Improving Yourself with Free Resources

School is back in session. The long days of summer are over. The first day of fall as arrived, bringing with it crisp air, and turning leaves. It is a time of the year when we here at the Wandering Wonderful homestead start to make plans for the long winter days ahead. Last year we had a relatively mild winter, we were only snowed in for 2 weeks. We spent the winter months making plans for the farm, drawing up plans for various projects (Hoop Run) and starting a blog. This winter is dedicated to self improvement. We have found a variety of free services that we plan on utilizing.

Online Free College Courses
I will admit, while in college I hated taking online classes. Now I enjoy the ability to further my education while still wearing my pajamas. Classes at edx.org are free, with fees if you chose to get a certificate to verify you passed the course. EDX is governed by governed by MIT and Harvard. Open learning is the way of the future.

Duolingo
We are both learning Portuguese (Brazilian) at the moment using Duolingo in addition to conversing with native speakers. The format of Duolingo makes learning a language game-like and fun. They have several language programs to choose from, many Duolingo members are learning multiple languages at once. They will soon be adding Klingon, I for one am excited about learning Klingon. English is our primary language, Portuguese is the first foreign language the Wanderer has attempted to learn. I speak a little Lakota (one of my grandfathers was Lakota), I think this has gave me a slight advantage in learning Portuguese.

TEDTalks
Part of TED's mission statement boasts "we're building a clearinghouse of free knowledge from the world's most inspired thinkers — and a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other" That is a driving philosophy behind the team here at Wandering in the Wonderful. We seek to be always improving and engaging with the world around us, teaching and learning.

Homestead
A site with articles that cover nearly every aspect of homesteading. We are still new to the world of homesteading, returning to the lives our grandparents lived. This has been a key resource for us as we grow and develop the farm and adapt our lifestyles.