To think that microwaving a potato

[Roseformeplease]

and putting some cheese on it is hardly a worthwhile Home Economics lesson?

Just that, really. DD made that today in her S1 (year 7) class. We don't have to supply ingredients but what a waste of time.

At home she makes cakes, meringues, quiches etc. Is it any wonder she is choosing Chemistry?

BumPotato
Were you at school in Scotland? Your examples jogged my HE memories..

I'm quite impressed with the cooking that the kids' primary school does - considering it's a primary school. Every week, nursery and reception do something. It might be the typical young child thing of stirring cake mix and filling cases, before they go in the oven, or decorating the buns. They make little muffin pizzas. Sometimes they make sandwiches or fruit kebabs. DS2 came home with a proper baked potato, stuffed with cheese, one day. When DS1 was in the class, they made some noodles together for chinese new year and some soup for another theme that they had. It's brilliant that the foundation unit has a little kitchen with 2 ovens, so that kids can be taught to do, or at least observe these basic things at a young age. A lot of the grandmas doing school pick ups said that their grandkids were nagging to do more at home or help with meals, which is a pretty positive thing.

There's fewer opportunities further up in the school, but there's still lessons built into the curriculum and they're able to either use the little kitchenette off the staffroom for small amounts, or use the main school kitchen, with kitchen staff supervising for things like the KS2 cafe project that they do.

Yes, bigbum, I was.

countess agree totally your post.

I also recognised the things you made at school bum potato. I also live in Scotland.

Microwaves are a good way of cooking food as long as one of the main nutritional benefits of eating the food is its vitamin c content, as microwaves destroy vitamin c.

Potatoes, if oven baked, are high in vitamin c. They should not be 'baked' in a microwave. Schools should be teaching kids how to cook food in a healthy way.

Sorry, that first sentence was missing a 'not'.

Ah but those that made the same things as me make the coat hanger tidy (1st year) and the school skirt (2nd year) in sewing?

Huh? Look, point of pedantry here. Baked potato with cheese contains protein. Add a bit of salad, and that's a balanced meal. just a disgusting one, due to the microwaving

Nothing so grim as a microwaved tattie. I have spud baking down to an art form. I gently score a large X into the skin, massage in some pale olive oil, sprinkle sea salt and coarsely ground pepper and place it directly onto the rack of a preheated for at least 20 minutes oven. I then ignore it for an hour and 40 mins. I then have it with either tuna and red onion, cheese and coleslaw or just a big knob of English butter. I went for lunch with a friend to a new foodie pub. They tried to trick me with microwaved spud and yesterday's chilli. I will not pay £8 for microwaved anything. Ever.

Op if people knew how to do this simple task

people would not buy buying frozen jackets in tesco

You would be surprised to know a young girl in tesco last week was look at the jar food I you'd her you know you can just buy a banana and mash it up and add some baby milk she had no clue

Not to mention a lady at baby gym who buys no fruit or vegetable at all and even buys 5 tv roast dinners on a Sunday for each of her kids and her

My next door neighbour, I and a cousin started high schools (different ones) the same day.

I remember our mothers talking.

I made buns, neighbour's child a sandwich and my cousin a cup of tea and toast.

Mine was probably more demanding, but the other two made sure an 11 year old could make a snack, at home, without guidance.

Microwave for say eight minutes, 0.08kWh. Oven for two hours, more like 2kWh. Energy costs matter.

Corus, cooking does destroy nutrients, but if there is a way of cooking the same meal that doesn't destroy as many nutrients, healthy eating should be about teaching that one.

I actually think it's fine. A simple nutritious meal suitable for a quick lunch when not much time. Some kids might not realise that you can do it. I also agree with those who say this is a much more environmentally friendly way of baking a potato.

Well I remmebr one of my very first cookery lessons back in 1973 was a jacket potato. But it was in the oven and we had to make something called a "winter salad" to go with it.

The problem with cooking "proper" meals at school is what you do with them afterwards. If they can be taken home and re-heated e.g. a casserole or shepherds pie, then fine. If they have to be eaten immediately then that is going to be tricky depending on the time when the lesson is given.

I well remember when we had to do cooked breakfast. It was the full Monty - fruit juice, cereal, fry up and toast and marmalade. I had cookery as the last lesson of the day so, having cooked the thing I then had to eat it, wash up and tidy up and then run to catch my school bus. When I got home my Mum had my tea ready for me! [queezy emoticon]

A former boss of mine told me quite proudly that his mum had to write out precisely how to turn a raw potato into a (microwaved) jacket potato + beans + cheese when he went to uni. So YABU to think that all kids will already know how to do this. They won't.

My home ec days were mostly spent making fairy cakes (or variations thereupon) sharing an egg between two. Microwaving a potato would have been more useful. We took in 50p or something for ingredients.

DS1's school seems to provide all ingredients for food technology. He made some actually nice chilli last week.

It does sound like something that could have been easily explained.

Scones, rock cakes, queen cakes, custard, apple crumble & cauliflower cheese are things I remember having to do.

But what if some of the class didn't know how to work a microwave? Just because the OP's daughter is whipping up macarons and pheasant three ways at home doesn't mean everyone in the class is. Home ec is practical for a reason.

Why are queen cakes and rock cakes a better use of lesson time than something you can actually consider tea?

"Why are queen cakes and rock cakes a better use of lesson time than something you can actually consider tea?"

Was that directed at me?

They're not, sorry to have given that impression, was just reminiscing!

Hadn't thought of youngsters not being able to use a microwave tbh.

In home ec at school, we spent longer drawing flowcharts of how we would cook things than we did actually cooking - including comprehensive health and safety tips like 'do not set yourself on fire'. When we were finally let loose in the kitchen, it was to make toast pizza (literally cheese on toast). It was absolutely appalling from a skills and a nutrition perspective.

I compare this to the home ec that my Mum had - a comprehensive grounding in how to make umpteen varieties of pastry, cakes, and all sorts of pretty advanced dishes - and I feel quite jealous. I do think cooking is an essential skill that just about everyone can benefit from learning - not to mention that if you know your way around a kitchen, you can save yourself a fortune on prepared meals. On top of that, everyone should have a decent grounding in nutrition.

Making home ec about drawing flowcharts also disadvantaged kids who were genuinely brilliant at cooking. My friend went on to be a chef, and was far better at cooking than I'll ever be, but I always got higher marks because I could write a better flowchart. So unfair, especially when skills at writing were being comprehensively tested by umpteen other GCSEs.

Maybe they could have made a jacket potato in microwave and another in the oven then compared them, thought about speed, energy use, flavour etc.
Then designed a nutritious filling from a selection of proteins and fresh salad/ veg.