Home Economics
As I started to make my son's Halloween costume, a strange creature named Vivi from a game called Final Fantasy, yes I am making it myself, and yes, I know I am ahead of the curve as my Halloween and Christmas and Chanukah shopping is already in full bloom, I was thrust back into my public jr. high school home economics class where I learned how to sew with a sewing machine. Now, if you asked me what I learned in jr. high I would reply: photosynthesis, JFK's assassination and how to sew a dress from a Simplicity pattern. Like bike riding, I was amazed this morning at how quickly I was sewing nice, straight seams, moving with ease as I navigated my homemade pattern. Laying a zipper, making a hem, waistband and even a dart all came back to me with little to no trial and error. I remembered back to a day when I was taught those skills along with rudimentary cooking, music, drama and the basic food groups of learning, science, math, english, history, foreign language and even art, that now being a discarded basic and a vanishing breed of even extra-curricular activities. I remember learning how to draw in 3 D, to make a square into a cube, a room with walls and windows. Skills I use on a daily basis. Lost to current students in the downsizing of education. Even the name of the class, home economics is lost as everyone struggles to find their way in this tech driven/ business society. Any mother or father for that matter who has taken care of her own home economics, cleaning, cooking, mending and minor carpentry skills will lament the lack of respect and remuneration given to those fields yet they are vital to the sustaining of any race of people and are crucial to a public body growing and developing.
I AM NOT SAYING THAT I FACE THAT DAILY ECONOMIC CRISIS, SO ALL YOU SOON-TO- RESPOND-WITH-YOUR-COMMENTS FOLKS TAKE A CHILL PILL AND JUST GO WITH ME HERE.
I am not, for a second, trying even to relate to the daily struggle of a low-income mother trying to raise and educate her children in today's crumbling economy. I am only saying that my ability to sew this outfit, pants, hat, and jacket, with facing and grommets and zippers is only because I was TAUGHT. It reminds me how far we have fallen in giving our children the skills they need to succeed either in the big business world or in the big household world. We are FAILING. In music, art, home-ec, cooking, shop (remember shop?) as well as the basics, according to every study we are FAILING. We are Americans and we are getting an F in educating our children. Wake up and smell the global competition. Twenty other countries beat us in science; we are listed 24th in math. We need to let our elected leaders know that education should be the most important issue in this election. Without it, our children, the future of this great nation, will be unprepared and will watch jobs being given to people from other countries.
I am glad that I was given these skills as part of a basic, public school education. I want that for all children. So that whether they end up a political leader, scientist, teacher, artist or homemaker they all are given the best education possible so that they can develop their God given talents and abilities and flourish and thrive as adults.
Maybe if Obama wins, I will sew him a nice tie to wear for his inauguration.
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This is a great post. Yes, this is a deep and complex problem, but just scrapping No Child Left Behind would be a good start. Under NCLB any school that wants to teach art, shop, agriculture, music, etc. is penalized when it comes down to it, because those subjects are not tested and have nothing to do with the rating that the school gets. Even social studies and science and foreign languages take a back seat under this stupid law. The law tests reading/English and math period.
Both my girls now go to comprehensive high schools, a rare breed. They have car shop, wood shop, metal shop, agriculture, art and photo, drama and music. The kids who are specializing in these area, who hope to go to art schools or to apprenticeships, are not always the best at math and English. So these schools basically take a risk that their score won't be as high as they would be if they were exclusively college prep schools. The incentives are clearly to do away with arts, shop and ag. The incentives are also for a school to let a struggling student drop out, so the pool of students is narrowed to the better test takers.
I love Laurie Strode
Too bad that many adults that have children are leaving them behind. That was my experience living in the SF East Bay for 40 years. Both parents tend to be too busy with their own careers but feel the "social" need to have children that end up being raised by nannies or babysitters. I agree that the education in California is not what it used to be as in the 60's when CA was in the top 5 in public education. In those days the majority of the families didn't need to have both parents working to support their lifestyle. I blame part of the family structure breakdown on the Viet Nam war but that's another blog. Unfortunately, having the best education available doesn't make for an intelligent society. Parents MUST take an active roll in their children's lives aside from sports. Too many extracurricular activities and not enough emphasis on studies!
Sady, increased education funding does not lead to improved academic performance, neither does raising salaries. I wish it was that easy!
Asian immigrants in the same US schools with the same teachers produce world beating test scores in Math and Science. Why? My observations are a much greater commitment by the parents to support the learning experience and making things like homework a priority in a child's life.
Parents have the primary responsibility for educating children, not our government. We may have lost sight of our responsibility to make sure homework trumps the X-Box.
Correct, the answer to the problems of our education always has a dollar amount attached to it by the teacher's union and they ask for more every year but results never get better. In some states we are paying $20,000+ for every student in the school.
Parents make the education work, throwing more $$$ at public schools has become a no win situation for most parts of the country.
I whole heartedly agree! It is very sad that here in Florida there are some school districts that don't even have enough text books for all the students - they have to share! Science of all things! When you see who our Governor was and is, enough said!
Thank you for writing this essay. It should be on the oped page of the LAT and the NYTs. I am a 76 year old retired working potter and teacher. I too had the same type of education as you in the 40's.
When, not if !!!!!
BTW, the points you made about education are just the extreme tip of a huge iceberg. There are monumental changes needed in the American public education system, and in the American parenting achievements.
Thank you for mentioning parenting. I'm a 2nd grade teacher and have been in the profession for 25 years. I believe the single biggest hurdle the public schools have is lack of parent participation in their children's lives. I teach in CA and find it outrageous that we are the wealthiest state in the country, but rank in the low 40's of money spent per student on education. Between lack of parental support and the current administrations narrow focus on standardized test scores...w
I am in complete agreement with you, Jamie Lee. Society is starting to miss the mark when it comes to being well-rounded. My skill set may not include knowing how to fix an automobile, but I can sew a button on my shirt, do laundry, cook a gourmet meal, and I know basic etiquette. It definitely seems like most educators today are mostly focused on test scores instead of developing good, educated citizens. Used to be that teachers were mentors. Now they have to be babysitters and parenters. I think that parents who are kids having kids are heavily impacting this. In all walks of life, it has become socially acceptable for people to be “ghetto fabulous,” so decorum, class, personal responsibility, and a sense of knowing you are educated has taken a back seat. Taking art, home economics and woodshop as well, used to stimulate the creative side of our brains. It’s a travesty that arts education and the like are going away. How are kids to explore and develop their “authentic” selves instead of focusing on their exteriors all the time? For me, I only have to take a quick walk to the corner Starbucks to see poor educations at work where I, more often than not, find 20 somethings who have no listening skills and can’t even get a simple drink order right . Seems many young people don’t care about garnering solid work skills and ethics? What does that say for the future of America's workforce?
Want to come see what goes on in the schools of inner-city Los Angeles, and why there are problems teaching things like sewing, and, dare I say, math? Come by the one where I have an afterschool program for dropouts, anyday. Just email me, you can come down, and take a look around. The answers to the problems you illustrate are more complex, and more simply solved than you can believe.
First, however, people have to get real. Last week, they reported a 25% dropout rate in CA schools. Last I saw, the incoming freshman class at the high school I'm at was 1400, and the graduating senior class was about 440. Someone's math is off.
But seriously, come down anytime.
I understand your frustration. While I don't teach in an inner city school, I do teach in an extremely poor school. Many of our students have two meals a day...the ones at school, have no jackets, absolutely no one to help them with homework, and live in absolute poverty. It's kind of hard to concentrate in class when you have those issues.
dcwblackhorse, do we teach at the same school?
It sure sounds like it. I also had four students with mothers in jail, two homeless children, six children being raised by a grandparent, and many families worried about whether a parent or grandparent would have a job the next day.
Children in crisis are very difficult to teach. Children without an interest in school are nearly impossible. We MUST have classes, like art, music, home ec, and shop where these kids can be successful.
Exactly why I am a die hard Obama supporter.
I have absolute faith that his belief in a solid education and his choice in Michelle as a wife and mother (well, maybe she chose him) is a good indication of how he will approach the failing educational (and family values) issues in this country.
If we don't all take our parenting responsibilities seriously, and rely solely on our public education system to teach our kids, we are doomed.
Be brave, be a good parent.
Many excellent teachers left schools because of the pay. Teachers need to be paid more and schools need to become more strict. The liberals that have been running the school systems are a joke. In some schools students are afraid to attend because of violance. The consertives are no better at caring about education. If you want great schools again then pay great teachers to teach and enforce school rules in a serious way. You know the stories of teachers being beaten up in classes and students attacking each other in class rooms. Something is really sick when a school has no control because parents dems. and reps. care nothing for the safty and respect of others. School should be fun at the same time students have to respect teachers and supervisors when they enter a school. Wake up if your serious about changing the school system. It starts and ends with RESPECT.
Jamie Lee, I agree 100%!!
Though I was woefully inept at Home Economics, I can sew on a button the correct way in a flash,
and whip stitch a mean hem.
It was, in our time, a well rounded education. Young men learned the basics of an automobile, where as, since my husband died when my son was 8, he, at 22, can barely check the oil in his vehicle.
Children today can hack into any computer program, yet cannot boil water!
I can hear it now,,."Par
Our Board of Education has a tendency to meet privately, then INFORM the parents what they have decided is best for our children. They have made it pretty clear that they are not interested in our opinions.
Please write more articles, your common sense point of view is refreshing!
Is it really that parents are not encouraged to participate or have parents tried to run things? I'm just asking because I know from personal experience that MANY times parents don't really want to "help" they want to tell you (the professional) how to do your job if their child is unhappy for any reason. This, at times, makes it very difficult to try new things and be creative because in the age of computers and high excitement games many kids don't like to be pushed to think.
I do like Obama's take on education. There are many wonderful teachers and amazing students out there waiting for education to be both fun and productive again!
As a third grade teacher for 25 years, I agree with you for the most part. However, I have to say what I have observed to be the most pressing problem in elementary education today, is the lack of parenting involvement. It breaks my heart. I am a public educator, and proud of it. Parents today, always seem to have more important issues that take them away from the day to day involvement in their child's education. Their excuses are lame and frustrating, because to me, there is no excuse. Because of lawsuits, payback taken out on their child, teachers today cannot talk about this to the public at all! We talk to each other, almost in secret. But I can tell you, that until we take this to the public, and tell the truth, public education will not change or improve. Parents today are not involved in their child's education. They don't care, and it just breaks my heart. I could go on and on, and back this up with story after story, but it's overwhelming. I'm sorry, but I don't feel the general public wants to hear it. They don't want to know the truth. It's easier to just blame the teachers. Parents don't want to look in the mirror. They think we can fix it all. And we just can't. We can only do so much. And then they go home.
Come out of the closet and start a blog on parental involvement with their kid's education. Stop being afraid.
I think the movement of parents taking responsibility for their kids education has already taken off. I work in an engineering environment, and all my coworkers put the needs of their child first.
It's hard not to be afraid. Even with tenure, a public school teacher faces retribution from all sides should he or she openly opine about how to repair the system. Most parents DO care about their children, and try to play an active role in their offspring's education. Unfortunately, the ones who don't care send the kids who need the most attention, which drains our resources (temporal, financial, and emotional). Some caring parents mistakenly believe that their child is incapable of doing wrong, and when one of these parents complains to administrators, the teacher always winds up in the hot seat (though thankfully not always in the doghouse). Of course, suggesting that things be radically changed can also bring heat from the union -- an entity without which our jobs would be truly miserable.
If an engineer is highly qualified, chances are that another position will quickly open up should the present one be lost. Even for the best teachers, once on a blacklist, forever on that blacklist.
You kid wanted to be Vivi from FFIX? THAT IS AWESOME. Go Vivi!!!
Uh...right
Jamie, it's this stand for common sense that makes my wife and I appreciate what a great gal you are. You're not alone in these observations but voices like your own are becoming more and more rare. We taught our daughters to cook and they love it, despite being math majors in college (a physics major and an environmental science major). It's a shame the way basic skills are no longer taught in schools along with arts and culture at the time we need it most with more and more two working parents becoming the standard and the overt influences of popular entertainment trumping interests in the arts.
I can only hope there are a lot of nodding heads and parents reading your points here, as well as urges to do something about it like attend some school board meetings. We desperately need a sea change in our education system.
Arts & Culture need to take a back seat until more important subjects are improved upon.
It's been shown many, many times that the "more important subjects" improve at a much higher rate when Arts, Culture and P.E. are taught every day as well. If we really want to see our students improve these need to be back in the daily schedule. Why isn't there some textbook company out there developing a Language Arts program around either History or Science, that way freeing up time for the Arts, etc? Just about every teacher I know would LOVE to teach this way.
Thanks for that breath of fresh air, Jamie. And you keep up the flak-catching from those who can't see common humanity through the screen without a filter of celebrity culture gunk.
I am a teacher and new empty-nester (yay!). I recalled with you fondly my LEARNING to make a sleeveless dress in ninth grade. There are so many things that kids should learn, especially those who have little to no family foundation on which to learn them.
My mom sewed many of my school clothes; my dad was a part-time carpenter and general handyman. Of course, I thought he also worked miracles, once splinting a bird's leg with a toothpick.
My point: I was TAUGHT both in school and at a functioning home by the modeling of people who solved problems daily and who were self-confident (they needed no television shows to show them how it's done well or wrong or whatever which frankly are no substitute for interactive learning especially by someone you love.).
I am working on a book about the lessons I picked up in such a home and how (to me) they should be made into a menu when you want a full life made-to-order.
Good luck on the Halloween costume. My ninth-grade A-line dress earned a "C" but nothing made me happier than those times I put together Halloween costumes for my girls.
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