As I was sewing a button onto my husband’s shorts the other day, he made a comment that he’s glad I took home ec in middle school. It wasn’t like a had a choice! Where I went to school, we were required to have 1 marking period each year, for all three years, of home economics. While that’s all fine and good, I can’t say that many of my home ec skills were learned during that time.
Sure, I learned how to sew a button and make pillows but there’s really not much else I learned. Oh, wait! I did read a recipe. Once. Mainly it was just a bunch of 11-13 year old girls sitting in a stuffy, windowless room, pretending to do actual work and talking about which boys were cute. It was great fun at the time but now, as an adult reflecting back, I realize what a gigantic waste of time that class really was. And it had so much potential!
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not faulting the teachers. They did a great job. We just weren’t ready to learn what they were teaching and those skills are not practical to teach 11-13 year old girls. But I do feel that home ec is an important class (which, by the way, I feel that boys should be required to take as well. Learning how to take care of oneself and one’s home is not solely a female job). People need to learn these important skills. Here are some of the changes I suggest:
- Move it high school, particularly in the 11th or 12th grade as students are getting prepared for college. The information will be fresher and more relevant.
- Teach skills for grocery savings. Kids have no idea how much food costs and if they’re getting ready to live on their own, it’s a good idea to give them some background information. Incorporate menu planning, looking for sales and using coupons. And while we’re on the subject, give kids ideas on how to prepare meals beyond macaroni and cheese from a box. Practical meals, not elaborate dishes.
- Teach skills for how to effectively and inexpensively clean a house/apartment. Go over the importance of home hygiene, including methods for organization and establishing some sort of cleaning routine that also discusses doing laundry. My husband lived in his fraternity house for 3 years. I speak from personal experience when I say that boys must learn how to clean! My immune system is greatly improved from the time I spent in that house. (This is not to say that girls are immaculate. But I don’t know anyone who got ringworm from living in a sorority house.)
- Teach basic personal finance skills. This includes how to balance a checkbook or use online banking effectively, the pros and cons of credit cards, having a budget, how to create a budget, how to look for a job, the soft skills required to obtain and keep a job, and the importance of paying bills on time. You cannot function as an adult if you do not have this information. I will leave the discussion about student loans, car loans, mortgages, and any other sort of major personal finance decision to the discretion of the teacher. This information may be better suited for another type of class.
Some people may think that this is a bit too sophisticated for home economics. I respectfully disagree. These are all elements that are crucial to running, maintaining and keeping a home. Many kids do not learn these skills from their parents or guardians. And I will concede that on some level, it is the parents’ responsibility to teach these skills to their children. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, many parents don’t do it. My parents didn’t. I didn’t know how to cook, balance a checkbook, clean my room properly, pay a bill or even make my own doctor appointments until I went to college. I only learned how to do my laundry at 16 because I was on a cross-country trip where we stopped at laundromats to wash our clothes. There was no real reason my parents didn’t teach me these skills; they just didn’t think it was important. Whether they thought they would always do it for me or I was too stupid to learn, I’ll never know. But it was only through trial and error, and reaching back into the depths of my brain to recall what I learned in middle school, was I able to survive.
Kids who are in the foster care system are offered the opportunity to work with programs and mentors on Independent Living Skills as they prepare to age out of the system and I think it’s wonderful that they’re given that opportunity. They sure as hell deserve it. But I think we need to start doing a better job of preparing all students to be responsible and practical adults. Schools are a great place to start.
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[…] I believe that a basic, school based education is not important. I think that all kids should be taught the basics of personal finance, especially since so many kids do not get that education at home. I didn’t. But I learned […]
Agree! Although we do teach these things in our home. My nine year old daughter gets to plan one two meals a month. She will need to write a grocery list, go shopping and prepare the meal (with my help of course). They are also learning to keep track of their money via allowance. The truth is if a "teacher" told them these things are important it would help validate things at home because after all I am just mom!
Even if its not implemented formally, you can start with kids you know off. You can advertise in your community notice boards about this classes, offer first few class for free. It will do a load of benefit to your neighbors and your finances.
I taught a personal finance class in high school specifically for 11th and 12th graders. They were at risk kids at a Title 1 school. They can learn the skill, but unless they practice them, they will lose them.
These are all great ideas. I'm all for the part about teaching boys to clean.
I had a friend in high school who took home ec. Her homework involved writing checks and making grocery lists. It could be a fun and highly useful class given the right teacher.
I wish I had been required to learn home ec, I never learned how to sew and I wish I could. I only just learn to cook over the last two years and I am 26. I think this is something everyone (male and female) should learn. However, I don't know what class I would have taken out of my college prep high school to add this in. I kinda think it needs to be in middle school or we need to increase class time which would require paying teachers more (which I am ok with).
I remember as a senior in high school, we have a class that taught us to balance our checkbook, look for an apartment, simple budgeting. I got the balance the checkbook down. I don't need Quicken to do it for me. I can manually do it if I had to. As for the rest, not so much. I think that PF classes for 11th/12th graders would be great, but like krantcents indicates, unless they practice, they will lose the skills.
I think I did something right. Daughter #2 came in after doing her laundry ( at our house for free)and said Mom can I turn on your mangler?(large flat iron) She then ironed her 4 pillow cases and the top 24 inches of her flat top sheet. Another generation of pillow case ironing has commenced.I am so proud. 🙂
I think those would be excellent things to teach in a home ec class. Although maybe it should be renamed to attract more students. In the schools I went to, and the schools my son went to, it was not required for anyone. Although I think he did take one semester of home ec, they mostly made cookies 🙂
In 6th grade (or was it 7th?), I had to take a home economics class. The definition of home ec back then was actually this: sewing. Yes, I took a sewing class for 6 weeks.
I had to take it and I'm a guy. I'm surprised that they distinguished in your school and had girls take it instead of boys. Stereotypes and gender roles aside, it's interesting to me that they treated kids differently. I did have to take sewing, and actually it wasn't bad. I recall making a pillow – cutting the pattern, stuffing, stitching. Truthfully, it may be the last time I sewed anything:)
I totally agree on personal finance being taught in school. It's very important, and totally overlooked – at least it was when I was growing up. Thankfully at home there was some responsibility going on for me to learn from!
I'm not sure I agree. I think parents should teach this. I don't trust schools to do a good job at much of anything.
This would be a good idea, but most parents these days don’t have the basic home ec skills to teach to their own children.
Bill Swan recently posted…Have Phantom Credit Charges Here’s Why and What You Might Do About It
I remember a cooking class in ninth grade and doing sewing in seveth. I never did get a formal education on how to balance a checkbook or money.
Bill Swan recently posted…Have Phantom Credit Charges Here’s Why and What You Might Do About It