Fed up with my kids going to school and not learning life lessons.

[Ncoopa]

Does anyone else think we need a serious rethink of our education system?

Pythagoras, algebra, complex verbs, chemical make up of plutonium, these are just a few things my kids have learnt about this week.

They will come out of the education system not knowing how to insure a car or road tax. How to boil an egg. How to create a budget and stick to it.

Is it time we say it’s time to stop? And reevaluate? And stop wasting 5 hours a week on science when hardly any then go on to use it?

I really think it probably is.

That is not the point of school, the point is to give them a WIDE range of experiences so they can then choose what to follow in life. If no one shows them biology, chemistry, engineering, how will they know what is their passion?

Parents are responsible for teaching basic life skills like boiling an egg! My mum taught me that in the 80s. For goodness sake, as if schools haven't enough to do.

My yr8 is currently learning about compound interest and the year 11’s are learning ‘how mortgages work’
at school

So some schools are doing it but I agree it’s a parent job not a curriculum job

If my child were to receive adulthood having no idea how to boil an egg that would be on me… And it would take literally 30 seconds to google it?

And having a good basic understanding of Maths is vital for understanding things like budgeting, understanding energy bills and tariffs, savings rates etc.

Learning how to boil an egg at school? Aren't you capable of teaching them such skills?

They could put a more practical and useful spin on some subjects but ffs boil an egg? Hardly the schools responsibility. Most of these things are part of actual parenting and it is parents who should be predominantly teaching their kids to become proficient in basic life skills. Seems parents now want to do less and less parenting .

I think “life lessons” are what parents are meant to teach, not schools.

howver, I do agree there needs to be a shake up of education in this country. Not enough practical maths is being taught e.g. how to work a budget. Far more useful than Pythagoras

But ultimately schools are there to provide a basic broad education for all and parents also have to do their part to educate their children so they can become adults who can stand on their own two feet

I somewhat agree with OP: schools should teach far more practical life lessons, because lots of parents will never bother. Basic cooking, basic finance management, hell even how to vote.

All those STEM things you declare useless should teach our children how to think logically and how not to be absolute idiots when it comes to making decisions. The fact that you don’t use it, tells a lot. That doesn’t mean it’s not very necessary learning how the world works.

We should go the Brave New World route: predestine them for a career at birth, only teach them what they will definitely need, avoid science and art because they might lead to free thinkers.

YABVU.

I do find it baffling why some people chose to become parents when they obviously have no desire or intent to parent. OP everything you've mentioned is what you should be teaching your own children.

I couldn't give a toss what my kids learn in school. I care how they learn it.

In that regard, I do think schools need a shake up. I want my kids to learn to think critically and I want them to learn in a way that doesn't hand them the answer but instead encourages them to find the answers themselves.

That way, when the time comes for them to get a mortgage or insure a car or pay a utility bill for the first time they'll have the skills to work out how to do it - even if that method is to call me up and ask for a hand.

So figuring out something as uncommon as the chemical composition of plutonium is actually a good place to start that process 🤷🏻‍♀️

So yeah, YABU, OP

But isn’t that just passing the buck onto teachers because parents are being lazy? No accountability if their child never grows up

Well yes, as a doctor I use a lot of the chemistry, maths and biology that I learnt at school. You need a good education to get a professional qualification. And because kids don't know at 5 what they're going to do, it's important that everyone gets a broad education.

I can't imagine who could teach life lessons......let's think....maybe a parent?

That's parenting not schools job

But where do you stop with that logic? Up to primary level parents could teach most actual subjects too.

The point is to account for the (many) paretns who'll never bother teaching cooking, finance, etc. To be a reasonable safety net.

The UK is actually quite unusual as country for not having this kind of thing on its curriculum.

Pythagoras IS practical maths, surely. Architects and builders would be a bit lost without geometry.

The OP's mistake was in framing the question as either/or. Obviously STEM subjects should still be taught.

I think cooking, cleaning & day to day running of a home/being an Adult should be taught by parents. That’s their job.

School are there to give them a broad education so they can further their education to specific careers etc later on.

but I do agree we are way behind a lot of countries with too much focus on pure academia

Erm... The other everyday stuff... I hate to tell you this but as a parent that's your job.
5/6 hours a day they're at school, the other 18 hours and 2 days at the weekend you get to help them learn the other stuff.

OP if your kid has left school and is still unable to figure out how to boil an egg then they’re fucked. Sorry.

Why can't you teach your kid to boil an egg 😂 if my kid came home from school saying that's what they learnt that day I'd facepalm. School is a huge resource where they learn things you can't teach them yourselves but school isn't a replacement for parenting. If your kids can't boil an egg that's on you.

That is your job 🙄

Wording wasn't great (irony) but there's nothing unreasonable about this post.

As above.