My Journey to Scholar

I began my quest for an education after I graduated from college in 2003. Even, though I had the paper that claimed I was educated, I knew that I was not. My plan was to go to graduate school and there get my education. Luckily two months before I was to start at ISU I found out I was pregnant with my first child. Nevertheless I was confident I could do it on my own, get an education I mean. I already had the books for my first semester so I read them. After a few weeks I realized there were too many holes in my education to really learn from them, so I switched to reading classic fiction, which I already knew I was good at. Two years after that I found a book that outlines how to give a classical education to children. This was exactly what I wanted for myself as well. I thought about just going through the whole program myself, but it seemed to daunting. About a year later I was introduced to TJEd and felt that this was the answer to my dillema concerning the acquisition of an education. I saw a way to get a classical education, but also a way to overcome the fear and anxiety I had about myself. I was excited.
The more I learned about the phases of learning, the more I realized I was still on the edge of Core Phase and LOL. It took me a while, but I finally decided to go with it. I studied my Core book and I tried many different things. I finally came back to my two true loves, reading and sewing. I spent more than two years trying out scholar activities. The best thing I did was join a scholar type discussion group and a classic fiction book club. I learned some from the readings, but more importantly I learned how to really read and discipline. I learned that I was capable of doing hard things and eventually I began to change from the readings.
Last Spring I set out to practice scholar phase. I picked six books that were things I thought I should learn and studied every day. I set up a schedule and made myself stick to it. I even made myself takes notes. At first the notes didn't help so I changed to written narrations Charlotte Mason style. Wow! Did that change my reading and writing. I began to pay attention more and to formulate my narrations as I read. My writing improved as well, my ideas began to come together on paper in a more cohesive way, not to mention faster.
Then I signed up for the Shakespeare class at Abigail Adam's Academy. This was my hardest “project” yet. I had not really read much Shakespeare and what I did I certainly didn't understand very well. It was hard, but now I am finished reading the third play, Henry V, and I loved it. Shakespeare is not hard anymore.
I feel like I am really ready for the next step in my scholar phase. My previous Core Phase issues seem to be manageable, my LOL issues don't seem to be a bother any more, and my scholar skills are improving every day. I am looking forward to a quiet, secluded winter so I can study with minimal interruptions.