Self-education (for my daughter and myself)

[Luanne]

My 24 year old daughter and I both want to do some kind of rigorous self-education. Neither of us received a very good education while in school. I went to public school in the 1970s and early 1980s. She did an online program that proved to be less than adequate.

 

Which of the programs I mentioned do you think would work best for us? If other, please tell me what that other is.

 

We both currently have quite a bit of time to be working on this so we decided now is the time to do it.

 

Thanks for all who respond.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Are you concentrating on history and literature? If so, I would do the Well Educated Mind books.

[Element]

Is there any reason you chose to include WTM on your poll options instead of WEM? I'm just curious.

[regentrude]

History and literature? WTM rhetoric is great.

Science and math? I'd choose something else.

[Luanne]

I'm really looking to cover all topics of education. I want to do science and math as well as the other subjects. My daughter hasn't even had Algebra 1 yet. I don't want to spend a lot of time pulling something together myself. I also don't have a lot of money right now so am taking that into consideration as well.

[Kim in Appalachia]

I'm unsure how to answer the pole, because I don't know what your goals are. If you want to basically redo high-school then I would go with WTM. I would look at Khan academy for help with science (and maybe math). Ambleside has a great reading schedule, so you could use that to help out. Or, if you are wanting to learn how to do more analysis you could get Progeny Press guides (or some sort of lit guides) and work through them with a book. And maybe the both of you could take a comp class at a local college. It's helpful to have input when it comes to writing.

[Trilliums]

Khan academy

Coursera

Udacity

iTunes University

 

WEM and the library.

[Catwoman]

I'm not sure if you want a complete curriculum with textbooks and stuff like that, or if you and your dd just want to be more well-rounded in general.

 

Have you considered any of the Teaching Company courses? Many libraries have them, so you might not even have to buy them. There are also the free MIT courses, and Khan Academy (as Kim already mentioned.) You could also get one of those "50 great books" lists and just start reading. I think Jean's recommendation of using The Well Educated Mind is excellent.

 

I think you should start by choosing your favorite subject and working from there. I don't know how much time you have to put into your self-education, so my best advice is to start slowly with something that interests you, and learn as much about it as you can before moving on to the next thing.

 

I think what you're doing is very cool!!! :thumbup:

[Jean in Newcastle]

I agree with Khan Academy for math and science. I would go through it systematically.

Personally, I would still do WEM instead of WTM unless you wanted the practice in writing academic papers. WEM still takes you through analysis.

[Catwoman]

I agree with Khan Academy for math and science. I would go through it systematically.

Personally, I would still do WEM instead of WTM unless you wanted the practice in writing academic papers. WEM still takes you through analysis.

 

 

:iagree:

 

I think WEM will give you an excellent framework, without the "kid stuff" in WTM, that you probably don't need at this point in your lives.

[WTMCassandra]

The Well-Educated Mind was written for just this purpose. I would also reference WTM Rhetoric Stage somewhat. Since that was the closest option on your poll, I chose that one.

[Jayne J]

I just typed up a big long response, after voting "other." Then I went and looked at my 2009 WTM and realized that my response was just about the same thing. So I changed my vote to WTM rhetoric stage. LOL!

The 2009 edition suggests using TWEM for Great Books study anyway... I would probably not do the entire line-up--I have no desire to learn to debate, do science experiments/labs or prep for my SATs :) but the rest looks really good for an adult who wants to catch up. Khan Academy is free and could replace resources for subjects that are generally pretty expensive.

I would also add Teaching Company courses, if my library carried them.

[TechWife]

I think you should pick an area/subject/topic that interests you and start at your library. If you're still interested after you've gone through everything they have, look for web resources & search through the curriculum sites that you know of that might have something relevant.

 

For example, I want to brush up on my math, I may be taking the GRE or GMAT in a few years. I worked on some Keys to Algebra, checked out a few web sites & found some good reference books, like How to Solve Word Problems. None of this led me to the point of mastery, so I looked a various curricula & settled on AOPS. My book came this week and I am starting to work through it.

 

My other strong interests are history and geography, I'm putting off a systematic study of those for now. When I start history, I"m going to grab one of the books we have (DK books recommended in TWTM or TWEM, I don't remember which), start reading and start a timeline. I plan for my timeline to be comprehensive, so I'll just add to it as I read and study various topics. I'll probably start working on Geography as I read history.

 

Not very systematic, but I think it will work for me.

[Kendall]

It depends on how many things you want to tackle.

 

You could do Algebra I. I think you could just get a copy or two of the same text cheap. Odd answers in the back will probably be enough. Come here if you get stuck on a problem.

 

Have a good quality literature book going and talk about it. I like the WEM, but you don't have to start with the first book(Don Quixote). Or alternate a literature book with a non fiction book.

 

Write something daily. Read books on writing. Or do the first 10 weeks of Writing With Skill (download the sample at the Peacehillpress site).

 

Having several things going gives you options. I can do math under conditions I can't read a book under or can't write under. Figure out when you do which things best.

 

Or just do Algebra I until it's done and then move on to something else.

[Luanne]

It depends on how many things you want to tackle.

 

You could do Algebra I. I think you could just get a copy or two of the same text cheap. Odd answers in the back will probably be enough. Come here if you get stuck on a problem.

 

Have a good quality literature book going and talk about it. I like the WEM, but you don't have to start with the first book(Don Quixote). Or alternate a literature book with a non fiction book.

 

Write something daily. Read books on writing. Or do the first 10 weeks of Writing With Skill (download the sample at the Peacehillpress site).

 

Having several things going gives you options. I can do math under conditions I can't read a book under or can't write under. Figure out when you do which things best.

 

Or just do Algebra I until it's done and then move on to something else.

 

 

We already own Saxon Algebra 1 with the DIVE CD. Would this be good to use?

[Luanne]

double post

[WTMCassandra]

Have a good quality literature book going and talk about it. I like the WEM, but you don't have to start with the first book(Don Quixote). Or alternate a literature book with a non fiction book.

 

Yes, she is right. I had forgotten this. It's too bad that Don Quixote is the first book listed. That could turn people off WEM for good right there! LOL. Read some summaries in WEM and start with a book that sounds interesting to you.

[Luanne]

 

Yes, she is right. I had forgotten this. It's too bad that Don Quixote is the first book listed. That could turn people off WEM for good right there! LOL. Read some summaries in WEM and start with a book that sounds interesting to you.

 

Maybe that is why I never could get past the beginning of that book.

[El...]

Maybe that is why I never could get past the beginning of that book.

I made it through Don Quixote! Now I like it and am laughing over the jokes as I start my second pass. It is FULL of puns, slurs and wisecracks. However, I could understand starting somewhere else. It was a lot of work and took me about 6 months of erratic reading. I'd recommend SWB's History of the World books along with any other reading. I'm learning things every single chapter, and I was an undergrad history major. :o

[mumto2]

The Annenburg Learner website is also quite interesting.

 

Saylor University is another place to look. It is a free university that is still in it's early stages. There are quizzes built in and certificates at the end of courses. Everything I have looked at used online resources.

 

Khan academy for algebra would be my recommendation. I did vote for WTM rhetoric and also think it could work well.

[Tullia]

I'd suggest a combination so I voted "other". Khan Academy, Teaching Company, and WEM would be on my list. I've also picked up where we left off with Classical Writing and Lingua Latina when my son graduated, and am drawing on Charlotte Mason resources for art, music and nature journal. It's nice to be able to work at my own pace again. :001_smile:

[Kendall]

 

 

We already own Saxon Algebra 1 with the DIVE CD. Would this be good to use?

 

 

 

I think Saxon is a bit boring, but you already have it. You don't have to do it as written. So you could make it less boring. As an adult learner you may well find that you can learn it with less work and less time than a high school Algebra I student. Don't feel like you have to do every problem. When you know you can do it, skip it.

 

If you decide after using it awhile that you want something different, then just do end of chapter reviews in another text until you get to material that is new.

 

I think as an adult learner, just do something is a good place to start. And as a mother of many I have learned that doing something in small increments really adds up. If I had larger blocks of time I would love it, but I don't so 10 minutes here 10 minutes there really does add up.

[Julie of KY]

I liked using Excellence in Literature for myself. There are some samples that you can download and try out for free. I like the direction given for going in different directions based on a piece of literature.