5 June 2012

Education Doesn't Have a Use-by-Date


Yesterday Imogen was peering over Charlotte’s shoulder, looking at all the interesting things she is learning.
“You are giving yourself a much better education than the one I gave myself,” Imogen complained. “Look at all those wonderful books you’re reading. I haven’t read any of them.”
“Well, it’s not too late,” replied Charlotte. “Your education isn’t over even though you’re doing uni work rather than homeschooling. You could read these books too.”
Then she added, “Education doesn’t have a use-by-date, you know. You keep learning all your life.”
Education doesn’t have a use-by-date?  My official education finished years ago but yes, I am still learning. I learn new things all the time.
So what have I learnt recently?
I learnt how to make collage blog headers and collage Facebook cover photos. That was fun.
I can now use my new Motorola Xoom tablet. That took a bit of trial and error and a demonstration by Andy. Nothing comes with paper instructions any more!
I have read about treadmill running compared to outdoor running. I now know how to adjust the settings of the treadmill so my indoor run more closely resembles my trail run. I can convert beats per minute to kms per hour so I can now choose suitable music for the pace I want to run.
I am learning how to sketch…. slowly.  I’m doing an online class.
I am always learning more about writing…I have a dozen or more writing and editing books on my Kindle, which I dip into regularly.
I’d like to learn how to use my Kodak pocket video camera properly. Then I will work out how to put videos on my blog.
I’m going to do the Doodle Delight online class.
There are just so many interesting things I’d like to know more about!
 So what have you been learning? Please share!

Sue Elvis

I'm an Australian blogger, podcaster, and Youtuber. I write and speak about unschooling, parenting and family life. I'm also the author of the unschooling books 'Curious Unschoolers', 'Radical Unschool Love' and ‘The Unschool Challenge’. You'll find them on Amazon!

2 Comments

  1. I think my best education has been self-taught, as an adult. I've forgotten so much of school. This is encouraging because it's a reminder not to get worked up about schedules and grade levels. Education's not a race to fill our brain cells, is it?

    I'm enjoying your homeschool posts, Sue. There's a relaxed and happy feel about them – and it works well that way, doesn't it? I need to remind myself of this when I get tempted to compare with others. Thank you for sharing your experiences:-)

    • Vicky,

      This is such a lovely comment! Thank you.

      I am posting bits and pieces we are enjoying and feel excited about so I guess that's where the happy feeling is coming from. It's good to share things we like, isn't it? One of the blog posts wouldn't have been written if you hadn't shared your Meriol Trevor book with us! I love picking up recommendations about books and websites etc from other blogs. Maybe someone will stumble across something here they might enjoy.

      "Education's not a race to fill our brain cells, is it?" I love that! Can our brain cells ever get filled? That's the fun thing about learning. There's always more waiting for us. And yes, it doesn't have to be done to a schedule. I am really thankful for homeschooling. I am now getting a proper education. The school one I received years ago doesn't compare at all!

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