Do you recall your time in home economics? It involved more than simply learning how to bake! These classes helped us learn valuable life skills that we would carry into adulthood. Things like managing finances, time, and other aspects of running a household. Becoming a parent in today’s world of apps and online games, I realize how many skills are being lost. Let’s reflect on some of these lessons, and consider what today’s children are missing.
Table of Contents
- 1 1. Basic Sewing and Clothing Repair
- 2 2. Meal Planning and Budgeting
- 3 3. Basic Food Safety and Kitchen Hygiene
- 4 4. Table Setting and Dining Etiquette
- 5 5. Basic Cooking Techniques
- 6 6. Laundry Care and Fabric Knowledge
- 7 7. Home Organization and Cleaning
- 8 8. Basic Home Maintenance
- 9 9. Time Management
- 10 10. Basic Child Care Skills
- 11 11. Personal Finance and Check Writing
- 12 12. Food Preservation and Storage
1. Basic Sewing and Clothing Repair
We all remember using those antique Singer sewing machines. Most home ec students learned to thread a needle, and sew straight lines, then moved on to more complicated skills such as hems, button replacements, and sock darning. Today, most kids would probably be frightened by a sewing machine. They also miss out on learning how to fix and extend the life of their clothes which saves money and is eco friendly.
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2. Meal Planning and Budgeting
Home ec teachers showed us how to plan balanced meals for an entire week’s worth of dinners, and do so while staying under a predetermined budget. We practiced making grocery lists, and learned how to find the best deals. Many young people today find this skill valuable as they become parents and are bombarded with fast food and food delivery apps.
3. Basic Food Safety and Kitchen Hygiene
I remember learning about health ethics. We learned what proper hand washing techniques looked like, as well as how to avoid cross-contamination to keep our family safe. We learned to take note of how different storage temperatures affected food, and how to check if food was still edible. Nowadays, younger generations have been missing out on these lessons, especially when they order food to be delivered because they have not learned essential safety lessons.
4. Table Setting and Dining Etiquette
We learned how to not only set a dinner table, but how to set a dinner table properly. We learned the proper placement of utensils, glasses, and during formal occasions, dinner plates. We learned to do this in order to achieve a goal of let the guests sit, and have a civilized dining experience. With the new generations, children are losing the most important part of a shared meal – the social graces. When children do eat together, they often do it while in front of a screen, losing the meal experience.
5. Basic Cooking Techniques
Home ec allowed us to learn basic cooking skills such as how to do a roast, as well as how to do a braise and bake. We learned what a recipe was, and how to measure to the correct amount of ingredients needed, as well as the jargon that was required to in order to be successful in the dish. When compared to the generations before us, there was a stark difference. We learned to prepare food, while other generations relied on takeout or processed food. Today, children are living in a microwave generation where taking time to put together a meal is looked down upon.
6. Laundry Care and Fabric Knowledge
We learned how to understand and decipher fabric care labels, sort our laundry by color, and how to treat stains properly. We learned how to choose the correct washing temperature based on the fabric type, and learned how to properly iron. Today children are throwing everything together and using the same washing cycle on all their garments, leading to shortened garment life and ruined clothing.
7. Home Organization and Cleaning
We learned effective cleaning techniques and how to keep an organized home. Being taught how to build a cleaning schedule and use storage taught us how to keep our living spaces clean and functional. Many in today’s generation do not have these skills leading to messy homes and wasted space.
8. Basic Home Maintenance
Our classes taught us basic repairs and maintenance like how to change fuses, unclog a drain, and use some basic tools. These skills taught us how to manage our own issues as homeowners instead of calling a professional. These basic skills are missing for young people today, and this causes service calls and unnecessary expenses.
9. Time Management
Home economics taught us how to balance family, work, and personal life. Classes taught us how to make a plan, set priorities, and how to manage time. Time management is an important skill, especially to parents and most children today don’t have it.
10. Basic Child Care Skills
Our home economics classes also childcare safety and nutrition, and basic first aid. We learned about the stages of child development and activities appropriate for different ages. Knowledge of teaching children and babysitting is what many young people today need to find.
11. Personal Finance and Check Writing
Do you remember learning to write a check and balance a budget? Home economics teachers made sure we knew how to do basic banking and tracking expenses. Budgeting apps don’t teach money management but most young people rely on them and have never written a check.
12. Food Preservation and Storage
Skills learned in our home economics classes were useful for us, such as how to do proper food storage, canning, and freezing. We were taught how to preserve seasonal foods and how to store food in the pantry so that we could avoid wasting food and save money. In a time of convenience foods, money saving preservation methods are becoming a lost art to younger generations.
