Self-Education

Well my last post was really just setting up this one. About the time I was pondering these schedule/time-management issues, I read a comment from a mom I've come to respect on the Well Trained Mind Message Board who said (and this is my paraphrase) that is a red flag to her when a mom spends a lot of time researching the perfect curriculum (as if there really was such a thing ;) instead of self-educating to fill in the gaps of her own schooling and becoming an expert in certain areas. Choosing the right curriculum for your child will then be much simpler because you know exactly what you are looking for after having done your due diligence.

As I really looked at my schedule I realized that so much of my time is/was spent researching each tiny step along the way and then looking back and examining every tiny bit of progression - or lack thereof. Now before I start getting cyber tomatoes thrown at me, what I am not saying is that research and evaluation have no value. Not at all. It's just that I have come to believe that what we are doing in the elementary years is small potatoes compared to what's coming in the higher grades. Do I want to spend the limited time I have researching every minute what we are doing now or spend the time filling in the gaps of my own education to be better prepared for those years that are fast approaching? Years when I won't be able to spend 30 minutes each evening to prepare for the next day but will need hours. Years when I will be teaching subject areas where my own schooling barely even scratched the surface of what I want for my own children. Literature analysis, advanced grammar, languages, higher level math, science and more are all areas where my own public schooling did not adequately prepare me to teach my children.

Here is a (modified) post I put on the Well Trained Mind Board as I struggled through these issues:

For quite some time now I have known that I needed to embark on a journey of self-education. I even posted about it a few times and received great encouragement, ideas and support. I purchased The Well Educated Mind, read the first section and bought Don Quixote (the first book recommended by Susan Wise-Bauer, the author of TWEM) and then haven't done much else other than wait for a good time.

I have come to realize that there will never be a "good time". Life will always be busy and there will always be things to compete for my time. For me it has got to be a choice of my choosing between good and better. The things that are occupying my time are good (for the most part) but often not the best.

To be honest, I think it's partly fear that has held me back, too. I am fearful of taking a risk and failing. I have come to realize that while I always made great grades in school I am one of those who validated the system. And the system I was in wasn't great. I, to this day, don't know how to really read a book and engage it well. I am not a good thinker; I am a good doer. College wasn't really that much better - except for one philosophy class my sophomore year. I was never challenged to think and still graduated with high honors.

As far as homeschool is concerned I searched "self education" on the boards and read a post by one of the board members I really respect saying that self education is a much more important endeavor than constantly worrying about making future plans that may or may work, researching curriculum and such. Guilty, guilty, guilty. I am a planner and researcher to the max - sometimes to the exclusion of doing because I am so busy researching! The best thing I can do in preparing for the future of our homeschool is grow myself in the areas where I am weakest. This is not a condemnation of how anyone else is doing things. I just knew there was truth in her post that really hit me just where I am.

Okay, therapy session over...

Here is where I think I am going to start:

I am going to start Don Quixote and work through the other recommendations in TWEM.

I am going to learn how to play chess because it's not just books that I need to work on. I have always shied away from strategy games because of the thinking factor, too. Dh loves chess and I know he'll be happy to teach me. It will be something fun we can do together.

I also am going to work on geography. This is not a thinking thing but honestly I am tired of reading news stories and wondering, "Now where is that country again?" Ds8 has a puzzle map and I am going to work on one continent at a time until I can fill in an empty map with all the country names.

I know that there is much more I will need to do in the coming years but this seems doable for now. I don't want to start too big and then feel frustrated that I am trying to do too much. I know that in the not so distant future I need to study an advanced grammar program and start my own in depth study of history as well.

So where am I now? I am 270 pages into Don Quixote and enjoying it. I feel like I am taking part of the "Great Conversation" that has been going on for centuries between writers and their readers. And Cervantes was a great place to start since it is considered the first novel having been written in 1604!

Has anyone else had these thoughts about self-educating or started on their own journey?