Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Stem for adults

I'm sick of identifying as non stem oriented and I'd like to get a general grounding in a few areas, purely for interest sake. Just wondering if anyone has recommendations on where to start and with what?

I'm particularly interested in math, physics and chemistry at the moment. I would have a year 8/9 level understanding of each. Is khan academy ideal? I probably do better with books than computers if anyone has ideas. I'd really like to inspire my kids to view learning as fun so this is my first step!

I've been using Khan Academy for math for the same reason. For me personally, the videos are very slow and lacking in depth. Nowhere near ideal, but very good for a free resource. Wikipedia has good articles, too. I particularly appreciate the list of mathematical symbols.

Thanks I have been using the MIT site for medical history if you wanted to look at that for math. It is too advanced for me.

Thanks! That looks like a lot of fun. I think I'll give it a try.

For an easy overview there are the DK books Help your Kids With Maths and Help Your Kids with Science. Then you could move on to regular textbooks or some of the more interesting books about the subjects designed for popular reading. For example but there are tons:
https://adamspencer.com.au/buy-online/

They keep you interested and give you a different perspective on maths and science.
Then there are a lot of online courses that you can do from a variety of institutions if you want. MOOCs abound

I totally forgot about Danica McKellar's series which DD enjoyed. Maths Doesn't Suck, Kiss My Math, Girls Got Curves (it's geometry), Hot X: Algebra Exposed. Danica was Winnie in The Wonder Years and she has a PhD in Maths. Her books are designed to get girls interested in maths from middle school level up. You can order them from Amazon.

Not really teaching math but this came up in my facebook feed a few months ago -
http://ideas.ted.com/math-101-a-reading-list-for-lifelong-learners/

I've now read and loved #3 and #4 (I have some more on hold at the library but it isn't my turn yet). The Ellenburg book might be a great place to start though. It aims to simplify and explain math to everyone. You won't be able to tackle university math problems after just reading it but it might be a foundation of how/why before diving into the more technical details of how from other sources. It is the first book I've read that tries to explain the beauty of math and tries to demystify it if that makes sense.

The 4th one is less about teaching math and more of a history but it might be a good non-STEM gateway to math (or not - I'm a huge STEM geek so maybe that is why I liked it, YMMV...). For me it was kind of the opposite - a STEM person's gateway to history. If nothing else it has been an entertaining read.

Another good read is http://www.amazon.ca/A-Short-History-Nearly-Everything/dp/0385660049 Again, not exactly a course in the sciences but might be good as background reading. Both DH and I have read it and we did the audio book on a road trip with the kids. DS9 loved it, DD7 was a little less impressed but given their personalities/interests that wasn't completely shocking.

Now off to check out some of the above shows/books. They look amazing!

This is great thanks so much, I'm loving that these kids inspire me to be my best!