The title of this slim volume pretty much sums up the content. This is another resource I turn to over and over to be sure we have covered our bases before high school. The author says he has:

tutored hundreds of high school students and have often been surprised by the large gaps in their knowledge base. For whatever reasons, many students just aren’t learning the things their high school teachers will expect them to know: What’s the capital of Brazil? How do you find the area of a triangle? What is a light year? When was the U.S. Civil War fought, and why? Who was Mark Twain? Golda Meir? William Henry Harrison? Which is larger, the galaxy or the solar system? What is wind chill factor? How do you multiply fractions? When do you use between and among? What’s the world’s largest lake? Island? City? Country? Mountain? These are just a few of the thousands of facts to be found in Learn This!

This is not just a dry compilation of data however. He gives students tips about how to best take in this information and retain it. I love his explanation. He says that when we begin a study – of anything – we know nothing. Then,

As we sift through the pieces of the puzzle, a few ideas start to make sense and clump together. We add to those ideas as we find the connections. The clumps continue to growuntil they overlap. The spaces between the clumps get smaller as our ignorance gets squeezed out of the picture. But remember that isn’t necessarily an orderly process.

By way of example he points out that most of us may have started the alphabet with A, B, C. But then maybe we skipped to H, M and Z. Then we may have learned about their neighbors. We “fish around for a place to grab on” when we start a new topic, making connections as we go. That is the way we learn about getting around our city and that is the way we learn school subjects as well. We gather what is at first isolated data. Then we start making connections and eventually filling in the white space in our minds with colorful pictures and facinating ideas.

And no, its not always an orderly process. Even if the information is presented in a chronological, alphabetical, you name it type of order, some things will stand out more prominently than others in the student’s mind. Some will be barely explored and dropped for a time. So there is no need to stress overmuch about that. The important thing is that connections continue to be made with both the material and with prior knowledge.

But I digress.

Learn This is less than ten dollars. It does not tell you HOW to teach but it does provide an excellent, at-a-glance overview of major topics (and the specifics within each) to cover. It can provide the student with a good framework to build from because they can see where the new information fits in to their overall study. It helps those who are working towards a literature and experience based curriculum know where to start. I am glad we have it!