The study-for-X-minutes-a-day approach is working much better. Still not entirely at goal -- I'm still in the process of helping Sarah get into the habit of doing 30 minutes of solo-work every morning, so that I can focus on my own work. I often, but not always, get a little more time to focus on my own work in the afternoon or evening. Ideally I'd like to be studying an hour a day.
Eventually I hope to start writing down my thoughts on each day's reading, in a Charlotte Mason sort of narration. Right now, though, I'm just going to jot down what I remember about each of the books I've read this summer.
The Charlotte Mason approach to narration is (as I understand it) about your relationship with the text, so this is a little about seeing how much I remember, but also about what questions came up for me, and what subjects the text made me want to follow up on.
First up: Prehistory: A Very Short Introduction
I like these books -- around 100 dense pages on a subject, giving the lay reader a solid sense of the topic.
Prehistory -- the time before recorded history -- doesn't stop all at once. History starts gradually, in fits and starts. Recorded history starts around 55 BCE in England, with the arrival of Julius Caesar, while it starts around 3,000 BCE in Mesopotamia (although for the first many years it's almost entirely about accounting -- tracking business, counting sheep, calculating costs), and in the 1930s (I forget the exact day, but the book mentions it) in Papua New Guinea, the day a particular tribe first encountered white men when they landed their plane nearby.
The author writes about the difficulties of knowing when it's appropriate to use modern "common sense" to make logical or poetic leaps in describing prehistory, in coming to conclusions about what the concrete evidence means. What does it mean to be human? When did social cooperation begin, when did true hunting begin (as opposed to scavenging)?
For some sections of the book I jotted down new words, or information about which I wanted to pursue more information:
ambit, penumbra, proto-history
quipu, the Dreaming, Incan history, Dark Ages, Renaissance, Darwin, 19th century religiosity, Quaker history, how litmus paper works, Tim Ingold, Mbuti pygmies, Batek Negritos, cosmology, Weber (most of these weren't new ideas to me, but are all things I want to learn more about)
Why did writing disappear in Europe around 1200 BCE and reappear in the 700s BCE?
I was surprised to see the author point out that, for Biblical Literalists, there is no prehistory -- the Bible is believed to have recorded the very beginnings of existence. Obviously I knew that, but I'd never thought about that aspect before -- that that crowd rejects not just Evolution, but so much of what we know about early farming, math, cooking, building... As always, I hate seeing all religion tarred with that particular brush. I like that he pointed out that Quakers and other liberal religious folks were arguing on the side of Darwin in the debates of the 19th century over Natural Selection.
What else? Let's see... Before 8,000 BCE is paleolithic era, 8,000-4,000 BCE is mesolithic, 4,000-1800 BCE is neolithic, then Bronze Age, then Iron Age. I forget the exact years for the last 2 eras. Those are Eurocentric labels, though, based on when early humans used different materials in Europe -- we started using different materials at totally different times and sometimes in different orders or skipping some materials entirely, in other parts of the world.
I had trouble with some of his charts and graphs. Either he needed to take a math/statistics/logic class, or he needed to take a class in how to use graphs in a clear, non-fuzzy manner. I'm not sure where the problem lay.
He touched only very briefly on the ways that we see the world, that we construct the world (not just concretely shaping culture, but shaping the way we *see* culture, the way we experience the world), in our own image. Western scientists frame genetics and evolution from a selfish, survival-of-the-fittest viewpoint, while those of certain other cultures would have framed things very differently (he mentions Mbuti Pygmies referring to the forest as Mother and feeling that the rainforest gives them affection, as well as the resources they need to survive; also the Batek Negritos who see themselves as having an intimate relationship with animals, plants, and creator spirits [that description resonated with me]).
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Two months since I last posted. That's pretty sad. I aim to do better.
What I've learned so far: AS much as I like to make lists of books I plan to read and projects I plan to complete in a given amount of time, what actually *works* for me is to make a list of the things I'd like to get around to learning and then commit to devoting a certain amount of time each day or each week toward learning those things. And then accept that it'll take as long as it takes to get through each individual book or video series.
I find that I go through phases -- some weeks I made it easily through all my magazine articles and often read twice as many as I'd planned to, but then totally forgot to crack even a single book. Other weeks I made it through three books but never picked up a single magazine because I just wanted to get back to whichever book I was currently engrossed in. And some weeks I read steadily every day but didn't come close to finishing even a single book because whatever I was reading either required frequent breaks to contemplate what I'd read or else got me so riled up and enthusiastic that I kept taking breaks to go out and take action (planning homeschool activities for my daughter, looking up new educational resources, decluttering the house, writing political letters...).
One thing that was consistent, though -- the reading doesn't mix well with the projects. I don't know why. I'll have to think about
I've forgotten the specifics of many of the articles I read, so I won't be reviewing them here. But I'll be reviewing the books I've finished, and I want to start writing up short overviews of the articles I read from here on in (very Charlotte Mason -- I really do remember better when I give a narration after I finish reading something).
What I've learned so far: AS much as I like to make lists of books I plan to read and projects I plan to complete in a given amount of time, what actually *works* for me is to make a list of the things I'd like to get around to learning and then commit to devoting a certain amount of time each day or each week toward learning those things. And then accept that it'll take as long as it takes to get through each individual book or video series.
I find that I go through phases -- some weeks I made it easily through all my magazine articles and often read twice as many as I'd planned to, but then totally forgot to crack even a single book. Other weeks I made it through three books but never picked up a single magazine because I just wanted to get back to whichever book I was currently engrossed in. And some weeks I read steadily every day but didn't come close to finishing even a single book because whatever I was reading either required frequent breaks to contemplate what I'd read or else got me so riled up and enthusiastic that I kept taking breaks to go out and take action (planning homeschool activities for my daughter, looking up new educational resources, decluttering the house, writing political letters...).
One thing that was consistent, though -- the reading doesn't mix well with the projects. I don't know why. I'll have to think about
I've forgotten the specifics of many of the articles I read, so I won't be reviewing them here. But I'll be reviewing the books I've finished, and I want to start writing up short overviews of the articles I read from here on in (very Charlotte Mason -- I really do remember better when I give a narration after I finish reading something).
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Old business
In the midst of setting up for this weekend's birthday party, I'm also finishing up a few of my old projects, so I feel all ready for a fresh "semester" on Monday.
One of my projects was putting together a list of songs I want to be able to play independently (this is separate from the list of songs I've been working on with different friends, and from the list of songs I've been working on with the bass, which I'll need to eventually persuade other people to play with me). I made the list awhile ago, and I'm now about halfway through gathering the chords for all the songs and I've added about half of those to my regular practice schedule. I intend to finish gathering the chords this weekend.
Today Sarah and I watched an episode of Rich Steves' Europe -- it's a lowkey little show, kid-friendly (at least for all the episodes I've seen so far), and he's got an upbeat, friendly style of speaking. This episode was on micro-nations in Europe, including Vatican City, Luxembourg, Lichtenstein, Monaco, and a couple others. I was particularly fascinated by the fact that the pope was holed up in Vatican City for something like 60 years until he signed a treaty with Mussolini giving the Church total control, making Vatican City an independent nation. Tonight I'll probably watch one of the science programs I've got saved.
This weekend I'll also gather all my resources in one place in preparation for both my and Sarah's summer sessions, and post the online ones here. I'm holding myself back from trying to finish up any other projects, though -- between Sarah's birthday party on Saturday and volunteering for Pride on Sunday (and gearing up for Monday's dentist appt :( and Tuesday's mini-golf party), I need to conserve my energy, no matter how enthusiastic I'm feeling right now.
One of my projects was putting together a list of songs I want to be able to play independently (this is separate from the list of songs I've been working on with different friends, and from the list of songs I've been working on with the bass, which I'll need to eventually persuade other people to play with me). I made the list awhile ago, and I'm now about halfway through gathering the chords for all the songs and I've added about half of those to my regular practice schedule. I intend to finish gathering the chords this weekend.
Today Sarah and I watched an episode of Rich Steves' Europe -- it's a lowkey little show, kid-friendly (at least for all the episodes I've seen so far), and he's got an upbeat, friendly style of speaking. This episode was on micro-nations in Europe, including Vatican City, Luxembourg, Lichtenstein, Monaco, and a couple others. I was particularly fascinated by the fact that the pope was holed up in Vatican City for something like 60 years until he signed a treaty with Mussolini giving the Church total control, making Vatican City an independent nation. Tonight I'll probably watch one of the science programs I've got saved.
This weekend I'll also gather all my resources in one place in preparation for both my and Sarah's summer sessions, and post the online ones here. I'm holding myself back from trying to finish up any other projects, though -- between Sarah's birthday party on Saturday and volunteering for Pride on Sunday (and gearing up for Monday's dentist appt :( and Tuesday's mini-golf party), I need to conserve my energy, no matter how enthusiastic I'm feeling right now.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Summer 2011
Sarah and I decided to take off most of the Spring from any sort of structured learning, because we've just been so busy with limited-time-only homeschool opportunities -- swimming, bowling, soccer, etc. The plan is to start up again the week after her birthday, and I'll be writing more about that over on the Sarah-homeschool blog at some point this weekend.
For us, summer starts the day after her birthday celebrations finish up, and runs until September 23 -- for people who love the cooler weather of Autumn and early Spring, we sure do stretch summer out for as long as we possibly can!
So my summer session runs about 16 weeks, which can be further broken down into four 4-week segments.
I'm breaking down my plans for this season into 4 main categories: alt ed, music, science, and what I'm thinking of as my distribution requirement, which will be a catch-all sort of category.
Alt Ed:
* read 4 books on alternative ed, write a synopsis/analysis of each one, and discuss them with various alt ed colleagues
* read 4 articles on alt ed, write a synopsis/analysis of each one, and discuss with various alt ed colleagues
Music:
* prep for homeschool music gatherings, family music gatherings, sacred song
* practice each instrument on a regular basis (tentatively 3 times a week each)
* find mentors for each instrument
* do one small research project on music theory
* do one small research project on the history of each type of music I'm drawn to
* find one musician in each musical genre and familiarize myself with their repertoire
Science:
* read 4 books on basic/general science
* finish watching the series on physics I've been watching
* read 3 articles a week from my backlog of science magazines
* keep nature journal with Sarah
* build one thing
Misc:
* finish the books I've got out of the library (intro to blues, prehistory, archaeology, congress, american presidency)
* read 5 newspaper articles a week (or equivalent)
* each week look into one topic in further detail inspired by the above assignment
* read one book (or equivalent) on basic polisci
* prep for the civics class I'll be offering in the fall
* work my way through the New Testament
* watch one program a week related to one of my educational goals
That comes out to just about:
* 1 book a week
* 8 articles a week
* 2 small research projects a week
* 3 videos a week
* 9 music sessions a week
* finishing one misc project every 4 weeks or so
It'll be interesting to see whether that's feasible.
For us, summer starts the day after her birthday celebrations finish up, and runs until September 23 -- for people who love the cooler weather of Autumn and early Spring, we sure do stretch summer out for as long as we possibly can!
So my summer session runs about 16 weeks, which can be further broken down into four 4-week segments.
I'm breaking down my plans for this season into 4 main categories: alt ed, music, science, and what I'm thinking of as my distribution requirement, which will be a catch-all sort of category.
Alt Ed:
* read 4 books on alternative ed, write a synopsis/analysis of each one, and discuss them with various alt ed colleagues
* read 4 articles on alt ed, write a synopsis/analysis of each one, and discuss with various alt ed colleagues
Music:
* prep for homeschool music gatherings, family music gatherings, sacred song
* practice each instrument on a regular basis (tentatively 3 times a week each)
* find mentors for each instrument
* do one small research project on music theory
* do one small research project on the history of each type of music I'm drawn to
* find one musician in each musical genre and familiarize myself with their repertoire
Science:
* read 4 books on basic/general science
* finish watching the series on physics I've been watching
* read 3 articles a week from my backlog of science magazines
* keep nature journal with Sarah
* build one thing
Misc:
* finish the books I've got out of the library (intro to blues, prehistory, archaeology, congress, american presidency)
* read 5 newspaper articles a week (or equivalent)
* each week look into one topic in further detail inspired by the above assignment
* read one book (or equivalent) on basic polisci
* prep for the civics class I'll be offering in the fall
* work my way through the New Testament
* watch one program a week related to one of my educational goals
That comes out to just about:
* 1 book a week
* 8 articles a week
* 2 small research projects a week
* 3 videos a week
* 9 music sessions a week
* finishing one misc project every 4 weeks or so
It'll be interesting to see whether that's feasible.
Long term goals
I feel as if I should write at length about my philosophy of learning, and the most essential goals of education. But, honestly, these days I'm loathe to waste time on waxing poetic or philosophical when I could be using that time to start moving toward my goals and getting things done if I'm feeling productive, or to spending time dawdling about with my daughter or with my banjo if I'm feeling reflective and dreamy.
So, the quick and dirty version: education should prepare you for whatever you want to do next, it should prepare you to be an informed and active citizen of the country and the world, and it should prepare you to take your place in the ongoing cultural conversations of curious, enthusiastic, informed people.
What does that look like, broken down into slightly-more-manageable chunks and made personal?
Whatever I want to do next:
* something in alternative education (possibly another democratic free school, in a few years)
* or something in nutrition or food-related activism (organics? slow food? world hunger?)
* or something in science (possibly going back to school to finish up that engineering degree)
* AND make lots and lots of music, all sorts
An informed and active citizen:
* versed in basic polisci
* versed in basic US history
* versed in basic world history
* versed in rhetoric and logic
* versed in the science and politics behind issues like GMOs, climate change, and other subjects I feel passionate about
* versed in basic econ
* versed in basic comparative religion
* versed in basic sociology/anthro
Ongoing cultural conversations:
* have a basic sense of how things work (scientifically, politically, psychologically...)
* keep up with current events
* continue reading books and attending cultural events which deeply engage me
Oh! And the last requirement -- be capable of being a competent adult, managing a household, including:
* versed in basic home repair
* understand how the car works and be capable of talking about it with repair people
* be capable of making a variety of things from scratch (bread, dressing, sauce, etc.)
So, the quick and dirty version: education should prepare you for whatever you want to do next, it should prepare you to be an informed and active citizen of the country and the world, and it should prepare you to take your place in the ongoing cultural conversations of curious, enthusiastic, informed people.
What does that look like, broken down into slightly-more-manageable chunks and made personal?
Whatever I want to do next:
* something in alternative education (possibly another democratic free school, in a few years)
* or something in nutrition or food-related activism (organics? slow food? world hunger?)
* or something in science (possibly going back to school to finish up that engineering degree)
* AND make lots and lots of music, all sorts
An informed and active citizen:
* versed in basic polisci
* versed in basic US history
* versed in basic world history
* versed in rhetoric and logic
* versed in the science and politics behind issues like GMOs, climate change, and other subjects I feel passionate about
* versed in basic econ
* versed in basic comparative religion
* versed in basic sociology/anthro
Ongoing cultural conversations:
* have a basic sense of how things work (scientifically, politically, psychologically...)
* keep up with current events
* continue reading books and attending cultural events which deeply engage me
Oh! And the last requirement -- be capable of being a competent adult, managing a household, including:
* versed in basic home repair
* understand how the car works and be capable of talking about it with repair people
* be capable of making a variety of things from scratch (bread, dressing, sauce, etc.)
Getting Started
I've always been drawn to the idea of life-long learning -- by both temperament and family culture, and reinforced by all the curious, enthusiastic, DIY folks with whom I've surrounded myself. The deeper I've gotten into homeschooling Sarah, the more I've looked forward to finding the time and resources to focus my own homeschooling, creating the sort of long-, mid-, and short-term plans for myself that we've worked together to create for Sarah.
I was intrigued by a new site for self-directed learners as an alternative to college. I signed up for an account, poked around for a few hours, and discovered that it's not at all what I was hoping it would be (that is, a spot to organize and reflect on my own self-assigned projects). Instead, it seems to be intended more as a place for kids in a traditional college age range to talk about the process of how to learn on their own, and to connect with mentors who may or may not charge for the privilege. (and, honestly, I'm not looking for a random online mentor -- I do a damn fine job of mentoring myself, and of figuring out when to reach out for specific advice or assistance -- there's a reason the title of this blog was almost "cranky free schooler"! I wavered between that and "cantankerous free schooler" before going for the subtle West Wing reference.) I was extremely bummed to realize that the site wasn't what I was expecting -- I'd been looking forward to having a spot to spell out my long term plans, break them down by general field/topic, sketch out a overall plan for how to reach each of the goals, lay out a season-by-season "curriculum" for myself (can you tell how much I loved to play school as a kid?) and keep track of how the assignments were going.
I noticed, as I was grumbling to myself, that I had a *really* detailed idea of what I was looking for. So, here I am, creating exactly that space for myself, tailor-made for my own learning and organizational styles.
I was intrigued by a new site for self-directed learners as an alternative to college. I signed up for an account, poked around for a few hours, and discovered that it's not at all what I was hoping it would be (that is, a spot to organize and reflect on my own self-assigned projects). Instead, it seems to be intended more as a place for kids in a traditional college age range to talk about the process of how to learn on their own, and to connect with mentors who may or may not charge for the privilege. (and, honestly, I'm not looking for a random online mentor -- I do a damn fine job of mentoring myself, and of figuring out when to reach out for specific advice or assistance -- there's a reason the title of this blog was almost "cranky free schooler"! I wavered between that and "cantankerous free schooler" before going for the subtle West Wing reference.) I was extremely bummed to realize that the site wasn't what I was expecting -- I'd been looking forward to having a spot to spell out my long term plans, break them down by general field/topic, sketch out a overall plan for how to reach each of the goals, lay out a season-by-season "curriculum" for myself (can you tell how much I loved to play school as a kid?) and keep track of how the assignments were going.
I noticed, as I was grumbling to myself, that I had a *really* detailed idea of what I was looking for. So, here I am, creating exactly that space for myself, tailor-made for my own learning and organizational styles.
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