What did you learn in home economics in school? Let's see... I sewed a pillow. I made something called lemonade pie. I planned a wedding. I teamed-up on a parenting project with a student who insisted there was absolutely nothing wrong with propping a 4-month-old baby in front of the TV all day. (????) I refused to carry a sack of flour around for a week and instead wrote a book report on teen pregnancy.
I enjoyed my home economics classes and I learned and did some useful things.
BUT... did anyone here (or anywhere?) learn how to make a budget? Write a check? Make change? (After all, it was supposed to be the economics of a home, no?) How about learning the ability to look at your food budget and then make a menu based on what you could afford? How about shopping for deals at the grocery store so you can eat better than you can afford? Discussing whether it was/is economically feasible to sew anymore, by the time you pay for the pattern and the fabric and the notions and... hey, did you ever hear of a thrift store? How about learning instead how to make your clothes last longer by knowing how to launder them correctly and to patch holes and remove stains?
Maybe they assume we already know these things. My mom certainly didn't learn these things in school. And it was from her (and by my own trial-and-error) that I learned most of them. But what about *our* kids? Do enough people from my generation know these things to teach their children? What do you do when faced with a smaller-than-normal grocery budget? Because I hope I can teach my kids that the answer in that situation isn't just calling on Visa.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Home Economics
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11 comments:
At my large high school, the "home economics" classes were in the "Family and Consumer Science" department- no claim of Economics at all! Admittedly, I skipped the sewing and cooking classes to take computer programming classes, and I was frustrated when I actually got to the required economics class that I didn't learn a whit of anything I could apply to my personal finances- though I heard the tech-track (the not-quite-remedial,-but-not-planning-on-college classes) economics class was much more practical.
And, as you said, we had to figure out the Budgeting thing on our own. I did have a couple pre-marriage classes that covered budgeting, and those were a help.
Great point, Joanna! I guess we also covered budgeting in our pre-marriage class. Though it definitely wasn't in-depth enough.
5 minutes on that, 5 minutes on how many kids do we want, 5 minutes on "what would you do if your spouse was arrested?" Okay.
my husband and i have talked about this frequently. Our parents didn't teach us the greatest examples (mostly relying on Visa's) but thankfully Michael and I both knew that we didn't want to live life forever bound in debt. And no, my home ec classes never discussed a budget. I learned how to make cheese biscuits and no-bake cookies. I remember them distinctly. but that's about all I remember. I also took an interior design class which was supposed to teach us sewing, but I don't think I sewed anything.
I do remember they offered a math class that was like joanna said, for people who weren't going to college on basic finances and possibly budgeting. My mom really wanted me to take that class, but the smart kids weren't in it, so I didn't want to take it.. silly me. I think it would have been really helpful to me as someone who has never done well with simple math! nice post!
I had to teach my boss's 21 year old daughter how to write a check. She was a third year college student!
When I moved out of my parents house I decided I'd be responsible and bought Money's Guide to Personal Finance in Your 20's (I was 17) and thank goodness I did... my "home ec" class, we learned how to make grape milkshakes and sewed stuffed animal pillows.
Most of my home economics I learned from The Dollar Stretcher website.
milehimama - What would we do with the Internet anyway???
We lost so many skills with my grandmother's generation, I think.
Carrie - I know they had some pretty great classes at the tech school, but I was so busy "getting ready for college" with advanced classes - who had time???
Except, duh, life is slightly more important than college.
I never took a home economic class nor did I ever have a class to learn about finances...my mom did an awesome job teaching me and opening my first checking account when I was 14. She was strict with me, and I never had any (NONE! I paid for my first car with cash I'd saved) until I got married and we bought a house.
However, I worked for our local public schools and had a section (for the 3-5th graders) that was all about finances and they Loved it! I think it's how I'll teach my kids finances in the future. Basically, you make it into a game and the kids have a small notebook (like, the size of a checkbook small) and those are their "Checks". They have a "Goal" they want to work for (usually a movie night out or soemthing). They pull a job out of a hat, and a wage (for ex: $1/load dishes) and then once they do it, their money is "paid" (in a jar). They continue to "work and earn wages" until they have 200% of their "goal money" in jar, as 50% of their wage ALWAYS stays in their savings. It is super fun for the kids and they get it!!
Sarah
OH* I forgot to add about the 50% savings part--I explained that things always come up so that is why you need cash saved. For example, sometimes thrown into the "job/wage" bag is "Loose $3 for petfood" or something, that they HAVE to pay for if it is their pet*
I actually do remember a field trip to the grocery store during my home ec class, where we had to make a certain number of meals and use that week's sale flyer. We made a list of what we were going to buy and how much it would cost and then had to do an oral report talking about our plans.
Most of it was flour sack babies and macaroni salad though. :)
I took three home ec. classes because I loved the cooking sessions. But, no I don't remember much of anything about how to manage finances except this little gem: Buy the good canned peaches for serving alone. But, if you are making pie or something with them it's ok to buy the generic. ??
K in the mirror - bravo to your home ec teacher! Well, on that one project anyway! :)
Jenny - Weird on the canned peaches. ???
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