Schools provide plans. Among many things.

Plans for learning. We usually call them curricula. And plans for individual classes. In colleges and graduate schools, those plans are called a syllabus. A written plan to guide you. From a point of ignorance to a point of (hopefully) less ignorance.

Which is part of the problem for independent learners: they have to guide themselves. Or find someone who can guide them.

There are two aspects of learning that have to be found out, whatever it is we’re trying to learn. First, we have to see the big picture so we can fit information we learn together. And next, we have to know how those things relate to each other.

Self learners (“autodidacts” to use the technical term) can easily go astray here.

Sometimes those folks will have an area they’re interested in but not know the big picture. That’s the first problem.

The second problem is related to it. It’s the problem of not knowing how to connect bits of information.

What I’m talking about here is not the more hands on learning. If you’re wanting to learn, say, auto mechanics or ballet or first aid, the two problems I mentioned above are still true, but there’s a slightly different route to take in learning and absorbing those.

What I’m looking at here is something that’s more purely academic (although nothing’s really purely academic, but that’s for another day).

And I’ll give you the bad news first. To understand an academic subject on your own, you have to read. A lot.

At the very minimum, you need to read a college level introductory textbook. Probably several. When you’ve absorbed one or two of those, you’ll begin to get something of the big picture.

Here’s where traditional school comes in. Ideally, a school provides the overview, and usually won’t allow you to take the more specialized subjects until you’ve mastered the introductory stuff.

Most people are not familiar with reading lists. A reading list is a recommended list of books and other materials that are foundational for understanding a subject. To get them, search – for example – “American history reading list.” (Replace “American history” with whatever you want to learn about).

Find books you like or resonate with. Use your Kindle for this. Look up a recommended book on Amazon and find its Kindle edition. Then download a sample to your Kindle. A Kindle sample will be enough to decide if you like it or not.

Don’t read books you don’t like, unless there’s a compelling reason to do so. And don’t imagine that academic learning should be boring. Sometimes you’ll be amazed how much a simply biography or novel can teach you.

And don’t be afraid to read primary sources. Many people avoid reading something like Plato’s Republic or St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans in favor of reading a bookabout them. Primary sources are often easier to understand than you might imagine.

But you must read. There are short term shortcuts like I’ve outlined above but there are no long term shortcuts. You must make yourself read every day. Make yourself read for a given amount of time. Even 15 minutes a day, over time, can make a huge impact.