Home Economics (degree, elementary school, courses, teaching)

[Annie53]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

In the late 50s/early 60s girls had to take home ec--

I hated it but the cooking part did help me. Everyone needs to know how to make food and not everyone gets taught at home. My mother never taught me very much so I'm glad I had it in school.

Sewing--hated it and it isn't as useful as it was back then. People today usually don't have much time for sewing and you can buy clothing for cheaper than you can make it.

Finance--we had some in 6th grade, such as learning about interest rates, banking, how you pay more if you're charged interest. People need to know these things. We also learned about being skeptical of advertising--if something is too good to be true, it probably is NOT true. Also, what is the advertiser trying to tell you? What kind of psychology are they using on you? We had to do class reports--I remember mine was the Maytag repairman.

As a girl I wanted to also take woodworking but it was only allowed for boys!

Me too, Newengland.

I already knew how to sew and cook......I wanted to take shop but girls were not allowed to.

Learning to cook and sew by trial and error on your own is one thing.

Learning to use power tools by trial and error......not advisable....I kinda like all of my fingers.

I would save a lot more money knowing the skills taught in shop class than I have by knowing how to sew.....that is for sure.

[teachbeach]

Home Economics officially changed/morphed into Family Consumer Sciences at about the mid-90's. I taught the full offerings of electives at 3 different high schools over the course of my 33 years of teaching. Clothing Construction I and Tailoring were eventually watered down to Basic Sewing. Foods courses are still popular, and incorporate concepts of employable skills, teamwork, reading recipes and following instructions, as well as consumerism (cooking from scratch vs. ready made or ready to eat). Nutrition is still taught in many schools, in some it's been absorbed into the health/wellness/PE curriculum. Child Development and Parenting and/or Family Living encompasses the structure of the family, developmental stages of children and families in transition, death and dying, decision making, families in crisis, mate selection, family budgets, independent living, becoming members of a community and society.

Independent Living (Single Living) covered career exploration, finding an apartment, reading and signing a lease, budgeting, furnishing your first home, reading utility bills, credit/savings/investments, purchasing a car, laundry and sewing repairs (hems, buttons, simple quick repairs), managing a checking account including monthly reconciliations, and a short foods unit. I felt this course should be mandatory for all students at some point in their high school career.

[Lori003]

I am 50 and had home economics when I was in grammar school. I learned how to sew ( make a pair a pants), I learned the basics of cooking from scratch although I learned a lot of that at home when I was five using my easy bake oven and wood working I did take because it was not just for boys. I made a napkin holder that I was proud of and is still around today! I however did not learn much about money management and paid the price for that by learning through trial and error. I plan to help reintroduce all the home ec skills I learned including home and money management to children. I am now a cooking instructor so I do get to teach health and nutrition, kitchen safety, team work and how to keep the kitchen clean among a host of other things that will become an important addition to a child's life as they come into adulthood. I was never so shocked when I had teachers come to my class and ask if I would teach a adult cooking class because they did not know how to cook! I asked them how they managed to get a husband when they knew nothing about cooking (most of them have lived in their homes for more than three years and the oven is still brand new!) Their answer was they eat out a lot! Everything from cooking to sewing is vital because if a child can't even do something as simple as sew back on a button why are we surprised they can't boil water or tell the difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon! All of the skills we learned in home economics is everything a child should know upon adulthood. I told my son he better not marry a girl if she first can't cook, second her idea of sewing is using the shirt as a rag and money management is we can just pay the minimum while she continues to use the charge card! I taught my son all those things so yes she has to measure up.

[Oldhag1]

Early 70's. It was an elective in high school but a year long class was required for girls when I was in junior high. It was basically "this is what homemakers are supposed to do" training. It included all kinds of things from making a budget to the proper way to do laundry including how to iron our husband's shirts to planning and cooking meals along with how a read a cookbook to writing thank you notes. I still remember the lady who came and gave us a slide show on why we should air dry our dishes instead wiping them with a dish cloth. One of the big payoffs shown on the little show was that we could sit down and enjoy a cigarette and a cup of coffee while they dried.

I really think this type of class, minus advocating cigarete breaks and blatant sexual stereotypes, has it's place. I really did learn a lot of useful life skills from that class that I still use to this day.

[Sally_Sparrow]

Mid 80's, high school, I took it twice because I failed it once. I strengthened my baking skills, which is about all I am good for in the kitchen to this day... and I made a shirt for myself that did not fit. I also made a decorative pillow.

I remember being taught about product selection, comparison shopping with regard to price and quality, and writing to a company about their product (we sampled stuff, wrote letters, and got coupons in the mail as a result). It was in home ec that I learned about Red Baron frozen pizza, oddly enough.

[laina1980]

Originally Posted by Annie53

I had home economics in the mid 60's....sewing and cooking....which my mother had already taught me.

I wish I would have been allowed to take shop class instead.....that would have saved me a LOT of money over the years.

What do I think should be required? PERSONAL FINANCE.

You are 110% right!

I LOVED home ec I took it both 7th and 8th grade and also 9th, but moved on to other electives in 1990's. I was so glad I missed the whole carrying baby(doll) around school that was hilarious to watch.
I also would have loved to take shop actually a lot of girls took it then too. My friend made me once a earing stand in shop.

But Finance would have been such a learning tool for us had we had it. I mean we had some dumb classes already that suit some people. Like me I was very good in English lit and anything artsy so in Biology I was blank most days in class. Would have been nice to take a finance class or something like it to teach us about real life. We did have a class though about preparing for real world but it was kinda on side and not even a elective.

[Aggiebuttercup]

My sister took home ec in the mid-90s; I didn't take it, as my schedule was crammed full of honors and advanced classes and I thought it was beneath me. Her class covered sewing, cooking, and taking care of a child (especially useful for the number of pregnant girls).

We ALL got nutrition information in the required health class (required in junior high and high school).

My parents taught us how to cook and clean and sew a button and do laundry (a skill I had to teach to most of the boys in my freshman college dorm). They expected us to do chores from the time we were young. I do the same for my kids - even my 4-year-old is learning how to clean and how to measure ingredients for baking.

I think a personal finance course should be required for all students - in my high school, only the kids who couldn't handle algebra II and other advanced math took it. My parents taught me to balance a checkbook and about credit and debit, but it would have been nice to have guidance on IRAs and how to judge an investment, etc.

[davebarnes]

Can't parents teach their kids how to cook?
Shouldn't parents teach their kids how to cook?
Who sews anymore and why would you? I am not about to darn any socks even though my mother taught me how to.

However, parents cannot teach their kids Latin so that is what the school should teach.

And, parents should keep their kids off my lawn.

[HappyTexan]

Health class today gives them all the nutrition facts.
But with 30% of Americans today not knowing how to cook and that percentage growing bigger each year, what good is that going to do ?

My recipe box of index cards is going to be museum fodder one day

And it's written in cursive for that added touch !

FWIW I taught my son how to make mashed potatoes last week.

[wideworld]

I took Home Ec in Jr. High (2000's), and it was canceled the next year.

It's a good class. Wouldn't say it's a requirement but above a study hall, for sure.