Does Your Lack of Education Make You Feel Uncomfortable?

It's no disgrace if you aren't as highly educated as some of your friends. Maybe you couldn't afford to go to college, or perhaps you even dropped out of high school before you got that diploma in your hand. That doesn't mean you have to play second-fiddle the rest of your life to people you think are smarter than you.

There's no need for you to excuse yourself to refill your coffee cup when the subject turns to a discussion of what rights are really granted to us in the constitution, or what really started the Civil War. Even more likely, in today's world, you may encounter an argument over whether or not we need to abolish the electoral college, or impose term limits on our government officials. What are we supposed to do, if we draw a blank when it comes to the subject under discussion?

I'll admit, there are some subjects I avoid like the plague because I don't know anything about them, and, in many cases, don't want to know anything about them, but when certain subjects come up again and again, maybe we need to give them a little more thought. And, in some cases, in addition to some extra thought, we need to obtain some basic knowledge on the subject.

"But I hated school." you might say. Or, "I never could keep up with my classmates. How could I possibly learn all that stuff now?"

I'll tell you how you can learn just about anything you want to learn, in less than half the time it might have taken when you were a student, and enjoy learning it this time around. Sound interesting? Then here's what you need to do.

1. Choose what you want to learn.

Pick out a couple of things you often hear discussed but things you only have a vague understanding about, or no understanding of at all.

Maybe the electoral college system of electing our president that I mentioned earlier is a complete puzzle to you. Or perhaps you are just a wee bit curious about how to graft an apple tree. At the top of my curiosity list of things to find out about right now is hybrid cars. Do they really help the environment? Can you ever justify the extra expense of buying one?, When you get ready to buy another car, how is the resale value of a hybrid? How much do batteries cost for a hybrid, and how often do they need to be replaced?

Now that you have picked a couple of subjects to learn about, make a list of things you would like to know about each of them. (Write out a few questions about your subjects like I did above.)

2. Now, take your list and head for the children's department of your public library.

That's right. I said the children's department. Once at the library, check the catalog and find a few books on each of your subjects. You can check the books out and take them home if you have a card. Otherwise, find a comfortable chair or table and start reading.

It will amaze you how much easier and how much more interesting it is to learn about things from a children's book. True, the details are not as inclusive as you might encounter in a high school textbook, but they are not as difficult to read and absorb, either.

If one of the sources you chose is dry and boring, lay it aside and move on to the next. That's the joy of learning about something on your own. You don't have to read the exact number of pages your teacher assigned to you, and you don't have wonder as you read the material whether something in it will be included on a test. There won't be any tests---isn't that a relief? You are free to learn as much or as little about a subject as you care to. You can choose books with lots of illustrations, or, if illustrations distract you, choose a book with none. If you read better when large print is used, no problem; choose a book on the subject written in large print.

3. Promote yourself to deeper depths of study, but not until you're sure you are ready for it.

One of the biggest problems in school is that you pretty much have to move along with the group, or you will soon find yourself left behind in the dust. With this new method of independent study, you never have to worry about that. If a subject is difficult for you, keep on checking out more books until it starts to become clear to you. Only when you find yourself longing to know more than the level of books your are reading, should you consider moving up to more difficult material.

When you do decide to move up in difficulty, don't expect to jump from a 4^th grade treatise on how tariffs work to a college level course on it. Maybe, as an adult, though, you could easily move up two or three grade levels at a time.

If this article has been helpful to you, pass what you have learned on to your children. If your 6^th grader is having difficulty in reading, science, or even math, have him, on his own time, study the same subject matter at a 3^rd and 4^th grade level. You, and he will be amazed at how quickly the knowledge can be absorbed as he works his way back up to his current grade level.