If schools offered housekeeping and/or mothercraft type classes would you let your child (boy or girl) study that kind of thing? Would you regard it as a waste of time? Not academic enough? Only for kids on a certain life path? Would you object if it were compulsory?

(Will answer this myself shortly.)

I believe that the best time to learn task-based skills (as opposed to things like critical thinking etc) is 'on the job' and when you need it.

I would hope that my high schooler will not need Mothercraft skills for many years so would consider it a waste of time.

Hmm I took Home Economics when I was in highschool and loved it. It covered everything from different religions, to raising an "egg" for a week, as well as budgeting a household. Is it not available in Australia?

Haven't schools got enough to teach in today's day and age


In a word (or two), no bloody way.

Waste of time, the curriculum is too full already.

Absolutely not. I would think it a complete waste of time and am not sure what it would be meant to replace in the already full current curriculum.

I did nothing like this at school and neither did any of my friends or family and yet we have all managed very well in regards to running households and raising families so not sure why this would need to be taught.

I think a lot of teenagers would benefit from this cause they don't get it at home. With teen pregnancies on the increase I think it would be valuable for maybe some schools/areas that experience high teen pregnancy rates. As for housekeeping again so many children end up waited on hand and foot, particuarly boys they leave home unable to even cook an egg!

If my child was interested then yes I'd let them do it, I'm all for practical skills. Not all children are academic and brilliant in that way so why not offer this to those who want to be SAHM/D or learn child raising skills, god knows plenty of people in the world no matter their age could do with that sort of course!

I don't think it limits them I think vocational courses are needed more in schools, without them we'll end up with a society full of academics and none to fix your car when it breaks down, build your house, work in childcare, cook food etc.

I've never heard of it, didn't even have it when I was at school in the 80's!

Who would want to sit and learn about ironing? Floor cleaning? Scrubing toilets?

We learned meal planing, food prep type stuff in our elective cooking type classes(it's been 20 years, I can't remember names now) we learned sewing in textiles classes. But specific cleaning of a house? No way!

I think their should be child care type vocation. There are a lot of teens who want to work with kids so this would benefit. But the people that would NEED this type of thing would be the ones who wouldn't be planning futures(IMO). So it wouldn't benefit at all.

Sounds fine to me.

Are they?

every stat I have seen has said the opposite.

Definitely not. DD, in grade 3, goes to a private school (kinder - year 12), and we just got the school magazine - full of pictures of the older students (year 9 and above) volunteering in India, Laos, going on camps to New Zealand, going to Thailand for a month... I just think it's all ridiculous - school should be about literacy and numeracy, not about traveling overseas, and not about learning how to cook.

ETA: If DD or DS want to learn how to clean a toilet or mop floors, I'd much rather they practise in the house... might save me some time also, lol

I know in the UK it is where hubby is from and we lived, and very evidently so, teen mums everywhere! They have the highest rate of teen pregnancies in Europe (I think for maybe Romania) and I think second behind the USA in western countries.

As for Australia, in my area there are a lot of teen mums and even a school nearby that has a part of the school for teenage mothers so they can finish school and they get support with looking after their babies.

I'm not against kids learning life skills but have serious issues if any course of this nature was named "mothercraft" as is very loaded with chauvinistic assumption and reinforces outdated gender stereotypes around what is wrongfully considered "women's work". Yuck.

I think this kind of thing doesn't belong in school. It can (and should) be taught at home. Would I object? I guess that would depend on exactly what were being taught, and for how long. (Eg. one compulsory semester I'd probably sigh and deal with it, but six years would have me less tolerant).

I agree that we need more vocational courses and the like, I just don't see the basic ability to keep a house or care for someone else as a "vocation."



The "home economics" I did for a semester in year 7 was basic cooking skills. Mostly what I remember now was the cow of a teacher reducing me to tears because I'd never cooked with gas and was afraid of the oven! (We had electric at home).

I have sometimes thought that kids could be taught more basic financial stuff at school - I've basically had to teach myself everything I know, and learning about finance the hard way can be problematic (just witness the "major mistakes" thread we had a week or so ago).

That too. Assuming the children are not breastfeeding babies, there is nothing about being a parent that mothers do as compared to fathers.

I really hope a school is not going to be using that term.

I tend to lean more towards the idea that household skills are better taught in the home. I did home economics for a little while in high school and to be honest it was a bit of a bludge subject - I enjoyed it, but the stuff I know now about cooking and keeping a (relatively) decent house I picked up at home and once I left home and had to. It was nothing where I was ever sat down and shown how to do things - most of it was just picking it up by being around it and then doing it once I was old enough.

Perhaps my opinion will change once I have a child at school, but I feel like there are a lot of things like this that some people expect to be school taught that always used to be taught in the home

Home Ec was offered when I was at high school. As a teenager I regarded it as a waste of time, I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life but I knew it sure as heck wasn't anything they were teaching in that unit (says the now SAHM). When my life did take me down the housekeeping, cooking every night, raising kiddlywinks ....still haven't got the hang of sewing .... path I managed to pick up the skills fine without taking the course. I don't know what a strain it is on the schools resources, if it is then the curriculum would do fine without it. If not then I don't see it as a bad thing having it as an option.

I thought they were already learning these things at home and for us as parents was our job to teach them... I think its a waste of time a a subject to study
My 14yr old son can cook clean hes been learning to iron can use the washing machine and drier and he knows what it is to have a budget knows how it all works and can help me do most things.
He is also great with littlies and can change a nappy feed a baby and look after one confidently

I see it as my job as a parent to have him ready to face the world

It would be a waste for my kids, a course I think would be awesome in high schools though is first aid, maybe as part of the health curriculum. I think everyone should know what to do in an emergency. DS1(7) spent 20 minutes yesterday explaining to me the differences between CPR on a baby, child and adult and knows alot of basic first aid already(wound pressure, etc) it's an invaluable skill to have. He's just sort of picked it up by osmosis as both myself and my husband and also my parents are in the emergency services but many kids are never exposed to it unless they do it as part of job training as adults, etc

I think they are essential life skills, and parents should be teaching them, but the same could be said of other skills taking up time in school hours that should be practised at home - reading is the first one that springs to mind.

How many 20-somethings are leaving home for the first time without knowing how to cook more than toast, how to sew a button, how to make a budget. It would be an ideal senior school class IMO. I don't think the parenting side of it needs to be included, but first aid is a vital skill that should be learnt.

A lot of what you are talking about is taught in high school as part of the Design and Technology learning area - often called Home Economics and Textiles.

Oh, and if they were particularly interested in studying this, yes I would let them do it.

I think it's a waste of time for a school to teach it. Should be a parental responsibility.

However there will be kids who may benefit from it, that don't have access to this sort of thing at home.

I am studying to be a Food Technology High School Teacher. This is the old Home Science/Economics course but modified to make it less about the home and more about the food. Kids learn about nutrition, how culture influences food, world food supply, food as celebration, food for special needs, food labelling etc. Its a great course and is all about getting kids thinking about food choices and how to make them.

No budgeting or "mothercraft".

I think that Child Care is available as a VET course in the senior years of high school. This is for kids who want a career in child care.

Yep, I would support my child doing them.
When I was at school "Home Economics" was a core subject till year 10. Taught me life skills that I didn't get full exposure to at home (ie sewing).

Cooking, Budgeting, Sewing etc are all learned skills and all ones that I feel help people when they move out from home.
More useful than sports imo. (nb: jaded at sports as I also did a lot of sports and have totally ****ed joints and cartilage tears starting in my mid 20's from all the undue stress that was put on my growing body).

Mothercraft?

I think its up to parents to teach kids that. Or the military. My husband irons a mean shirt.

I don't like the idea of 'mothercraft' - loaded with gender stereotypes.

I have sometimes wondered whether kids might benefit from "Domestic/Household Management" classes, but not as a regular thing. Maybe two classes each term. Could cover topic such as budgeting, common household expenses, insurances, good debt vs bad debt, pros and cons of credit cards, understanding loans and interest, renting requirements, etc. There would be some kids who don't get this kind of exposure at home.


And some parents don't do this at all.


yes, that's what I think.

Some may think its wasting time but in my experience learning Pythagorus theorem was a bigger waste of time!

I have used Pythagoras theorem a lot!

I reckon a good teacher could use nappy folding to teach the theorem!

If it included money management and basic home and car maintenance, then I think it would be a great idea.
Yes, these are things that parents could be teaching their children but I think we all know that doesn't always happen.

Lorraine

I think car maintenance is a very different thing to 20 or 30 years ago. Most new cars are so controlled by the computer system that runs them, the maintenance that the average jo with average tools can do is minimal

I agree. Measuring out sporting fields, (to make sure they are square), dressage arenas, just to name a few

The word Mothercraft to me means how to be a parent and no I dont want my HS child to learn that.

I was under the impression that when (if) we went to a national curriculum and dumped the year 10 certificate that "Life Skills" is what is going to be taught instead - on top of reading, writing and basic maths.


and my understanding is this is why.

I also thought it was meant to come in this year, but my year 10 neice tells me either 2012 or 2013.

It used to be compulsory to do 3 semesters of Home Ec at high school. Years 8 and half of year 9. Then I think in year 9 the other semester it was compulsory to do technology or something.

No for reasons that PPs have mentioned - already full curriculum, parents responsibility etc

Are you serious?? Do you know invaluable those experiences are? I would hope by HS the kids would already know how to read and count.

I dont see why we shouldn't have a class like this in HS. I remember learning a bunch of things that were completely useless for me, Metalwork comes to mind, but it was compulsory in year 7. We also did textiles and home economics (which was just cooking/nutrition). A pratical finance class would have been the best idea.

No, not those particular subjects.

However home economics I'd be quite happy for them to do. In fact they begin to learn cooking in either grade 5 or year 7.

The school my kids used to attend has a stephanie alexander cooking garden and kitchen. They started the program in grade 3 (although the cooking was more about watching the parent helpers do most things). They did one week in the kitchen and the second week was in the garden.

Is there a subject called 'fathercraft'?

But no. By the time the kids hit 30 or whatever these days and move out of home they'll have mostly forgotten it

There is a subject called Child Studies which is available in Year 11 and 12. It is part of the Health Curriculum and I'm qualified to teach it. It's a terrific subject for kids that are interested in careers working with children. They learn about child development, child nutrition, global child development. One of the lessons I taught on prac was about maternal and child health in Indigenous communities. The kids also had those simulator babies for a week while I was at the school - the insights they learnt and talked about afterwards were amazing. At another school where I did a prac, the Child Studies class had more of a childcare focus, and the kids did a placement in childcare, learnt OH&S, did a first aid certificate with a child focus, learnt about childhood illnesses. Plenty of people go on to work with children after high school. Oh, and there was one boy in the class at the last school I was at, he loved the subject.

There is a lot of talk about people getting these skills at home but I fear its the very kids that dont learn these at home that may be most in need of them. Kids from abusive homes, kids with drug or alcohol addicted parents, kids with absent parents, these are the ones who end up getting kicked out of home (or leaving by necessity and sometimes for safety)at a younger age. It would be wonderful to at least give these kids some small chance even if they're parents wouldn't or were unable to. I dont think home ec or whatever they want to call it now is going to fix the worlds problems but no one is going to be worse off for knowing that you have to prepare raw meat on a separate chopping board or perhaps that groceries get paid for before foxtel

Anything available to my (future) child to study at school is theirs for the taking.

When I was in year 11 and 12 (14 years ago) we did early childhood studies. We did baby/child care, child development, we made craft toys for kids and learned about breastfeeding and child birth methods. I that is seems like a waste of time but that was when I first decided that I would breastfeed and home birth. It played a huge part in shaping how I parent.

We also did home ec- I took cottage industries and food technology. In food tech we learned to cook foods from around the world, how to meal plan and budget and about healthy eating. I loved food tech, I learned to make a wicked curry that I lost the recipe for and still fantasise about 14 years later. Cottage industries was ok- we made a lot of clothes which has come in handy quite often.

We also did small business which wasn't much about business but it taught us a lot about finances, balancing a cheque book, calculating interests on loans etc.

I'd be happy for my kids to do any of those subjects. I don't see anything wrong with teaching life skills. I teach them at home but not every body does.

NSW year 10 ( at least when i went through) learns CPR etc as part of their PE course.

Home ec, i have no issues with. i did one year of home ec and 2 (extra) of textiles. i still use my home ec cookbook to this day

Oh yes, I did metal work too. I learned to use an oxy welder and make triangles. I made the strongest welds in the class I haven't used a welder since though. I also did wood work and made a pot holder. Such a pointless subject, thank goodness the teacher through a chisel at a student and got fired so that we could learn something far more use full.

I was just telling DH this (because it made me burst out laughing) and the same thing happened at his school. Woodwork and teenagers don't mix, apparently!

Like we don't have enough to teach already ... *headdesk*

I think they should have a choice and I don't think any is wrong with it (tho do not like the name of mothercare). I did them in highschool in preference to other acedemic subjects as I knew I did not want to do my TEE and go to uni.

I loved cooking, loved sewing classes and loved typing classes and are all things that started an interest in those areas.

We also did tech drawing, metal work, and woodwork as well - I opted out of them in later school.

I would be quite happy for my boys to learn basic sewing or cooking at school.

I did home economics most of the way through highschool. In the lower grades I did compulsory sewing and cooking (as well as compulsory art, woodwork and metal work) and in year 11 I did children's studies as my 'non-TEE' subject. In year 12 I changed schools and children's studies was not available, so I did a home ec class called independant living where we did budgetting, made a couple of things with fabric and cooked. My other subjects were chemistry, biology, economics, English Lit and maths.

I'd have no problem, there is so much more to education than academics.

I did Child Care Studies in Yr 11 as a non-matriculation subject in the late 80s. I remember having to carry an egg around for a week as my 'baby' and we also had to prepare and cook for a 'party' for real toddlers and preschoolers which was quite daunting at the time. But the highlight was when one of the girls fainted during a birth video - I think that put most of us of teen pregnancy LOL.

We also did budgeting and balancing a chequebook (god, that shows my age LOL) in Commerce.

Only if the school was going to drop something like religion to fit it into the overcrowded curriculum. I think I can successfully teach my girls to cook, sew, manage a budget, clean and raise children. If not, well, the school doesn't stand much of a chance either. I feel for the kids who won't have parents doing the stuff I do with my kids but I don't think that sitting a bunch of kids down and teaching them to make scrambled eggs at age 16 is really going to change anyone's life and it will waste the time of all of the 'normal' kids who already have the skills.

I wouldn't mind so much if it was an elective for students who were not on the academic track. Aren't there already subjects that dont count towards the TER or OP or whatever it is called? I was a nerd so I never took that much notice of what else was available.

In high school I did subjects called Home economics, textiles and commerce.

In those subjects I learnt how to cook basic meals, nutrition and basic sewing. In Commerce we learned about the finacial world and how to do basic banking and the like.

I have no problem with any of my DDs learning that as well BUT the term 'mothercraft' looks like it belongs in the curriculum of the 1950s and it sounds totally ridiculous.

A lot of these replies make the assumption that kids are learning these things at home. Unfortunately for a lot of kids these things aren't happening at home and they don't have a good role model/s. If you are in here discussing parenting and the like on your high speed internet I highly doubt that your kids are at risk (from abuse, drugs, poverty and the like).
I am all for a practical subject that teaches life skills like basic cooking, first aid, how to launder clothes, how to make a budget.
One could say, I'm not a scientist so I didn't need to do science, I don't exercise so I didn't need to do PE, I have a calculator so I didn't need to do math. All subjects could be made 'redundant' depending on one's lifestyle
I do agree that calling it 'mothercraft' though is awful.