What’s in my personal curriculum basket this month & a few things I learned in September. After writing about creating a personal curriculum, I realized I needed more structure in my own planning this fall. I’ve done this type of learning practice off and on for years. Sometimes with careful planning and at other times…
All posts in Intellectually Alive
Personal Curriculum: Creative and Unexpected Ways to Enjoy Nature Study
Letting curiosity guide your outdoor & nature adventures It was the sound that inspires fast action from everyone. The dog was gonna barf… It was mid-afternoon and I was driving on the highway coming back from a weekend away. My 4 kids were piled in the van with our luggage, food, and our aging dachshund…
Making Space: Rhythms & Routines
Here is the link for the Substack post with the video. Personal learning and growth can feel impossible when smushed into an overwhelming schedule but rhythms and routines can be grounding and create calm. Often we are so excited to jump into tackling a personal curriculum or new hobby that we forget we need to…
My September Personal Curriculum
A recording from April Edwards’s live video – here is the link for the Substack post with the video. A quick tour of my personal curriculum basket and what I am focusing on this September (and honestly probably most of October). After writing this post about creating a personal curriculum, I felt convicted to create more…
Personal Curriculum: Beginning a Nature Journal
Small steps that make the practice approachable and how slowing down with a notebook changes the way you see the outdoors. “Those trees are the tallest I’ve ever seen!” shouted Scott looking up and nearly falling over. He grabbed my hand to steady himself and leaned against my leg. “Collect all the golden and red…
my notebook secrets revealed
a quick peek into all the notebooks I currently use & inspiration to start your own imperfect stack of notebooks To see the video from this post go here. At the risk of you all thinking I am a bit frivolous, I decided to do a notebook stack tour. This is a quick peek into…
Theme Learning for Your Personal Curriculum
Learning comes alive when your reading, watching, and doing connect around one idea. It turns scattered input into a meaningful journey. [ + free PDF ] The first time I intentionally added themed learning to my own personal pursuits was when we were studying Medieval European History. I was reading aloud from our text and…
How to Design Your Own Personal Curriculum
Borrow the best parts of academia and make them work for your personal growth. [ Detailed How-To + free PDF ] It was a summer evening after the kids had gone to bed. When our college students are home, my husband and I have a routine of lounging on the couches with books or scrolling…
Notes in the Margins – Annotating & Journaling
For those just getting started or returning to these habits after a long pause, this is a gentle guide for the thoughtful reader. I’ll be setting up a table at an outdoor market where I’ll sell bookish things along with signed copies of my book. The crowd will mostly be college students, and I have…
The Roots of My Hobby Obsession
I come from working-class dreamers who never stopped learning. Growing up, I watched my grandparents turn their free time into something meaningful and that shaped me more than I realized. There is a powerful thread woven through the generations before us when we learn skills from the past. At times it may seem like our…