Send to Printer Visit Yahoo! Canada Lifestyle
Print:
Back to Post

Real life 101: What skills do kids need to thrive in the real world?

Posted Tue, Feb 05, 2008
POST A COMMENT »

Curriculum experts in Britain have been busy cooking up ways to tackle the UK's growing childhood obesity problem. One of the solutions that has been tossed around would involve giving all students the opportunity to take cooking classes at the junior high school level — either in-school (the preference of the country's home economics teachers) or on an extra-curricular basis. After all, it's one thing to know what you should be eating every day in order to say healthy. It's quite another thing to have the food preparation and cooking skills required to whip up a healthy meal on a budget.

This got me thinking about the other types of practical life skills that kids should be exposed to before graduation day — skills like making a multi-course meal for the relatives (everyone has to do it sometime), balancing a budget and a chequebook, repairing clothes (this will help with the budget department), soothing a fussy baby (starting with one of those hard-to-soothe infant simulators, and a teenage version of The Dating Game and/or a local faith organization's marriage preparation course. Now that would be a course they'd never forget.

What's ironic is that, here in Ontario at least, high school students in the applied (as opposed to the academic) stream are more likely to take courses that cover this kind of turf during their high school years. Is it because we somehow believe that kids who are university-bound are less likely to need to know how to whip up a multi-course meal, balance their chequebooks or soothe a fussy baby? Or is it because the need to cram a huge number of academic credits into four years of studies leaves no room for anything as frivolous as courses on how to survive in the real world?

It's something to think about. Sure, in a perfect world, Joe and Jane Teenager would acquire these skills at home from Mom and Pop — but as any real-world parent of a teenager can tell you, most teenagers do better at learning from anyone but Mom and Pop. (Why do you think there are so many driver's ed schools anyway?)

Now I'm going to toss it over to you. If you could add some courses to the high school curriculum so that kids could be better prepared for life in the real world, what would you suggest that they study? Roommates 101? Car Payments 301? Bad Relationships 401? Let me know!

Leave a comment

3 Comments

  • 1. Posted by Heather on Tue, Feb 12, 2008

    How about a baby piggy bank budget lesson on how money received by baby should go to a baby 's own bank account . Then start taking baby to the bank with money once a week/fortnight/or month to "deposit "any money accumulated in baby's piggy bank. When going shopping for baby's clothes,food etc , take out a few pennies with baby (so he/she actually assimalates the idea of putting in pennies into piggy bank and taking out pennies from piggy bank for important budgeting essentials such as food,clothes,books ,toys, and for saving in a bank account. It will be assimalated into daily life by baby ,even if not fully understood. It will become a healthy habit like drinking milk, eating food, playing with toys , going for a ride in the car.,etc. The best ways to set good habits are usually where it's repeated without bad consequences, where it's just one of the nice fun things in one's life. Then looking at the monthly bank statement and making and tallying entries in a cheque book become second nature. And lots of bonding opportunities.It's like reading a favourite word and picture book to baby /infant/child. Try it and you'll be surprised at how easy and fun it can be. In fact the same should be done for trips to the library: start while they are babies , so they grow into making regular trips to the library as a joyful experience,with their own library card and all.

    Report Abuse

  • 2. Posted by Nadine G on Tue, Feb 19, 2008

    Alberta requires that all high school graduates take two half-year Career and Life Management (CALM) courses. In these courses, they cover topics such as budgetting, job search skills, aptitude tests, sex ed, and relationships. I don't think they necessarily cover soothing a fussy baby or buying and cooking nutritious meals, although they might. Schools also cover some of these topics at the junior high level (grades 7 through 9, or for the 11- to 14-year-olds, for those in the UK who have a different grading system) to reach kids who might not make it through high school and to start giving them some life skills education sooner; some kids have jobs or have started dating before they get to high school, so having some information before heading in is always a good thing. I think more focus on money and how to make practical financial choices would be beneficial: consumers carry more debt than ever before, and many of those consumers are parents; kids learn what they see! I thought every province in Canada had a similar type of program for high school students; maybe not ... ?

    Report Abuse

  • 3. Posted by anndouglas on Wed, Feb 20, 2008

    Heather -- I totally agree. It's important to start teaching responsibility from a very early age -- both financial responsibility and respect for other people's possession's (borrowing/returning). And, as you point out, those trips to the library reap so many other lovely dividends. Nadine - You get bits and pieces of this information in different courses in Ontario. There is a mandatory 1/2 course in job search/career skills. Some of the sex/relationships material is covered in the health part of gym class, but I think gym is only mandatory in Grade 9. The only other time you'd be exposed to it would be via non-mandatory family life courses

    Report Abuse

LEAVE YOUR COMMENT
character(s) remaining

You must sign in to leave a comment