Subjects That Should be Taught in Grade Schools.
Many people say "kids should be learning this at home" when subjects like this are brought up.
Yes, in an ideal world kids would learn about the stuff I am going to mention at home but in reality many kids either have neglectful parents or abusive parents. Also, they may have very, very busy working-class parents that don't have the time to teach them everything they should. They may have mentally ill parents that don't know how to care for themselves properly let alone their kids. It is not a perfect world and the fact is many kids are getting no education at home and sometimes even having very negative views and beliefs taught to them.
I was thinking about this today as I was preparing breakfast and so I decided to do a blog about some subjects I think we should be taught in schools before we become adults and are expected to successfully integrate into society.
Financial Education
I think teen should be taught about money before leaving high school. It is easy to get yourself into serious debt very quickly if you aren't smart about your finances. I know that for a fact because I signed up for a stupid trade school I was on television and now am in huge debt. I think we should learn about credit scores, how to build credit, and to take in the full magnitude of the repercussions of taking out loans if you cannot pay them back. I think we should be taught a lot more about how to files taxes and deal with expenses and budgeting. We should learn about the importance of saving for the future. Money is about the largest driving force in the modern world and yet before becoming adults and being thrust into a world where a college degree that's worth a damn can cost upwards of $40,000 we learn almost nothing about it?
It would be ideal to include teaching about the importance of getting medical coverage and how to qualify for it if you are impoverished as well as dental, mental health coverage etc.
Diet, Exercise, Health.
I don't mean P.E where many kids are bullied and we are forced to play one of a few sports repetitively regardless of how we feel about it. This approach drives many people away from physical activity. I am talking about teaching kids and teens about fitness in a way where everyone can enjoy it. There are so many ways kids can be active. Biking. Skateboarding. Interactive video games even. There should be more variety and less forcing kids to play competitive sports.
There should also be more teaching on the health effects of a sedentary lifestyle coupled with a bad diet. I think if we taught kids these things while also teaching them from a young age to appreciate fresh food and learn how to prepare it we could go a long way in helping people to eat better as adults.
Also, I think kids should learn more about food. I think they should learn to grow it but also learn how to buy healthy food for cheap and prepare it. So many poor people are unaware of how to shop and cook in a more thrifty way and I think educating people on how to get healthy food for cheap could really help. Imagine field trips to the grocery store where the class has a certain budget and has to get enough food for say a week to feed family of four? Stuff like this could really help. Real world things that we have to deal with as soon as we are adults.
Mental health, Happiness, Confidence.
As I mentioned earlier in the blog many kids come from very busy or down-right abusive homes. I think in schools they should focus some time not only on fun and encouraging hobbies that kids are passionate about but also there should be a focus on building up happy, healthy, confident adults.
I think an important thing to focus on in this area would be arts. Not just painting and drawing but music, games, anything kids are passionate about. Perhaps field trips to different exciting places so kids and teens can better find out what it is that makes them passionate. I think there should be more artistic freedom and some time in school that isn't just reciting facts but focused on embracing each child's uniqueness and helping them to feel confident in their abilities.
I also think to help with the "happiness" but there should be time in nature and perhaps even meditation, yoga, or similar practices that encourage mindfulness. Nature and mindfulness can be so helpful in bringing up a happy adult and give even kids from bad homes an idea of a healthy coping mechanism.
Obviously, this is all easier said than done but I do think much of it could be accomplished pretty easily. Although, we would have to start by valuing our teachers and paying them what they are worth.
If you live in a different country than my (U.S.) how do you feel about the grade schools where you live? I would love to learn.
I couldn't have wrote this any better! I agree with you 100%!!! This needs to happen, not just should. Our society is slowly falling out of touch and losing these basic values. School is already such a hard place and for some it's a safe haven. I have ranted about this over and over again. It's one of the things I feel very deeply about. Kids are our future! We need better teachers who have a true passion to teach our children to be the best they can be. And YES the "good" teachers NEED a raise! They have one of the most important jobs! love this post and resteemed!!!!
Great points. All of them.
Beautiful concepts. Shoot, adults need this education. I totally agree , kids should be taught these basics of life in school. Amazing why they don't teach these basic tenets. Almost like they don't want us to know it. Maybe it's not part of the planned indoctrination. After all, if we know and understand these concepts who would go to Mcdonalds, supermarkets, banks, and hospitals. These companies would lose business tremendously. Our commercial world would suffer. Remember, nothing happens by chance, everything has a purpose and plan in society. Sometimes we feel smart and say " it's common sense. " But believe me, there are other people more intelligent and definitely "more powerful" that can develop plans and implement them in discrete , subtle ways. Just rambling thoughts, indeed.
I think these are all excellent points. When people complain about too much testing in school, authorities like to respond with, "oh! It's not that much time, blah, blah, blah." However, it is not just the time that testing (and the pseudo academic college prep rigor that we require) takes. It is that we have crowded out time for truly useful subjects like home ec (which includes heathy eating, financial management, etc).
People leave school with the ability to regurgitate battles from the revolutionary war, but not skills that really matter.
Those are solid value's. I don't remember those during my time or those of my 2 in school.
Great post. I think certainly here in the UK the current curriculum does very little to prepare students for a successful and independant life after leaving school. I am particularly keen to teach my own children about health and diet myself. As you said there is little taught about this in school and as a result our population is turning increasingly to convenience and processed foods.
@lauralemons I agree with all three of your suggested subjects. I would love to add also teaching entrepreneurialism. It's because of entrepreneurs we have places like steemit. If everyone just went to school to find a good job working for someone else we'd miss out on a lot of brilliant ideas.
Thanks!
Have you heard of Community Supported Agriculture? It is basically a concept of food production for a local community but it is much much more!
In my neighborhood there is such a farm and in addition to the agricultural aspect (everything of course completely naturally and sustainably grown food) they also built a kindergarten and are currently working on a grade school and professional school. The aim is to provide education with real value for life and to build a practical and harmonic relationship to nature and your community.
Actually I manage their website: https://hofpente.de/
(I am currently working on a new version. :)
It's all German but let me translate one key statement:
I completely agree. I really think they should bring back home economics as a class again. I know a lot of people like to poke fun at it as some sort of quaint anachronism, but knowing how to manage your household finances, maintain household appliances, sew, iron, wash, and cook are vital for independent living. That's what we're supposed to be preparing our kids for, right?
The big stumbling block is going to be that public education isn't designed to do this. It's designed to accomplish the opposite - to make obedient students and civil servants - here in the US, and the system is similar in other parts of the world as well. The Prussian system is the prevailing model for public education, and it's not designed to create well-rounded, capable adults (despite what educators and administrators might like to say). That's also why I am extremely excited to see the rise of alternative schooling methods. Unschooling, home schooling, and private schools are the way to the future.
I completely agree. The system is incredibly "flawed" from our perspective but I do think it is carefully planned to be this way.
I am also happy to see more kids homeschooled. Sadly it is not financially an option for everyone but luckily people working from home and being entrepreneurs is also on the rise! :)
It is, it is!
Nice but very naive Laura... I think it's rather pointless to talk about financial education when our kids are being injected with toxic chemical right from birth. Our kids are seen as collaterall to the state debt anyway! With the act of 1871 the US governmet has sold us out to the banks. People are considered collateral to the state (war) debt through their birth cerficate. Fascinating story I can assure you. More: yourstrawman.com
Any education whatsoever will never be any better, forget it. The only way is homeschooling. Get out of the system ASAP. It does not bring any benefits.
But your idea is a great 2nd step :)
Talking about the number 2: I've been analyzing these problems for years until Karen Hudes came up with a 2nd species, right here on earth. The rabbit hole goes deep!
It would only be naive to say I think it is going to happen. I am giving my opinion on what I would like to see in a perfect world which obviously it is not.
OK that's surely very valid. I hope you see it wasn't meant as an attack or anything, let's make that clear. But I've seen so many people repeating these nice lofty goals not realizing the "dark force" which is behind a lot of nastiness. They make you think it is normal but it is not. There are great alternatives but there is also a systematic dark force trying to destroy it. Everything that is good seems it must be destroyed. All under the name of (pseudo)science and a deal of clever psychology, indoctrination. Orwell would be proud, that's no exaggeration, we have arrived.
Homeschooling is not the answer. First, parents need to work and earn money, and that's one function schools perform flawlessly - to give them time to do so. Second, homeschooling is not an easy thing to do. It is not as simple as covering the subject matter, and there is a lot in it that requires a great degree of dedicated learning on the side of educators - or parents in this case. Third, all we really know homeschooling does better is not doing the bad things public education does to our kids, which, in my book, is not good enough to make the jump.
Because homeschooling is difficult and time-consuming, there is no way schools go away - they are too convenient to do so. I think in the long run - and for the majority of the world population - improving public education is the the way to go, not homeschooling or unschooling.
Well witht the first sentence I don't agree with at all. I'm sure something can be arranged in a nice community so on that the kids go to work with a parent from the community and learn from that parent. You can also have private teachers, take your kids to work. Work on a homestead...
It just takes some openness and warm hearth!
Well, that's the point. There is a lot of uncertainty about how much it would cost you in time and money, how well your child will be educated and how competitive he or she will be when the time comes to enter the job market. Optimism aside, the forecast is too risky and unpredictable.
Haha, really? Have you noticed how many advanced courses there are online? I wouldn't be affraid on competition, the child will have a unique opportunity, you can give him so much more! Public school is almost retarded... I just wouldn't be affraid. you can always test your child regularly.
For the sake of clarification, I'll ask these questions.
How do you know those online courses are going to prepare your children to enter the job market in the profession of their choice?
How can you be sure you can give your child a lot more than a group of teachers?
How can you be sure your tests will test relevant knowledge to a satisfactory degree? How can you be sure your child will pass the tests that will actually define their future?
If you have no clear answers to these, then you're gambling on your child's future.
I don't mean to deny homeschooling, but, again optimism aside, we are not ready for its mass adoption. It is not the way, at least yet, and not the advice you can give others lightly.
My humble 2 cents.
Let me reverse the question:
Would you rather leave your kids with people:
To me, saying someone would be gambling their child's future is on par by saying that when you don't vaccinate you are gambeling with their health.
Take a long hard look at people who invented something new like Google, you think they got the idea through schooling?
I can't answer your questions because, first of all, it is not clear who your questions refer to exactly. But even presuming it is school teachers, your questions assume that everyone is clueless, everyone expects our kids to be vaccinated, everyone teaches only how to memorize, and everyone uses standard tests downloaded from the Internet for testing. I disagree with the presuppositions in your questions, and hence I can't answer them.
And yes, you are gambling with kid's health by not vaccinating them. However, there seems to be evidence that you're also gambling with their health by vaccinating them, so there's hardly an easy answer to that question.
I don't know if Google founders got the idea through schooling (and I am sure you don't, either), but I know that schooling didn't prevent them from getting that idea (and I am sure you can't disagree with that). That said, your statement is again based on presuppositions that schools are inherently bad, whereas they aren't.