What are you thinking about? (For Self Ed wannabes :P)

[Nan in Mass]

 

 

If you blinked, you'd miss my library. They don't even have a documentary about the solar system.

 

 

The other thing I'm thinking about atm is lichen. Dd did a journal page entry about it several weeks ago and we've had rains since. Now the stuff actually looks alive! I like lichen. Don't know why. It's just one of those things that are happy about life.

 

 

Lichen is very very cool. I like it, too.

 

: )

Nan

[DarlaS]

I'm working my way through the 60 lecture Joy of Science course with Professor Hazen. It's self-ed with a purpose; I'm teaching Apologia's General Science at our co-op next year and wanted more background info and a better science overview for myself first (and refreshing my taking notes from a lecture skills).

 

Also skimming and skipping through Starting Strength and The New Rules of Lifting for Women along with trying to rehabilitate a bad shoulder, and learn Tang So Do (just started again).

[justamouse]

I've been taking a class on Health and Nutrition from Coursera. I can't see myself earning a certificate either. I'd love to be in-person in classes like this. I've borrowed Michael Moss' Salt Sugar Fat from the library for the second time (14 day book with a waiting list). I don't know how much I'll get through in this 14 days. I'd much rather be in-person in a classroom.

 

You might like the Weston Price foundation. Not GF, but, you can start to piece together where all the bread went wrong. And Fallon's Nourishing Traditions and all of the shoot off blogs out there.

[ChristineMM]

I just started watching Turning Points in American History w DS15 (part of his US History homeschool course I designed) - TTC / Great Courses.

 

Today I am starting TTC course about photography.

 

I just finished reading a nonfiction book on bullying and teen social issues: Sticks and Stones. Last month I finished Salt, Sugar, Fat by Moss and learned a lot about the history of processed food in America and that industry and about health problems causes by food.

 

I have been watching YouTube tutorials on art techniques and finally did some monoprinting using a gelatin plate made with Knox gelatin from the grocery store.

 

I am reading and learning from lectures about gardening in my new zone 9. I have designed and planted herbs, veg, and flowers, and citrus and fruit trees here. So different in Houston than in CT.

 

Glad to hear others are learning things too.

[ChristineMM]

 

I reserved a book called Wheat Belly from the library.

 

My intro was an in person lecture by the author/doctor in Feb. I found a 2 part video on YouTube that is essentially the same talk I heard. It is 1 hour long I believe. Check it out!

 

I didn't read the book but bought the cookbook which he said for desserts is mainly for occasional use.

 

I have been 90-95% grain free since about March 1 and have lost 16 pounds without changing one other single thing.

 

Good luck on the Wheat Belly journey.

[ChristineMM]

 

 

 

Lichen

 

-- I love lichen! Read an article somewhere last year saying it is quite ignored by science and its exploration is in its infancy! Not much is known about it. The scientist who loves it said it is a field that he thinks will explode, may have medicinal uses etc.

[Chrysalis Academy]

 

You have an amazingly full intellectual plate!

 

Truth? It's my "pay" for homeschooling - the license to pursue intellectual interests, read, learn, and grow as a person. If I didn't have these things, and permission-from-self to pursue them, I'd probably go nuts. And, when it's preparing me to be a better teacher, and modelling for my girls how to be a lifelong learner, what's the downside?

 

Oh, yeah, it's that I don't actually get paid for this stuff, so the other thing I'm thinking about a lot these days is how to live well, more frugally. . . . :leaving:

[Tress]

 

 

Truth? It's my "pay" for homeschooling - the license to pursue intellectual interests, read, learn, and grow as a person. If I didn't have these things, and permission-from-self to pursue them, I'd probably go nuts. And, when it's preparing me to be a better teacher, and modelling for my girls how to be a lifelong learner, what's the downside?

 

Oh, yeah, it's that I don't actually get paid for this stuff, so the other thing I'm thinking about a lot these days is how to live well, more frugally. . . . :leaving:

 

Absolutely this!

[MicheleinMN]

I'm watching the TC Writing dvd set - (I forget the correct name of it). And I just had a friend ask about doing some Spanish together. And I'm hoping to work through the A Workbook for Arguments book over the summer with a different friend. Now to just get motivated enough to actually DO anything.

[Matryoshka]

I'm not sure it counts as self-ed, but I just finished a course in medical interpreting. Now I just have to get around to applying for positions...

 

I've been reading a fair amount - I just finished the Cementerio de los libros olvidados (Cemetery of Forgotten Books) trilogy by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. I started a Spanish language book-group (we read book 2 of that series for our first book), and next is El sari rojo, which is about the Rajiv and Sonia Ghandi (but originally written in Spanish, oddly).

 

I'd also like to do some more reading in German - I'm part-way through a YA historical fiction about Catherine the great of Russia, and I just got recommended to me a series of novels in German about New Zealand (another odd combo - first title is Im Land der weißen Wolke which they've translated as In the Land of the Long White Cloud).

 

I've also been doing some non-fiction reading - I just finished reading a book my brother gave me for Christmas called Stone by Stone: the Magnificent History of New England's Stone Walls which mixes both geology and history. On my to-read list are Swerve and 1493 (since I loved 1491).

 

Haven't been using much video for self-study lately. A course right now seems like too much of a commitment, and when I sit in front of the TV, I seem to end up with lighter fare (need to get back to the Novas!) I did just watch War & Peace with Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda on Netflix (with dd because she was learning about Napoleon and the Romanovs), and now I'm thinking I'd like to read it - I read Anna Karenina a year or two back and really liked it.

[Candid]

I'm slowly making my way through the book of James wit Douglas Moo as my tour guide. He's heavy on socio-rhetorical commentary which I like.

 

I've bottomed out on the anti-Federalist papers and I doubt I will continue with them. This means I should move onto the Civil War as Theological Conflict.

 

And I have an ongoing project of studying debate going on. In case anyone is wondering, I've decided high school students should probably steer clear of doing critiques.

[Rosie_0801]

I've finally started the Nuclear Power course from Coursera! I've been waiting for this for *months!*

[JudyJudyJudy]

After reading Wheat Belly and Ultra Mind Solution, I decided to give up gluten for 6 weeks. I felt mentally sharper. When I added it back in, I got noticeably more forgetful. I am now gluten-free at home. I try to be gluten-free when I eat away from home, but I don't make myself (too) crazy about it. While I am far from photographic memory land, my memory has definitely improved.

 

My mother passed away at age 87 after suffering with dementia for 5 years. :crying:

 

I haven't read either of those books, but I've read a lot of other books, websites, and studies about gluten. I'm now gluten-, yeast-, and soy-free, and pretty much free of all food additives like preservatives, food dyes, and flavor enhancers. Since changing my diet, my health has improved tremendously. Not only is my mind sharper, but my mental and physical health are better as well. I'm less prone to depression and emotional outbursts (my husband and son even noticed the difference), and I no longer have symptoms of fibromyalgia or arthritis (unless I'm around fragrances), IBS, hypoglycemia, etc. Also, after years of taking thyroid meds, I was able to wean off them. I still have some significant health issues (I have lots of food allergies and extreme chemical sensitivities, which limit my life greatly, and I continue to have some symptoms of Sjogren's), but I feel so much better overall that I can't see myself ever going back to my old diet.

[JudyJudyJudy]

When I am finally done with caring for my dying father, I plan on doing a few Coursera courses, beefing up (and, ahem, actually watching/listening to) my TC collection, probably getting around to reading Charlotte Mason's words rather than someone's interpretation of her ideas, possibly actually learning Algebra even though I always made As in my math classes, and finding good resources about being a good teacher. My oldest will be in 8th grade. I really need to buckle down and focus this year. I want to give all my kids the best of myself, so I'm hoping to really improve my knowledge base and teaching skills.

 

I'm so sorry to hear about your father.

[Rosie_0801]

Isn't etymology one of the coolest things ever?

[TracyP]

I am coming off a 6 week evolution binge. I am embarrassed to admit how uninformed I was - I thought I understood evolution, but I had no clue. And like most things, the more I learned, the more aware I became that I still have so much more to learn. I read On the Origins of Species, Your Inner Fish, and Why Evolution is True. It has been a long time since I have been so intrigued by a subject. There are so many areas of science that converge to put the puzzle pieces together. I find it beautiful and amazing, so evolution is what I am thinking about.

 

My library carries many TC lectures on CD. I save a lot of money by checking them out instead of purchasing them. Bach and the High Baroque is one of my favorites! Perhaps you can check your library?

 

Wow. Until now, I had never thought to check my library, but it carries over 50 lectures. Thank you!

[dangermom]

Why Evolution is True was so great the 98% of the time that he talked about animals and fossils, and really annoying when he talked about religion. More fossils! There are some other great books out there that are similar.

 

I am reading Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, which I'm liking more than I expected to, and G. K. Chesterton's biographical sketch of St. Thomas Aquinas.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Why Evolution is True was so great the 98% of the time that he talked about animals and fossils, and really annoying when he talked about religion. More fossils! There are some other great books out there that are similar.

 

I am reading Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, which I'm liking more than I expected to, and G. K. Chesterton's biographical sketch of St. Thomas Aquinas.

 

My book group did that last year, and I really enjoyed it too - after having tossed it aside as a 20-something. I think it's one of those books you need a little . . . maturity . . . to appreciate, don't you?

 

However, I can't get through the first section of To the Lighthouse. I've tried 3 times now, but just keep falling asleep. :leaving: :lol:

[Rosie_0801]

We're back from three days of nature study tours across the state. All dd wanted to put in her nature journal was the pelican we saw on a lake as we drove by at 80km/hr. :rolleyes:

 

We also got to see some rock art, which we've been "studying" recently. I guess some of it has been sinking in because she told my brother "we read that story in school with Mamma." :) There's a picture here of what we went to see :)

[Hunter]

Lichen are fascinating. I studied quite a bit about them last year. I didn't even know what they were until I read an article that talked about how common they are, and I immediately wanted to know about this common thing I had never heard of. Then to find out what they were, kept me going for a long time.

 

Shakespeare. I wish I loved it. It's on all the lists, and you can buy complete collections on thin paper with small text, like a Bible. The IDEA appeals to my minimalist style, but I just cannot work up any enthusiasm for the works. I keep trying though.

 

What I've been doing lately is to see how much curriculum I can put on my android phone. I'm out and about ALL the time lately, without access to my home library. I'm giving my curriculum a total overhaul to accommodate my current mobileness.

 

I also like the privacy the smaller screen affords me. People are always so nosey about what I'm studying. Studying is my drug of choice when I'm anxious, and I'm nervous all the time; I always have my nose in a screen or a book. I can hold the screen even while standing on a bus or train, or waiting in line.

[Rosie_0801]

Bumping this old thread, not because I haven't thought at all since June :p  but because I'm having such fun watching The Complete Series One of How the Earth Was Made.

Cool stuff! You should all watch it too!

[Tress]

Bumping this old thread, not because I haven't thought at all since June :p  but because I'm having such fun watching The Complete Series One of How the Earth Was Made.

Cool stuff! You should all watch it too!

 

That sounds like fun!

 

I've been working hard on Latin (Caesar) en I have started Ancient Greek (I have only this schoolyear to get a head start on my daughter....wowzer, talk about pressure). I have been really enjoying doing some light summerschool with the kids and then spending time working on self-ed. We have only 2 weeks of summer vacation left, so I need to make the most of it. I hope to finish the chapter on Caesar so that I can move on to Pliny.

[mothergooseof4]

I am doing Lively Latin with the kids.  Since I have never studied Latin, I am enjoying it.  I am also going to be starting Cornerstone's Starting Points with ds and plan to do it all right along with him.  Oh, and I hope to go through Teaching the Classics just to give me some skills.

 

Otherwise, I am too busy teaching all of the kids and preparing for baby to study anything that isn't related to hsing.

[Rosie_0801]

I've got around to thinking again. I'm trying to learn the word cotyledon. I now remember how to pronounce it, but I don't know how long it will be until it fixes properly in my brain. It seems like such a useful sort of word to know, but not useful often enough to make me remember it.

 

What are you thinking about?

[VaKim]

I'm thinking about using the TOG DE that I have on my computer (maybe even buying the units I don't have) to go through the Rhetoric level on my own, since my girls are nearly finished. Also think I want to go back and study Greek. We played with it for awhile a few years back, for exposure.

[Uff Da!]

I'm taking philosophy through Coursera and am surprised to find out how much I dislike philosophy.  I really thought I would like it.  I'm signed up for How to Survive Your First Year of Teaching as well.  I'm hoping to learn some techniques for classroom management in case I sub later on.  

 

And I just re-ordered my Greek book from a different supplier.  Amazon said it was waiting to be shipped for about three months.  Then they canceled my order, refunded the money and offered the book to me as a rental. :cursing:

[Tonia]

WEM is my focus right now - almost finished with the novels. Yay! I'm also trying to figure out what to do with Latin. Right now I'm using Latina Christiana I with my daughter and her young brain is so much quicker at learning the vocabulary and declensions. I added in a daily recitation and that's been super helpful for me but I think I need to work ahead or something or maybe I'll just learn right along with her. Don't know. And I keep looking at different Coursera topics but I just don't have time for those too. And my library has a bunch of Teaching Company DVDs... so many choices and not enough time!

[Rosie_0801]

I don't have the brain space for all the Coursera lectures I've signed up for either, but I keep feeding the addiction. :p I'm enjoying 'A Brief History of Humankind' atm.

[Tress]

Apparently there was a unit on Ovid between Caesar and Pliny (see previous post), so no Pliny yet....I'm wrestling with Ovid and try to not have my head explode. Latin poetry.....man :svengo:.

 

Ancient Greek is going strong and I'm enjoying a Coursera Fantasy and Sci-fi course, reading Frankenstein now.

 

Rosie, I also signed up for the Brief History of Humankind course, but haven't yet watched a video. Are they good?

[elegantlion]

I'm up to my eyeballs in college classes, planning and hoping I get to sign up for the courses I want for next semester. I'm loving my archaeology class, the English class is keeping me on my toes, my health and fitness class is actually good information, and my psychology class is good. Ironically I thought I would love studying psychology, but I don't. The basic intro info is interesting, but I'm not interested in taking any more psych classes. 

 

I'm looking at majoring in history, so lots of history ahead. Plus if I want to go for my masters in archaeology, I need to take French and German. I also need to know Latin and/or Greek. French and German I can do at school, Latin I have to refresh my knowledge and probably start over with Wheelock's. Plus ds and I are doing Japanese and he wants to add Russian back in next year. 

 

I'm trying to figure out how to throw in some more ancient studies and some archaeology field work next summer. My school doesn't have enough ancient classes for my taste and they have no field work opportunities. 

[Chrysalis Academy]

I absolutely love the Brief History of Humankind course.  Really really enjoy it.  It is a big picture, ideas course, not a what happened when to whom and why course.  I think this would be such a great class to do at the beginning of high school with a kid who has "been through" the history cycle at least once, and who is ready to dig deeper for the story under the story.  Maybe this alongside Big History for a 9th grade history class?  Anyway, I like it a lot.

 

I'm madly trying to pre-read books for my 6th grader's modern history studies.  I'm reading a lot of things and putting them aside for later, but I think she will love Murder on the Orient Express and By the Waters of Babylon.  I'm still on the fence about Wodehouse - I think he's very funny, but not sure whether she will get the humor.

 

I'm listening to Jeremy Adelman's history lectures again, I listened and did the readings the first time the course was offered on Coursera.  I'm liking listening to it again.  These history courses make me a better history teacher for sure - help me see things to pull out in discussions with dd, help me help her to make connections, etc.  It's relatively painless, I watch while I'm cooking or canning or cleaning the bathroom.

 

I'm also following a few other good Coursera classes right now related to teaching modern history: 21st century American foreign policy & Soren Kierkegaard: Subjectivity, Irony and the Crisis of Modernity.  I don't have time to do the readings, sadly, but I like the lectures a lot.

 

I liked the Fantasy & Sci Fi course too, I did it last year.  I'm now trying to keep up with Plagues, Witches & War: The worlds of historical fiction but I'm having a hard time keeping up with the reading.

 

 

[Mnemosyne]

I'm currently studying exercise science, and considering picking up Arabic again.

[Tress]

I absolutely love the Brief History of Humankind course. Really really enjoy it. It is a big picture, ideas course, not a what happened when to whom and why course. I think this would be such a great class to do at the beginning of high school with a kid who has "been through" the history cycle at least once, and who is ready to dig deeper for the story under the story. Maybe this alongside Big History for a 9th grade history class? Anyway, I like it a lot.

 

 

 

It's relatively painless, I watch while I'm cooking or canning or cleaning the bathroom.

Wow, that sounds like I really need to watch the videos! Love big picture, ideas type courses.

 

I always have trouble finding time to watch things, maybe I should clean the bathroom more often :D.

[Tiramisu]

I'm really enjoying reading everyone's replies.

 

Now I'll try.

 

(My obsession with inherited connective tissue disorders is slowly winding down.)

 

Indian authors in English, most especially things by Amitav Ghosh. When I read his words, the images they create and the phrases just linger in my mind for months. I want to read River of Smoke but I've been putting it off because I'm enjoying the anticipation of knowing those beautiful words are out there waiting. I think I'm going to read a book called The White Tiger by another author.

 

Two particularly kind and generous people

 

Nanowrimo and an idea I have

 

 

 

 

[Rosie_0801]

 

Rosie, I also signed up for the Brief History of Humankind course, but haven't yet watched a video. Are they good?

 

Certainly, for those not easily offended on the topic of religion. :)

[Rosie_0801]

I'm currently studying exercise science, and considering picking up Arabic again.

 

Dd and I are learning the Arabic alphabet atm! Her new fountain pen arrived yesterday, so now she has one for English and one for Arabic. :) 

[Chrysalis Academy]

Certainly, for those not easily offended on the topic of religion. :)

 

 

Right, I probably should have mentioned that . . . . prepare to have beliefs challenged, whether in religion, capitalism, humanism, or whatever.  He is looking for the global, biological, geographical threads that run through history.  He kind of approaches it like a Martian would: what are these creatures homo sapiens? how did they evolve? how did their cultures and civilizations develop? what do they believe and why?

 

It's not particularly respectful of any belief system - but it's equally critical of all of them, if you know what I mean!

 

ETA: It's not unlike most of the other college classes I've taken, which is why I didn't think to qualify my recommendation initially . . . 

[Tiramisu]

Can I add what I'm trying not to think about?

 

The Halloween candy hiding on the top shelf of my closet.

The fact that I really need to exercise.

[Mnemosyne]

Dd and I are learning the Arabic alphabet atm! Her new fountain pen arrived yesterday, so now she has one for English and one for Arabic. :)

 

Learning how to write with fountain pens is another one of my 'wants'! I would love to learn calligraphy, lettering, etc. :)

[mom2bee]

Spanish. I am really trying to buckle down and cement my Spanish. I have recently gone all out and acquired a bunch of audio courses in Spanish, hoping to finish at least 2 of them before New Years.

Learn Spanish Like Crazy (3 levels)

Michel Thomas Spanish (2 levels)--its a little boring at my level but good at forcing me to converse and speak.

Assimil Spanish

as well as getting audio books from the library in Spanish and listening to them, and trying to read along. I am restarting Madrigals Magic Key to Spanish and am hoping to finish it by New Years and I am watching TV shows all in Spanish. (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Shaman King, Suits, Destinos, Random children cartoons.) Starting next year, I'm going to try and read everyday in Spanish and continue with my courses and conversational practice until I have exhausted every resource that I have.

[SnMomof7]

I'm doing the Hebrew Primer from Sarah David. Slowly. Trying to keep up with my 5th grader in grammar (CLE LA) - she now knows more than I do :(. Doing a bunch of scripture memory lately.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

Rereading Something Wicked This Way Comes. Lily has an assigned paper on the book, so I'm reading it again. It's a book worth reading as a tween/teen and again as an adult. I wonder what I thought of the parents in the book when I was younger? Such a different perspective this time around!  I have a paper I wrote on a different Bradbury book when I was about Lily's age, so this had been especially poignant.

 

At the moment I'm supposed to be doing AoPS. Bye!  :seeya:  :leaving:

[Rosie_0801]

I'm thinking it is too hot, and it's only January so it's going to get worse. Probably 10C worse at least.

Otherwise I'm being cross with the Dalai Lama's book on ethics outside of religion and being excited that my copy of 'Drawing with Children' has shown up in the mail. It seems half the Hive love it and the other half can't work out how to implement it. I'm itching to find out which camp I'm in. :p

[elegantlion]

I'm getting ready to start my second semester of classes next week. So once again, I'll be up to my eyeballs in sociology, US government, US history from 1865, and Research writing (same teacher as my rhetoric class, so at least I'll have an idea of how to read him). 

 

I bought a French workbook for self-study and outlined a few things to study over the summer (hopefully). 

 

Ds and I are reading Moby Dick and increasing our focus on Japanese. 

[Chrysalis Academy]

Getting ready for a set of  new Coursera classes to start:  Intro to Genetics & Evolution, which is great so far, and then I'm previewing a couple of Astronomy classes for later use with Shannon, and re-taking the Modern World: Global History since 1760 which I did the first time around and loved.  We're going to do Lou Bloomfield's How Things Work together starting on Monday, we are both excited about that.  I watched it last year, but we're going to actually do the whole thing this time.

 

I'm reading a lot of Orwell right now, and stuff about the Cold War and Civil Rights movement as that is what is upcoming in Shannon's history topics.

 

And, always, math . . . still slogging through Alcumus, almost done with the PreA section.  I promised myself the reward of buying Intro to Algebra (the book) when I "pass" preAlgebra.   :D

[Rosie_0801]

Is the evolution lecture the one done by the guy from Duke? I have a bit of a student crush on him. :p

[HS Mom in NC]

I downloaded all the freebies I could find from amazon.com of the 100 recommended college reading list from A Thomas Jefferson Education on my kindle.  I'm reading Emerson.

 

I'm also learning about color theory from Jinny Beyer and other sources because I'm going to make a fall leaf quilt and I got a bunch of fabric dye and other related supplies for Christmas.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

Still working through AoPS Pre-A and Alcumus--should finish this semester.

 

Trying to keep up with several weekly and monthly magazines during meals. There have been many recent articles that tie in perfectly with something we're covering in our studies. The articles bring the people, places, and events to life, making them more relevant and real. Our conversations at mealtimes are so different now!

 

Lily's many books for shared reading are often a stretch for her and sometimes for me as well, so I'm always learning with those.

 

I'm staying temporarily at Bleak House. Who am I kidding? That book will never leave me, part of me will always live there. It's in my thoughts so often. It truly is changing the way I think about so much in my life, which was unexpected.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jenny in Florida]

I'm listening to Nicholas Nickleby in advance of seeing the two-part stage adaptation in the next few weeks.

 

I'm reading through the New Testament in small daily chunks and researching/reading up on anything that confuses or intrigues me.

 

I've been refreshing my Spanish and slowly starting some German using Duolingo.

 

I've been doing daily brain training with Lumosity.com.

[Nan in Mass]

Jenny - How do you like luminosity?

 

And Woodland Mist Academy - What is it about Bleak House that has caught you?

 

I have, as usual, been reading watercolour books.  I have picked the guitar back up again but I'm only at the plunking through my excersizes stage.  And I am hunting for the book on electronics I know I have somewhere.  I want to go through that and review the ham radio stuff we did awhile back.  I ought to be working on some sort of language, too, in the car if nothing else, but I kind of have my hands full.

 

Nan