I have a little less than a year to spend hanging out with A- and learning about early childhood education before she goes to kindergarten next year. If I’m intentional about what I want to learn, then I can make the best use of the time.

I’m not worried about making sure A- is academically advanced. I do want to have fun playing with her, though. I like learning more about how kids learn math, science, and literacy so that I can appreciate how she’s figuring things out and I can build on learning opportunities all around us. I want to learn more about nature and physical literacy, too. I can learn about these topics by reading early childhood education books and trying out ideas.

I have a little space to work on my own skills, thanks to investing in having a babysitter every Saturday. I’d like to slowly ramp up skills I’ve been neglecting for the past few years. If I pick personal projects aligned with these skills and I let my consulting clients know what I’m curious about, I’ll probably get plenty of opportunities to learn in the process of doing useful things.

• Python:
  • personal finance: better decisions, peace of mind
  • robotic process automation
  • text analysis: work with journal entries?
  • image analysis: handwriting recognition, grouping sketches?
• Emacs: because it tickles my brain
  • I want to start up hangouts again when A- is in school: maybe Jitsi + Icecast or Youtube?
  • I want to dig into new features in Org and other projects to expand the possibilities for automation
• Deployment: so that I can improve reproducibility and reduce risk
  • Automation
  • Containers
• Reusable web components: so that my prototypes look more polished and support richer interactions
• SQL, Tableau:
  • More data analysis at work? Hampered by indirect access to data
• Sketchnotes:
  • More colour
  • Wider visual vocabulary
  • Wider range of topics/thoughts: I can practise this in the process of learning more about early childhood education
• General organization/notes: My files have gotten a little overgrown. I’d like to get better at prioritizing, organizing, writing, and sharing