I don’t actually remember a lot of school that looked at all like classroom time. Though I’m sure much of my education in the early grades was more hands-on, I mostly remember working through my textbooks and the lesson plans my parents scheduled on my own, heading upstairs to consult with my mom if I needed help. It seems like we would meet at the kitchen table around 10 AM every morning and go over the day’s work, and she would check what I’d done and we’d discuss how I did.
In thinking back, this style of education very much shaped what I am today. When I need or want to learn how to do something, I figure out how to do it on my own. I’ve taught myself how to start a blog; code CSS, HTML, and PHP; cook gourmet food; and design and sell a digital product. The fear of learning something new is rarely present in my life; if I just have the desire to learn something, I’ll figure out a way to learn it.
Until I started thinking about my own education, I didn’t realize that this part of me was due to my education – I thought it was just part of my personality. Now, I’m realizing that although I may lean that way naturally a bit, it is due in great part to the fact that I was taught how to learn things on my own.
Perhaps you would say that’s being “self-taught”, but it’s possible to teach someone how to teach themselves, and I think that’s what my parents did.