I want to relearn everything I forgot from Middle School & High School
April 4, 2011 8:40 AM Subscribe
I would like to relearn the important things that I probably learned in middle school and high school and then forgot. How should I proceed in an efficient manner?
I went to good schools in middle school and high school and I got fine grades. I think I probably fall into that average intelligence, college graduate, range of people. Long story short, I don't remember much of the general stuff that I bet I probably learned already.
Example... an NYTimes article this morning mentioned that Michelle Bachmann mistakenly said the first shots of the revolution were fired in New Hampshire not Massachusetts. I guess I should as an educated American know that... but I wouldn't really remember the right answer without some prompting. This got me thinking... There are lots of things I don't remember. I mean, I know I have a device in my pocket that connects to a series of tubes and can retrieve any bit of human knowledge accumulated over the last 10,000 years in a matter of seconds... but I feel like I'm missing out of a general quality of life because I lack easy recall of some of the fundamentals.
So my question is... how do I efficiently relearn all the important things from middle school and high school? I am willing to put 2-3 hours a week for the next year or so into this project. I would like to relearn basic science, history, grammar and maybe even some 8th grade math.
I went to good schools in middle school and high school and I got fine grades. I think I probably fall into that average intelligence, college graduate, range of people. Long story short, I don't remember much of the general stuff that I bet I probably learned already.
Example... an NYTimes article this morning mentioned that Michelle Bachmann mistakenly said the first shots of the revolution were fired in New Hampshire not Massachusetts. I guess I should as an educated American know that... but I wouldn't really remember the right answer without some prompting. This got me thinking... There are lots of things I don't remember. I mean, I know I have a device in my pocket that connects to a series of tubes and can retrieve any bit of human knowledge accumulated over the last 10,000 years in a matter of seconds... but I feel like I'm missing out of a general quality of life because I lack easy recall of some of the fundamentals.
So my question is... how do I efficiently relearn all the important things from middle school and high school? I am willing to put 2-3 hours a week for the next year or so into this project. I would like to relearn basic science, history, grammar and maybe even some 8th grade math.
AP study books. They hit some of the critical details, but they're good for recognizing themes and showing how things relate to one another.
posted by punchtothehead at 8:52 AM on April 4, 2011
posted by punchtothehead at 8:52 AM on April 4, 2011
This may sound silly, but I enjoy reading Wikipedia for this reason. It helped me learn the kings of England and to quote the facts historical.
posted by maryr at 9:55 AM on April 4, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by maryr at 9:55 AM on April 4, 2011 [3 favorites]
Best answer: I have dabbled in this series with some luck; but if you have a brain like a sieve like me, you run the risk of reading an entry, going "huh," and forgetting it all over again. A committed study of these books, with reinforcement and recall techniques like little mini-quizzes for yourself, might work. Old textbooks are a dime-a-dozen on the interwebs too--maybe learn again from the same sources and it might stick better?
posted by thisness at 9:57 AM on April 4, 2011
posted by thisness at 9:57 AM on April 4, 2011
I was thinking recently that I probably couldn't pass the American citizenship test - for the same reason you. I would start there - studying whatever materials are used to prep for the exam.
posted by crankyrogalsky at 11:11 AM on April 4, 2011
posted by crankyrogalsky at 11:11 AM on April 4, 2011
* (reason you) stated.
posted by crankyrogalsky at 11:12 AM on April 4, 2011
posted by crankyrogalsky at 11:12 AM on April 4, 2011
For science, you could check out the National Science Education content standards and/or the American Association for the Advancement of Science Benchmarks for Science Literacy for K-12.
These documents will basically tell you (and educators) what students should know at various points throughout their school career (i.e. by the end of 8th grade, you should know [this scientific information]). Essentially, both of these list scientific knowledge and information. This woud at least give you a place to figure out what concepts you would likely have learned in middle school science.
posted by franc.o.bolos at 11:23 AM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
These documents will basically tell you (and educators) what students should know at various points throughout their school career (i.e. by the end of 8th grade, you should know [this scientific information]). Essentially, both of these list scientific knowledge and information. This woud at least give you a place to figure out what concepts you would likely have learned in middle school science.
posted by franc.o.bolos at 11:23 AM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
I learn best when my curiousity is piqued. There's a book called "An Incomplete Education" that takes advantage of this: it purports to teach you everything you *should* know, but it's funny and urbane. If you read a piece -- say, the twelve fictional characters to invite to a dinner party -- you get a short bit of information. But then you want to know more about the topic, and you start chasing it down yourself. Viola, engaged!
For example, Madame Bovary is on the list I mentioned. I finally got the book, read it, and decided that she wasn't that important to me -- but now I had read the book so at least I could make up my own mind on the subject.
I just discovered that much of it is on Google Books.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:19 PM on April 4, 2011
For example, Madame Bovary is on the list I mentioned. I finally got the book, read it, and decided that she wasn't that important to me -- but now I had read the book so at least I could make up my own mind on the subject.
I just discovered that much of it is on Google Books.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:19 PM on April 4, 2011
If I wanted to re-learn everything over again, here is what I would do:
(1) Buy (or you can download them for free from certain places on the net) the Schaum's guides on whatever subjects you need to learn. Preferably in ebook form, so you can do the following steps.
(2) Download the flash card software anki.
(3) Start cutting and pasting definitions (with answers), and solved problems (with answers), into anki.
(4) Devote time to memorizing the cards.
Eventually you'll have that knowledge in your long-term memory.
posted by ollyollyoxenfree at 2:21 AM on April 5, 2011
(1) Buy (or you can download them for free from certain places on the net) the Schaum's guides on whatever subjects you need to learn. Preferably in ebook form, so you can do the following steps.
(2) Download the flash card software anki.
(3) Start cutting and pasting definitions (with answers), and solved problems (with answers), into anki.
(4) Devote time to memorizing the cards.
Eventually you'll have that knowledge in your long-term memory.
posted by ollyollyoxenfree at 2:21 AM on April 5, 2011
If you can't find a Schaum's guide that suits you, you could also try textbooks.
posted by ollyollyoxenfree at 2:24 AM on April 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by ollyollyoxenfree at 2:24 AM on April 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Ideefixe at 8:46 AM on April 4, 2011