Cultural Capital - working class kids

[MommaGee]

I keep hearing the value of cultural capital being talked about on threads and how important it is so I'm wondering what kind of things I should be doing to give my WC kids more cultural capital and keep up with thier wealthier counterparts? DS is 7.

Foreign travel is currently a no die to medical issues.

We currently

• Visit the Art Galleries near us regularly
• Take up art and family play sessions at these galleries.
• One after-school sport and one session booked at Commonwealth Games to watch it - altho he v much does it for fun, not talent
• Has been to the theatre with me several times to see stuff ike Pinocchio and Animal Farm
• Go to the cinema altho only for kids movies
• Is read to nightly and reads himself to sleep altho it's Dav Pilkey
• Family holidays in Wales are a mix of beach and casino as well as castles, mines etc
• He's not been to ballet but only because I can't find one suitable

What are we missing?

Your mind

The MN "class markers" are a bit iffy at best and complete bull at worst. You aren't missing anything - from the sound of it, your son does plenty, probably more than most children.

I'm not sure what you think he should be keeping up with exactly, but what he has sounds great.

Mandarin lessons.

You dont need to do anymore sounds fab already

I have no idea what cultural capital is ! But we did things with our wc kids . 20 +years ago. What are you hoping from this thread

I think you’re doing loads with him, and it sounds like he will turn out to be a well rounded knowledgeable young lad. I was a bit surprised by the casino, but maybe that’s a cultural thing?

I think what you are doing sounds fab and way more than many will do.

One thing that some might consider you are missing is music related activities. Now, I'm not a big fan of any kind of music bar musicals, but our local gardens used to occasionally do 'proms in the park' in the summer. If you went in the afternoon you could listen to them rehearse for free, and be able to talk/explain about the instruments, and then in breaks wander down to look at things close up. But it's hardly essential!

I wondered about casino too, but thought maybe OP meant amusements arcades?

• A tutor for his 11+ exams
• Chess club
• Horse riding

🤣

I grew up without a bed, central heating or an oven but managed to get into a RG uni doing law.

My parents were very uninterested and didn't do any of the things you mentioned above.

However, I really genuinely do believe that what enabled me to do well in education was the fact that I read like you wouldn't believe. I was probably the most regular customer, at least at the age I was, that the library had ever seen.

I also looked up to my teachers massively and they encouraged me into higher education.

I have never been to the theatre in my life, can't play an instrument and other than playing chess, I had no extra curricular activities.

You're doing more than enough.

Violin lessons

I mean 😂

Unsure what class has to do with it, but you sound fab.

Expand his reading matter - ask his teacher or just go to the library and let him choose.

Any free activity aimed at children at a museum or concert hall or theatre or library locally. Especially if it’s interactive. I found some amazing stuff by just turning up to random things, especially if it was recommended by someone I knew as being good.

Sounds great. I'd add in some science or history type things too (I'm assuming your 'art galleries' are just art?) You mention castles, so maybe you're already doing some of that.

What you are doing is great, yes it's definitely a case that cultural capital does make a difference, take those opportunities that come along. At 9 mine dd got the chance to take part in a childrens choral project, was free but most the kids were still from private schools despite state school children being prioritised, they simply didn't get applicants. Mine were choristers too - not only was it free but they got paid pocket money by the church for singing plus extra for weddings.

You've got a great range of experiences there. There isn't a set list, it's more an understanding that there is variety and options in the world beyond your doorstep.

Travel around the UK can be more powerful than foreign travel if that's to very homogenous resorts that are the same from one country to the next. The UK has great variety.

😆

You sound like you are ticking all the boxes and then some.

Cultural capital (or lack thereof) is not actually a class or wealth issue at all. It’s about children coming from a background where there is a paucity of the experiences and conversations that develop them as a rounded person/prepare them for future success. Schools have a duty to build cultural capital for those children who lack a rich home environment, whatever the reason.

Cultural capital is about more than skills, it is about knowledge and experience as well. So table manners are important, but so is knowing how to order in a restaurant and also knowing about different types of food. It's manners and thank you notes and reciprocity and being able to ride public transport and take a taxi and ask questions at Reception and knowing how to behave in a service or worship, understanding what black tie and smart casual mean, realising you order interval drinks before the performance in a theatre... The list is endless and it depends entirely on where you live and who you associate with. No single thing is a golden key. I'd say table manners and dressing appropriately are the most obvious things that are easy to address.

I didn't mean casino. I meant arcade. So yes, a clever Mommy might be what he's missing lol

I know it’s hard to discern tone on a screen, so it may be, veggiemonster, that I’m reading more into your words than you intended. But I’m finding your post problematic … The OP asked a fairly run of the mill question that crops up here quite often - I’m not at all sure that depriving her child of a bed would render her family in any way morally superior. My, or any other poster’s life might have been harder than yours - you don’t know - and yet we might want to explore the OP’s question with … warmth or empathy. Reading is good for empathy. So is theatre …

In the interests of adding variety to your lives, OP, (as well as sharpening young brains) it would be good to include some music making and listening - and a choir if that’s accessible to your child. If you have a specialist music school or conservatoire close at hand they always have free or very cheap concerts featuring students.

Do you have a garden? The day my parents gave me my ‘own’ patch of land as a tiny child to tend to still stands out in my memory. If no garden, an allotment? Or some plants in pots for them to look after?

Do you talk about your family history? It’s a great way of learning to think about world history on a more approachable scale, and providing context.

Oh, also - talk about all the possibilities for your child’s future. Not prescriptively - but let them know that they can actively aspire towards wonderful things. I once heard someone on the radio saying he’d never heard of a ‘university’ until he was in his twenties …

Ideas o n what kind of cultural capital stuff people think is important to raise a well rounded child who won't be inhibited by being raised in a wc "deprived" area because of course people who grew up here go on to achieve greatness, but not normally without something extra

I'd love him to do an instrument but he isn't very disciplined. A bit chicken and egg. Altho he knows the egg came first.

I worry to othat the stuff that costs money will be harder to duplicate when is younger brothers are older

Also it’s about how you speak, having confidence and aiming high.