Book Series "For Smart People"

Image Attribution: Marcus Quigmire via Wikipedia

Background

If you love to learn about new things then you have probably borrowed, bought or stolen a book from the "For Dummies" series. As a technical self-learner I have a deep appreciation for this series and the wealth of knowledge it makes available. Back before the internet was pervasive, these books provided an unusually cheap way to  learn about new subjects. Over the years the series has gained diverse authors and subjects while retaining the objective of creating competent students from the ignorant.

I have a great respect for the series, but also a deep frustration. I'm a slow reader, but a quick learner. It often feels like the "For Dummies" books cater to the lowest common denominator, and rightly so, because that is really their target market. As such, the lessons are laid out something like this: First, introduce the subject and background information. Second, introduce sub-topics. Third, teach basic knowledge indirectly related to the topic. Fourth, teach each sub-topic sequentially, one by one. It's the fourth step that introduces what I consider to be a grinding element to the learning process. For each sub-topic the books start at the basics and build up to competence level. This means that you have to read the entire book to make sure you don't miss any important details. This also means that you waste your time reading examples and lessons over and over and over again when you got it the first time.

Personally, I want the pace to be about ten times faster. In sixth grade I was privileged to take a self-paced math course. The lessons were laid out as follows: First, read a high-level introduction that taught the basic concepts of the topic. Second, take a chapter quiz to see how well you understand the topics covered. Third, read detailed lessons and do practice problems for any areas that were weak. Fourth, take a chapter test to certify you understand the content. If you aced the first quiz, you got to go on to the next topic. If the quiz demonstrated knowledge gaps, then you only studied to fill in those gaps. I went through my Math so fast they eventually had to send me to the high school for math class.

Where is the book series that follows this learning process?!

The Idea

Will someone please create a book series, an online school, or even a brick and mortar school that is geared towards people who comprehend quickly?! Most gifted / talented / accelerated learning programs and schools don't do it this way. I know because I went to several. They almost always teach using the same stupid style that is used in all our U.S. schools. The whole class is expected to stay at the same level and pace. Everyone is forced through the same practice lessons, whether they are needed or not. And too often, teachers of these accelerated courses just use fake difficulty by assigning inordinate amounts of homework, or worse, use the extra time to teach unrelated and unhelpful content.

If you make a book series, "For Smart People" I will totally buy them.

And I'm really not that smart, I just like to learn more than the average person!