To think schools should have a class to teach basic life skills

[beesandstrawberries]

We all learned so much in school that we haven’t used in day to day life - I mean when have we ever touched a Bunsen burner since school? But none of us was learned the basics of life and how to navigate it - things like:

• Showing how to do basic meals, cooking pasta safety, use of kitchen appliances correctly
• paying bills
• what a mortgage is, how to deal with contracts and paperwork
• how to meter readings
• change a lightbulb, basic tool use in the home
• how to check fire alarms
• credit card education
• managing money, spreadsheets to manage them
• insurances like life insurance and what ones you need
• education on abusive relationship signs
• things like peer pressure
• how to write formal letters/emails

I think we learn so many things that mean nothing when we leave school. If you teach kids basic life skills from a young age, it would make kids a lot more well rounded and less anxious in the ‘real world’ when it comes to managing money and not getting in debt. Even learning things like the warning signs of abusive relationships to young and impressionable teens as I think if I heard the signs then, I would have know what to look out for to prevent myself from getting in one as an adult.

I remember being in the real world and not knowing how to have good money management and I’m 28 and have no idea how to change a lightbulb. Even education for kids to learn about their bodies, that their outie bellybutton is normal and so are their stretch marks - so they don’t go into adulthood thinking their bodies are imperfect.

Children deserve more than Shakespeare or how to play football in pe. They deserve a kick start to life

Well all the money stuff comes under "maths" ... but parents should be teaching their kids basic life skills. I also think kids are much more resourceful now, they'd just google how to change a lightbulb. And some things you probably need to figure out, like mortgages.

So you think parents are choosing home education because they're upset their children aren't allowed to misbehave at school. Genuinely?

I defo think that subjects at school should be reflective of the real world.

Example - this is your mortgage contract. Work out how much the house costs in total and work out your monthly payment. Now work out the total costs of you overpay x% for the final ten years of the term.

Most secondary school maths is worthless.

Nailed it

I’ve been teaching 30 years and we do all of this and more

What did Little Friend Susan ever do to you?! She barely even has a personality, bless her!

My Mum taught me various practical skills including how to bake, how to sew by hand and machine, how to change a fuse and wire a plug, how to change a lightbulb (bayonet or screw) , how to iron well, and how to launder different things including hand washing different types of delicate fabrics. My Dad taught me basic accounting and how to polish shoes. My Mum was the more practical of the pair of them.

Or both.

We did in what was then the 5th year (year 11) in the '80s.

We covered things including:

• Wiring a plug;
• Writing a cheque (including what a crossed cheque means);
• Overdrafts, credit cards, hire purchase, loans and interest (i.e.debt)
• Consumer rights - trades description act and sale of goods act.

There was probably other stuff I don't remember. Possibky something on tax and NI. You'd need to change some of the content (the internet didn't exist back then,) but the general idea was good.

I'm in favour of parenting classes which teach parents how to cook nutritious meals, how to potty train and money management. They can pass their skills onto their children.

The whole point about life skills is you need them for everyday life, therefore your parents are modelling them regularly and can teach you these at home.

The same is not true of, for example, learning about photosynthesis, organic chemistry or the english civil war.

Half of the things on your list are already taught at school.

So, a bit of a daft post really.

In theory yes but, if our school is anything to go by, budget cuts mean the "cooking" is interesting. Think pizza made from pre cooked baguette, kids given bowls of pre prepared veg, to sprinkle over.

I am a teacher. Some of those things we do teach but mostly those should be the job of the parents! Honestly I lose the will be live when I read things like this, the answer to everything seems to be 'teach it in schools'! We don't have enough time to teach the curriculum that is there, never mind teach all the things parent should be doing!

I'm in favour of parenting classes which teach parents how to cook nutritious meals, how to potty train and money management. They can pass their skills onto their children

Yes agreed. Better to break the cycle but also encourage that these are skills you need to have responsibility for teaching your children and can't expect school/the state to do.

also OP, school taught you how to read and write - but you clearly weren't paying attention as your grammar is terrible.

Some of those things are taught at school, the point of school though isn't to teach you everything you need to know, but to teach you how to find, access and interpret information. Maths for example helps with some you've listed, the Internet with others, and stuff like the bunsen burners introduces aspects to consider when using something that needs to be used safely etc.

It never ceases to amaze me just how much people expect teachers to cover.

It's almost like an exhaustive list.

Teachers are not responsible for inadequate parenting.

What an ignorant post. RE is not teaching children to be religious. It’s teaching them about what shapes cultural behaviour and worldviews. Learning about Christianity in itself is fundamental to understanding a lot of western history, literature and democracy.

I remember writing endless formal letters in English class. That seems an odd thing to add to your list.

Most of the other stuff is parenting.

I used to think that these things were common sense, and parents would teach them, but so many parents are useless, that I have now changed my mind. I think schools should be properly funded, and have space in the curriculum for more practical elements. More learning of musical instruments. More sports coaching. More theatre. More car mechanics. More plumbing. More money management. More public speaking, and showing students how to make the best of themselves. I’d keep them there til 5 every day, but make sure that two hours of that had no homework, and were just opportunities to get better at life skills. And give them all free breakfasts.

These threads always come up regularly. The funniest thing about them (other than the entitlement ) is that most of the stuff mentioned IS taught in schools. So the OP’s either are too old and have missed it (but could do a little bit of research before posting, guess school didn’t teach them that either?) or didn’t actually pay attention in school.

Why not just put all kids into weekly boarding schools and give up parenting altogether?

I remember seemingly endless lessons in maths where you had to read the meter (dial, not digital) and then work out what the bill would be if a unit of electricity cost X, etc.

Exactly. It would also catch people who are struggling and need extra support.