Please talk to me about cultural capital...

[breakdown19]

What's important?
This thread has been initiated by the fact that a friend is off to an exhibition today while DH and I are catching up on work (both self employed)
It made me wonder whether we are doing enough for our kids.
NB I have deliberately started this in chat not AIBU as not really looking for a fight.

This has been such a great thread. Some things would just never have occurred to me. I find the whole thing really interesting.

I completely agree. I've liked the various interpretations of what cultural capital is and examples in practice.

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From a twinkl educational website

1	Reading a book on a topic they’re interested in
2	Creating a role-play activity based on a new experience
3	Exploring new materials in a science experiment
4	Looking at seasonal changes or the weather
5	Exploring new musical instruments, music and songs
6	Being active outdoors, playing new games and using different types of equipment
7	Introducing new words or sounds and phrases through stories, songs and rhymes
8	Celebrating festivals and cultural events like Chinese New Year
9	Organising a visit to a shop, park, farm or museum
10	Arranging a visit to the setting from a local organisation, such as the police
11	Sharing news and activities that they do with family and friends

Age appropriate activity passports

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachmentdata/file/914731/MyyActivityPassport.pdf

‘50 things to do before you're 11¾’ activity list

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/50-things-to-do-before-youre-11--activity-list

These are helpful lists, hermana, thank you.

I was thinking about this thread at the weekend when I took DD (14) to the British Museum to see the World of Stonehenge exhibition. She strode though it and waited for me at the end and said she didn't see anything that interested her at all. Oh well, I liked it.

Yes me too.
I would never have expected the depths of replies. And agree about the going on the train etc

I guess I am interested in how else I need to equip my kids for the future

I do my DC the Same favour my dp didn't for me. I make sure they know everything has a spin.. nearly everything is biased in some way and they Will think differently to me to dad...to friends and that's absolutely fine.
Independent thinkers... rather than presenting information as a fait accompli.
It's why we couldn't argue with them over religion! They chose their own path...(away)

IME Scouts (and I'm sure Guides too) are absolutely great at giving children a wide range of experiences and are pretty affordable.

Someone mentioned chess up thread and it's definitely worth a go if your DC might enjoy it & there's a junior club in the area. IME junior chess clubs are either free or ridiculously cheap.

Interesting, I would never have seen groups like Scouts or typical outdoor activities like the National Trust list as culture capital.

DD was a Brownie (useless), a Scout and now an Explorer Scout. She has learned a lot in the last 5 years but most all of more practical nature. Lightening a fire, shooting an air rifle, gutting a fish is good but not what I define as "culture capital". While they do cover other topics as well, I wouldn't think of sending a child to Scouts to gain experience I would normally go for and visit museums, castles, concerts etc.

This is very interesting. I like the sporting events suggestions. Not being very sporty myself, it wouldn’t actually occur to me to take the DC to watch a match or game or any sport. But yes, equally important as some other suggestions. I like the architecture one too - this is something I do with mine - just walking the streets -not deliberately- and seeing even the difference in housing style between, say, a Victorian two-up-two-down and a ‘30s semi and why that came about. It’s something I’m interested in, but I hadn’t thought it counted as cultural capital. But yes, it does. It’s part of history, I suppose.

Don't forget all the little things - I was aghast (well, kinda) when I realised my kids couldn't name a single plant or tree when we were doing walks last summer, barely knew the names of any birds etc. So I tried to encourage some curiosity around that.

Then at home there's loads of stuff you can do to broaden their experience - as ridiculous as it sounds, Lidl has country events, so you can get foods from around the world (eg. DS1 loves Mussels it turns out for example) - or my youngest uses the air fryer to make a perfect chocolate fondant these days, and he's working on marshmallows next.

Plus just doing things like having the news on and talking to them.

Travel is good, but there's loads of other things you can do to increase confidence and experience.

Yes, that’s a good point -naming plants and trees and flowers and birds and butterflies. My dad knew lots about all these, and I’ve remembered some but forgotten more. I live in a city and I’m more cut off from these. My DC don’t know much.

I remember being shocked when my dcs couldn't name European countries on a map. I promptly bought a globe and they spent hours with it and now know a bit more!
I don't think cultural capital can be a tick list of museum, gallery, aquarium, theatre then it's ticked off. It's obviously better to go once than never have gone, but it's about being interested enough to enjoy and learn from their trips and to go again. It's about being interested in the world around them and learning.
As adults, they'll make connections with others more easily if they're interested in what others have to say and can contribute to conversations.
It's about not feeling out of your depth.
As for 11 and 13 year olds, I'd say take them out on the weekends. Find out what's on, look it up online, and give it a go. Share your own interests with them, let them discover their own.
I'd also make sure they read books before bed instead of being on phones. Read to them if they're not interested, see if you spark an interest. Bribe them with extra gaming time/money/anything else for every book they finish.
Watch documentaries.

I actually think that access to books is the most important thing you can give your kids - regular trips to the library or a tablet with their own library card and the ability to borrow e-books if you can't get there regularly.

Books lying around the house, a new stack to look through, an hour or so in there seeing what's happening.

As a child that would have made such a difference to me - I found books in the end but would have read more widely and more age-appropriate books had I been taken to the library regularly.

I’d love to see a thread that gets people to ask questions they’ve been afraid to- what to do in social situations, how you should do x y z. This thread has been an eye opener!

So, so many children won't grow up with 'cultural capital'. Government policies such as benefit cuts and freezes, and the 2-child limit, mean that so many children are growing up without anything in the way of culture.

I recall a thread on MN where the poster was struggling with money and was advised to just cut out her child's swimming lessons.

This. "Cultural capital" just means being open to new experiences and doing things.

*But they are so different to us ! They only want to two holiday destinations and have barely gone anywhere else. Don't have any wider interests and seem Very focused on car's etc. Absolutely zero interest in arts, theatres, gallery. We had far less £ but somehow seemed to live life on a different plane"

Having money does not = "middle class" interests. I guess for the good middle class child playing tennis and golf, as well as ski-ing, are imperative.
None of which appeal to any of our family (though I did like cross-country ski-ing when I tried it).

Government policies such as benefit cuts and freezes, and the 2-child limit, mean that so many children are growing up without anything in the way of culture

nonsense. You don't need money to go to free concerts, use the library, visit free museums (assuming they are local, but if you live out in the sticks it's not always that easy to access events anyway).

@riesenrad

Haha. It's you talking nonsense. So visit your local library, visit free museums locally (what then, there are 3 around here). That's it. Can't even afford school trips.

Is that enough for a child?

Personally I think the internet can help cultural capital if used in the right way. You can access videos of operas or ballets if you can’t go in person. Debate current affairs and look up historical facts that might help one or other of the arguments.

I suppose it’s an attitude of being curious, not being afraid to try stuff or ask questions; Listening to children’s opinions and talking to them about important issues - drawing in a wide variety of current and historical perspectives. Trips are great - to bring things to life - but you can gain a lot even if you can’t travel much (we have a long list of places we would like to save up to go to when the kids are older - but we can start researching and talking to them about the history now).

Does anyone know what schools do to ensure cultural capital is covered in school? It's part of the curriculum isn't it?

How do we make that happen?