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.

Comments

[Trittydi]

I agree that education is critical and is an abysmal failure in the US - and our failure is evident for the rest of the world to see - but I think the Supreme Court and the environment outweigh education in terms of the immediacy of the crisis.

Reagan, Bush and Bush, and even Clinton. They took a violent baseball bat to America and not one of them has paid the price for their drunken indulgence in the seven deadly sins - in particular - egregious greed.
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[gramofsam1]

Thanks, Jamie Lee. It really is depressing how public education has deteriorated in a couple of decades. And I love your emphasis on basic life skills-- I'm afraid we're raising kids who will have a tough time making their way in the world. Teaching kids how to function in real life is a lot more useful than teaching them how to squeak by on the next standardized test.

[ProudLiberalDan]

I was in the first class of boys who were allowed to take Home Economics. I found it incredibly useful. My mother still uses the potholder I sewed for her.

[mlaiuppa]

16 librarians in our school district had their positions eliminated due to budget cuts.

A member of the school board explained it as "modernizing". He said if the curriculum now made librarians obsolete, LIKE SHOP CLASS, then who were they to object?

Excuse me? Exactly what in the curriculum made the library obsolete?

I learned keyboarding in the 8th grade. It was called "Typing Class". I can touch type on a laptop at about 75 wpm. Kids today may be "computer literate" but they hunt and peck something awful.

No wonder our children are obese (as are some of their parents). You can probably trace the roots to the elimination of Home Economics (where I learned to separate an egg and make meringue) and P.E.

Don't complain about the music your kids listen to. There isn't any "music appreciation" class anymore to help them be more selective listeners.

Bad GPA? Well, playing a musical instrument has been proven to increase study skills across all disciplines. Maybe your kid would do better in Math and English if he also played a musical instrument.

You get the point.

BTW....Lib­raries are full of computers. Librarians teach information literacy; how to search, evaluate, use and cite information. They also teach about copyright. AND can suggest a good book to read.

[philistine]

All good points. The de-funding of public education has led us to this point. It's time to reemphasize its importance to our society.

[jumperpin]

Those of us who remember parenting had learned basic fixing, sewing, cleaning, art appreciation, general chores, cooking (as well as ethics, manners and civility) from a full-time parent.

Today's corporate-driven sunrise-to-sunset over-insti­titutional­izing of our kids is a miserable substitute for parenting.

[magicmary]

Jamie Lee, I would have been on the street without my ability to sew. I actually made my living that way till I found my way into Interior Design after my American manufacturing sample making job and potential future in the garment industry went off shore. All the skills I learned in Home Ec lent themselves beautifully to Interior Design. It's all measurement and 3 dimensional conceptualization (before anyone dares to poo poo the fine art of sewing and the skills that it gives you..)

I agree, education has taken a serious nosedive and we need to get back on the ball. They need to let retirees (which I will be someday) into the classrooms to tutor. You should be able to take a couple hours of paid leave a week to tutor kids! And yes oh my god yes bring back cooking and sewing and shop! There are not enough people that can do stuff like that around anymore! I have handymen on a very high pedestal myself..

How about we get together and make Obama a suit? I can go from sheep to suit... no, really!