What do I want to learn next?

| planning

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
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