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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think cooking isn't more important than woodwork (or the other way around)

41 replies

LittleMissCrankyPants · 11/12/2013 10:39

Yr 7 son. They do cooking for the 1st half of the year and then woodwork for the 2nd half.

He has forgot his cooking ingredients on a couple of occasions since the start of the year. His teacher is already 'punishing' him by not letting him do the chocolate log next week. He was told if he forgot his ingredients again he wouldn't be able to do woodwork on the next half as he would have to redo the whole of the cooking part again.

After asking him all week what this weeks ingredients are he finally told me last night at 7.30 after finding out at school yesterday (its usually just flour eggs, that sort of thing so I usually have stuff in), I didn't have the stuff in so he's not taken them today.

I'm not saying he's an angel or shouldn't get punished, he is in the wrong for not taking them, I just don't think its right that he doesn't get to do his turn at woodwork. And I would still be saying this if it was my daughter! Is cooking more important?

OP posts:

Orangeanddemons · 11/12/2013 12:37

I teach dt, and ours do the half year thing. Not sure they can keep him in cooking because
A) all kids have to have the same access to the curriculum and they can't keep some back because they forgot their ingredients
B) if someone did that in my school, and it meant the kid would miss the half of the year with the subject I teach I would go mad
C) why is one subject area more important than the other? I know people on here will say food is important, but the idea is all students get a grounding in all areas of dt. If your son is an outstanding would be designer in woodwork ( shudder the correct word is Resistant Materials ) then he lost the chance to excel in that.

Birdsgottafly · 11/12/2013 14:11

Have you asked your DS why he hasn't bothered to take what was required for the lesson, in?

How else are we going to get teens to learn life skills (that may not be getting taught at home) if sanctions aren't put in place.

Is cooking not a male past time, or remembering food stuffs? You would think not, judging the many threads on here that state that "the poor menz" cannot food plan/shop/prepare, bless them.

I agree with the school, personally, for my DD's sake, they would be put to work cleaning the school, so they don't ever have a "get out clause".

My DD (18) has just been on her first holiday with her Boyfriend (22) he was queuing in a shop, she handed him tampons, he was going to refuse to buy them, until she said it would be a deal breaker.

If we are teaching teens to become adults, then these rules need to exist, for some.

If mine had if done this, they would be on cooking duty for a month, at home.

As for the posts that say the OP should be sorting his bag out, unless SN is present, no she shouldn't, I would put a bet on that the OP doesn't have to organise a Games (or whatever he is into) list that he wants.

Snowbility · 11/12/2013 14:15

Absolutely agree that the op should not be spoon feeding her ds by packing the bag for him....there are things in every job we dislike, part of growing up is accepting they just have to be done and getting on with it....mummy packing a year 7s bag is a cop out!

AdoraBell · 11/12/2013 14:24

It's like my DD not liking Social Studies and therefore not doing her home work. Though shit, it's one of the subjects, Teachers tell the pupils what they need To do/bring and if they don't there are consecuenses.

Same with cooking.

Same with word work.

Chunderella · 11/12/2013 15:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

WooWooOwl · 11/12/2013 15:44

It doesn't really matter which is more important, and I find it weird that you are worried about him missing woodwork when you don't seem to give a shit about him doing cookery.

It was probably just an idle threat anyway, but you should make more effort to ensure your child is prepared for his lesson if he can't do it himself.

zipzap · 12/12/2013 00:13

It also sounds like a cop out for those that like cookery but don't like woodwork - 'forget' to take in your ingredients a few times and bingo - get out of woodwork for free...

Mumoftwoyoungkids · 12/12/2013 00:35

Agree with zipzap

Forgotten your PE kit? No maths for you this week!

Either woodwork is on the NC (in which case he presumably has to do it) or it isn't (in which case why is he doing it at all?)

sashh · 12/12/2013 08:18

After asking him all week what this weeks ingredients are he finally told me last night at 7.30

So he isn't forgetting, he is actively trying not to do the cooking.

I wonder if he has had a strop about cooking not being useful, or, dare I say it, 'for girls'?

Trills · 12/12/2013 08:21

It doesn't sound like a sensible punishment, to miss out on a different set of lessons.

But YABU - cookery is more important than woodwork.

FairyTiggybelle · 12/12/2013 09:06

Cooking is far more important than woodwork. How many things have you cooked this year? How many things have you sanded this year?

Madamecastafiore · 12/12/2013 09:10

Sod woodwork, I would be backing the teacher 100% on any punishment. Are you not fuming at the complete lack of respect your son is displaying for his classmates and teacher?

anotherchristmasnamechange · 12/12/2013 15:38

He clearly needs more support to remember his ingredients. It's a lot to ask of an 11 year old, pe kit, musioc stuff, cooking ingredients, different days' homework....

5Foot5 · 12/12/2013 16:43

I wonder if he has had a strop about cooking not being useful, or, dare I say it, 'for girls'?

That is an interesting point sash. I wonder whether his comments or behaviour in class have led the teacher to believe that he is being so awkward about cookery because he perceives it as a "girls" subject whereas he views woodwork as a "boys" subject. Hence, the punishment is to stop him doing what he sees as the "boys" subject until he has knuckled down and given cookery a fair shake.

lljkk · 12/12/2013 16:48

It sounds like an empty threat to me, as someone else pointed out, would be too impractical to implement. I would mostly forget about it.

Sympathies, Yr9 DS almost never brings ingredients for cooking class. I don't know if there are any penalties, probably not. And DS likes cooking, he still can't be asked.

breatheslowly · 12/12/2013 17:03

I'd put them in the following priority order:

Organisational skills and getting where you need to be, on time, with the right stuff. This is pretty important for holding down a job

Cooking - you could get by with poor cooking skills, but it probably wouldn't be a healthy life.

Woodwork - I've never needed to do woodwork. DH does some, but it is basically a hobby. It does bring some useful transferable skills - measurement, planning, dexterity, accuracy. But these could be learnt through other subjects.

I agree that it isn't a logical punishment or one that should be implemented. But he is showing a lack of respect to the teacher by forgetting his stuff and I think you need to make it very clear that this isn't acceptable. Don't you see his homework diary?

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