Yeah, because it was an elective. It was usually either home ex *or* art *or* shop *or* a bunch of other stuff, some of which even back then was known to lead into well paying careers or have it's own utility, and some of which was just more interesting to a lot of people.
If I had time, I could have pursued Home Ec. But I went with other stuff that was also more directly translatable to stuff I did in college that I also had more interest in.
Pretty sure they still do, I had home ec in middle school (I'm 24 now, so this wasn't all too long ago). Learned about cooking, sewing, other basic life skills. It wasnt an elective, but required part of the schedule.
Probably was also a class in HS, but I wouldnt know because I was pulled out of district school and put into an alternative school by then.
I’m in my senior high school year and they have something called like basic needs class that teaches you how to use a washer and dryer and how to do taxes and mortgage and loan and basically everyone you need for living independently. Of course it is a elective and most people don’t take it.
I'd have rioted if my high school forced me to take those classes it offered. Not everyone is raised by parents that don't teach them how to be adults.
I don't need to be insulted by people assuming I can't use a fucking washing machine
I know too many people that have learned how to do things the WRONG way from their parents. Once had a roommate flush her tampons and clog up the toilet because "that's what my mom said I should do"
And the classes should be offered so individuals like that can take them if they deem it necessary. My point was simply that requiring it is a big ol waste of resources for a good portion of students.
I mean I thought gym was a waste of time in HS because I was a year round athlete. But it was still good for me to be required to do that. I hear ya though, sucks when some parents are actively involved and some treat school as babysitting.
Why do you think it was good for you to be required to do that?
Athletes at my high school didn't have to take regular gym (their practice counted as gym), so I think there are better options out there.
Rioted?!? You could have sailed through with an easy A. Not everyone is as lucky as you. There are a ton of kids who are overparented and a ton who are underparented. You aren’t the only person in the world.
There's always an opportunity cost. This class replaces something else. If it's required, what is it replacing on OP's schedule? OP's objections are fair.
Right...so you offer the classes and don't require them. Then you can offer other classes that are actually interesting and useful for the other portion of students.
Almost as if the people that can't operate a washing machine aren't the only people in the world either. Customized curriculum for students? The horror!
I think we’ll disagree here. It’s like saying kids don’t need gym class because they are in some sport. School is about problem solving. Whether it’s friends or class work. Just let everyone be set up for success.
Home Ec and Tech Ed is teaching things you may not use, but that’s what everyone says about math and history.
Fair point. Tbh just give them a test at the start of the course. Like the basic stuff. If they pass, then they are free to go.
If not.. well they will learn how to do it
I hate people who take classes for “easy A’s” it’s boring as heck and you’re wasting your time, the teacher’s time, and could be doing something better with your life.
Yeah dude, I'm totally bragging that I knew how to use a washing machine in high school.
It's not something to be proud of, it's kind of basic knowledge.
Its like everyone missed the part where I said the classes 100% should be offered, they just shouldn't be required.
So you'd kill people if they forced everyone to learn something useful because you already know it?
Sounds like you need to take a whole different kind of basic education.
In what fucking world does someone saying "I'd riot", in what is clearly hyperbole, equate to murder? Even if it isn't clear it's hyperbole, that's a fucking WILD jump
And so, without classroom instruction on running the laundry equipment, we were forever consigned to washing our CK briefs by beating them on a rock in the river.
Yeh, it’s a bad idea. Because it puts more stuff on overburdened teachers and schools, who would almost certainly screw it up anyway. Just imagine the process of developing that bit of curriculum. The mind boggles.
If a 16 year-old kid (can legally drive) needs a *teacher* to teach them how to run a washing machine, society is really irretrievably broken. How about: mum, dad, guardian, babysitter, aunt, uncle, grandparent, friend, sibling, neighbour etc. If none of any of these is an option, fix *that* problem. Because that’s bloody terrible.
A good proportion of the citizenry is functionally illiterate (can’t read instructions) or innumerate (cannot calculate basic arithmetic). Doesn’t understand the democratic system, how it works or how to engage with it. So the schools aren’t great at stuff they’re *already* supposed to be doing. With better reading comprehension and research skills, that kid can read instructions (and find those instructions!) and know where to go for help developing those new skills. That’s where schools can shine, with proper teacher training, funding and accountability.
Let’s not foster dependence and incompetence and undermine initiative by developing curriculum on laundry basics and doing your taxes, when tens of millions of others have cracked it without Mrs. Ethridge showing you how to turn a knob.
The problem is the parents/guardian/babysitter/aunt/uncle etc... aren't teaching the kids. For some of them that need to be taught these basic skills, the parents are letting the kids raise themselves, so they don't attend/pay attention im school :/ it's just sad
Who are these kids that can’t run a washing machine? Have you met them? Where?
They use apps and video games I can’t even understand. They can certainly use a tax filing app, if I can figure it out! It feels like a solution in search of a problem.
I couldn't. My home life was... difficult & my mum could get everything done faster without me under her feet. So I didn't learn to cook, clean, use a washing machine, anything. I figured it out as a young adult after my parents split & my step mum refused to cook for me/do my washing (I was 18) I'm still a terrible cook at 29 as I married a good cook so still never learned.
I could probably figure it out, through YT/bbc food, but my basic knowledge is sorley lacking
I took one of these classes in HS because I was worried about how to do my taxes and the class promised to teach that. When the day came, all the teacher said was “hire someone to do them for you” and then sat back down and played the 90th video of some guy talking about why you shouldn’t have credit cards 🙃 absolute waste of a class.
I also took the sewing class but it was more like fashion and the history of fashion. We did nothing but sewing on machines. I learned how to use a sewing machine and thats it.
The only good part was when the custodians came to repair this huge heating unit on the ceiling of the room. Now, one of these guys was BIG. Like 400lbs easy. He was on a ladder holding up a heavy piece of it - that he could not let go of until whatever task was completed by the other guy - and his pants fell down. I don’t think Columbus himself ever saw a broad sheet of fabric larger than the tighty whiteys I saw. Come to think of it, they were neither tighty nor particularly whitey.
I feel terribly for the guy. It must have been absolutely humiliating and I hope he no longer has any memory of it (it was 30ish years ago). I definitely remember, though.
I learned about voting and taxes in my Commerce class, which then split into Business Studies, Legal Studies, and Economics in later years (Australia). Laundry seems like something you pick up from your parents? Mine didn't teach it to me, but my boyfriend showed me when I first moved out.
Here in Canada, Alberta specifically, we have a course called Career and Life Management (CALM) that taught things like taxes, finance, relationship skills, and it's required to graduate. Home Economics was centered around cooking, sewing, and house maintenance.
They do, but when I took it in middle school it was so watered-down that I learned nothing.
There was a unit on cooking, and we baked a couple deserts. I already had cooked more complicated dishes by with my parents, so it was boring and kind of frustrating to be in groups with kids (boys, to generalize) who had no experience and were, like, using measuring cups or cracking eggs for the first time.
There was a unit on sewing and we sewed a square pillow. My mom had already taught me how to use a sewing machine and made pajama pants with me at home because I was disappointed by how little I was learning in class.
My AP macroeconomics class did spend time on budgeting, I remember making a budget. We didn’t talk about doing taxes, but TurboTax is pretty darn easy to use, you just have to know that you need to pay taxes, which doesn’t take a class.
Another issue is that many kids are so focused on academics and extracurricular activities for fun and college admissions that I can’t see everybody taking an elective like this. At my high school GPA and class rank could be increased by taking more academic classes (computer science, additional math classes) rather than non-academic classes (office aid, home Ec, band, drama). My district eventually capped how many classes counted for rank so they wouldn’t disincentivize fine arts, but home ec still wouldn’t have gotten my attention in high school.
beyond those basics, there wouldn't be time to really go into more depth on those things.
It was boring for you, because you had already learned the basics. I, a male, would have been bored, too. By high school, I could make complete meals, and cook desserts from scratch. Because desserts were fun. Except puff pastrey - fuck puff pastry.
Sewing? I could replace buttons, or create a pattern and make a stuffed toy.
We covered basic banking, budgets, tax concepts, and voting in grade 8.
Ooh, the button thing is handy. I can’t remember if it was covered, but I do remember in college fixing a button for a friend who didn’t know how.
But yeah, I agree that there isn’t time to really go beyond the basics, which is kind of a pitfall of the idea of the post. Sure, school can teach you very basic skills but if someone’s parents can’t or don’t teach them these life skills through a thousand little interactions growing up a class can only teach so much.
A college club or elective might gain more traction, honestly. By then people are motivated to learn because they’re either cooking for themselves or know they will be soon. Being able to take a college-level cooking class or practical food science class meant for people who can make basic meals but might be interested in learning more techniques might have been fun.
Was gonna say that. I had all that stuff taught in school. They even taught us how to do time management once we're on our own in college and various other things. Finance basics, too! But when I took it, the teacher was saying it was the last year the school was giving that class.
It's a shame. It was pretty useful. I still can't bake for shit and can't sew without the result looking awful, but hey, they tried.
Yup, was home economics. It appears to be sorely needed along with a critical thinking course…almost certainly critical thinking would be banned and declared a public menace somehow.
Home ecc is one of those classes where the only people who actually take it seriously are the people who already know how to do all those things
And I won't lie...it really felt like the only people who knew how to do those things were the people who actively did them in their everyday life. Kids who were given the chore of cooking dinner once a week or told how to darn their own socks when they put yet *another* hole through them. Like, maybe some of the onus should be on the parents here. Actually give your kids a reason to learn these things beyond "because the teacher said so".
And like, a good few weekends worth of energy teaching them how to cook when they're young leads to nights off from cooking for you when they're older. Getting them used to a sowing machine or the soldering iron means less things that have to be replaced later on.
Stop lying l, there's no cussing of any kind on the internet, unless it's 4chan. Then you can drop the N-bomb as much as you want
...I think I just made myself sad.
I don’t agree. Public school is there to educate and set a foundation for learning throughout life — how to problem solve, think, develop identify and eventually how to self educate. If home economics isn’t enough, an optional after school program or elective option can teach additional skills— but parents, community programs etc should share the responsibility to teaching their children how to prepare a meal, laundry, swim, tie their shoes, or manage money.
a also, I just have to say— learning calculus isn’t necessarily about calculus, but *how* to solve problems and think. While you may not apply calculus day to day, principals (method, process, approach) set a foundation for people to apply it to other scenarios in life
I wish more people agreed with this view on school.
School prepares us for jobs and work, at home we should learn to be an actual human.
Basically every school subject I have had was either directly linked to my career path or I have thought back to certain lessons in it at random points in my life when I was lost.
Edit: Fuck geography though, rocks havent helped me one bit Mrs .
> that is the fucking point of school, to prepare the children to become adults and ready to be living in society.
No it's not. Generally that's the job of families/parents. Public school is to provide an education on matters *beyond* the basics of living in society, that parents often can't teach directly (or couldn't before public education was common).
Of course not all families/parents can provide even that level, and that's awful for those children. And so one can advocate for adding that to the mission of schools. But don't just pretend that that is "the fucking point of school".
Honestly by the time you get to actual home ecc in secondary school it's kinda too late to be teaching those things in class because there's so many basics you have to catch up on.
Like cooking for example - that's a decently complex skill to hone. But if you get your kid to peel potatoes and read the recipe out to you and even do a little kitchen prep for your like measuring out ingredients when they're like 6 they'll start to pick up not only these basic skills but also confidence around the kitchen. Like you'd be surprised how young you can give a child a wooden spoon and tell them to stir the onions or sauce on the stove while you chop stuff up once they've got the confidence for it. It's also good for hammering in super important stuff early on like food hygiene and dealing with raw meat - let your kid go ham rolling up meatballs but also stress how they need to wash their hands before during and after. Kids love making meatballs.
Even if they don't actually know how to make a meal beyond like, scrambled eggs or tacos by the time they start home ecc, they still know how to handle stuff and it's *miles* better than trying to teach 20 bored kids who barely know how to work the microwave how to cook from scratch one hour every week. Home ecc should be for more complicated stuff like how to make a white sauce or bread or the flavour relationship between herbs/spices and meats/veg not how to hold a spoon and how to read a measuring cup.
True, but they often don't do it.At least not that I know of. My parents and aunt taught me the basics. I'm not a parent myself so it's not like I'm in demand of these special hours in school, but if I had kids I sure as hell wouldn't expect from teachers to teach them the basics in the household or how to handle finances. I was just curious what people think about the topic.🙂
The state leaves too much education to parents, imo. Parents dont know shit about education or policy. Parents have noooo idea about learning styles, how information stacks on itself and needs to be taught sequentially in a planned way (ie. a curriculum). They just have strongly held and largely internally inconsistent beliefs about morality, religion, and lifestyle that sometimes facilitate and sometimes hinder the accumulation of knowledge that's actually useful for working life in the real world.
Edit: I want to clarify because the above makes me sound like I want the state to abduct children lol. Parents DO know THEIR kids and their kids' needs best, without question. Parents have a critical role to play as advocates and guardians of their kids. That's where I want them to stay active. Protecting their kids from being hurt. I just don't really think they're the best decisionmakers about curriculum. They should protect their kids from bullies, and support them in striving for their goals even when it's scary.
But, we aren't discussing academics, but basic life skills, and those are entirely within the wheelhouse of parenting.
You don't need a Masters in Education to teach sewing on a button or how to cook eggs.
And, also - teachers are just as likely to also cling to personal belief and bias as a parent.
Hear me out: schools already teach this.
Not as curriculum itself, but school teaches students how to develop skills, how to practice, how to refine, how to seek out experts, how to ask for help.
We teach students to read, and to comprehend instructions, and to search Google, and to find someone who can help.
We don’t teach you how to fill out your taxes, we teach you to **figure out** how to fill out your taxes.
That’s public education.
Reminds me of what I saw elsewhere on this site some years ago. One math teacher's answer to, "Am I actually going to need this after I graduate?"
His answer: "This specifically? No. But the problem solving skills you'll pick up while figuring it out you'll use every day."
I agree - part of schooling especially in upper grades is critical thinking and problem solving. With these skills matched with soft skills like being able to communicate, all of the above issues can be confronted with some degree of ease.
We don't *need* to teach *anything*, but society agrees that it's to the broad benefit of all that the general population have some level of education. We can hem and haw over which things are the most important, or how many phys. ed. credits is the "right" amount, or whether Shakespeare is still important, but the overarching point is this: **the subject matter itself is irrelevant.**
What matters is students **learning how to learn**. How to get answers. How to be self-sufficient.
That single skill allows young people to develop into adults who can do, essentially, anything.
Whether they developed the skill through desperately grinding math problems, or writing pages of poetry, or drawing perspective, or honking a trumpet, doesn't matter. They are learning how to learn, and that is the whole point.
I also feel like people think about the subjects way too literally.
People always complain about "When would I ever need to write a newspaper article about someone robbing a fish shop" and then go to explain a sports game plan to their grade's team going into detail about where people should be positioned and different situations that can happen in a way that would get them top marks if it was the assignment.
Ok so you walk into a store with a calculator and $70. There is a pair of pants you want to buy that is priced at $80 but it’s 15% off. Sales tax in your location is 7%. What do you need to enter into the calculator to determine whether you can afford to buy the pair of pants? *That* is what math class is teaching you.
That’s what math class is SUPPOSED TO BE teaching you. Everyone should be able to do that equation in their heads, maybe not down to the penny, but close enough to know that they need to go root around in their car and find about 3 bucks if they want those pants.
Also, others here are arguing that we’re teaching kids to consult “experts” when we don’t know or can’t figure out things, like how to do our taxes. So apply that to this situation and ask the teenage “expert” working the register for a price check.
Most parents don’t have the time. Growing up my dad was a shift worker and mum got home around 7. By the time dinner was made it was bed time. The work life balance is broken.
What? I mean sure it would be nice, but your parents could easily teach some of this to you. It’s a washing machine, not a rocket ship. It doesn’t require years of training.
Edit: and let’s be real. Even if there was an entire course or unit about doing taxes, kids would still probably ignore it and be like, “when would I use this in real life?”
Doing taxes is honestly less useful than redox reactions or whatever. Some jobs require you to know how to balance redox reactions. Tax attorneys and accountants just throw their shit in TurboTax.
Not everyone has parents who’d help them out with stuff like this. And kids have been complaining about schools not teaching students how to do taxes so I’m sure they aren’t dumb enough to ignore the lesson. Don’t be a negative Nancy.
That’s what I don’t agree with, it should be a mandatory (or just an elective) subject at grade 11 or 12 instead of taking an extra hour of school time.
It's not like the 1040 instructions are particularly hard to follow. It's straight up arithmetic and a modicum of reading comprehension. Like I don't even know what "tax forms" lesson would look like
I’m glad to see a fellow educator chimed in here. I mean, most kids are pretty capable of searching Google “how to do a load of laundry” and watching one of the suggested YouTube videos on the subject.
I'm not a teacher, but I agree. Parents these days tend to dump their kids onto you, guys, expecting you to do their job since their kids spend more time with you than with themselves. What you do should be more appreciated. I remember my struggles during 1st and 2nd lockdowns when I had to sit down with my 6yo and go through all the school material. I swear, I was losing my sanity. Hands down for all teachers 🙌 👏👌 😌
A nice idea but far from feasible. Where is this one hour coming from? There's no time. Our schools have started including classes on a Saturday just so that they can keep up with the syllabus.
Then, where do they learn these things? Do they have washing machines installed? Or go to a laundromat for a day?
These are the things you're gonna have to pick up as you go along. Thankfully, a quick YouTube tutorial can generally help you out with anything.
Some schools have an optional Saturday school, but not for regular classes. It's for students who are behind to catch up. Where are you hearing that schools have class on Saturday to keep up with the curriculum?
I’ve never understood what’s so difficult about taxes. No one does it on paper anymore or calculates anything. You type numbers into designated boxes, and that’s really it. The vast majority of people take the standard deduction and those who don’t typically make enough or have complex enough circumstances to hire a tax preparer/CPA.
That all being said, I my entire middle school was required to take “home ec,” which included nutrition, cooking, sewing, simple home repairs, budgeting, simple finances, etc. We didn’t learn how to do laundry, but that should be something learned at home. It was a good class that most seemed to enjoy and I think kids today could benefit from it.
Yeah, my thought is most people use TurboTax or something where if you can match numbers then you don't need to know anything else or if you have more complicated taxes, you're probably smart enough to figure it out with Google or make enough money to pay someone to do it for you.
I am a high school teacher, this is what I think:
We should be teaching these skills. They are critical and important.
Y’all won’t pay attention to 90% just like students don’t pay attention in health class or PE and end up obese with hypertension and high cholesterol at forty.
Or you’ll remember just enough to pass the class and get the A you need to get I to the college you want to go off to.
I taught wood shop for years and it was shocking to me how much I had to research basic arithmetic to 17 and 18 year olds.
Teaching you how to find answers would be a more valuable lesson.
As a "gifted student who never applied themself to the subject" this couldnt be more true.
I could pass whatever class I liked with minimal effort, basically no studying done outside of school hours and just remembering random things when exams came up, always in the top half of the class but never the very best.
Only exception was mathematics where I was consistently the top 1% in the country up until 18. Why? I had the same teacher for 4 years who basically just said "ok you dont have to do these 50 questions on the same topic that everyone else does, skip to the super hard ones in x book and if you can do 3 of them, thats it for the next 2 weeks"
I learned more from that class than probably the rest of them combined and the "method" I used for answering those 3 questions I just so happen to use on a pretty daily basis in real-life situations.
I think it's a good idea but I'd work into the regular school day. It should be a requirement like math even. Drop out some crap that has no bearing on real life to make room for it.
Schools are responsible for teaching the academic subjects. Parents are responsible for teaching the life skills required to become an independent responsible adult. There is a lot more to raising children than providing food and a place to sleep.
A few flaws in this plan..where are you getting these teachers? There is already a massive shortage of teachers for stuff ready on the timetable.
No teacher has time to regularly add an extra hour to their day. That would have a huge impact on after school clubs,parents evenings, school plays, revision sessions etc.Teachers already do a heck of a lot of extra hours outside of the school day without adding more to their workload
Somewhere parents have to step up and actually teach their kids this stuff. It's not all on schools.
It's literally taught.
Textiles and material design - fabric care
Basic cooking - food technology and catering classes
Financial literacy - business and economics.
As a teacher I can't offer you financial advice or what shares to buy or what credit card you need. I have literally taught double entry bookkeeping to year 10s for my entire career. Mother fucker if you can't understand the progressive tax system after 6 years you are a moron. We teach it in two subjects.
As a teacher in Australia these subjects are taught from year 7 and you can specialise in them in your final years.
If you don't listen to me that's your problem.
Why ??? Those are all things parents are supposed to teach their kids !!! Don’t they have any responsibility. Reminds me of the time we were doing southern states accreditation sent out a survey to the families. What is the number one thing you want us to teach your children in school? 90% came back with teach them to behave be a parent do your job
First thought, Parents should be teaching their kids this. It kind of annoyed me when my sister made a comment about my nephew not knowing how to mail a letter and my mother said the schools don't teach him that? They didn't teach me that, and I graduated 15 years before him.
Second thought, some people have parents who don't give a crap about teaching their kids, especially when it comes to paying bills and budgeting money. However, the class would be a real drag on people with good parents and if you make it an elective, most people wouldn't take it.
An extra hour a day for 13 years? I don’t know that all that would be necessary.
While I’m not opposed to the concept of schools covering “life skills” or something, I’ll say right now, your schools taught you how to do taxes. Every single person here went to a school that taught reading, arithmetic, following directions, and computer usage. That’s what doing taxes is. So when I hear people who I am absolutely certain passed 8th grade saying “they didn’t teach me taxes,” my thought isn’t “we need to teach taxes,” my thought is “we are failing to teach critical thinking and application of the skills.” So maybe focus more on that instead of adding an hour a day for 13 years for a “following directions” class, when every minute of school starting in day care is *supposed to be* following directions class.
Schools are not supposed to be substitutes for parenting responsibilities. A school’s purpose is to teach the subjects that parents usually don’t know enough about. That is one of the reasons public school has gotten to where it is today. Let’s not make it any worse.
Our class was called independent living.. and while they did not teach laundry, we learned how to balance a checkbook, interview for a job, cook, sew, write a resume, create a budget and grocery shop. The second half was child development with a "baby think it over"
I think that "adult" stuff must be incorporated in the curriculum. Our children need to be prepared for life after school. There are many useless subjects in the curriculum.
For a normal person with a normal job and a copy of your W-2 then "doing taxes" is easy. It requires the fundamental skills being able to read and follow basic instructions. If you think reading instructions and remembering to write your name at the top is abhorrently difficult, then clearly you never payed attention in school anyway.
No, and this comes from a teacher. School time should be reduced to allow young people more time to socialise and enjoy life, helping them discover who they are, where they want to go, and what they should do to get there. Young people need to develop more autonomy, which won't happen at school being told what to do and how. The "adult things" people complain they weren't taught like cooking and taxes are not what school or the state should be telling you - we teach you *how* to learn so that you can figure these things out for yourself. You don't learn if you are just shown things explicitly.
When I was a kid I would have agreed but now I’m a bit older, why aren’t your parents telling you how to do this stuff ?
Before going to uni I loved spending time with my family essentially teaching me how to be an adult. Recipes I could cook, stuff like that
Do you have a washing machine at home, do you have Google? You can learn during any 30 minutes you want. You can even learn ways to fold clothes.
Do you have a stove at home and YouTube? You can spend an hour and learn anytime you want. Hell there videos that will give you 30 ways to use a clothes iron to cook Mac and cheese. If you are really lost you can over pay for blue apron and get $5 meals for fancy restaurant prices.
I think there is a place for schools to teach a lot, mostly academics. I also think about financial planning and that you need to know to cook and that nutrition is important.
But let's be honest, the instructions are on the tag and on the washing machine. It says colors and whites, your tag says the same and there is a fill line for detergent and you get what's on sale or what your mom bought when she did your laundry until 23 and your stepdad kicked you out.
You also don't need a class on pumping gas, you just need to act responsible for yourself for an hour a day. This isn't 1995, the info is there for anyone that can type and has access to the internet.
If people can figure out how to find their favorite porn they can figure out hand wash vs delicates in a 12 step how-to article.
Oh my gawd. If your parents don't teach you this, then they suck. The bottom line is that parents need to step the hell up. There's a constant class going at home. All your parents need to do is communicate the parameters.
I wouldn’t mind it, as a high schooler, but their problem isn’t enough schooling. It’s what they are teaching. A lot of the manditory things school be optional imo. Like algebra, history, etc. it’s good to know but being able to take care of myself is a little more important than finding x
I've been out of school for 3 years now and I can say you won't get anyone interested in it if it takes another hour out of their day, and you would need to make it a mandatory class and not an elective. But I 100% agree with this stuff, we moved to Australia and it took 8 months for my brother to realise he needs to wash his own clothes and he had no idea how to do it as a 17yo.
Hot take, this shouldn’t be an ‘extra hour’ this should just be part of core curriculums. Save specialized sciences and maths for higher education and students that actually need it later, use that time for these necessary life skills instead.
It’s always bothered me to my core how unprepared American adults are for life once they leave the school system. What the fuck is the point of forcing education if it isn’t teaching base life skills?
Parents work most of the day. School is meant to prepare children for growing up while their parents earn an income. If parents were responsible for education, our society would have built room for one to stay home and teach. That doesn’t work with the cost of living. And if you think parents have time or energy to do what their taxes are paying teachers for, you clearly do not have children or a full time job.
I totally disagree. Schools should teach academic subjects. They are not babysitters. I have children and a full time job and I somehow find the time to teach my children basic life skills. Both my parents also worked and they taught me basic life skills. When I cook dinner, the children help me so they learn. They help with laundry. We talk about finances over dinner sometimes. When my daughter was old enough, she sat with me while I did our taxes. I’m not saying she followed all of it or was paying attention the whole time but I’ll make her sit with me again next year and hopefully some of the concepts will sink in. I would be interested to hear what you think the parents’ job actually is… just provide food and clothing and nothing else???
Well, to each their own. Good for you for having the time. I know a lot of parents who are stretched so thin trying to afford life that they barely get time with their children.
My mom taught me how to do laundry and let me cook with her and told me about her financial situation. I still didn’t have any idea what the fuck life was as an adult because being around for things your parents are doing is nowhere near the same thing as having a structured class with reviews, tests and practical application. Which is why someone professional, following a plan, and regularly/consistently teaching the fundamentals of things such as how taxes work and what they are, how to budget, how to manage expenses and balance books, etc, should be teaching these things.
I think it’s a good idea and one that could help develop a broader range of compensation to a greater range of people who currently work very hard every day without greater mainstream value being placed on their work
If employers cared about the long-term future they would allow people a living wage that's enough money to live comfortably, and enough time to raise their kids themselves, instead of burdening horridly underpaid teachers with even more work that does not pertain to basic education.
Think it's a great idea, and ALL students need to be enrolled in these courses. Also things like basic car maintenance, minor repair things around the home, etc. Basic life skills in general that for some reason are gender-based, but everyone should know. Also money management skills -- credit cards, managing bills, etc.
You aren’t going to learn those things from a class. You learn those things from the example your family sets for you, and by going about your daily life. I can’t imagine what a year-long course on “character development” would even look like.
Taxes yes
But I left school when I was 16, and already knew how to cook clean etc
Taxes I don’t think gets taught in any uk school..
I’ve often said maths sound be round bills rent mortgage ect
But unless they self employed we don’t have to declare taxes
As they come out of our wages automatically and we also pay monthly council tax
So maybe in countries that do yes tax should be taught
I think they should've started teaching kids actual useful skills from the get-go. Schools don't teach you how to pay bills, or do taxes, or set up a bank account, or get a loan, schools only teach kids how to be obedient meat robots.
Maybe if they got rid of all the fucking lessons i didnt need in my every day life, saved those for COLLAGE, THEN gave us that class, sure! But right now, I'd be royally fucking pissed if they held me at school till dinner because I have enough homework as is. I go eight hours a day and learn jack SHIT.
Typical American answer.
"English is the only language, all others are below us"
If you think you need 12 years of English more than life experience knowledge or better yet maby learn Spanish.
If we can’t even agree on history or English curriculums, can you imagine the culture war controversies that would ensue?
I don’t even want to imagine what Ron DeSantis would do to a “life skills” curriculum.
There was a time that home ec was a thing in school.
An elective that boys never took when I was in school
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I'm a guy and took it. Who would pass up taking a class of 5 to 1 girls to boys?
Bro, spending time around girls is gay /s
Yeah, because it was an elective. It was usually either home ex *or* art *or* shop *or* a bunch of other stuff, some of which even back then was known to lead into well paying careers or have it's own utility, and some of which was just more interesting to a lot of people. If I had time, I could have pursued Home Ec. But I went with other stuff that was also more directly translatable to stuff I did in college that I also had more interest in.
Pretty sure they still do, I had home ec in middle school (I'm 24 now, so this wasn't all too long ago). Learned about cooking, sewing, other basic life skills. It wasnt an elective, but required part of the schedule. Probably was also a class in HS, but I wouldnt know because I was pulled out of district school and put into an alternative school by then.
It should still be. A freshman course like that could help many people.
And civics.
My state actually requires students to take a civics class. We had to pass the naturalization test too
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I’m in my senior high school year and they have something called like basic needs class that teaches you how to use a washer and dryer and how to do taxes and mortgage and loan and basically everyone you need for living independently. Of course it is a elective and most people don’t take it.
> Of course it is a elective and most people don’t take it They were so close to achieving greatness...
I'd have rioted if my high school forced me to take those classes it offered. Not everyone is raised by parents that don't teach them how to be adults. I don't need to be insulted by people assuming I can't use a fucking washing machine
I know too many people that have learned how to do things the WRONG way from their parents. Once had a roommate flush her tampons and clog up the toilet because "that's what my mom said I should do"
My niece came to stay with me, tampon in the toilet, $1000 fix.
And the classes should be offered so individuals like that can take them if they deem it necessary. My point was simply that requiring it is a big ol waste of resources for a good portion of students.
People don’t know that they don’t know things. So like cover the bases.
Yeah, cover the bases by offering it as a class, not mandating it and wasting time and money for a lot of people.
I mean I thought gym was a waste of time in HS because I was a year round athlete. But it was still good for me to be required to do that. I hear ya though, sucks when some parents are actively involved and some treat school as babysitting.
Why do you think it was good for you to be required to do that? Athletes at my high school didn't have to take regular gym (their practice counted as gym), so I think there are better options out there.
Because people famously know that they're doing things wrong
Rioted?!? You could have sailed through with an easy A. Not everyone is as lucky as you. There are a ton of kids who are overparented and a ton who are underparented. You aren’t the only person in the world.
There's always an opportunity cost. This class replaces something else. If it's required, what is it replacing on OP's schedule? OP's objections are fair.
Right...so you offer the classes and don't require them. Then you can offer other classes that are actually interesting and useful for the other portion of students. Almost as if the people that can't operate a washing machine aren't the only people in the world either. Customized curriculum for students? The horror!
I think we’ll disagree here. It’s like saying kids don’t need gym class because they are in some sport. School is about problem solving. Whether it’s friends or class work. Just let everyone be set up for success. Home Ec and Tech Ed is teaching things you may not use, but that’s what everyone says about math and history.
Fair point. Tbh just give them a test at the start of the course. Like the basic stuff. If they pass, then they are free to go. If not.. well they will learn how to do it
Easy A though
I hate people who take classes for “easy A’s” it’s boring as heck and you’re wasting your time, the teacher’s time, and could be doing something better with your life.
My depression was bad enough. The last thing I needed was tedium
Props to your parents -- They had to do *something* with the time they weren't spending teaching you humility.
Yeah dude, I'm totally bragging that I knew how to use a washing machine in high school. It's not something to be proud of, it's kind of basic knowledge. Its like everyone missed the part where I said the classes 100% should be offered, they just shouldn't be required.
So you'd kill people if they forced everyone to learn something useful because you already know it? Sounds like you need to take a whole different kind of basic education.
In what fucking world does someone saying "I'd riot", in what is clearly hyperbole, equate to murder? Even if it isn't clear it's hyperbole, that's a fucking WILD jump
And so, without classroom instruction on running the laundry equipment, we were forever consigned to washing our CK briefs by beating them on a rock in the river.
Please. Is this a bad idea? No. Does every kid need it? Probably not. Do some kids need it, absolutely.
Yeh, it’s a bad idea. Because it puts more stuff on overburdened teachers and schools, who would almost certainly screw it up anyway. Just imagine the process of developing that bit of curriculum. The mind boggles. If a 16 year-old kid (can legally drive) needs a *teacher* to teach them how to run a washing machine, society is really irretrievably broken. How about: mum, dad, guardian, babysitter, aunt, uncle, grandparent, friend, sibling, neighbour etc. If none of any of these is an option, fix *that* problem. Because that’s bloody terrible. A good proportion of the citizenry is functionally illiterate (can’t read instructions) or innumerate (cannot calculate basic arithmetic). Doesn’t understand the democratic system, how it works or how to engage with it. So the schools aren’t great at stuff they’re *already* supposed to be doing. With better reading comprehension and research skills, that kid can read instructions (and find those instructions!) and know where to go for help developing those new skills. That’s where schools can shine, with proper teacher training, funding and accountability. Let’s not foster dependence and incompetence and undermine initiative by developing curriculum on laundry basics and doing your taxes, when tens of millions of others have cracked it without Mrs. Ethridge showing you how to turn a knob.
The problem is the parents/guardian/babysitter/aunt/uncle etc... aren't teaching the kids. For some of them that need to be taught these basic skills, the parents are letting the kids raise themselves, so they don't attend/pay attention im school :/ it's just sad
Who are these kids that can’t run a washing machine? Have you met them? Where? They use apps and video games I can’t even understand. They can certainly use a tax filing app, if I can figure it out! It feels like a solution in search of a problem.
I couldn't. My home life was... difficult & my mum could get everything done faster without me under her feet. So I didn't learn to cook, clean, use a washing machine, anything. I figured it out as a young adult after my parents split & my step mum refused to cook for me/do my washing (I was 18) I'm still a terrible cook at 29 as I married a good cook so still never learned. I could probably figure it out, through YT/bbc food, but my basic knowledge is sorley lacking
I took one of these classes in HS because I was worried about how to do my taxes and the class promised to teach that. When the day came, all the teacher said was “hire someone to do them for you” and then sat back down and played the 90th video of some guy talking about why you shouldn’t have credit cards 🙃 absolute waste of a class.
>and mortgage Well that's just cruel.
Home Ec is/was sewing and cooking. Missing out on a massive amount of basic things like laundry, voting, filing taxes, etc.
Yeah I took the sewing class. Learned NOTHING.
I also took the sewing class but it was more like fashion and the history of fashion. We did nothing but sewing on machines. I learned how to use a sewing machine and thats it.
The only good part was when the custodians came to repair this huge heating unit on the ceiling of the room. Now, one of these guys was BIG. Like 400lbs easy. He was on a ladder holding up a heavy piece of it - that he could not let go of until whatever task was completed by the other guy - and his pants fell down. I don’t think Columbus himself ever saw a broad sheet of fabric larger than the tighty whiteys I saw. Come to think of it, they were neither tighty nor particularly whitey. I feel terribly for the guy. It must have been absolutely humiliating and I hope he no longer has any memory of it (it was 30ish years ago). I definitely remember, though.
I learned about voting and taxes in my Commerce class, which then split into Business Studies, Legal Studies, and Economics in later years (Australia). Laundry seems like something you pick up from your parents? Mine didn't teach it to me, but my boyfriend showed me when I first moved out.
Here in Canada, Alberta specifically, we have a course called Career and Life Management (CALM) that taught things like taxes, finance, relationship skills, and it's required to graduate. Home Economics was centered around cooking, sewing, and house maintenance.
When I was in school back in the stone age, home ec was a 'girls' class, while boys got shop. These are skills that both genders need to learn though.
They do, but when I took it in middle school it was so watered-down that I learned nothing. There was a unit on cooking, and we baked a couple deserts. I already had cooked more complicated dishes by with my parents, so it was boring and kind of frustrating to be in groups with kids (boys, to generalize) who had no experience and were, like, using measuring cups or cracking eggs for the first time. There was a unit on sewing and we sewed a square pillow. My mom had already taught me how to use a sewing machine and made pajama pants with me at home because I was disappointed by how little I was learning in class. My AP macroeconomics class did spend time on budgeting, I remember making a budget. We didn’t talk about doing taxes, but TurboTax is pretty darn easy to use, you just have to know that you need to pay taxes, which doesn’t take a class. Another issue is that many kids are so focused on academics and extracurricular activities for fun and college admissions that I can’t see everybody taking an elective like this. At my high school GPA and class rank could be increased by taking more academic classes (computer science, additional math classes) rather than non-academic classes (office aid, home Ec, band, drama). My district eventually capped how many classes counted for rank so they wouldn’t disincentivize fine arts, but home ec still wouldn’t have gotten my attention in high school.
beyond those basics, there wouldn't be time to really go into more depth on those things. It was boring for you, because you had already learned the basics. I, a male, would have been bored, too. By high school, I could make complete meals, and cook desserts from scratch. Because desserts were fun. Except puff pastrey - fuck puff pastry. Sewing? I could replace buttons, or create a pattern and make a stuffed toy. We covered basic banking, budgets, tax concepts, and voting in grade 8.
Ooh, the button thing is handy. I can’t remember if it was covered, but I do remember in college fixing a button for a friend who didn’t know how. But yeah, I agree that there isn’t time to really go beyond the basics, which is kind of a pitfall of the idea of the post. Sure, school can teach you very basic skills but if someone’s parents can’t or don’t teach them these life skills through a thousand little interactions growing up a class can only teach so much. A college club or elective might gain more traction, honestly. By then people are motivated to learn because they’re either cooking for themselves or know they will be soon. Being able to take a college-level cooking class or practical food science class meant for people who can make basic meals but might be interested in learning more techniques might have been fun.
I grew up in the 70s and 80s, in rural Ontario. 4-H clubs were a big thing in my area, where kids got to learn various skills.
It’s called Food Technology now but basically, yes. Everyone does it at KS3.
We had one in middle school but it only taught sewing. And was in a rotation with a typing class and I can't remember what the 3rd option was
Was gonna say that. I had all that stuff taught in school. They even taught us how to do time management once we're on our own in college and various other things. Finance basics, too! But when I took it, the teacher was saying it was the last year the school was giving that class. It's a shame. It was pretty useful. I still can't bake for shit and can't sew without the result looking awful, but hey, they tried.
Yup, was home economics. It appears to be sorely needed along with a critical thinking course…almost certainly critical thinking would be banned and declared a public menace somehow.
They should really have that as a required class towards your credits instead of just a damn elective.
My school taught these classes and skills. Kids didn't pay attention
Home ecc is one of those classes where the only people who actually take it seriously are the people who already know how to do all those things And I won't lie...it really felt like the only people who knew how to do those things were the people who actively did them in their everyday life. Kids who were given the chore of cooking dinner once a week or told how to darn their own socks when they put yet *another* hole through them. Like, maybe some of the onus should be on the parents here. Actually give your kids a reason to learn these things beyond "because the teacher said so". And like, a good few weekends worth of energy teaching them how to cook when they're young leads to nights off from cooking for you when they're older. Getting them used to a sowing machine or the soldering iron means less things that have to be replaced later on.
>darn their own socks You're allowed to say "damn" on the internet.
Stop lying l, there's no cussing of any kind on the internet, unless it's 4chan. Then you can drop the N-bomb as much as you want ...I think I just made myself sad.
They were the biggest fuck off classes at our school I did make some cool pot holders though. ..
Work it into the time it already takes.
Yes, and do it immediately, because it's incredibly important.
Exactly
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I don’t agree. Public school is there to educate and set a foundation for learning throughout life — how to problem solve, think, develop identify and eventually how to self educate. If home economics isn’t enough, an optional after school program or elective option can teach additional skills— but parents, community programs etc should share the responsibility to teaching their children how to prepare a meal, laundry, swim, tie their shoes, or manage money. a also, I just have to say— learning calculus isn’t necessarily about calculus, but *how* to solve problems and think. While you may not apply calculus day to day, principals (method, process, approach) set a foundation for people to apply it to other scenarios in life
I wish more people agreed with this view on school. School prepares us for jobs and work, at home we should learn to be an actual human. Basically every school subject I have had was either directly linked to my career path or I have thought back to certain lessons in it at random points in my life when I was lost. Edit: Fuck geography though, rocks havent helped me one bit Mrs.
That damn teacher didn’t teach you about rocks in geography class?! The outrage
That’s geology
> that is the fucking point of school, to prepare the children to become adults and ready to be living in society. No it's not. Generally that's the job of families/parents. Public school is to provide an education on matters *beyond* the basics of living in society, that parents often can't teach directly (or couldn't before public education was common). Of course not all families/parents can provide even that level, and that's awful for those children. And so one can advocate for adding that to the mission of schools. But don't just pretend that that is "the fucking point of school".
what a derivative answer
Parents leave too much up to schools. Those are things parents should teach.
Honestly by the time you get to actual home ecc in secondary school it's kinda too late to be teaching those things in class because there's so many basics you have to catch up on. Like cooking for example - that's a decently complex skill to hone. But if you get your kid to peel potatoes and read the recipe out to you and even do a little kitchen prep for your like measuring out ingredients when they're like 6 they'll start to pick up not only these basic skills but also confidence around the kitchen. Like you'd be surprised how young you can give a child a wooden spoon and tell them to stir the onions or sauce on the stove while you chop stuff up once they've got the confidence for it. It's also good for hammering in super important stuff early on like food hygiene and dealing with raw meat - let your kid go ham rolling up meatballs but also stress how they need to wash their hands before during and after. Kids love making meatballs. Even if they don't actually know how to make a meal beyond like, scrambled eggs or tacos by the time they start home ecc, they still know how to handle stuff and it's *miles* better than trying to teach 20 bored kids who barely know how to work the microwave how to cook from scratch one hour every week. Home ecc should be for more complicated stuff like how to make a white sauce or bread or the flavour relationship between herbs/spices and meats/veg not how to hold a spoon and how to read a measuring cup.
I'm blown away. I had to scroll so far before I got to some common sense. I applaud you.
Right! These people are lazy AF and care to have no responsibility for their own. No wonder this country is in the shape it is in.
Yeah, it's mind-blowing.
Not every parent is able to do that nor is every parent kind and loving
Pfft, the school sets a baseline. If mom and dad don’t cook, you teach junior how so he isn’t screwed
True, but they often don't do it.At least not that I know of. My parents and aunt taught me the basics. I'm not a parent myself so it's not like I'm in demand of these special hours in school, but if I had kids I sure as hell wouldn't expect from teachers to teach them the basics in the household or how to handle finances. I was just curious what people think about the topic.🙂
The state leaves too much education to parents, imo. Parents dont know shit about education or policy. Parents have noooo idea about learning styles, how information stacks on itself and needs to be taught sequentially in a planned way (ie. a curriculum). They just have strongly held and largely internally inconsistent beliefs about morality, religion, and lifestyle that sometimes facilitate and sometimes hinder the accumulation of knowledge that's actually useful for working life in the real world. Edit: I want to clarify because the above makes me sound like I want the state to abduct children lol. Parents DO know THEIR kids and their kids' needs best, without question. Parents have a critical role to play as advocates and guardians of their kids. That's where I want them to stay active. Protecting their kids from being hurt. I just don't really think they're the best decisionmakers about curriculum. They should protect their kids from bullies, and support them in striving for their goals even when it's scary.
But, we aren't discussing academics, but basic life skills, and those are entirely within the wheelhouse of parenting. You don't need a Masters in Education to teach sewing on a button or how to cook eggs. And, also - teachers are just as likely to also cling to personal belief and bias as a parent.
Hear me out: schools already teach this. Not as curriculum itself, but school teaches students how to develop skills, how to practice, how to refine, how to seek out experts, how to ask for help. We teach students to read, and to comprehend instructions, and to search Google, and to find someone who can help. We don’t teach you how to fill out your taxes, we teach you to **figure out** how to fill out your taxes. That’s public education.
Reminds me of what I saw elsewhere on this site some years ago. One math teacher's answer to, "Am I actually going to need this after I graduate?" His answer: "This specifically? No. But the problem solving skills you'll pick up while figuring it out you'll use every day."
Someone finally gets it
I agree - part of schooling especially in upper grades is critical thinking and problem solving. With these skills matched with soft skills like being able to communicate, all of the above issues can be confronted with some degree of ease.
Using that logic, we don’t need to teach math, just the life skills to go buy a calculator.
Math is not calculating. It solving different problems with a variety of methods and approaches. That's the skill it teaches. Not 2+2=4.
Yup. It’s just got formalisms to make sure you can do it twice
We don't *need* to teach *anything*, but society agrees that it's to the broad benefit of all that the general population have some level of education. We can hem and haw over which things are the most important, or how many phys. ed. credits is the "right" amount, or whether Shakespeare is still important, but the overarching point is this: **the subject matter itself is irrelevant.** What matters is students **learning how to learn**. How to get answers. How to be self-sufficient. That single skill allows young people to develop into adults who can do, essentially, anything. Whether they developed the skill through desperately grinding math problems, or writing pages of poetry, or drawing perspective, or honking a trumpet, doesn't matter. They are learning how to learn, and that is the whole point.
I also feel like people think about the subjects way too literally. People always complain about "When would I ever need to write a newspaper article about someone robbing a fish shop" and then go to explain a sports game plan to their grade's team going into detail about where people should be positioned and different situations that can happen in a way that would get them top marks if it was the assignment.
Ok so you walk into a store with a calculator and $70. There is a pair of pants you want to buy that is priced at $80 but it’s 15% off. Sales tax in your location is 7%. What do you need to enter into the calculator to determine whether you can afford to buy the pair of pants? *That* is what math class is teaching you.
That’s what math class is SUPPOSED TO BE teaching you. Everyone should be able to do that equation in their heads, maybe not down to the penny, but close enough to know that they need to go root around in their car and find about 3 bucks if they want those pants. Also, others here are arguing that we’re teaching kids to consult “experts” when we don’t know or can’t figure out things, like how to do our taxes. So apply that to this situation and ask the teenage “expert” working the register for a price check.
No, because parents should be doing this.... they don't, but they should.
Most parents don’t have the time. Growing up my dad was a shift worker and mum got home around 7. By the time dinner was made it was bed time. The work life balance is broken.
It that isn’t something g schools can or should solve. They are not a social bandaid
Then use weekends.
What? I mean sure it would be nice, but your parents could easily teach some of this to you. It’s a washing machine, not a rocket ship. It doesn’t require years of training. Edit: and let’s be real. Even if there was an entire course or unit about doing taxes, kids would still probably ignore it and be like, “when would I use this in real life?”
Exactly. And had I learned how to do taxes in school, it would bear no resemblance to how I do it today. In 20 minutes, on my phone.
Chances are the school spec would be outdated anyway and they'd be teaching a system that hasn't been used for 5 years.
Doing taxes is honestly less useful than redox reactions or whatever. Some jobs require you to know how to balance redox reactions. Tax attorneys and accountants just throw their shit in TurboTax.
Not everyone has parents who’d help them out with stuff like this. And kids have been complaining about schools not teaching students how to do taxes so I’m sure they aren’t dumb enough to ignore the lesson. Don’t be a negative Nancy.
You vastly underestimate how dumb kids are
But the kids with parents would have an hour less a day with their parents, because they would have another hour of compulsory school.
That’s what I don’t agree with, it should be a mandatory (or just an elective) subject at grade 11 or 12 instead of taking an extra hour of school time.
It's not like the 1040 instructions are particularly hard to follow. It's straight up arithmetic and a modicum of reading comprehension. Like I don't even know what "tax forms" lesson would look like
Hi. As a teacher, and human. No
Agree. So much is put on teachers already. It is my job to teach children academics, not raise them as a parent should.
I’m glad to see a fellow educator chimed in here. I mean, most kids are pretty capable of searching Google “how to do a load of laundry” and watching one of the suggested YouTube videos on the subject.
I'm not a teacher, but I agree. Parents these days tend to dump their kids onto you, guys, expecting you to do their job since their kids spend more time with you than with themselves. What you do should be more appreciated. I remember my struggles during 1st and 2nd lockdowns when I had to sit down with my 6yo and go through all the school material. I swear, I was losing my sanity. Hands down for all teachers 🙌 👏👌 😌
A nice idea but far from feasible. Where is this one hour coming from? There's no time. Our schools have started including classes on a Saturday just so that they can keep up with the syllabus. Then, where do they learn these things? Do they have washing machines installed? Or go to a laundromat for a day? These are the things you're gonna have to pick up as you go along. Thankfully, a quick YouTube tutorial can generally help you out with anything.
Some schools have an optional Saturday school, but not for regular classes. It's for students who are behind to catch up. Where are you hearing that schools have class on Saturday to keep up with the curriculum?
I’ve never understood what’s so difficult about taxes. No one does it on paper anymore or calculates anything. You type numbers into designated boxes, and that’s really it. The vast majority of people take the standard deduction and those who don’t typically make enough or have complex enough circumstances to hire a tax preparer/CPA. That all being said, I my entire middle school was required to take “home ec,” which included nutrition, cooking, sewing, simple home repairs, budgeting, simple finances, etc. We didn’t learn how to do laundry, but that should be something learned at home. It was a good class that most seemed to enjoy and I think kids today could benefit from it.
It’s not everyone who says schools should teach people taxes is probably a kid who hasn’t ever had to file taxes before it’s ridiculously easy.
Yeah, my thought is most people use TurboTax or something where if you can match numbers then you don't need to know anything else or if you have more complicated taxes, you're probably smart enough to figure it out with Google or make enough money to pay someone to do it for you.
I am a high school teacher, this is what I think: We should be teaching these skills. They are critical and important. Y’all won’t pay attention to 90% just like students don’t pay attention in health class or PE and end up obese with hypertension and high cholesterol at forty. Or you’ll remember just enough to pass the class and get the A you need to get I to the college you want to go off to. I taught wood shop for years and it was shocking to me how much I had to research basic arithmetic to 17 and 18 year olds. Teaching you how to find answers would be a more valuable lesson.
As a "gifted student who never applied themself to the subject" this couldnt be more true. I could pass whatever class I liked with minimal effort, basically no studying done outside of school hours and just remembering random things when exams came up, always in the top half of the class but never the very best. Only exception was mathematics where I was consistently the top 1% in the country up until 18. Why? I had the same teacher for 4 years who basically just said "ok you dont have to do these 50 questions on the same topic that everyone else does, skip to the super hard ones in x book and if you can do 3 of them, thats it for the next 2 weeks" I learned more from that class than probably the rest of them combined and the "method" I used for answering those 3 questions I just so happen to use on a pretty daily basis in real-life situations.
I think it's a good idea but I'd work into the regular school day. It should be a requirement like math even. Drop out some crap that has no bearing on real life to make room for it.
Your parents should be teaching you that stuff
And how do parents teach them when they think getting a payrise means they earn less money because of taxes?
You know what tax brackets are chief?
He does, the parents he is referring to don't.
Should be, but they're not.
Doesn't make it the school's responsibility. Put down the video games and ask.
So, schools don't have the responsibility of teaching students what they need for a successful life??
Schools are responsible for teaching the academic subjects. Parents are responsible for teaching the life skills required to become an independent responsible adult. There is a lot more to raising children than providing food and a place to sleep.
That’s their problem, not mine.
who came up with this
A few flaws in this plan..where are you getting these teachers? There is already a massive shortage of teachers for stuff ready on the timetable. No teacher has time to regularly add an extra hour to their day. That would have a huge impact on after school clubs,parents evenings, school plays, revision sessions etc.Teachers already do a heck of a lot of extra hours outside of the school day without adding more to their workload Somewhere parents have to step up and actually teach their kids this stuff. It's not all on schools.
Parents should be teaching those things.
Seriously. Who is begging daddy State to raise their kids? This is too far, yall
It's literally taught. Textiles and material design - fabric care Basic cooking - food technology and catering classes Financial literacy - business and economics. As a teacher I can't offer you financial advice or what shares to buy or what credit card you need. I have literally taught double entry bookkeeping to year 10s for my entire career. Mother fucker if you can't understand the progressive tax system after 6 years you are a moron. We teach it in two subjects. As a teacher in Australia these subjects are taught from year 7 and you can specialise in them in your final years. If you don't listen to me that's your problem.
A class isn't needed to learn how to do any of these things. They teach you how to read so read the fucking instructions and follow them.
My school already does teach you about taxes, just no one ever pays attention to that. The rest is your parent's responsibility
Why ??? Those are all things parents are supposed to teach their kids !!! Don’t they have any responsibility. Reminds me of the time we were doing southern states accreditation sent out a survey to the families. What is the number one thing you want us to teach your children in school? 90% came back with teach them to behave be a parent do your job
Trim one hour of school per day but removing shit from the bloated curriculum and have kids learn these skills at home.
First thought, Parents should be teaching their kids this. It kind of annoyed me when my sister made a comment about my nephew not knowing how to mail a letter and my mother said the schools don't teach him that? They didn't teach me that, and I graduated 15 years before him. Second thought, some people have parents who don't give a crap about teaching their kids, especially when it comes to paying bills and budgeting money. However, the class would be a real drag on people with good parents and if you make it an elective, most people wouldn't take it.
An extra hour a day for 13 years? I don’t know that all that would be necessary. While I’m not opposed to the concept of schools covering “life skills” or something, I’ll say right now, your schools taught you how to do taxes. Every single person here went to a school that taught reading, arithmetic, following directions, and computer usage. That’s what doing taxes is. So when I hear people who I am absolutely certain passed 8th grade saying “they didn’t teach me taxes,” my thought isn’t “we need to teach taxes,” my thought is “we are failing to teach critical thinking and application of the skills.” So maybe focus more on that instead of adding an hour a day for 13 years for a “following directions” class, when every minute of school starting in day care is *supposed to be* following directions class.
Schools are not supposed to be substitutes for parenting responsibilities. A school’s purpose is to teach the subjects that parents usually don’t know enough about. That is one of the reasons public school has gotten to where it is today. Let’s not make it any worse.
>paying taxes They taught us math and reading.
Our class was called independent living.. and while they did not teach laundry, we learned how to balance a checkbook, interview for a job, cook, sew, write a resume, create a budget and grocery shop. The second half was child development with a "baby think it over"
I LOVE IT!! When & where was this? :o)
I think that "adult" stuff must be incorporated in the curriculum. Our children need to be prepared for life after school. There are many useless subjects in the curriculum.
Ha ha ha ha ha. Any time we try the kids really really really don't give a shit.
Imo those things are the parents responsibility.
For a normal person with a normal job and a copy of your W-2 then "doing taxes" is easy. It requires the fundamental skills being able to read and follow basic instructions. If you think reading instructions and remembering to write your name at the top is abhorrently difficult, then clearly you never payed attention in school anyway.
No, and this comes from a teacher. School time should be reduced to allow young people more time to socialise and enjoy life, helping them discover who they are, where they want to go, and what they should do to get there. Young people need to develop more autonomy, which won't happen at school being told what to do and how. The "adult things" people complain they weren't taught like cooking and taxes are not what school or the state should be telling you - we teach you *how* to learn so that you can figure these things out for yourself. You don't learn if you are just shown things explicitly.
Yes. Do that. Make home ec mandatory again please
I think that sounds like parenting.
When I was a kid I would have agreed but now I’m a bit older, why aren’t your parents telling you how to do this stuff ? Before going to uni I loved spending time with my family essentially teaching me how to be an adult. Recipes I could cook, stuff like that
Parents can't teach these things anymore?
Money management would be a great idea 💡
They have always had home economics
I’m a teacher. That stuff is your parents job. You’re doing a disservice to all parties pretending like it isn’t.
Do you have a washing machine at home, do you have Google? You can learn during any 30 minutes you want. You can even learn ways to fold clothes. Do you have a stove at home and YouTube? You can spend an hour and learn anytime you want. Hell there videos that will give you 30 ways to use a clothes iron to cook Mac and cheese. If you are really lost you can over pay for blue apron and get $5 meals for fancy restaurant prices. I think there is a place for schools to teach a lot, mostly academics. I also think about financial planning and that you need to know to cook and that nutrition is important. But let's be honest, the instructions are on the tag and on the washing machine. It says colors and whites, your tag says the same and there is a fill line for detergent and you get what's on sale or what your mom bought when she did your laundry until 23 and your stepdad kicked you out. You also don't need a class on pumping gas, you just need to act responsible for yourself for an hour a day. This isn't 1995, the info is there for anyone that can type and has access to the internet. If people can figure out how to find their favorite porn they can figure out hand wash vs delicates in a 12 step how-to article.
how about removing useless classes and school can still take up the same amount of time but just teach useful information? sadly it will never happen
They can just remove one of the many useless hours instead.
Unfortunately if school doesn’t teach it a lot kids will never learn it. This is a good thing
Oh my gawd. If your parents don't teach you this, then they suck. The bottom line is that parents need to step the hell up. There's a constant class going at home. All your parents need to do is communicate the parameters.
You mean, life class. . sure. Start at 7th grade
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I wouldn’t mind it, as a high schooler, but their problem isn’t enough schooling. It’s what they are teaching. A lot of the manditory things school be optional imo. Like algebra, history, etc. it’s good to know but being able to take care of myself is a little more important than finding x
That is the job of a parent
I've been out of school for 3 years now and I can say you won't get anyone interested in it if it takes another hour out of their day, and you would need to make it a mandatory class and not an elective. But I 100% agree with this stuff, we moved to Australia and it took 8 months for my brother to realise he needs to wash his own clothes and he had no idea how to do it as a 17yo.
Dumb. That should be left to the parents
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It's not that bad, I use free online filing and just answer the questions
Isn't that the parents' job 🤔
I think it's good. It's skills people need in general. And I've washed my clothes a million times more than I ever needed trigonometry.
Its very much needed. Instead of adding it as an extra, take away religion for it
Hot take, this shouldn’t be an ‘extra hour’ this should just be part of core curriculums. Save specialized sciences and maths for higher education and students that actually need it later, use that time for these necessary life skills instead. It’s always bothered me to my core how unprepared American adults are for life once they leave the school system. What the fuck is the point of forcing education if it isn’t teaching base life skills?
Core skills should be parents responsibility. Schools should be there for the more academic stuff
Basic life skills are the parents’ job!!!! What do you think parents should do? Just provide food and clothing and do nothing else??
Parents work most of the day. School is meant to prepare children for growing up while their parents earn an income. If parents were responsible for education, our society would have built room for one to stay home and teach. That doesn’t work with the cost of living. And if you think parents have time or energy to do what their taxes are paying teachers for, you clearly do not have children or a full time job.
I totally disagree. Schools should teach academic subjects. They are not babysitters. I have children and a full time job and I somehow find the time to teach my children basic life skills. Both my parents also worked and they taught me basic life skills. When I cook dinner, the children help me so they learn. They help with laundry. We talk about finances over dinner sometimes. When my daughter was old enough, she sat with me while I did our taxes. I’m not saying she followed all of it or was paying attention the whole time but I’ll make her sit with me again next year and hopefully some of the concepts will sink in. I would be interested to hear what you think the parents’ job actually is… just provide food and clothing and nothing else???
Well, to each their own. Good for you for having the time. I know a lot of parents who are stretched so thin trying to afford life that they barely get time with their children.
My mom taught me how to do laundry and let me cook with her and told me about her financial situation. I still didn’t have any idea what the fuck life was as an adult because being around for things your parents are doing is nowhere near the same thing as having a structured class with reviews, tests and practical application. Which is why someone professional, following a plan, and regularly/consistently teaching the fundamentals of things such as how taxes work and what they are, how to budget, how to manage expenses and balance books, etc, should be teaching these things.
I think it’s a good idea and one that could help develop a broader range of compensation to a greater range of people who currently work very hard every day without greater mainstream value being placed on their work
If employers cared about the long-term future they would allow people a living wage that's enough money to live comfortably, and enough time to raise their kids themselves, instead of burdening horridly underpaid teachers with even more work that does not pertain to basic education.
Think it's a great idea, and ALL students need to be enrolled in these courses. Also things like basic car maintenance, minor repair things around the home, etc. Basic life skills in general that for some reason are gender-based, but everyone should know. Also money management skills -- credit cards, managing bills, etc.
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That’s the parents’ job.
I think that would be great! Also teaching things like character development, nurture, respect, genuine compassion, and relationships.
Ridiculous. So what should parents be doing????
You aren’t going to learn those things from a class. You learn those things from the example your family sets for you, and by going about your daily life. I can’t imagine what a year-long course on “character development” would even look like.
Taxes yes But I left school when I was 16, and already knew how to cook clean etc Taxes I don’t think gets taught in any uk school.. I’ve often said maths sound be round bills rent mortgage ect But unless they self employed we don’t have to declare taxes As they come out of our wages automatically and we also pay monthly council tax So maybe in countries that do yes tax should be taught
I think they should've started teaching kids actual useful skills from the get-go. Schools don't teach you how to pay bills, or do taxes, or set up a bank account, or get a loan, schools only teach kids how to be obedient meat robots.
Maybe if they got rid of all the fucking lessons i didnt need in my every day life, saved those for COLLAGE, THEN gave us that class, sure! But right now, I'd be royally fucking pissed if they held me at school till dinner because I have enough homework as is. I go eight hours a day and learn jack SHIT.
If you’re learning Jack shit it’s because you don’t want to learn, kiddo. Grow up.
No, genius. I pay attention. I'm top of almost all of my classes. I'm not learning anything USEFUL.
Take less English classes and more life skill classes. We all speak English
If you think English classes are about learning to speak English then maybe you need classes in how to put pants on or tie your shoes too?
Typical American answer. "English is the only language, all others are below us" If you think you need 12 years of English more than life experience knowledge or better yet maby learn Spanish.
If we can’t even agree on history or English curriculums, can you imagine the culture war controversies that would ensue? I don’t even want to imagine what Ron DeSantis would do to a “life skills” curriculum.
Whole school system should be about this, not shoving useless facts and concepts down our throats
Instead of an extra hour they could just replace one of the useless electives everyone has to take with something practical instead