Home Economic Skills You Should Teach Your Kids
Today, it’s all about the home economics skills you should teach your kids. It’s not the sole responsibility of your children’s school to prepare them for life and all the basic skills they will need when they grow up.
It’s our job as parents to prepare them for life’s challenges too. That way you can rest and put your mind at ease, knowing that they can manage and survive their first semester away from home one day. Keep reading to discover home economic skills you should teach your kids.
Besides, most of what is taught in schools these days are based on theory and things that are written down, and little time spent on hands-on home economic skills.
Home Economic Skills You Should Teach Your Kids
At some point in their education, your child will take some form of home economics, but this way you can have them ahead of the game. I’m also sure that some of the lessons that you teach your kids will never be presented to them in the classroom.
That would mean that your child would struggle in these areas when you thought that the school had it covered. Here are several home economic skills that you should teach your kids.
Cooking Skills
It’s probably not a surprise that cooking skills are number one on our list, and this one is not just for your daughter. This way, your children are not relying on a microwave to cook all of their meals each day.
Plus, it will give you a break if you have them prepare dinner every now and then. Be sure to teach them about meal planning, and how to shop accordingly, instead of buying impulsively at the grocery store.
Nutrition
As we get older, it doesn’t take long for our bad eating habits to catch up with us. Teach your kids the importance of eating healthy and how to enjoy a balanced diet.
Sewing
You might not be gifted with sewing something extravagant, but I bet you could teach them the basics of sewing with no problem. Show them how to patch a hole and replace a button when their clothing starts to unravel a bit.
Housekeeping
It’s also important to teach your kids about housekeeping as well. That way their wife or husband doesn’t find them to be complete slobs, and they’ll have a basic understanding of what needs to be done and how best to do it.
Start when they are young while having them sweep the floors, wash dishes, vacuuming carpets, scrubbing the toilet, and picking up after themselves, among other common chores.
Gardening
There’s not much else in life that’s equally as rewarding as being able to grow, harvest, and enjoy delicious fruits and vegetables out of your very own garden. Pass your green thumb skills on to your kids.
Laundry
Knowing how to do laundry is also a basic skill that a kid needs to know. They need to know the difference between a hot or cold wash cycle and when to use each. How to pay close attention to tags that are found on apparel and what they say about their care. Also, they need to know not to mix their white clothing with their colored items.
Home Maintenance
Teaching your kids about home maintenance can save them a ton of money, and you from having to run over to fix things that are falling apart in their homes one day.
Kids are never too young to learn from mom or dad when they see you working on something that needs to be replaced or repaired. Whatever the project may be, whether it’s fixing a toilet, cleaning a clogged drain, or repairing a wall that needs to be patched, grab your kids and have them help you.
It’s also good to show them how to work the breaker box, where the water line shutoff valve is, where the water softener salt goes, and how to change the air filter in your home.
Money Management Skills
Money management skills are huge and are barely covered in school. Even though online banking and other financial apps have made it much easier for us these days, it’s imperative that you teach your children about balancing a checkbook, creating and sticking with a budget, as well as several ways that they can save.
Final Word
These are a handful of home economic skills that will prove priceless to them one day. They’ll certainly look back and remember that it was you who took the time to teach them how to perform those important tasks that now come naturally to them.
Now that you know which home economic skills you should teach your kids, how do you plan to start the training, and which skills would you add? May God bless this world, Linda
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Copyright Images: House with fence Deposit photos_2561318_s-2019, Sewing Notions Deposit photos_58866509_s-2019, Gardening Deposit photos_19545683_s-2019, Home Maintenance Depositphotos_19370957_s-2019, Laundry Depositphotos_146172641_s-2019, Health Depositphotos_47935385_s-2019, Checkbook Depositphotos_6297955_s-2019, Cleaning Depositphotos_52712019_s-2019, Cooking Depositphotos_159130506_s-2019
As a certified Home Economist/educator I heartily applaud your efforts. Currently, Home Economics Education has almost completely left the curricular arena in lieu of the push towards math and sciences education. While those studies are very important in today’s world,so is the ability to lead a healthy,well-ordered life with emphasis on physical and psychological health and well-being and financial stability for individuals and families. Home Economics is not just cooking and sewing,but also financial theory , architecture , child development ,interpersonal relations , family dynamics , art and design and the ever present chemistry, biology, micro- biology, physiology ,psychology and crisis management. That list includes many,but not all, of the areas of study within the field of Home Economics. In our current state of crisis in the world right now, I should think some of the skills developed that pertain to the areas studied within our field might come in handy.
Hi Ellen, thank you for your kind words. I totally agree more needs to be added to the list. I’m very concerned that a few families are not able or even see the need to teach several of the items on either list. It’s really too bad because what they learn at home and at school will help launch them into adulthood. I know a lot of families homeschool, I applaud them. But I have noticed a few homeschooling mothers do not know how to spell. I’m not being judgmental, I’m just concerned how does a mother who is homeschooling who can’t spell correctly, teach their kids? The only place I have seen this is on Facebook. I shudder every time. I don’t want this to come across as petty, I’m just concerned. Linda
When my daughter went into high school (she graduated in 2004) I was very disappointed that she was not going to have home economics like I did! They had a class called Paths – they were able to choose what they wanted to learn: sewing and cooking were 2 of the choices that I encouraged my daughter to take. I still have the quilt that she made and she had instruction on cooking that I was not able to teach her because I was working full time just to support her!
There are also other things that I wish were taught in schools that aren’t, such as financial classes – how to balance a checking account, basic investing; shop (I was able to take shop in high school) that teaches basic tool knowledge; home repair; car maintenance. Gardening would be a good one to teach as well – not everyone has the luxury of learning gardening from parents.
Wow – I think I could go on!!
Love your posts, Linda!
Hi Leanne, I wondered when they stopped doing Home Economics. There are so many things the youth of today could learn from those classes. Here’s the deal sometimes kids will listen to a teacher they admire more than listening to mom sometimes. Yes, they listen to us, but you know what I mean. Stay well, stay safe, girlfriend! Linda
I love all of these on this list. Of course, more could always be added, but this is a really good baseline!
Hi Jess, thank you for your kind words. The more we can teach our kids, the better. Life is good if we have the skills to teach and use. Linda
Linda,
Just a note for you and your readers. Marjorie Wildcraft has her 4th Annual Homegrown Food Summit starting May 4th. The Summit features 35 presentations on gardening, livestock, herbal remedies over 7 days and includes many bonus items. This year there are a couple of presentations focused on container gardening. The Summit is free, or lifetime access can be purchased.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the Homegrown Food Summit each year, have learned a lot about becoming more self sufficient, as well as better ways to grow fruits and veggies, improve garden soil, improve pastures for the goats, encourage earthworms in our soil.
A search online for Marjorie Wildcraft and The Homegrown Food Summit should get to the link to sign up.
Hi BDN, thank you for sharing this valuable information! I would love to attend one of her summits!!! I will check it out for sure!! Thank you, Linda