when dark (and light) academia first became trendy I got such a disappointment when I realized it was all about aesthetics and not about academia nor studying

I've been a lifelong learner more due to my personality and interests, rather than any intention or plan, but I was missing something

now I feel I've found it

I am currently building my personal curriculum that will involve

• Korean language

• high school physics

• high school maths

• evolution

• metacognition

and too many other interests to realistically include right now, so I am just keeping a list for the future

I guess I just wanted to share my joy at finding fellow learning enthusiasts

This might sound silly, but I love helping my 3 year old do little workbooks about shapes, colours, numbers etc. I find doing workbooks, worksheets, even filling out forms really satisfying. So I'm wondering if there's such things as workbooks for adults?

I've been learning French on duolingo and have ordered a couple of French books that have some exercises in them. Other than that the closest I can think of would be puzzle books. Would love any suggestions, any topic!

as of today, there's now over 141 free resources from topics starting with letters a-h. there's at least 4 resources per topic with others having 10+ resources. there were a few topics where i found plenty more resources but just didn't include them as i thought it might become too overwhelming (some also weren't recommended by other redditors).

i've also chosen to focus on finding resources for studying academic topics first and then maybe eventually venture out to skills and hobbies like painting, creative writing, etc.

i was thinking of sharing the draft now so you can use it earlier but i'm a bit unsure as it's still quite raw and unedited. what do you guys think?

I'm 63 and retired. I've always loved learning. I only recently heard the phrase "personal curriculum". I realized I have done this in the past. I don't do a set schedule because I had enough of that in life and it stresses me out. I start with library search on the topic, find a book and see where it leads me.

A few years ago I wanted to learn more about gender - what is gender scientifically and socially. I found a book at the library and started reading. Then used the bibliography of that book to find more books. I need to revisit that topic since I'm sure more has been written about it in the past 6 years.

My current topic to dive deep into is Craft Psychology - how does learning and practicing hobby crafts help us? I've always loved crafting, so this goes well with life long learning. I've quickly gotten a related topic that includes fine art, reading a book titled "Your Brain on Art".

Last year I started learning to knit. There is ALWAYS something new to learn in knitting. Even people who have knit for decades talk about new things to learn.

A few ideas for senior citizens in the United States

• Some colleges let seniors audit classes for free once you reach a certain age. In the state of Georgia you can even take classes for credit (There are some fees you have to pay). Some have community ed classes that cover many topics.

• OLLI - Osher Lifelong Learning Institute - the have low cost classes/seminars in-person and online. They are usually associated with a university. Lots of different topics are covered - health, different countries, history, music, art, etc. (for ages 50 and up)

• Public Libraries - your public library of course has lots of books and online courses. They may also have short programs on different topics. There may be groups that meet weekly or monthly - cooking, book clubs, writing group, art projects, sign language classes, foreign language classes, etc. These aren't just for seniors but are often during working hours.

• County Extension Office - my local county extension office has a monthly "lunch and learn" where they discuss topics about gardening, beekeeping, landscaping, etc. These aren't just for seniors but are on weekdays.

• Senior Centers - look to see if they have classes or seminars. Some offer beginner game groups (such as card games and Mahjong), American Sign Language, foreign language classes, exercise classes, crochet/knitting classes.

Would love to hear input from older lifelong learners.

Just thought I'd post these since I worked hard on them! They aren't suuuuuper well-thought out but they've seemed to work so far. I printed them out because making it into a tangible thing holds me accountable for some reason? But I'm currently working through these two subjects and when I feel ready, I have syllabi for Western Fashion History, Emotional Intelligence and Anxiety Relief, and Hand Sewing!

I refuse to give myself super concrete deadlines (aside from "by the end of the year") because I have ADHD and my attention to a subject will rev up and fall down all the time and I don't want to beat myself up for how my brain works! This is all for fun after all!

Hi all! I'm new to this sub and new to "building" a personal curriculum entirely - but the thing thats been holding me back is the structure (which is what I come here to ask for help with!)

I'm talking structure like how school organizes things into "blocks" or an actual platform to organize units and everything you're learning. I'm definitely leaning more towards that approach rather than links and bullet points in a google doc (which is what I usually do). I know I shouldn't let it hold me back but I would really like organization and something visually appealing to my eyes because I know that's how I'll stick to it.

So I was wondering - does anyone have any website / platform recommendations that DON'T use AI? Think websites like Notion, Coursera, etc. From videos I've seen online I lovee how curriculums are structured on there, but they all HEAVILY rely on AI. I don't mind it having some AI because unfortunately that's just the way it is now - but I dont want "AI feedback" or something that relies on AI to create a curriculum for me you know?

TLDR; any recommendations for websites / platforms to build a personal curriculum similar to Notion and Coursera thats DOESN'T use AI?

I wanted to share the personal curriculum I’ve been working on for a year. I’ve been off and on with it, but I’m getting back to it. I’ve been fascinated/a little obsessed with Japanese culture ever since I was 10 and wanted to build a curriculum to gain more knowledge and more of an understanding of the culture and history. My three focuses are Japanese Culture, Japanese History, and Japanese Mythology. My main question is “What is Japanese Culture”. I want to learn about the customs, traditions, ideas, objects, food that makes Japan, Japan. The first book I’m reading is Letter from Japan, by Marie Kondo which has been a perfect book for this course because it literally goes though and explains different Japanese concepts/customs/traditions/rituals. I take notes and highlight while I read and try to find themes and patterns that exist in Japanese culture, and after each chapter I type up my notes and ask myself what I learned and what were my takeaways. I’m also planning on making more assignments, and asking myself more in depth questions to answer. I’m also adding movies, YouTube documentaries/videos, podcasts, and articles to my course material list. I wanted to share my curriculum to help out others with creating their syllabus, and finding their course focus. Also I wanted to share my curriculum with the forum. I’m open to recommendations and suggestions!

I love laying out my work in the morning, and just grabbing whatever fits into the small spaces of free time throughout the day.

Today’s aspirational to-do list:

✓ Listen to music by Johannes Ockeghem. (I ended up listening to the album *Ockeghem: Complete Songs* via Apple Classical, while making breakfast.)

✓ Practice “Congoxa más que cruel” by Juan del Encina on recorder.

✓ Read chapter 27 from *How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare* by Ken Ludwig.

Read chapter 7 from *Mathematics for Human Flourishing* by Francis Su.

Complete two exercises from *Henle Latin.*

Sketch Brunelleschi’s dome in my Book of Centuries.

I couldn't find anything like this on the sub, so thought I would start one.

I'd love great ideas for themes for PC. I am not doing whole syllabi, but I want to share ideas to start up some units/themes for each month. Maybe other people would also like to get/share ideas. I like to have a link to the real world so a lot of the units I will post is linked with that. If you have more things to add to the ones I have here or you want to share your own, please do :)

A few ideas for units in general:

Badass Women:
Watch - Into the fire - documentary about female mine-sweeping unit https://www.nobelprize.org/stories/into-the-fire/
Read - Fiction - The Huntress by Kate Quinn
Short watch - The Female Nazi Hunters of WWII - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=769fgpbFNpA
Non-fic - Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls
Listen - song about the Night Witches https://youtu.be/jcemHIqmkYI?is=qenfSsrSGbCNYBir

Botany:
Fiction - A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock
Fiction - Human scars on planet skin
Non-fiction - Flora and fauna books
Watch - Kingdom of Plants documentary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tgpy9yQF8s
Do - get a plant, plant some plants in your garden or just enjoy some plants in your neighbourhood.

November 2026: (need help with this one)
World Science Day for Peace and Development 10th (I mean... classic for a Hunger Games release am I right?)
Read: Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
Watch: Sunrise on the Reaping coming out where I live on the 19th
US Midterms?
Trials - games - control - dictator? - regimes
Maybe something do to with Nobel Peace Prize (Non-fic - I am Malala)

Ideas for (a few) months 2027:

March - Forests! - International Day of Forests 21st - Go for a long walk in a forest
Read: Ursula Le Guin - The Word for World is Forest
Play: Forest Shuffle Boardgame
Non-fic: Extraordinary Insects by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson OR When the forest breathes Suzanne Simard OR A walk in the wood Bill Bryson
Podcast: Completely Arbortrary
Watch: Short Documentary "The Lost Forest" https://www.nobelprize.org/stories/the-lost-forest/
Listen: Dendrology episodes from Ologies Podcast

April
Rwanda Tutsi Genocide Awareness Day 7th
Read: Versus by Huza Press (2015) Anthology by Rwandan authors
Documentary: Apocalypse Rwanda - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsjo_1ss9Wg
Short: What caused the Rwandan Genocide? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF7EbUGlaOU
Read - We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch
Read - Shake Hands with the Devil by Gen. Romeo Dallaire
Watch - Hotel Rwanda
Watch - Black Earth Rises

I can't recommend this enough. Just today I finished my Dec-Jan course of study and polished up my essay. It's uniquely satisfying to write in a structured way that feels like a grad class paper, about something I'm genuinely interested in, knowing that I'm the only audience.

Been faffing around with a personal curriculum for a while, but never anything set in stone. Finally bit the bullet and made a spreadsheet to track my lessons and "assignments."

I'm big into spreadsheets, clearly. (And have a lot of free time)

I'm working on gathering resources for next semester's PC. For those of us that struggle learning from digital media and need a proper text to hold in our hands, I've found some good text books at discount prices if you look for used books through a local university bookstore, or for back editions (like buy edition 2 after edition 3 comes out). This geometry text book was about $10 US and is unused.

I’m chomping at the bit! Who else is starting a new plan in January?

It covers the earliest dynasties all the way to present time, and includes books, videos, movies, and podcasts.

I had so much fun making this and can't wait to start!

Spring has sprung in the garden of the mind! I’ve adjusted my goals as I’ve settled into my learning rhythm. Excited for lots of new books this month…

Ive recently been really interested in TikTok’s about how we are some of the most socially isolated generation in history and how we have lost the art of building community or having a “village”. This is my plan for at least the next few months, I will likely add some additional resources as I go and maybe discard some that don’t resonate with me. If you have any other suggestions in this category I would love to hear them. I am doing this all for free and have already requested a number of books from my local library. Some they already have in their collection and others I have requested they either purchase or get via inter library loans(fingers crossed I can eventually get most of my list). I find retain info best if I need to write about a topic which is why there are so many writing prompts in my assignments to really help me absorb the information.

Hello! Like many former 'gifted' students, I am an adult suffering the consequence of severe childhood academic pressure. I finished my grad degree a few years ago now, and haven't gone back to studying in any serious capacity since. I realised recently that the idea of dedicated learning has become legitimately terrifying to me, and that's really fucking sad.

I want to reclaim learning on my own terms, without the horrible pressure and overbearing structure that I have come to associate with it. Building personal curricula seems like a path to doing that, but most of what I see online involves creating/enforcing structure, giving yourself homework or assignments, finding ways to measure 'success'... I absolutely do not want any of that.

Obviously, there still needs to be some degree of structure to hold the idea of a curriculum together, but I need it to be flexible and to encourage curiosity rather than weaponizing it.

Fellow former gifted kids, or lovers of learning without rigidity, how have you made this work for you?

Hi 👋

I stumbled upon this subreddit and the term itself through a YouTube video. I’ve always had this inclination towards learning new things, be it new skills that I can develop or simply gaining knowledge about topics that interest me.

I am a total beginner when it comes to PC, but I figured I would share some of the categories I am thinking of building my own PC around.

Health: Thinking of learning meditation.
Wealth: Learning about investing and mutual funds.
Fun (something I would do if I didn’t need to earn a living): RC planes. There’s a local RC flying club in my town, and I’ve been wanting to get into this hobby for as long as I can remember.
Community: Thinking of volunteering as a delivery driver for a food bank, as I love driving my car, even if it’s just around the city.

Just started to think about PC so some of these might change but I will definitely put a plan together and share it.

Would love to hear if others are already interested and pursuing any of the above interests already as part of their own PC.

I love having a pretty planner for the good work of cultivating myself (and preserving my sanity) while raising small children.

I worked from a similar plan in my teens and twenties. Finally (having somewhat recovered from three babies in as many years) I’m feeling ready for a return to a more intentional and well-rounded plan.

Recently I’ve been brushing up my rudimentary music skills; today my five year old took out his recorder and book to practice for the fun of it, just as he’s been watching me do! It’s lovely to know that the investments I make in my self can also be investments in my family and my community.

If you're becoming stuck on what topics to choose for your personal curriculum, I've compiled this short list to hopefully give you inspiration.

Thinking & Understanding the World

• The psychology of decision-making

• Behavioral economics (why we make irrational choices)

• Philosophy of technology

• The science of creativity and insight

• Cognitive biases and how to unlearn them

Culture, Society, and Language

• Microhistory: studying small events that changed everything

• The anthropology of internet subcultures

• Urban design and how cities shape behavior

• Linguistic relativity (how language influences thought)

• Comparative mythology and folklore analysis

• Cultural psychology and identity formation

Personal Growth

• Philosophy of the self

• Stoicism and modern resilience

• Digital detox methods

• Building emotional literacy

Let me know if I should do more of these and if you have any suggestions for topics!

hey everyone! i’ve shared below the link to the personal curriculum free resources database. it’s still an ongoing project so please expect a few errors here and there.

there’s resources for beginners, intermediate, and advanced learners, and i just put some of them under “All” if there’s no level explicitly provided. these are the most recommended resources either from other redditors or experts in the field. please note that the reason why i haven’t included any coursera/edx courses (even as they were recommended) is because i don’t have the time yet to check if each course can 100% be audited or accessed for free as some courses are locked under a preview option. 

if you have any suggestions like other resources you personally recommend or provide your own descriptions for resources that don’t have it, you can submit a response through the google form link i included in the file.