Learn calculus in six months
Six months of steady work — 45 minutes a day, five days a week — takes someone with solid algebra and trig through limits, derivatives, integrals and the fundamental theorem. About 140 hours total. You will not be a mathematician. You will know calculus.
6 months · ~140 hours · differentiate and integrate, set up and solve real problems
1.3Blue1Brown — Essence of Calculus
Twelve videos, about three hours total. Watch all of them before you open a textbook. Grant Sanderson builds the geometric intuition for derivatives and integrals so that everything you do later has somewhere to land. Most students learn calculus as a list of rules and never recover from it. Start here so you don't.
Free
Essence of Calculus →2.Stewart's Calculus — Early Transcendentals
The standard university textbook for forty years for good reason. Read each section, then do the odd-numbered exercises and check answers in the back. Two to three sections a week. Cover chapters 1 through 6 (single-variable). Skip the projects, do not skip the proofs of the main theorems.
~$60 used; older editions are nearly identical and cheaper
Stewart Calculus →3.Paul's Online Math Notes — Calculus I
When Stewart's exercises feel too procedural, switch to Paul Dawkins's worked problems for the same topic. His solutions are written like a tutor explaining at the whiteboard, and his practice problems are harder than Stewart's. Use the cheat sheets the week before any chapter test you give yourself.
Free
Paul's Calculus I notes →If this doesn't fit you
If your goal is to understand calculus rigorously — proofs, epsilon-delta, real analysis to follow — replace Stewart with Spivak's Calculus. It is harder, slower, and far more rewarding for someone heading toward pure math. Plan on nine months instead of six and expect to redo problems.
Why this path
Most self-learners pick one resource and burn out — videos alone don't build problem-solving, and textbooks alone don't build intuition. 3Blue1Brown gives you the picture, Stewart gives you the reps, Paul's notes catch you when Stewart's exercises feel mechanical. Skipping the videos is the most common mistake; people think they're a luxury and find themselves three months in still memorizing rules. Watch them first.