Why I Love The Teaching CompanyWhy do I love The Teaching Company? When I was raising my five children, I felt like I lived in a revolving door. There was never enough time to improve my mind and most conversations were held with tots and teens - good mothering, but not very stimulating from an intellectual angle. I was wasting the precious minutes of my lifeMuch of my day was spent in the car hauling children to and from school, soccer, piano and violin lessons, and the grocery store. One day, just for fun, I timed it - THREE HOURS driving, waiting, and on to the next errand - maybe this sounds like you? Three hours thrown away every day! I needed a way to use the precious minutes of my life more effectively. I desperately wanted to hear words longer than one syllable. Then I found The Teaching Company. I was hungry to learnMy college years were the most stimulating of my life. Every day there was a challenge to stretch my mind and grow in the understanding of the world around me with courses that explained how people work, how the universe came into being, how my body works at the molecular level.I was a science and psychology major and all those courses fed my mind and shaped my world outlook. And even though I took all the other humanities requirements - English, literature, philosophy, history and the like, I didn't have the time or the energy to expand upon the courses which formed our culture and society. I missed most of the entire Western Canon. How to retrieve all that lost knowledge from decades later?
I needed to go back to collegeUnfortunately, my responsibilities at home made that an impossibility. Even if I could, the expense of matriculating, sitters, extra household help and commuting crushed any thoughts in that direction. You can go home againI never had the opportunity to attend a top drawer school. For me, university was a local state school, and that was okay - I believe - and I'll bet you do too - that education depends more upon what the student puts into it than the prestige of the school.However, I now have professors from U Penn, U of Texas at Austin, Georgetown U, Harvard, the California Institute of Technology, Stanford, Columbia, and too many more wildly expensive schools to mention at my beck and call. Click here to see actual examples of course offerings on sale. I don't get "credits" but I'm not in it for the credits - nor do I have to write papers, deal with parking hassles, nor suffer through tests. For me, it's all joy and the satisfaction of my hunger to understand the world and my place in it. When do I watch or listen to Teaching Company?To help me get through those odious exercise sessions.I hate to exercise, but my doctor - and probably yours as well? - insists that it is absolutely necessary. Some people actually enjoy trotting along the streets, a grim look on their faces, stoically determined to put in their time. More power to 'em! But that isn't me. I'd rather send my thoughts somewhere pleasant while my body is getting its workout. So now I turn housework into a pleasure and listen to tapes while I'm tidying up. It's simple. If I didn't have this resource, I wouldn't be going to the gym regularly three times a week. When the TV schedule at night stinks (and how often do we get a new episode of Monk or NCIS?), no problem, I put a DVD - tonight, geology? - and watch the richly illustrated presentations of top Ivy and near-Ivy professors. Only 1 in 5000 instructors make the cut across the US for offering compelling presentations. I have occasional insomnia and one of the best uses I make of The Teaching Company is to let someone tell me a bedtime story. This week, I've been listening to The Passions in which Professor Robert Sullivan explains how emotions are intelligent and how they fit us for survival. This quiets my mind from all the day's "buzz" and I drop off easily because I'm not rehashing the day past or thinking about what must be done tomorrow. My cassette player turns itself off and I'm sound asleep with a few more insights to dream about. In a very real way, my audiocassette player is my "teddy bear." When I have to travel, alone or with my spouse, I might listen to one entire course for hundreds of miles, and review that course on the way back. Do you think this information sticks? Yes, it does. I learn something new each time I review a course. I hardly ever miss a day with The Teaching Company for about fifteen years. Uses of The Teaching Company materialI'm a writer. Not a day goes by when I don't bring some Teaching Company insight to bear upon my professional portfolio. I have incorporated research into the small acts of my daily living. This makes me more effective and ultimately saves me a great deal of time.Could it really be this easy to build your "crystallized knowledge database?" You bet. My commitment to The Teaching Company has endured for nearly 15 years. I have never, ever, flagged in my devotion to my avocation of learning on a daily basis. The courses are so intriguing that they hold my interest year in and year out. I am very proud to recommend The Teaching Company to you, my visitor.
Want to see The Teaching Company library in my home? View it here.
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