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← Finding Where to Start

Finding Where to Start

Three short lessons for a grown-up coming back to learning: start where it feels easy, map what you know before what you do not, and treat the next step as an open door, never a locked one.

Spark & Whetstone · sparkwhetstone.org/learn/finding-where-to-start · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Answers are at the end, so you can try each question first.

Lesson 1. Start where it is easy

When adults come back to a subject, they often start too hard, with the topic they remember failing. The first weeks feel like proof they cannot do it.

Start lower than you need to. The aim of the first lesson is to get something right and feel the subject open, not to find your limit.

Question. You want to brush up on maths after many years. Where should you start?

  1. With the topic you found hardest at school.
  2. A little below where you think you are, so the first lesson goes well.
  3. With a timed test to find your level.

Say it back. In your own words: why start lower than you need to?

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Lesson 2. Map what you know

Before planning what to learn, write down what you already know. For chance, it might be: I know a coin is half and half; I know dice; I am not sure about two dice together.

The map makes the next step obvious. It is usually the edge of what you know, not something new and far away.

Question. Your map shows you know single dice well but not two dice together. What is the next step?

  1. Two dice together.
  2. Card counting.
  3. Starting over with coins.

Say it back. Say it back: how does a map of what you know help you choose what to learn?

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Lesson 3. Doors, not locks

A learning plan should show the next steps as open doors: lit ones close to what you know, dimmer ones further away. Nothing is locked. If you want to jump ahead, you can, and come back.

This matters for grown-ups especially. Being told you are not ready yet can end a return to learning before it begins.

Question. A course says a lesson is "far from what you have done so far". What should that mean?

  1. You may not open it.
  2. It may be harder, and you can still open it if you want.
  3. You failed an earlier lesson.

Say it back. In your own words: what is the difference between a dim door and a locked one?

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At the table: Draw your map

Players: one or two people. You'll need: a sheet of paper and a pencil.

  1. Write a subject in the middle of the page.
  2. Around it, write three things you already know about it.
  3. Around those, write two things you half know, and one you would like to know.
  4. Circle the one closest to what you know. That is your next lesson.

Answers

  1. A little below where you think you are, so the first lesson goes well. — Starting a little low means the first lesson goes well, which makes it far more likely you will come back for the second.
  2. Two dice together. — Two dice together is the edge of what you know, so it is the natural next step.
  3. It may be harder, and you can still open it if you want. — A far lesson may be harder, but you decide whether to try it. Nothing is locked.