Basic stuff you were taught to do but couldn’t do now…

Jump start a car with those lead thingies.

Reading music

I remember being taught how to wire a plug in science, in year 10 I think. Can't remember now, but still remember quite a bit of the other stuff we were taught about electrics (all came back to me when I was studying electrics recently, though not enough came back to me as I failed my exam!). Maths I hadn't done since I was 16 also came back to me when studying maths again, so even though I thought I had forgotten it all, once I started doing it again I found the memories deep in the crevices of my mind.

Going back to being taught to wire plugs in the mid 80s, we were taught two standards of colour coding but also at a time where it was becoming the norm to have a wiring card attached to the plug.

I was taught to double check, eg an DIY reference book or to open an existing plug.
With wiring a plug being part of one of the science practicals (physics?) I made an extra effort to remember the colour coding’s ….. only to find a plug with wiring card on the table for the test.

Its an important part of learning to understand that you may not always get it right, looking up a reference picture ‘pointlessly’ is better than blowing a fuse or worse

Do headstands. I used to spend half my lunch hour doing them at junior school! Last time I tried (a long time ago, as an adult) it hurt sooo much! I don't understand why, it didn't used to!

I've forgotten basically my entire degree. I look at the maths I used to do and don't even recognise most of the crazy symbols.

But I'm much better at cooking and know much more about child development now!

For those curious re: chainsaw use - wood, for firewood - downed, dead limbs, etc, from the woods. Didn't want a battery, or electric reliant saw; probably an 18" bar would have been fine, but none in stock.

@Compash thanks, I nearly forgot that other really useful purpose.

Oh, and I still remember my childhood friends landline numbers from the 80s but haven't a clue about new friends mobile numbers.

We used to teach plug wiring for year 7 science but stopped when new appliances brought in sealed plugs for safety reasons.

Getting from a to b.

The sat nav has deskilled me.

Sewing and knitting 😩 I've tried and tried but I'm just crap at them! My mum and MIL and both grandmothers were all good at both. I think I just don't have the patience 😬 I can just about sew on a button and mend a hem or a split seam but that's about it!

Me too: one language fluently, two others I could get by in. I even lived and worked in other countries for a few years. So fluent in one that I dreamed in the language.
Thirty years later, I can still string a sentence together, but I’m lost when people talk at normal speed or I listen to songs or watch a film.
Also I’ve lost a lot of cooking skills, things I so took for granted that I didn’t even think of them as skills, eg pastry.

Ah yes I also forgot how to skipper a boat (i got day skipper a decade or so ago but don’t sail enough). I can still be a decent crew but can’t skipper boat for sure

sewing, knitting, cross stitching, embroidery and macrame
although im sure i can pick them up fairly quickly- i was showing crocheting to my 4y DD and remembered basic stuff as if I last did it yesterday! More complicated stuff I of course can’t remember

also: math

Riding a bike. They say you never forget how but I have.

I gained an advanced qualification in Shorthand many moons ago....wouldn't have a clue about any of it now!

@GwinGwyn …. Ditto @TheHateIsNotGood regarding getting extra force onto power tightened nuts……

Standard wheel braces in a cars spares kit aren’t up to much. An upgrade is to use one of the 4 way cross type wheel braces, and even better to use a long or extendable wheel brace to get the extra leverage.
Some car kits include a short wheel brace plus an extension tube

If it is just the basic one, or it is still tight then ‘kicking’ can help - but that’s how many people injure themselves when missing it

Always loosen wheel nuts before raising the car, otherwise you’re adding force to an already partially unsteady jacked up car

….. and before removing the wheel I was taught to place the spare under the corner of the car so that if the jack slipped when you remove the car it would land on the spare rather than falling to the ground….
(Ideally have a helper who hand you the spare and then pop the flat into the corner as you are placing the good tyre)

Oh the boy deserved favours according to my piano teacher which sounds a bit iffy as I think of sexual favours! I like yours better

@KnitnNatterAuntie - Oh there's a from the past - slide rules. I couldn't use one now to save my life but I suspect I only had a hazy grasp on it when we were given them to use in maths class. My friend & I used to extend the middle bit and pretend to stab ourselves with them . Which is probably why I am not a world class mathematician 😁

Long division. Tried to do it the other day when I didn't have my phone (aka calculator) to hand. Thought it would all come flooding back once I got started - in reality I got as far as writing out the numbers in the bracket thingy, then just sat and stared at the paper with no recollection of how to even start.

tie a tie. did it every day for secondary school for six years, couldn’t do it now if you held a gun to my head.

I can still, however, knit, crochet, sew, and spin. So i’m not completely useless!

Speaking French. Used to be fluent, not now
I had a teacher when I was about 4 and she went via immersion, you learn quick when you need to ask for the toilet!

When I was at school we had sliderules that we used in maths. I can vaguely remember using one but can't remember what it specifically did or how to use it!

Who needs to cut anything with it? You just hold it when you open the door to cold callers, right @TheHateIsNotGood ...?

😁

Also simultaneous and quadratic equations.

Thought query if knowing how to do them is "basic".

I wore a tie at primary school so I knew how to tie one, but when ds started secondary I had to watch a Youtube video so I could remind myself so I could teach him. He didn't wear one at primary. Although he just used to undo it a bit and tighten it up again so I wonder if he still can!

I learnt to knit and crochet a bit as a child but can't now.

I was just checking when appliances had to come with a plug and it was 1992! I thought it was earlier than that.