Home Economics

[Kim]

How much of 'Home Economics' do you plan to incorporate into a curriculum?

Specifically, I am wondering about finances/budgeting, cooking (spinoff from other thread), sewing, gardening, and home repair.

Maybe because I was raised on a farm, all of the above were an integral part of my upbringing. A lot of moms in my social groups were never taught how to cook, do laundry, or sew a straight seam.

Except for laundry, my dh was taught these things by his parents too, so it's not that I'm this anti-feminist "Pollyanna".

What do you think? Is this important to you?

[USAmma]

I just teach my dd what I'm doing around the house. Part of it is so she will know how to do these things, and part of it is selfish so that oneday she can cook dinner for our family sometimes, scrub her bathroom, and do her own laundry. :LOL

We plan to involve her with financial things eventually, such as sitting with us as we go through our finances and encouraging her to shop around for the best deal on something she wants to buy.

[thrrrnbush]

Some things I expect will be "school", most things I expect will be learned. I want both of my kids, regardless of gender, to know how to create and repair the basic household stuff. I am assuming they will each spend some time at some point in their lives not having someone else around to do these things for them and they need to be done.

Thanks,
Crystal

[3momkmb]

I plan on adding more budgeting stuff in this year. DD will be 12 in a few weeks and I think it's time. I will have DD help me with a price book for the grocery shopping and help with my meal planning (which I base on sales). I also plan on opening a checking account for her once she starts her *mother's helper* business this winter. I will give her a monthly allowance and expect her to buy her own personal hygiene supplies and any *extras*. She already knows how to cook some things and do basic cleaning (and Ds (6) is learning as well) and can sew and knit. I am not the one to teach her gardening since I have the black thumb of death, but she spends quite a bit of time at my moms since she can actually grow stuff : I haven't thought about laundry...guess it's time I showed them ALL how the washing machine works!

[mtn. mama]

I really make it a part of our day, and it is all inclusive. Both my boys and girl learn how to hlep with the laundry, set the table, load their dishes in the dw, help with the gardening, stack our firewood and knead bread dough. I have been teaching them both how to knit and sew. I'm hoping to proudly have boys in my home knitting!
I have always thought that life skills are so important and showing our children when they are young how to do things correctly. Not so that they become neurotic about it as adults but so that they learn the value of doing things properly and responsibility which I hope carries over into their finances.

[SagMom]

Originally Posted by Kim

Maybe because I was raised on a farm, all of the above were an integral part of my upbringing.

Well, I wasn't raised on a farm, but budgeting, cooking, sewing, home repair were all part of my upbringing also. We had home-ec in school, but I already knew how to cook and sew before I had that class. And I fought my way into wood shop, but the harrassment wasn't worth it--I learned more from working next to my father as he fixed things around our house.

My kids can all cook, they budget their own money and know our family's finances/budget. My dd is really into handcrafts and is learning a bit of sewing. My oldest son never liked crafts but loves building things and is really into costume design. We can't afford to hire people to do work around our house, so we're big "do it yourselfers" and the kids are involved in that--sometimes that's sort of the blind leading the blind, but we manage to figure it all out.

I think all this stuff is important, but it just sort of comes up as a natural part of our lives--it's not something that we go out of our way to teach.

[Wolfmeis]

YOIKS you hit a nerve with me!

It irritates me to no end how people (who know how to cook / launder / clean / whatever) send their children out in the world without knowing how to do those things. Homeschool, public school, boarding school, I don't care! However you educate your children, the whole point of RAISING children is to make functioning adults who can at the very least care for themselves.

OK Rant off.

To answer OP, at this young of an age we do have "HEY IT"S COOKING TIME!!!!!!!" and "HEY LAUNDRY PARTY!!!!!!!" just to point out to them that they can participate in these things, and that these activities have a name. For the most part, though, practical life activities such as this will just be ..part of life. Not something I would necessarily set apart.

Beading, Knitting, Making soap and candles, those kinds of things are kind of "bonus!" in my head, will be taught btu would be considered arts and crafts curriculum. They don't need to know those things to live in your average, modern domicile.

[Wolfmeis]

Originally Posted by mtn. mama

I really make it a part of our day, and it is all inclusive. Both my boys and girl learn how to hlep with the laundry, set the table, load their dishes in the dw, help with the gardening, stack our firewood and knead bread dough. I have been teaching them both how to knit and sew. I'm hoping to proudly have boys in my home knitting!
I have always thought that life skills are so important and showing our children when they are young how to do things correctly. Not so that they become neurotic about it as adults but so that they learn the value of doing things properly and responsibility which I hope carries over into their finances.

:

[Kim]

I love that you all feel so strongly about including your children & teaching these life skills. It seems like I've run into a lot of moms lately who are baffled by the fact that I can sew!

Quick additional question:

How in-depth and when do you give them full knowledge of the family's finances? Anyone help their kids obtain a credit card or debit card to teach responsible usage? What age? What happened?

[USAmma]

I won't be letting our kids have credit cards. If I feel they are responsible I might let them have one off our account for emergency purposes, but they would not be carrying them around all the time. Just if they go on a trip or something.

I just took over the family finances about 3 mos ago and now I'm trying to dig us out of debt. Most of the debt is legit, such as my dd2's medical and feeding supplies, homeschooling supplies, etc. However it's awful how fast we got into debt, how easy it was to "just buy one more thing" at the store, and how hard we are now working to get out of that hole. I want my kids to deal with cash, so they are dealing with reality. If they have $20 then that's all they can spend. If they want more $ they need to save it up or work for it.

That's another thing-- if they are still going to be homeschooled in high school and they have the time, I would like them to each get a p/t job beyond babysitting. It's such a good way to get a taste of the real world, handle other people's money, have consequences for both good and bad work.

I don't see why they can't know how much we are bringing in and how much things cost. It will keep them from begging for things we can't afford. In the old days most children started to take part in running the family's business at an early age, and most knew exactly how much income there was, and watched their parents make financial decisions. Many kids these days have no concept of money and budgets.

[3momkmb]

I don't (and won't) involve the children in the family finances except in a very broad sense IE: No, you can't take that class because it's not in the budget. I will involve them in the grocery budget, but not things like paying the mortgage or the electric bill. Our finances are very tight and it stresses me out quite a bit, I just don't see how letting the kids in on that will help anything. I think they can get a sense of not spending more then they have by helping with the grocery budget (how to buy pet food, groceries and other stuff with a finite amount of money) without having to deal with the scary reality of how close to poverty we really are.

I can't see me letting them have a credit card (or a bank giving them one for that matter) until they are quite a bit older. Maybe around 17 yo. I do plan on getting DD a debit card for her checking account.

[RedWine]

I was sent out into the world not knowing how to cook, budget, or sew. I barely knew how to clean.

I will not make this mistake with my own kids. They will join me in cooking, cleaning, balancing the budget, etc. as soon as they are able (it's a bit early yet, though d1 does help with the cooking at times).

I still don't know how to sew, and would LOVE to learn. When dd2 is a bit older and I can leave her for an hour or so, I will find a nice local mama who can teach me.

We need curtains and can't afford them. I keep thinking -- if only I knew how to sew!!!

[SagMom]

Originally Posted by Kim

How in-depth and when do you give them full knowledge of the family's finances?

We've always talked in terms of what we can afford and what we can't....things we want to save up for...all that stuff, in front of the kids. Whenever we "re-do" our budget, whoever is interested in it is in on the conversation. For instance, the youngest doesn't really care yet, but the older two have been interested in how much money we bring in, and how much things cost for quite some time. I know that when dd first heard our annual income, she thought we were rich ("THOUSANDS?") :LOL but once she saw where all the money went, that put in into perspective. We didn't pick an age to tell them any of this, we just answered questions honestly.

Anyone help their kids obtain a credit card or debit card to teach responsible usage? What age? What happened?

My kids don't have their own cards but they've always used mine. My older two have jobs but neither one likes to carry their money around with them, so we'll often put it on a card. Also, they buy things off the internet and need to use a card. They're really good about putting the cash into the account when they've charged something. We've talked a lot about credit and they know that dh and I don't put anything on the card that we don't already have the cash to pay for (or at least have it in the budget!) So they've never used a credit card to pay for something that they can't yet afford. When they're old enough to get their own cards, I won't tell them that they can't. By then though, I figure they'll have plenty of experience with managing money.

[lilyka]

Home ec is more important to us than accademics. As my chicldren's educator my job will not be done until they are capable of getting along in life and keeping a home. Even if they choose to not be mothers or wives they will still need to know who to sew up some funky cutains, hem thier pants, get a stain out of a shirt, balance a budget, avoid credit, and stop a leaky faucet, and light a pilot light, mow a lawn and plant a garden. All those things. It is easy to learn math and language and even art etc while learning all of that. granted we still do focus on language and math but we focus on life skills more. They should have a pretty good grip on that right about the time they are ready for higher math and science etc. . .

[onlyzombiecat]

I think every child should learn how to take care of themselves- cooking, finances, laundry, etc.
Basic sewing is a nice skill to have- like sewing buttons on- but more advanced stuff is not for everyone. My mom sews (quilts, clothes, home furnishings) and crochets a lot and I can do the sewing but never really got crochet. My sister wasn't very interested in regular sewing but likes to embroider (sp?). My brother did some sewing but not much. He just wasn't interested in learning much beyond sewing a button on.

I don't think I'd make our finances secret from our dd. I think that causes problems. My parents didn't want us to know about our family's financial trouble and I think it caused more stress in our home than if they'd just been level with us. We knew something was up. We could have worked together more for a solution or at least been more understanding of why we couldn't do/have some things.

I would advise my dd not to get a credit card until she is able to survive on her own without one. I would like her to learn to live within her means first. I got a credit card young and it is so easy to get over your head. It can really mess up your life IMO and not a problem you need just starting out on your own. We don't have credit cards now so hopefully we are showing her that you don't need them.
A debit card and a bank account are different and I would help her with that.

[Kim]

I know that when dd first heard our annual income, she thought we were rich ("THOUSANDS?") :LOL

Can you imagine the response if the salary was converted to Yen? or Rupees? :LOL (You make 3.3 MILLION Yen???)

[Linda on the move]

I had a really long response and my computer froze!!!

I think this stuff is super important. Some parts of it we do a better job than other parts. I love to cook with my kids so they are wonderful cooks, but we really need to work more on home repair. Neither my DH or I enjoy it, and the kids don't seem to either (they would rather go and play than help) but I can't help but wonder if DH and I had a better attitude about it if the kids would choose to be a part of it more often. :

They know the names of tools (we send them to fetch tools) and which tools are used for which jobs. They want to help paint their rooms, hang borders, etc. and as we will be working on this for the next few weeks they should get lots of experience!

They know how to clean, and they can do laundry but have trouble folding big items. When they are tall enough to reach the buttons on the machine, I will stop doing their laundry for them. They know how to give the pets meds, groom them, etc.

My kids are a bit young for much work on personal finance, but they do overhear my DH and I talking about it which I am sure is laying a foundation. I personally think that being able to handle one's money is more important than being smart or having the ability to make lots and lots of money. My DH and I try to live beneath our means and that is a basic value that we are raising our kids with.

My kids can do basic sewing and gardening and would like to do more.

[medaroge]

I agree that household things should be taught. I am the product of having not been taught a lot of those things. I am in no way complaining about my parents, it was a wonderful house to grow up in, but we (the kids) never had to do anything around the house. When I moved out of my parents house and into the dorm it was pretty easy, they still had control of most of the money and I didnt have to worry about anything except my classes. Then once I got an apartment it was a diffrent story! I am still learning new and better ways of doing things the "right" way. (such as cooking, hanging pictures, laundry, finances, etc.). Although, I have to admit that I have never in my life mowed a lawn and dont plan on it either! (My dad thought it was too dangerous for girls to mow the lawn, and now dh does it)

Just my two cents!

[m&m]

Yes!!!

I have already started teaching my 6 yr old. She can sew, garden, cook (with limited exposure to the stove), do laundry, clean (although reluctantly), build if the items are pre-cut, and balance her own piggy bank. She has already saved up money several times to buy some things (Barbie sewing machine, toy pottery wheel, etc.) She also helps us budget for groceries.

Last week was also her first official "Friday supper" where she planned, shopped, prepared and ate dinner. It was stew, tea biscuits, and apple pie. I helped with the oven. I can't wait to see what she comes up with this week.

My dad has even promised her to teach her welding when she is bigger. I had wanted to but he had said it wasn't for girls. How times change.

We have always included her in our family's financial planning, discussions, etc. Because our parents didn't. My dh's dad was an accountant but his kids know nothing about money.

Now our 4 year old is not quite ready to learn all this. So she is a helper so far. But there will be a time when she is old enough to take on these things on her own too.

I have met many adults that could not do any of these things, and it was very hard for them to live on their own without resorting to fast food joints, and going back to mom's.

[phathui5]

I'm definately planning to teach the Home Ec stuff. When I moved out of my parents house, I had no idea how to be a homemaker or do the things that one does. All my housekeeping, budgeting, cooking etc, I had to learn from books.

Let's just say it was rough for dh and I in the beginning with him working and me home but not knowing what to do. Thank you flylady (not for all your annoying emails, but for the cleaning instructions).