Recommended Reading for a Personal Curriculum

If you haven’t already heard, there is a new trend on TikTok and YouTube – Designing a Personal Curriculum. Think college for adults, but instead of enrolling in classes at an institution you design your own curriculum based on things you love. I am not a trend chaser, but this one really speaks to me. Required reading? Yes please. Learning something new? Absolutely. Buying school supplies? Sign me up!

This post covers the general idea of the trend and also dives more deeply into the reading aspect of it. You will find helpful tips for creating your own personal curriculum, as well as a comprehensive list of some recommended reading on a broad variety of subjects.

What is a Personal Curriculum?

A personal curriculum is a commitment you make to yourself to learn about a topic that interests you greatly or has always piqued your curiosity. It is different than setting a goal to just do something like “Learn how to knit” or “Cook more healthy food”. Think of this as not a how-to style of learning but rather topic immersion.

Why do a Personal Curriculum?

Being Intentional With Your Time

With our ever-shrinking attention spans and packed schedules, doom scrolling has become our default form of entertainment. It is time to find a balance. Engage with the world around us in a more hands-on way. Your downtime should benefit you and help you grow.

Explore Things That Fascinate You

This is your chance to deep dive into whatever random topic tickles your fancy. It doesn’t have to be something that makes you better at your job or brings in more money. It is meant to be something fun and interesting. For example, I have always been fascinated with space and stars so one of my “classes” is going to be Constellations. I am going to learn how to identify the different constellations and the stories behind them told by different cultures. 

Daydream About a Dream Career

This is an opportunity to see what your dream career is like without actually quitting your job. A chance to learn about the life, not the craft of it. The experiences or history of the job. Want to be a writer? Don’t design a curriculum about how to set a writing routine or techniques of writing. Read memoirs by writers and how they lived, or a book about writers from a certain historical period. 

Rolling Enrollment

Since this is not a traditional school class you can start anytime! And you can design your curriculum to be completely free. 

How to Create Your Curriculum

1.Pick Your Course

My advice is to attempt only 1 or 2 classes. This is meant to be fun and pressure-free. Ideally, do a subject for learning and one elective. Think of this as a growth class and a play class. Check out the list of recommended reading for a personal curriculum at the end of this post to get some topic ideas.

2.Create Your Syllabus

You need to decide how long your class will be. Are you taking a semester-long course (typically 10 weeks) or a seasonal course (think fall, winter, etc). I have seen some people do monthly classes. Personally, I would not recommend this as I think it is too short of a time to truly immerse yourself and it puts a lot of pressure on you and your time. 

Once you decide on your time frame, you can map your reading across the weeks. Take the one or two “textbooks” you are planning to read and divide the chapters across your time frame. Be sure to schedule some loose time in there (think spring break, holiday day off) to account for if you get sick over the semester or have a particularly jammed schedule one week. 

It is helpful to break your syllabus into subtopics. Particularly if you are studying a very broad subject. For example, if you wanted to study Ancient Egypt break it down into sections – People, Traditions, Architecture, Religion etc. Spend 2 – 3 weeks on each subtopic. 

3.Assignments

The point of all of this is to grow and learn. To do that you need to reinforce the material you are consuming.

• Take notes as you read. There have been many studies that show the act of handwriting connects information to certain parts of your brain, allowing for better retention and recall of the material
• Reflect. At the end of each chapter summarize what you have read. Ideally, as if you were explaining the topic to someone else. This forces you to slow down and interact with the material and ensures you are grasping the topic. 
• Do it. If this is a more craft-based or hands-on subject then some of your assignments should be to actually try it out. Going back to the Constellations example, some of my assignments will be to go outside at night and try to locate the constellation I have just learned about. Also, to pick a few constellations and see how they move across the sky over the course of the semester. 

4.Field Trips

One of the most fun parts of school were the field trips. This is the perfect opportunity to indulge yourself. When you are making your syllabus plan for a day here or there to go and experience the topic. Studying the pyramids of Egypt? Find a local museum that has an Egyptian exhibit and go. Exploring birdwatching? Check out your local Audubon Society for any upcoming presentations or birdwatching hikes. I did an early evening hike about owls and bats and it was amazing! I learned all about their habits and heard and saw them throughout the hike. 

TIP: For your field trip spring for the audio tour or a guided tour. You get so much more in-depth information. 

How to Stick to Your Personal Curriculum

No Grading

First off, don’t treat this as a goal with checklists and daily To Do’s. You have enough of that in your life. This is a fun hobby. Meant to bring you pleasure and stimulate your mind. Be kind to yourself. If you fall behind on your classes so what. No one is marking your attendance in a book. 

Keep it Analog

Don’t add YouTube videos or internet searches to your syllabus. This should be digital-free. When you are creating your syllabus you will no doubt need to use technology to find some of your reading materials, but if there are articles, print them out. If there are books try to get physical copies. You want to interact with your topic. Read the books, visit the places, meet the people. If you add in digital content it may lead to distraction and you may go off down rabbit holes and complete left turns. This also means leaving your phone off or in another room when you are “in class”.

Buddy Up

Having a fellow classmate to chat with about what you are learning can be a fun and social element. Connect weekly by phone or meet at a coffee shop to check in. If you both read different books you can discuss what you learned with each other and it will further expand your understanding of the material. 

School Supplies

I loved shopping for school supplies every September (yes, I was a nerd even back then). Here is another chance to treat yo’self. Get a beautiful notebook for notetaking during reading. Get a themed tote bag for carting your material around. Buy your favorite pens and highlighters. 

Schedule

Just like a real class be sure to time block this as a recurring appointment. For example, class is every Tuesday and Thursday 6 to 8. Be realistic about your time and don’t overcommit yourself. Only have an hour on Saturday mornings – then that is your class time. This doesn’t have to be an everyday event. If you are doing 2 or more classes, schedule them at different times.

A set spot or routine can help with this too. Have your favorite cup of tea every time you sit down for class. This reinforces the pleasure of the time. Or go to class somewhere else, such as a coffee shop or your library. The benefit of doing this is it removes you from the environment of your home where you may feel pressure to be doing chores. 

Recommended Reading by Topic

Here is a list of books I recommend for a variety of topics. These were selected based on covering the idea of a subject and not as a manual on the topic. Most of these are not textbooks but rather discussions or overviews on the topic of interest. Remember immersion not how-to!