, and maybe their faith will work a miracle :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raising Little Shoots Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 thank you for those links. What do you find is drawing you to the Hebrew God? Also, what is SOW? Please feel free to pm me if this is too private a discussion... Bx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingiguana Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 http://webcast.berkeley.edu/# A lot of the Berkeley lectures are pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raising Little Shoots Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Students of the Word curriculum. It's a 6 year unit study using the Bible as the main textbook. http://www.sowcurriculum.com/ Since my divorce and the loss of my entire community and family (I only have VERY limited contact with VERY few people), and my move to a bustling city, I'm very cut off from anything familiar. The KJV Bible is familiar. I didn't like the lack of a book when pagan. Tarot decks are a poor substitute for a holy book. Having an ancient book to quote is grounding and connecting. Christianity is also the most common religion of my community. It is grounding to be connected to my community, in as many ways as possible. Grounding is critical to trauma victims that experience any type of memory loss and disorganization. Paganism did provide cycles and ritual, but they didn't match up to the Christian predominant cycles of the 7 day week. Solstices, and new moons arrive at inconvenient times. Paganism was too lonely and inconvenient, and had no book. There is something very comforting to me about a leather-bound Bible in my hand. Well...once I was able to let go of some harmful patriarchal teachings, after reading the Bible studies at abigails.org or net or whatever it is. Humans are spiritual beings. We NEED spirituality to be healthy. I chose what was going to work HERE and NOW for me, to stabilize. It was a calculated choice :-0 I think a LOT of people do CHOOSE their faith, but do not realize they have done so. They prefer to think other things about how they ended up doing what they do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raising Little Shoots Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 golly, you have had some massive issues to deal with. I am really glad you have been able to find some sort of grounding in the Bible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ddgirl63 Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Hello Everyone, I re-started my personal study plan this month and finally got to sit down and get started on it this week. As I read TWTM again and again, I start to understand self-study more and more. I decided to start with the Logic stage approach to studying history. By this I mean I have put together my history binder as suggested in the book and I use the advanced history reference: History The Definitive Visual Guide by DK. My timeline is not a long roll of paper but a sketch book. I also purchased the National Geographic Family Reference Atlas and the Geography Coloring Book. I wanted to use The Chronological Study Bible but found instead a book entitled, Chronological Guide to the Bible. It's wonderful! I get to use the Bible that I already own instead of having to spend money on another one. I sit down for some period of time every day, if possible, and I work my way through my history reference as suggested in TWTM. I've incorporated some of the Rhetoric stage methodology by following the list of great books. I'm currently reading parts of the Old Testament and The Epic of Gilgamesh. I couldn't find the recommended version of the Gilgamesh book but the one that I did find is very good. I'm going to start practicing my outlining skills starting next week. So far it seems that my history notes have been more along the lines of the Grammar stage. Lol! Right now I'm also looking for a good grammar review text. There's one entitiled: Rex Barks: Diagramming Made Easy, that looks pretty good. It covers grammar review with diagramming. It sells for $22.21 on Amazon For now, my focus is just history. As I encounter other areas in my reading such as scientists, artists, etc, I will briefly read up on them, mark them on my timeline, and make a note of any that I may want to study further at another time. I'm wanting to review my grammar because I want to improve my writing skills. That's why I'm purchasing the above-mentioned title. Ok, that's it. Thanks for listening. I would love for us to share as we learn. Good luck to all of you. Denise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyP Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 I am trying to self educate. Some days go better than others. :) Finding time is a huge barrier but I may have finally found my groove. My two oldest have a quiet reading time after lunch while the littlest ones nap. That gives me about 45 minutes to devote to self study. I hope that I am also setting a good example for them. I have gone back and forth over where to start. My goal is to read at least 2 "Great Books" each year to get a head start on my kids. (I am reading Crime and Punishment right now) I plan on buying Analytical Grammar to work through this year. Next year I would like to start learning Latin. Math has always come pretty easy to me...but also left my brain pretty easy. I am putting that pretty low on the priority list for now. Oh, and I am teaching myself to play the piano - LOVE this! If you have not seen it, the WTM has some self ed ideas here. Good luck, Bluebell. I really enjoy hearing what you and others are doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 (edited) For grammar and writing I am using a few things, right now. I keep reading and rereading WRTR and several other Spalding S/Os. I have fallen in love with the Amish series Climbing to Good English and also Understanding Writing a curriculum that is heavily focused on letter writing. Diagramming is included in CGE and in 2 Riggs (a Spalding S/O) books I have. I have found it necesary to go all the way back to the grammar stage for English. Trying to master the logic stage English would be building on sand for me. I bought a used copy of MOH 1, but I'm so busy with my English I've barely looked at it. I'm listening to an audio version of History of Us on my ipod. Edited August 19, 2011 by Hunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 I am trying to self educate. Some days go better than others. :) Finding time is a huge barrier but I may have finally found my groove. My two oldest have a quiet reading time after lunch while the littlest ones nap. That gives me about 45 minutes to devote to self study. I hope that I am also setting a good example for them. I have gone back and forth over where to start. My goal is to read at least 2 "Great Books" each year to get a head start on my kids. (I am reading Crime and Punishment right now) I plan on buying Analytical Grammar to work through this year. Next year I would like to start learning Latin. Math has always come pretty easy to me...but also left my brain pretty easy. I am putting that pretty low on the priority list for now. Oh, and I am teaching myself to play the piano - LOVE this! If you have not seen it, the WTM has some self ed ideas here. Good luck, Bluebell. I really enjoy hearing what you and others are doing. TracyP, Thanks for the link, very helpful. :001_smile: Geo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth in WA Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 I'll be joining the new chapter per week Wheelock group on the Latinstudy list even though I can already help my kids with the work they are doing in the chapters in the early 20's. I am determined to work through reviewing my high school Latin in an organized fashion. I have taken to reading far more of my kids' high school literature selections out loud. Then we discuss during and after the reading and also have shared family references from the reading, even with my younger children. I read out loud up to an hour a day (and occasionally longer, when we are behind schedule) in this process. I read for my own self education for half an hour to an hour after I go to bed, but not in a preplanned, organized fashion. On occasion, I substitute this reading with mind candy and don't feel too guilty about it. Does reading these forums count as self-education? :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 The toddler is letting me do a little bit of study more often now, as long as I don't get too carried away and try to do anything really substantial. :rolleyes: So a few times each week I've been doing a chapter of SWB's Ancient History book. I don't really like it, but never mind. I couldn't even get through the first chapter of Wheelocks because I couldn't memorise the vocab, so I bought a Latin roots program, and that is working nicely. I can only learn a word every few days, but that's better than none! :) Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyP Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 TracyP, Thanks for the link, very helpful. :001_smile: Geo You're welcome. Does reading these forums count as self-education? :lol: It should.:D My time spent in self-ed just went drastically higher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yabusame Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Hi all, Just wanted to jump in and welcome a fellow Englishman.. Er, English Rose, to the forums. I consider self-education a life-long endeavour. Sometimes I have a lot of free time to pursue my studies and sometimes I don't. I purchased SWB's The Well-Educated Mind a couple of years ago. This is a study guide and reading list of great books which she has broken down into genre. I rewrote the list in chronological order and I am working my way through it at one epoch per year. I'm currently on the Early Modern age. Each year I move onto the next epoch (next year will be the Modern age) and it's a four year cycle with the following: Ancient/Classical World Medieval World Early Modern World Modern World That's what I'm doing at the moment. A couple of years ago I was studying the piano and once in a blue moon I take a look at The Teaching Company's High School maths course too. Life gets in the way, but I do what I can when I can. The key is to keep going and not regret what you can not change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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