Humanities Adult Self-Education: Where to Start, Where to Go?

[KimberlyW]

Hi there!

I've been a longtime lurker (though I have posted very occasionally). I taught chemistry and physics at a small Christian school and homeschool co-op and have done a fair amount of tutoring in math and basic English so, this board has been invaluable to me as I've worked with my students from all kinds of backgrounds and searched for useful resources for the adults I've tutored.

Now, I am expecting a child of my own that we plan to homeschool when the time comes. However, I feel like my humanities knowledge is severely lacking and I want to start rectifying that before there's a time crunch. At the very least I would like to be able to go to a museum and know what to do with myself and read a few classic books and get something from them other than an internal completion badge.

Do you have any resources you would suggest (books, learning pathways, podcasts, etc.)? 

I'm motivated but remain uninterested in most humanities topics. I know that there is a lot to be gleaned and enjoyed but I think I get intimidated before I get to the good stuff.  Most recently, I got bogged down in Adler's How to Read a Book and quickly found myself back in my reading safe space with theology and professional development (I work in marketing these days) so maybe I need a book about how to read How to Read a Book. 😪

**By humanities, I primarily mean art, history, geography, literature, and music appreciation.

Edited June 12, 2023 by KimberlyW
Typos and ommissions.

[Rosie_0801]

Well, starting with the book this forum is named for would be a good place to start. 🙂 It has lists to pick and choose from. You can use a nice pencil to cross out anything you try and think is too horrendously dull to go over it again with your kids and asterisks for anything you surprised yourself by enjoying. Or whatever your method is, lol

You don't have to learn everything. You won't have time to teach everything.

Why does it matter if your humanities knowledge is lacking? Why does it matter your kids know that stuff? What's the motivation?

What I've provided for my daughter in these areas has been influenced by:

1. What I like.
2. What I think she needs to understand common references.
3. Providing some sort of framework so she can use it for something. (Knowledge isn't much use if it isn't connected to enough other knowledge to be useful, after all.)

When I was beginning in areas I knew little about, I began with "what I feel stupid for not knowing."

 

[KimberlyW]

34 minutes ago, Rosie_0801 said:

Well, starting with the book this forum is named for would be a good place to start. 🙂 It has lists to pick and choose from. You can use a nice pencil to cross out anything you try and think is too horrendously dull to go over it again with your kids and asterisks for anything you surprised yourself by enjoying. Or whatever your method is, lol

You don't have to learn everything. You won't have time to teach everything.

Why does it matter if your humanities knowledge is lacking? Why does it matter your kids know that stuff? What's the motivation?

What I've provided for my daughter in these areas has been influenced by:

1. What I like.
2. What I think she needs to understand common references.
3. Providing some sort of framework so she can use it for something. (Knowledge isn't much use if it isn't connected to enough other knowledge to be useful, after all.)

When I was beginning in areas I knew little about, I began with "what I feel stupid for not knowing."

 

Thanks!

I have read TWTM (though I don't currently own a copy) and I think it was almost too much info for me. A lot of the rhetoric stage materials seemed out of reach but, as an adult with other responsibilities, I was never sure how to go about finding the time to make it up to that level. This is a good reminder, though, that The Well-Educated Mind may be right up my alley.

As to the question of motivation, I think it's at least twofold:

1) I see the joy and insights that other people glean from the humanities and it's always been something I've envied but never known how to obtain

2) I often feel like I'm missing cultural references and context for current events and would like to fill that in.

 

[Rosie_0801]

If the rhetoric stage materials are out of reach, starting with the 'Well Educated Mind' might be biting off more than you can chew too! It's ... rather dense... But then, maybe I shouldn't have begun with the autobiographies, lol.

It's okay to start with logic stage materials. After all, if we're doing a quick google, we go to Wikipedia, not scholarly articles even if we decide to read them later.

It's also okay to access British literature with BBC mini-series! The British National Theatre lets you rent from home, and they have several Shakespeare and Ancient Greek plays, along with more contemporary stuff. You can read the books later, or make use of Librivox, if you feel like it. Also, reading the kids classics is a way to fill in some cultural knowledge gaps and build stamina for archaic language.

You can keep notes on your phone or whatever for those missed cultural references and hit google later. There are too many rabbit trails to be able to follow them all, and there's a lot of room between a quick peek at Wikipedia for "Oh, that's what you're talking about" and learning Attic Greek to read the Ancient Greeks in their originals.

I have been known to google "Why do people care about X?"

So, where do you want to start? 😄

[ScoutTN]

You might like The Literary Life Podcast. It’s a book club type podcast. It’s nice to hear a discussion of what you’re reading and be able to interact with others about it on the FB page. 
 

 

 

[El...]

I started The Well Educated Mind with the novels section, so I think that helped me get started. The short sections about how to read each genre were, and continue to be, very helpful. What to ask myself about what I just read, how to seek background... good stuff. In your shoes, I'd look through that book and see if one of the sections speaks to you. It's arranged by genres, and if you don't find novels appealing, you don't have to start there!

[luuknam]

The Great Courses have a wide variety of humanities-related courses, especially a lot of history. Wondrium has most of them, Amazon Great Courses Signature Collection has fewer, and Audible has some (no clue which/how many) if you prefer podcasts you can listen to while doing chores/driving/etc (but is obviously not suitable for art appreciation unless you want to google pics of all the paintings/sculptures - probably possible since I think they mention them by name, but, sounds like a pain, and if the prof is pointing out some specific part of a painting you wouldn't be able to see what part they're zooming in on).

You'd also want to read some books etc, but, a lot of the lectures are easy to watch when you're feeling too tired to tackle something harder. 

[Momto6inIN]

Honestly, I learned so so so much just from going through elementary and middle school aged materials with my kids. It's more than a little embarrassing 😜 By the time we got to high school and I watched Great Courses videos with them and whatnot, I felt like I was getting the education I'd never had. I think if you *want* to go through Well Educated Mind or something similar then go for it! But I also think you can give your high school kids (when you get there! 😉 )a great education and give yourself one right alongside them. It's not a prerequisite; it's more of a corequisite, iykwim.