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.
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