THE LEARNING WE DO OVER A LIFETIME<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Curve<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200bWhat\u2019s the connection between Medieval Europe, lobsters, and Aztec culture? For me, these are subjects I enjoyed learning about in excruciating detail for different college classes, only to rapidly forget 90% of the information. Do I consider that a waste, like many students I taught, who question why they need to learn certain subjects? Absolutely not, I enjoy learning, I enjoy being challenged, and I understand \u201cthe forgetting curve\u201d. The forgetting curve is the natural, steep degradation of knowledge over time, specifically for subjects you don\u2019t utilize. Consider how amazing it is that our brains can temporarily learn and store vast amounts of detailed information. If that information were maintained and reinforced, it would become more permanent. That\u2019s not what this week\u2019s blog is about. This is about the information we learn passionately and deeply, just to forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My child will repeatedly hear that no learning is ever a waste. On the contrary, it is exercising and strengthening the brain. Just as a bodybuilder doesn\u2019t consider their past workouts a waste, efforts of the past equipped them to lift heavier weight in the present. Another thing learners should have in common with bodybuilders is the desire to be well rounded. Developing just one group of muscles, while neglecting the rest of the body, would appear strange. Learning only one subject is equally undesirable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Learner Study Thyself<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200bI truly believe that anyone can learn anything! This is what my business Vintage Learners is all about. For over a decade, I\u2019ve lived this motto with hundreds of my adult students; I\u2019ll live it with my child. Conversely, \u201clearned helplessness\u201d is a psychological phenomenon coined by Martin Seligman. In some instances, giving up and underachieving is a learned behavior, reinforced by a combination of enabling and holding low expectations. My child will understand that they are capable of learning anything. I will hold a high standard and expect a healthy level of achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is true that there are subjects that will be easier to learn, and these differ from learner to learner. There are multiple types of intelligences humans can possess, for this reason a topic may seem more or less intuitive. Howard Gardner, in the 1980\u2019s, first theorized this concept. Dr. Gardner differentiated eight separate intelligences: visual-spatial, linguistic, musical, bodily- kinesthetic, logical-mathematic, natural, interpersonal, and interpersonal. The other side of this concept is that we all have subjects that are challenging to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fear of certain subjects, for example math, is unfortunately common and becomes valid. Fear can create a mental block that perpetuates and builds upon itself. As an adult educator, I\u2019ve had many students with learning phobias. It is possible, within a supportive environment, for a learner to overcome fear and take their power back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s It?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200bI will always be one resource for my child, but I know, just like with my students, sometimes hearing explanations in different ways is required. We live in an incredible period in history where unlimited sources of information awaits us at the click of our fingers. The only thing that can stop us from learning is our own lack of effort. It\u2019s tempting to give up sometimes; again, we all have topics we find difficult to comprehend. Tenacity will eventually pay off. When a concept finally \u201cclicks\u201d in our mind, we often feel like: \u201cthat\u2019s it?!\u201d. It was never that difficult to begin with, we just weren\u2019t hearing it explained the way we needed to hear it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite my Master\u2019s in Earth and Space Science, I ended up teaching Chemistry. In college, there were parts of my Chemistry courses that I struggled with, for example stoichiometry. Once I finally figured out what I was reading or hearing, I had to put it in my own terms with examples or metaphors. When I started teaching Chem to adults, I would offer these alternate explanations to my students. Later, I made them into videos for Vintage Learners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My Vintage Learners Stoichiometry video on YouTube<\/p>\n\n\n\n