I had to take wood shop and home economics in middle school (around 2006), but I didn’t get enough practice to actually remember anything. My university has not-for-credit “study skills” classes, so I don’t see why they couldn’t offer home economics, wood shop, personal finance, etc. in the same format. But they don’t.
At my son’s small rural school they used to offer both home ec or industrial arts in junior high, but due to a declining budget when the industrial arts teacher retired they opted not to fill the position, but still had all students take home ec (thus my son having sewing in junior high, he also had cooking, but learned that at home as well).
Back when I was in school, we had the choice of home ec or industrial arts and I took home ec because back then, that’s what girls did. Since I’d learned cooking and sewing at home from a young age, I learned very little in the classes, I would have been better served to take the industrial arts class which I had to teach myself as needed later in life.
At my son’s rural high school a large percentage of students do go on to college, but it’s not as focused on college prep as many other schools (in my son’s graduating class only 8 students took calculus). They still offer several vocational training courses that are mainly taken by the students that aren’t intending on going on to college such as auto repair and construction, but others such as the pre-medical courses are taken by some students interested in going into nursing or other medical fields.
Oh, I just thought of something else. My daughter did not know how to mail a letter! At home we put outgoing mail in our home mailbox. On occasion we take mail to the post office. So when I asked my daughter if she had mailed her absentee ballot before election day, she said she can’t do it because she’d have to go to a post office! I assured her that there has to be an outgoing mail slot or mail box in the mail room where she picks up her incoming mail She insisted there was no such thing. On family visiting weekend, I said, "Let’s take a walk to the mailroom. Of course there was an outgoing slot.
65 @jrcsmom Can I introduce my daughter to your son? :)
I was surprised the other day to find out that my son doesn’t “trust” checks. He called me to complain about having to mail a check for something and said it didn’t seem safe to send payment through the mail! I assured him it had been going on for years…
LOLOL! That’s hilarious. And using Venmo is really safe . . . right.
@brantly – After after we went through the learning process of stamping and addressing correspondence, my son actually texted me a picture of the public mailbox.
First, he didn’t know how to open it and then he simply could not believe you just dropped in your letter. This was literally a blow-by-blow text event (*I just drop it in? In the slot?) (smile)
I was driving with my post-undergrad son to a location new to both of us. I had a map with detailed directions on how to use a short-cut with county highways, the GPS would have followed major roadways and been much longer. I gave son the map and directions and asked him to navigate. We were about 30 minutes into the drive when things just weren’t making sense to me. The detailed directions were FROM the destination location to our home. We were doing the reverse drive from home TO the location. Son did not realize he had to reverse the instructions.
Because of you guys I just googled “how to clean a bathroom” …it had like 14 steps!
I don’t fault the cooking or food stuff. I still ask my mom certain things in those areas and I’m 45!
A couple of times last year, freshman year, my son asked me to send him something that he could pick up at the supermarket, which was within easy walking distance of campus (very easy, actually; maybe 10 minutes away just on the other side of the football stadium). He eventually learned not to do that.
But my favorite was a text I got from him during his first semester that simply asked “What do I put for line 5?” with no other context whatsoever. It took me a few seconds before I figured out that he was filling out his W4 for his campus job.
“I was surprised the other day to find out that my son doesn’t “trust” checks. He called me to complain about having to mail a check for something and said it didn’t seem safe to send payment through the mail! I assured him it had been going on for years…”
On the other hand, my kids just take pictures of checks they receive and it goes into their account. And I’m like - are you sure? Don’t you at least need to go to an ATM and put them in?
I know I sound old, but I remember when you went every 2 weeks to a bank and physically deposited your paycheck and withdrew cash. And what a novelty ATMs used to be.
My kids knew how to cook, clean and do laundry by the time they left for college. However, like many other kids apparently, they didn’t know how to cash a check, make a bank deposit, mail a letter or fill out forms. Still working with 20 yr on ordering refills on prescriptions. Had to walk 24 yr old through making an airline reservation. I also bought the book “Adulting” for both of them.
I made the guys address and take their college apps to the post office (not all took electronic apps then). I showed them how to write business letters (though I learned that in 3rd grade – remember the friendly letter, information letter and complaint letter?
Both my sons are taller than I am (and S2 has been since he was 12). They changed the lightbulbs. They also know how to do their own laundry. S2 has been cooking since preschool. S2 can jump a battery. S1 still doesn’t drive, so has no clue. I took them to the bank to learn how to do ATM transactions and deposits, though they both picked up depositing checks by phone on their own. S1 didn’t know how to do his prescriptions until he moved to the opposite coast and had his own insurance. Their mechanical/repair skills are meh. I have to coach them through it. DH doesn’t do any of that stuff. My dad taught my brothers but not us girls, figuring we’d have husbands (!). I am sure this is why DH is a disappointment as a SIL. I can do some stuff, but I don’t do plumbing or electricity. Now I tell S2 to look things up on YouTube. I need to get out of the enabling business.
My youngest sister has remodeled a lot of her house – tile, plumbing, crown moulding, paint, wallpaper, furniture restoration, etc. She came out to stay with me after I got home from the heart attack and she pulled everything out of my family room, pulled the carpet, leveled the floor and put down new flooring in a day. Put in a new ceiling fan the next day. I have a three page list of everything she did in the three weeks she was here, and it was amazing. (And I wish I could steal her for a month to redo my master bath!) Her H is also very handy, and they make a terrific team.
I want your sister to stay with me, CD.
Me too, CD. I have a small house. It wouldn’t take her long…
@megpmom, there is an “Adulting” book? (Lol… my D2 especially would need “Adulting for Dummies”)
@CountingDown, Sounds like your sister and her H could join forces with @coralbrook and make a ton of money and have a great time producing quality rebuilds and renovations!
Most of the neighborhood asked my sister to come over and help them! Too bad she lives 600 miles away. She’s a new first-time grandma (and only 47!), so I’m sure she’s spending all summer with that delicious little guy!
I should look into the Adulting book for S2. He needs lessons.
Adulting: How to Become a Grown Up in 486 Easy(ish) Steps by Kelly Williams Brown
My D didn’t do her laundry in college…I know, I know, but I’m a laundry maven and picky about how clothing is treated, and didn’t want her ruining nice things in a dorm washer and dryer. We live close enough by that she could drop it off, and sometimes, I used to pick it up from her car parked in a lot at school. She would leave the dirty clothes in a hamper in the back, and I swap the dirty with the clean…talk about service! She spent junior summer in Europe and had no choice but to do her own laundry…called me to ask “how does the water get into the machine???”
She’s now on her own, doing her own laundry - when at home for a few days, she asks me NOT to do her laundry because she prefers to do it herself.