Discover A Personal Curriculum and How To Create One

You know that feeling when you discover something new, to you, and everything just clicks? You suddenly feel seen in a way you never have been before, and you start going on a deep dive on the topic. This happened to me recently when I came across something called a personal curriculum.

One minute I’m doomscrolling on TikTok, and the next I’m finding my newest obsession. So, if you enjoy learning and always loved that back-to-school feeling, I think you’ll enjoy this as well. Allow me to introduce you.

What Is A Personal Curriculum?

Think of a personal curriculum like do it yourself semester at school, except you don’t have to actually go to school. You also get to learn anything you want, any time you want, and as often as you want.

This is great for people who are naturally curious about a variety of topics, who miss the structure of school courses, or just find the idea fascinating. As I mentioned before, I found this idea through a TikTok, the one below to be exact. Take a look to learn even more about the idea of a personal curriculum.

@xparmesanprincessx

i love learning about random stuff it makes life silly and full of whimsy! stay curious my friends 🥰💖📚 #curriculum #augustcurriculum #learning #reading #journaling #artistsway

♬ Clair de lune/Debussy – もつ

How Can You Create A Personal Curriculum?

If you are ready to create a personal curriculum for yourself but don’t know where to start, I’ve got you. I’m going to walk you through the process I used to create my first personal curriculum so that you can follow along. I’ll take you from brainstorming the courses you want to learn about, all the way to creating your course syllabus. 

1) Figure Out The Topics You Are Interested In

For the first step in this process we are going to brain dump. So, I want you to think about topics you are interested in and what you might want to learn. Don’t think about them too much right now, just write them down. I did a mix of topics, fun, educational/things I could learn in school, seasonal, personal development, and life skills.

Once you are done with your brain dump, circle a few that stand out to you. This won’t be your final pick, but you are narrowing them down here. I recommend doing a mixture of different types of topics. 

2) Decide On The Structure You Want

This next step is where we start making decisions. Before moving on you’ll have decided on the courses you are taking, how long your term is, and if you’ll add any projects, assignments, or field trips to your personal curriculum. 

• Decide on your courses: It’s important not to overload yourself here. You still have your work, personal life, and other things to consider here. I recommend doing no more than four courses, but if you feel like you can do more then go for it.
• Course length: How long will you be doing these curriculums? Some popular lengths of time are monthly, quarterly, or even half a year. I decided to go with quarterly, but I’m timing it with the change of the seasons. That way one of my courses can be seasonal based.
• Course additions: Here you want to think about what you want each course to include. Will you just be learning about a topic, or will you apply what you learn through assignments and projects? Then, to add additional fun to the course, consider planning a field trip. Some examples are a cooking class for a cooking course, an art gallery for an art course, and a networking event for a communications course. 

3) Research What Resources You Can Use For Your Courses

Now that you have a solid game plan for your personal curriculum, it’s time to figure out how you will be learning about each topic. There are a variety of resources you can use for learning.

A great place to start is to search for actual college syllabi to see what their recommended readings are for the courses. But, if you are stuck on what resources to use, here is a list to get you started.

• Actual online courses (we have some listed for you, you can also check sites like Udemy and Coursera)
• Podcasts
• YouTube videos
• Ted talks
• Books
• Blog posts/articles
• Documentaries
• Interviewing an expert

4) Create Your Outline/Syllabus

This is where all your planning comes together. You can be as simple, or as detailed as you want here. Whether you want to just list concepts you want to learn, or create a weekly outline, it’s up to you.

I used Chat GPT to help me create my syllabi. If you’d rather not do that, but still need help, I’d recommend trying to find other syllabi or course outlines on that same topic. This will help you figure out your course structure.

5) Start Learning

You’ve done everything you need to do to get going. Now all there is left to do is start learning. Remember, this is supposed to be fun, so don’t stress about it. You control every aspect of this curriculum.

So, feel free to make adjustments if something isn’t working. Check in with yourself often to see if you are enjoying the process and learning what you want to learn.

Final Thoughts on the New Obsession of a Personal Curriculum

Now you have all the tips you need to create your own personal curriculum. I hope this new activity will give you as much joy as it has given me. I’d love to know what you chose for your first curriculum. Let me know in the comments. 

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