X-Post Do you think it is possible that this is as educated as I can get?

[Luanne]

I can't seem to remember stuff that I have tried to learn. I have taken notes and tried to reread the notes ... maybe this is as good as it is going to get? I don't know what to do.

[Luanne]

I can't seem to remember stuff that I have tried to learn. I have taken notes and tried to reread the notes ... maybe this is as good as it is going to get? I don't know what to do.

[Melanie]

Sometimes I feel that way, too. I find myself wishing I could remove some trivial bit of knowledge to make room for the new stuff! Have you tried taking a break from what you are studying and coming back to it later? Sometimes that helps me.

[Luanne]

I can't seem to remember stuff that I have tried to learn. I have taken notes and tried to reread the notes ... maybe this is as good as it is going to get? I don't know what to do.

[DollyM]

It's certainly true for me. I just can't learn new things. I'm fearful of a new cell phone so I'm carrying the one I originally got in 1993. No kidding. It's embarassing, but a "new phone" just sounds wayyy too challenging for me these days. Sigh. I know for a fact I cannot learn calculus. Couldn't then, and certainly cannot now.

[Sahamamama]

I realize that someone might disagree with this, but in my experience, sometimes it takes years to really learn something.

 

What are you trying to learn? It might help to limit your attention to one "subject," and to spend 4-6 months only on that subject. Don't spread yourself too thin by tackling everything at once.

 

First, make a plan for your "Course of Study." Find/research the resources that you want to use. For example, if you are studying American History, you would want a resource that would cover the time period you are going to focus on. You might find this to be a book or an audio resource. You might benefit from a resource with study questions/learning helps (such as outlines, pull-outs, boxes, charts, etc.)

 

Next, look through the book (if it is a book) and see how it is structured. How many chapters? How many pages? Charts? Photos? Decide how much study time you have each day/week and write down your study plan:

 

Monday --- Read Chapter 1

Tuesday --- Read Chapter 1 again; close the book & outline the chapter

Wednesday -- Go to Chapter 1 and compare it to your outline

 

Another idea might be to read "How to Read a Book" by Mortimer Adler. This could give you some pointers on how to study/read for better learning.

 

Check your library for books about how to study/learn better. There are resources to help you learn how you learn!

 

Are you an auditory learner (what you hear)? Are you a visual learner (what you see)? Are you a tactile/kinesthetic learner (what you touch/move)? Learn what you can about learning styles -- and go with your strengths whenever possible.

 

Do you need a different study environment? Some people study best with background music (classical is nice), but others need quiet surroundings.

 

What about studying at a different time of day?

 

Eat a high-protein snack before study periods.

 

Study with a study-partner or a group if that helps you.

 

Most importantly, if life-long learning is important to you, don't give up!

 

Pray, and ask God to help you learn. If you trust him to help you, He will! HTH.

[Vida Winter]

Keep reading. Everything you can. I guarantee you will keep learning, even if some things are forgotten. Forget the notes, those don't stay with me either (unless in the margins of my books).

[Trivium Academy]

No, sometimes you need time to marinate in what you've learned for it to sink in. Everything you read and do is beneficial, even if it takes your brain a little time to wake up. Try to take the emotional element out of learning and just have fun with it. Get a buddy to talk with, reading The Iliad was a lot more fun with others than it would have been by myself.

 

Taking notes is a way to own the information, but so is narrating what you read to someone else. It might be more satisfying to start a blog for your learning notes, to give yourself some accountability and if you don't have someone in real life to share this with, you'll have the world wide web. Just an idea.

[Tracey in TX]

Understand HOW you learn is the key to continuing to learn. For example when a new acquaintance tells you her name, do you remember it? I don't b/c I'm not an auditory learner. However, if I see the name on a business card or spell it on my fingers (sign language), it's permanently in my brain. It involved two additional forms of senses: sight and touch.

 

Rather than writing things down, what about making it tactile or recording it to hear/watch again? If you write it down, try a different format: printing, using notecards, colored marker instead of pen. Some of these little tricks have helped me through high school and college.

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

I agree, I learn much more if I am watching and listening as well as writing. I have been through 3 cycles of world history with my kids, but I learned a trememdous amount just sitting in a world history class last winter.

I also helps to have a specific goal, other than just learning for the sake of learning. Assign yourself an essay or report with a particular topic that interests you. That is so much more productive than just taking notes for nothing in particular.

[jacqui in mo]

It's called The Brain that Changes Itself. It's a very interesting read & absolutely confirms that we can continue to learn. However, the best way to really learn something is to, as Jessica said, "marinate" or immerse yourself. People who go to another country to learn its language learn it really well because they are forced to rely on the new language. The brain makes more neural connections & a new brain map for the new knowledge when the study is concentrated. That part, to find enough time, is what is hard for us homeschooling moms to do.

 

I highly recommend reading the book (in all your spare time:)) with one caveat. Chapter 4 deals with sexuality & the brain (nothing wrong there) but it describes a little too vividly some of the porn sites that attract & addict men. I had to skim a lot of that chapter so I wouldn't need the brain bleach so much.:tongue_smilie: Otherwise the book is very encouraging about our brains capabilities!

 

Jacqui

[Plaid Dad]

To add a little to what Tracey said - great post! - you can try an experiment. Instead of reading a particular book, listen to an audio version. Do you find your recall is better? If so, you are probably an auditory learner and will do well listening to audiobooks and lectures (e.g., Teaching Company) alongside your reading.

 

Another thing to consider is what you're trying to remember. In my experience, most people don't remember every little detail of what they read, nor do they have to. Do you remember the basic plot of a novel? Or the main idea of a non-fiction book? That's probably about average.

 

Also, the more challenging the book, the more times you may need to read it before you feel like you're getting at the heart of it. There is a big difference between reading a book and studying it. That's the principle behind the short reading lists in LCC, btw. Kids should read many, many books during their school years, but only a small fraction of those are worth deep study, imo, at least for a teen. And some books really are "throw-aways." You read them, you get it, you go on to the next thing. That's okay, too.

 

Finally, people remember best when they are able to link new information to what they already know. It's easier to do this if you stick to one topic for a while. Instead of reading one book about a new-to-you subject, read two or three. Listen to a Teaching Company lecture. Write about what you're reading. You'll find the whole subject coming together for you.

 

Self-education is a life-long project. It will never be done, and thank goodness for that! I can't imagine life without another classic to read. :)

[Ms. Riding Hood]

I can't seem to remember stuff that I have tried to learn. I have taken notes and tried to reread the notes ... maybe this is as good as it is going to get? I don't know what to do.

 

Don't have any advice, but I often feel like this! At least in our family, it almost seems like a difference between people. Ds can remember anything after reading it once. In fact, all my ds's are wired like that, and one dd, too. But another dd and myself just never quite seem to get it and keep it. It's that way with "school" subjects and also with more everyday things like people's names. For instance, I can talk to someone that I *know* and just go absolutely blank on that person's name. It's awful! Or I can read a fact in a history book, but then when I try to repeat it to someone I get all confused on the details...even though I just read it, and found it impressive enough to want to remember it. It's frustrating!!! But then again, I'm not trying to take any big exams, etc. Are you studying for something?

[Peela]

Hi Luanne,

I have noticed you have written a lot of messages lately regarding trying to self educate. Are you a bit stressed about it?

Why don't you just relax and enjoy yourself? Have you set yourself an impossible goal, and are you now self flagellating because you can't meet it?

I find I remember what I am keenly interested in, but my memory is certainly not what it used to be.

I can remember highschool algebra and my credit card number and all my bank account numbers but I sometimes cant remember what I did yesterday or my best friend's name. So be it.

What is your motivation for so much hard work? Of course self education is a worthy goal, but what is the cost? Are you having fun, feeling enriched, growing as a person?

You can keep learning your whole life, but maybe you need to find a way of learning that works for you (listening to lectures, watching documentaries, reading books? ) rather than thinking it has to be a certain way.

My husband comes out with amazing comments at times - he doesn't read at all, but he watches lots of documentaries and has given himself an awesome general world education over the last decade with them. he keeps up with the news. It's not a "classical" education, but education is education, if you are engaged with it.

What is your passion?

[Beth in Central TX]

I realize that someone might disagree with this, but in my experience, sometimes it takes years to really learn something.

 

My boys are able to memorize & learn so much faster than I do. I've found that I need more than one exposure over a period of time for something for it to stick.

 

I started studying grammar more than a year ago. I tried Harveys first for a quick review, but it didn't really help. Then I did both of the Jensen's workbooks, Grammar and Punctuation, on top of that. I'm finally starting to understand more of the advanced grammar topics which is good because we are at the end of R&S grammar 6, and I can explain what we are doing. However, I have been studying this for what seems like forever, and I'm just getting to this point. I'm glad I didn't wait until now to start learning. We are finishing up our 4th year of Latin which I think is helping too.

 

I'll agree that the process of learning as an adult can be frustrating, but don't lose hope. I think Sahamamama gave you some great advice. In my experience there is a limit to what I can do based on normal factors of time, energy, and learning style. I could not learn Greek. Luckily, DH took over that subject. I generally pick one or two subjects to work on at a time, and then I move on. Right now, I'm studying Wheelock's Latin and Modern Algebra Book 1.

 

Good luck on your adventure to self-educate. I have found it to be a very rewarding experience.

[WTMindy]

I have a terrible memory for trivia and factual things. I have to learn things several times before it sticks into my brain unless I have to use it regularly. But, that is one of the great things about repeating the history cycle with my kids. I am now on the second rotation and it is like a wonderful review of the things we did the first time and I can take it a little deeper. I do love to read and read a ton, however.

 

Be patient with yourself. Don't look at this as a short term fix, but a life-long habit of self education. Don't be frustrated by what you can't remember, but celebrate the books you have read and things you have discovered.

[LisaNY]

I agree with Peela.

 

If I am guessing correctly, you haven't been at this self-education journey for very long. Give yourself time. Learning is a process. (Now you can sympathize with your children as they hit their bumps in the road. :001_smile:)

 

I don't know how many dc you have, or what their ages/grades are. If they are at the stage where they demand a lot of your time and attention, you need to take that into account. Take small steps, and don't try to take on too much all at once.

 

I began self-educating in Latin a few years ago, and it was rough-going for me. It took a while for my brain to acclimate itself to the rigors of self-study. I, too, got very discouraged at my slow progress. However, I am finding that I am getting much better at this whole thing called learning. We are truly blazing new trails in our brains, and cutting new pathways. :001_smile: It takes some time, but you will see positive results if you stick with it.

 

ETA: I almost forgot - Here's a round of applause for you for deciding to take on a worthy goal :hurray::hurray:

[PeterPan]

Luann, don't even try... Just give in and make cheat sheets for everything. Could be age, lack of fresh air (take a walk to help clear your head), not matching your learning style (maybe you're an auditory learner and writing notes doesn't help?), etc. Whatever it is, you don't HAVE to learn the material to teach it. What you do have to do is know where to get the answers. So go through and make your notes, make charts, whatever makes it make sense to you at the moment, then slide that in a page protector and stick it in your tm, all ready to go. I do this with latin and anything else I don't care to expend brain power on. I don't have a lot of brain power anyway, and I certainly don't need to waste it on something I don't care about. If I learn it, I learn it. If not, at least I have the answers handy to guide me in teaching.

[dragons in the flower bed]

No, I think you haven't given it enough time. Education is built up over years of being re-exposed to the same concepts.

 

I first met Aesop as a preschooler, then again in the Gospels during my first communion classes, in junior high when I was studying ancient civilizations, and as an adolescent pursuing a hobby in Hellenic religion. Only as an adult in my twenties did I begin to apply what he taught, being able to remember and articulate the story, the moral, it's context in different fields, and generally expound upon it for paragraphs and paragraphs.

 

Once you read a book, you have planted a seed. Every time you read a book o have another experience that references the earlier book, you've provided water and sunshine. Germination will happen in it's own time. You must be patient, and keep exposing yourself to those most enriching experiences.

[lllll]

I'm 52 now and trying to relearn Algebra, attempting Logic and Latin (never had either), reading some of the GB's for the first time ever, started Biblical Greek a year ago and just now got into something besides the alphabet (!), and so on. I find I have to read things like Latin and Greek and Logic over and over and over and... It also helps to write them over and over on paper, a small whiteboard, anything. I think I must have read the first few chapters in the Frank Allen Alg. I book about 6-8 times now. But eventually it begins to sink in and it's such a relief to know that my brain still works. :)

 

I also make note cards and drill myself. And I take notes, but find I have to read them over a couple times and then take notes from my notes!

 

I refuse to accept the idea that we're all essentially brain-dead after we leave our 20's. If that's the case, what's the use in trying *any*thing!?! I mean, for all I know I'm only halfway through my life at this point. ;)

 

So don't give up. Just keep playing around with it until you find what works best for you. You'll get it eventually, IMHO.

 

KathyP

[Michelle in MO]

Self-education is a lifelong process. Don't be too hard on yourself! We're all kind of in the same boat---many of us are learning things for the first time, or trying to re-learn things we wish we had learned better in high school (or have forgotten since then!)

 

I'm relearning algebra and geometry, and sometimes I'm ahead of my two girls, and sometimes my oldest one passes me up! That's going to happen sometimes!

 

I was a language major in college; however, when we worked through Henle I Latin, I found that I had the most difficult time with memorizing the Latin verbs beyond the very basic forms. I could easily recite the present, imperfect, and future active forms and the perfect forms. Beyond that, I started to get completely lost!

 

I do think our memories are much sharper when we're younger, but don't give up the process. Your hard efforts will pay off---just be patient with yourself. :)

[profmom]

No, I don't think you've peaked and can no longer learn. :grouphug: I think you may be like me in that I'm realizing more and more what I don't know and want to remedy that in a hurry! Just take it one step at a time.

 

Also, I wanted to encourage you in this -- don't give up when you try studying and it doesn't seem to stick at first. I took an online Latin class this semester and found that words and declensions that I wasn't already familiar with (from Prima Latina 3 years ago or through similar English or Spanish vocabulary) weren't sticking well. Since I had signed up for the class, I kept studying and found that they did eventually stick with consistent study. After a little bit, I learned to just keep going over the material and it would eventually make perfect sense! (It's much easier for my dc, which makes me all the more glad that they are learning Latin and Greek at a young age.)

 

Be sure your plans are realistic (not everything at once) and stay consistent. You can do it! Over time your efforts will really add up.

[LisaNY]

I was a language major in college; however, when we worked through Henle I Latin, I found that I had the most difficult time with memorizing the Latin verbs beyond the very basic forms. I could easily recite the present, imperfect, and future active forms and the perfect forms. Beyond that, I started to get completely lost!

 

 

 

You too, huh? :blink: I was SO GOOD at Spanish in high school and college. I found it practically effortless to manage all of those forms. Now, I *really* have to work at it! ugh!