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Forum
-> Chinuch, Education & Schooling
morah
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 Tue, Jul 08 2014, 9:48 am
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While ultimately the responsibility lies with the parents to prepare their kids for real life, schools can and should play an important role. This is why I am on a committee at my school to prepare a kind of revised for modern times home ec curriculum (which would include a financial component). We are starting small- this year it will be designed for just the seniors- but we plan to expand it all the way down to the freshmen. I am looking for input, both as parents and people who went to high school: what do you think should be included in this curriculum?
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Emotional
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Tue, Jul 08 2014, 9:50 am
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Driver's ed. As part of the school curriculum. A driver's license should be required in order to get a diploma. It's such a basic life skill and it's so disabling not to have one.
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zigi
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Tue, Jul 08 2014, 9:54 am
what credit is, how to use it and not abuse it. that making minimum payments just lets the amount that you owe grow.
how to budget - I once had a computer class that we had to plan a trip within a budget. it was fun to see how to stretch your money
menu planning nutrition and budgeting.
how to make a complaint about a service or a product. I think I remember writing letters to companies,
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zigi
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Tue, Jul 08 2014, 9:55 am
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how advertising works. does the product really do what it says etc
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amother
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Tue, Jul 08 2014, 9:59 am
| zigi wrote: | | what credit is, how to use it and not abuse it. that making minimum payments just lets the amount that you owe grow. |
I'm amother because I'm just plain embarrassed.
I got married not knowing a blessed thing about credit cards & how they work. In fact I knew nothing about finances beyond try to spend less than you earn.
My parents never taught me, they assumed the school would do it.
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Emotional
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Tue, Jul 08 2014, 10:03 am
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Basic sewing. There's no reason why an adult woman should have to spend money to fix the hem on her daughter's skirt.
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zigi
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Tue, Jul 08 2014, 10:07 am
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basic fixing around the house, unplug a toilet, etc
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Iymnok
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Tue, Jul 08 2014, 10:09 am
Basic home repair
Sewing
Menu planning
Balancing the checkbook/ home economics/ budgeting
Car repair/ troubleshooting
Appliance maintnance
Gardening
How to arrange a chessed project
How to arrange a simcha at home
I second advertising
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Lady Bug
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Tue, Jul 08 2014, 10:17 am
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How a credit report works, how to check your credit online for free annually and not get scammed, how not to get scammed, banking (may include a trip to the bank, but basically deposits, withdrawals, when will you bump into fees, atm, how to read the fine print, mortgages, credit cards), internet safety
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freidasima
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Tue, Jul 08 2014, 10:28 am
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Budgeting, homemaking, comparison shopping, basic home repairs, drivers ed. The importance of having a profession or a trade in order to make a living, how to write a check, use a credit card, balance a checkbook, read a bank statement, warrantees and guarantees, basic sewing, how to clean a house by onesself, basic supplies in setting up a home.
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SRS
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Tue, Jul 08 2014, 10:31 am
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I would actually prefer schools not get involved with teaching about finances. Too many entrenched interests. If parents want their children to learn about money and management, a summer session for teenage boys and girls taught by some professionals and people who have been successful with their money as well as an outside Rabbi who can help look into subjects like thrift, giving tzedakah, baal tashcit, contracts would be far preferable.
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mille
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Tue, Jul 08 2014, 10:31 am
| Emotional wrote: | | Driver's ed. As part of the school curriculum. A driver's license should be required in order to get a diploma. It's such a basic life skill and it's so disabling not to have one. |
I agree that driver's ed should absolutely be part of required curriculum (it was in my public school!), but requiring a license for a diploma is not OK to me. I know multiple people who have had severe phobias with driving, and forcing them to get a license before they graduate, even though it is a skill that has nothing to do with the education required to graduate from high school, would be undue stress and hardship.
Also, at least in the states I have lived in, you need to be paying for car insurance for licensed drivers even if they don't actively drive. I am sure some families cannot afford this, especially in areas where driving is not common. It also requires a whole trip to the DMV to pass the test, and there is often a significant waiting period between failing and retaking the test when you are under 18-21 (depending on state). Even if a teen is actively trying to get a license, it would be really hard if they fail the test more than once. It's just an even further punishment to withhold a diploma.
Honestly, it CAN be disabling not to drive, but it is not always. It might not be so crucial for the teen once they graduate. They might not have a car, as I am sure many families can't afford to buy a car for every kid, and they might go to college in an area where having a car/driving makes no sense. If the kid MUST get a license by 18, then goes to Israel for a year (not driving there), then comes back and goes to, say, NYU or YU or some CUNY school, driving is less necessary for a while. Not saying they should procrastinate on getting a license, as learning to drive in your 20's is not fun, but it's not necessary for them for quite a while.
I know plenty live outside NYC, but it's just such a great example of when driving is just so not necessary and sometimes it is more of a burden than a blessing to have a car! I live in suburbia now, where not having a car IS a big deal, but I am still adamantly against this being a requirement to GRADUATE.
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SRS
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Tue, Jul 08 2014, 10:39 am
| mille wrote: | | I agree that driver's ed should absolutely be part of required curriculum (it was in my public school!), but requiring a license for a diploma is not OK to me. I know multiple people who have had severe phobias with driving, and forcing them to get a license before they graduate, even though it is a skill that has nothing to do with the education required to graduate from high school, would be undue stress and hardship. |
To say n.o.t.h.I.n.g. of the cost of insuring a teen driver. Count me out.
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morah
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Tue, Jul 08 2014, 10:42 am
Thanks! Crowd sourcing is the best :-) We already offer drivers Ed as an extracurricular, I don't think they will require it any time soon. Also, I guess I should mention that this is an elite MO co-ed school, so everyone is going to college (many to very selective ones), it's a no-brainer. However, a lot of these kids still know nothing about any of this stuff- financial, home, or otherwise. I don't know if they'd be ready to learn the details of mortgages, but we would probably go into details about car ownership (which is very relevant for teens) and then just show how the issues are similar with a house.
Also, anyone think we should get those dolls that act like babies? The public schools use them to scare kids out of getting pregnant, and while I hope we don't really need it for that purpose on a Jewish school (though I'm no ostrich, I'm sure a few kids need a reminder to not fool around), maybe it could be useful as simply another life skill.
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Emotional
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Tue, Jul 08 2014, 10:45 am
Well, maybe a permit at least. And a few driving lessons.
I never learned to drive, didn't feel the need to when I lived in Brooklyn, but now I am HANDICAPPED without a license. And it's so much harder to learn when you're older.
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iluvy
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Tue, Jul 08 2014, 10:54 am
Professional communication.
In eleventh grade, my school (PPY) had a short workshop on making phone calls, because that was the year students had "jobs" that required them to deal with outside professionals on the school's behalf. It covered *very* basic things that many kids simply don't know. I have a bit of a phone phobia, and I use the formula I learned that morning -- introduce yourself, say which organization you're calling for, say what you're calling about -- every time I need to make a call.
I would like kids to learn how to write an email: asking for letters of recommendation or other favors, thanking people for professional favors, asking a question from someone who is senior in your field, following up with someone who you met at a conference, thanking team members for a successful project, etc. Most professional communication follows generic formulae that it are easy to teach and that can make things much easier later on.
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naturalmom5
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Tue, Jul 08 2014, 11:00 am
How to succeed in business without resorting to chicanery
Maybe also learn what chicanery means
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Kugglegirl
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Tue, Jul 08 2014, 11:00 am
The dolls that act like babies are expensive --- & many of our kids have a good deal of contact w. real kids. You could have them do 2 weeks of "bedtime routine" with families w. 3 or more kids under 5.
or--You could also do the sack of flour or raw egg as your baby for a week--- a lot of schools do that.
Some skills that are worth learning-- using a washing machine, taking a bus, how to iron a shirt, there are so many skills---
Have you polled the parents & kids? I think the high school kids may be more into the class if they feel they have some say in what they will be learning.
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morah
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Tue, Jul 08 2014, 11:18 am
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A survey was sent out to the parents. I'm sure some kids have seen it and offered input. Usually when I offer kids input, the structure and most of the content are in place and I'm offering choices of activities within the unit, or how in depth they want to go (past the minimum I've chosen).
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