- Joined
- Jun 4, 2012
- Reaction score
- 19,506
- Age
- 64
- Location
- I'm liek, in Cali, dude.
- Lifestyle
- Vegetarian
In seventh grade, I took a sewing class with the other girls. In eighth grade, I took a cooking class with the other girls. The boys in both grades took shop class. All classes were mandatory and gender-separated, although when I was in eighth grade, the school became a little more flexible and offered a shop class for girls. This was back in the early 1970's.
I wouldn't say that thanks to these classes I became a whiz at sewing and cooking, but I still thought they were invaluable in teaching the basics of sewing and cooking. Also, instead of relying a great deal on processed, canned, boxed and frozen foods, we made everything from scratch, which made everything better. (In fact, I still have the recipes and notes from that class somewhere.) I also benefited from having a mother who taught me and my sister basic sewing and cooking techniques and insisted we do some hands-on sewing and cooking so we'd know our way around a sewing needle (in class we graduated to sewing machines) and the kitchen.
Apparently, though, home ec classes have disappeared from schools, too much of a luxury when schools are struggling to find the funding to teach basic courses such as math and English and maintain sports teams and other luxuries such as textbooks and working bathrooms (not to mention music, except maybe for band, and art classes).
Who else took home ec classes in school? Do you think they should be restored to schools? Do you think that they would be invaluable to kids today to learn how to sew and cook, to shop for food and prepare healthy meals? Or would they be too much of a waste?
Interesting trivia: Our eighth grade history teacher told us that our home ec teacher was a direct descendant of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy. Being a history buff, then as well as now, but not being a fan of the Confederacy, I wasn't sure if I liked hearing that bit of trivia or not.
I wouldn't say that thanks to these classes I became a whiz at sewing and cooking, but I still thought they were invaluable in teaching the basics of sewing and cooking. Also, instead of relying a great deal on processed, canned, boxed and frozen foods, we made everything from scratch, which made everything better. (In fact, I still have the recipes and notes from that class somewhere.) I also benefited from having a mother who taught me and my sister basic sewing and cooking techniques and insisted we do some hands-on sewing and cooking so we'd know our way around a sewing needle (in class we graduated to sewing machines) and the kitchen.
Apparently, though, home ec classes have disappeared from schools, too much of a luxury when schools are struggling to find the funding to teach basic courses such as math and English and maintain sports teams and other luxuries such as textbooks and working bathrooms (not to mention music, except maybe for band, and art classes).
Who else took home ec classes in school? Do you think they should be restored to schools? Do you think that they would be invaluable to kids today to learn how to sew and cook, to shop for food and prepare healthy meals? Or would they be too much of a waste?
Interesting trivia: Our eighth grade history teacher told us that our home ec teacher was a direct descendant of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy. Being a history buff, then as well as now, but not being a fan of the Confederacy, I wasn't sure if I liked hearing that bit of trivia or not.