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Between 2mares and UNC4me, I see both perspectives. On the one hand, at some point students would benefit immensely from having classes in those basic skills that many of us adults take for granted. Personally, I wish I had taken some basic home skills classes when I was younger, to learn some things about working on my own home instead of having contractors do it for me.
On the other hand, courses like chemistry and other sciences are not useless at all, no matter the path the student takes later. Even if the student doesn't retain much in the way of facts, there is a great deal of value in the problem-solving and critical thinking skills that are learned in these classes. Truth be told, I'd say there is a deficit of critical thinking and problem-solving skills evident in many areas today that demonstrate a greater need for those types of classes, not a lesser.
Just to be clear I'm not saying chemistry, physics, history, etc are useless (although many would claim algebra, memorizing the periodic table, cell structure, etc. is) I saying for the average student chemistry is not used in their functional lives where as cooking, having a checking account, paying taxes, getting loans, etc. are and I dont think providing classes in life skills is a waste of resources.
My father showed me how to balance a checkbook, and I took a business class in high school that covered those skills as well. Even more fundamental was seeing my father sit a couple times a month at the desk in our living room as he paid the bills and monitored the budget. It's not like I watched over his shoulder and saw the numbers (he was very private about his money, which is another thing I picked up from him), but just seeing him there as he worked on that left a strong impression.
My father showed me how to balance a checkbook, and I took a business class in high school that covered those skills as well. Even more fundamental was seeing my father sit a couple times a month at the desk in our living room as he paid the bills and monitored the budget. It's not like I watched over his shoulder and saw the numbers (he was very private about his money, which is another thing I picked up from him), but just seeing him there as he worked on that left a strong impression.
He taught you by example.
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