How to Organise your own Personal Curriculum

I'm really not one for setting resolutions, often decided upon with a lot of guilt and then broken with even more. Resolutions do nothing to lift my spirits in the coldest months of the year.

I do like to theme my year however! Give myself a keyword and keep it in mind as I work my way through the months of the year. The theme for 2026 is EXPANSION and with that in mind, I decided to give myself a curriculum to follow and I thought I'd share my thoughts on how I went about it, just in case you wanted to organise your own!

A little context to start ~ I LOVED school and have worked in education for many years so the notion of a curriculum or Scheme of Work is very comfortable and familiar to me. The great thing about a personal curriculum as a general idea, unlike school, is that there's no pressure to get grades or pass exams! Huzzah!

The idea is to create an opportunity to learn and explore in the most enjoyable and enriching way possible and this will be unique to each of us.

Getting Started

I started by writing a list of all the things that had been sparking ideas in my head. Either topics that wouldn't quite go away, impulsive ideas, realistic and ridiculous and everything in between. I simply wrote everything down. It was quite a big list! So then I edited down.

Subject Areas

I divided my list into 3 distinct areas and these depend on your focus. For example, I've noticed a few local people on the socials have started identifying birds so you could have Natural History & Nature subject area. You might want to read around the topic, visit places that relate to the subject. Are there talks online or in real life that would support your learning adventure? Are there places to visit? Groups you could join?

My Subject areas are as follows: Arts & Crafts, History & Culture and Fashion & Dressmaking and there's actually quite a lot of crossover between them. What I wanted was a range of activities around each topic within the subject areas to keep things interesting and inspiring for me as I learn and that would give me a range of experiences. For example, I didn't want to simply have a gigantic reading list to get through. I wanted to go, see and do as well! I love nothing more than a jolly to see an exhibition or have an experience so all my topics are planned with this in mind.

You can watch my latest YouTube episode that takes a detailed look at my Personal Curriculum for 2026!

Shop my Booklist here!

Topics in more Depth

So, looking at Arts & Crafts as a subject area, I want to learn a lot more about Traditional Quilting and especially Welsh Wholecloth Quilts. This ties in with wanting to explore my Welsh Heritage {crossing over with History & Culture somewhat}. My aim is to make a wholecloth quilt using traditional methods so I shall be diving into books and articles on this, seeking out online resources, creating samples and so on. There might be an opportunity to see examples of quilts at various exhibitions or museums and a dream would be a trip to Wales at some point this year.

I also want to look at how quilting has been used in fashion and will be working on the Folkwear Quilted Petticoat sewing pattern at some point alongside a planned quilted jacket. {As I sit here writing this in my freezing little cottage by the sea, how I wish I had already made these to wear now!}. This will be an ongoing 'project' through the year and I'm looking forward to sharing my quilting adventures with you!

A Mix of Long & Short

Another topic in the Arts & Crafts subject area is the phenomenal artist Leonora Carrington. I want to read a little more of her written work and if possible, see a painting or 2 in real life. I did a talk about her {and Leonor Fini ~ also incredible!} over on my Patreon a few moons ago. I wanted to dive in deeper and building in the space for that in my personal curriculum, gives me the opportunity. Sometimes we just need to give ourselves the permission don't we?

My time spent with Leonara isn't scheduled to be a huge deep dive ~ I'm not going to be writing a thesis here and I think it's important to have smaller topics that entertain and inform ~ palette cleansers if you will, alongside more involved projects.

Documenting Progress

I've chosen my topics to help in terms of what I do for a living but also from a personal viewpoint. I will dip in and out through the year and document online, in sketchbooks and in journals. I recognise that I'm incredibly lucky to be able to create my own job and consequently my time is my own to manage {or mismanage!}

You could really focus on a single subject area/topic and designate 1 activity/book/visit/talk per month which is how I would approach this if I had full time commitments which made time/opportunities more limited. And you don't have to document anything at all ~ just be in the moment and luxuriate in this lovely gift you're giving yourself! One of my favourite things is to sit and have a really good chat with a friend so maybe you can share what you're learning with a kindred spirit over a lovely cup of tea!

The idea of a personal curriculum is that it's adding joy to your life, not simply another thing to add to already hefty to do lists! Keep it as simple as you like or dive deeply. I hope that there are a few ideas here to spark your imagination and if you decide to embark on a Personal Curriculum of your own, I hope you have an amazing time!

My aim is to expand my knowledge and understanding, give myself some new horizons to explore and to feel that I have truly filled my cup in a purposeful and relaxed way. I can't wait to see where my Personal Curriculum takes me!

Tara x