Home Ec?

[DeeFL]

I am hoping to do a "home ec" type thing with the two of my kids to count as an elective, not to mention the fact that there are certain things I just want to make sure they know.

I had planned on writing it myself, but am finding myself really short on time, but wanting to get them started. Obviously, they help with things all the time, but I'm really hoping for something a little more structured. Before I go crazy trying to fit writing something all up for them, has anybody written up something for their kids? And would you be willing to share?

Thanks so much!

[Kareni]

I've no experience with it, but this post (http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showpost.php?p=995099&postcount=3) mentions a free resource for home economics.

Regards,
Kareni

[bamagirl]

No curriculum here, but I love to make my own cleaners, laundry soap etc. That would be something fun, frugal and useful to include...here's one of the sites I like http://www.frugalfun.com/cleansers.html Also, baking bread, making jam, etc. I love to do these things now, but was never taught, so had to do all the research and learn as an adult, wish I had the opportunity to learn at a young age.

[DeeFL]

I really want to cover alot! Not just how to cook/follow recipes, but also how to plan out a well-balanced meal. I also wan to deal with the nutrition aspect, and budgeting, too. I was thinking that a final project (after getting good at preparing foods) would be to have a budget given, do like 3 days meal planning, shop for the ingredients, and then prepare the meals.

Also, I want to make sure they know how to do the cleaning of all the various parts of the house. (They are good, experienced cleaners already, but just want to make sure they "get" it!)

Also, I want to cover some basic sewing, culminating in a final couple projects.

I just hope someone else has maybe made a whole beautiful schedule of activities, saving me from thinking the whole thing through! :-)

The link posted looks pretty good...I just need to read through it a bit more.

[Imprimis]

Ok, this is not exactly what you're looking for, but here are a couple of links you might find helpful. This one, Sewing Lessons for Teens - A to Z Home's Cool Homeschooling (http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/explore/sewing.htm), has some great beginning sewing instruction and projects.

Budget Homeschool Resources [/Economics] - Budget Homeschool (http://budgethomeschool.com/favorites.asp?f=/Economics) has a number of links to resources that teach budgeting, planning, meal-planning, etc.

[MidnightHM]

I looked for a homeschool home ec course a while ago and only found http://www.clp.org/store/by_course/121 . There is a home ec 2 also. I haven't used it, or anything from them, so I realy dont know much about it.

I was mainly looking for myself because I never learned from my parents and I'm still less than 5 years into being a wife and caring for a house.

[DeeFL]

I'm going to go check out all these links!

[WishboneDawn]

We just started this but I have to admit I have an ace up my sleeve. My husband's grandmother. :) We go to her house once a week and she teaches us (well, not Harry yet. He's not interested so he hones his math by playing cards with his great-grandfather) knitting, crocheting, pickling, etc. This week my daughter has to knit a square and practice crocheting.

Other, more mundane skills, I'll handle myself in daily life.

[Alyce]

It makes a great spine and covers a lot of different thing, most of which you've already mentioned. I would still supplement it but it works pretty well. I tried to find it on Alpha Omega's wesite but didn't see it. I did see it on Rainbow Resouce site.

[MamaSheep]

I have no specific "lesson plans", but we're doing a 7th grade level "consumer sciences" class at our house, which is what they seem to be calling home-ec/shop nowadays down at the school. We're just kind of taking it at the speed at which we get through, so I didn't write up a schedule, really. We'll have a sewing unit, cooking unit, leatherworking unit, and computer unit (the same as at the school except they do woodworking instead of leather there).

For our sewing unit I chose projects from Haan Crafts (http://www.haancrafts.com/). They have the projects rated according to difficulty level, which made it easy for us to pick three projects of increasing difficulty for him to make. They come in kits with everything you need, and for most of them the pattern is pre-printed on the material which makes it easier to cut out.

For our cooking unit we're using a cookbook called Anyone Can Cook (http://www.amazon.com/Anyone-Can-Cook-Step-Step/dp/0470500670/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253631101&sr=8-2). It has an "Intro to Cooking" section in the front that goes through things like what various kinds of kitchen tools are, shopping tips, how to choose produce and how to clean and cut it, what it means to "dredge" meat or "cream" sugar and butter--that sort of thing. The recipes all have a difficulty rating on them which makes it easier to choose something appropriate for my student to try out. Each recipe has photographs of any tricky steps, and at the bottom of the page there is an "Ask Mom" section with questions like, "How do I measure butter?" "What is a garlic clove?" and then tells you the page number where each answer can be found in the Intro section in the front. I'm going to go through some of the basic info with ds and then have him select and prepare an appetizer, main dish, side dish, dessert, and breakfast.

For leatherworking I will be getting a leather stamping kit (http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Create+Genuine+Leather+Stamping+Creations/038104/1253632265-782529) that includes materials for several projects, and ds's dad, the computer geek, will be teaching him some programming for computers, which I realize helps nobody that doesn't live at my house. But I hope some of the rest of this is helpful. :)

[Nan in Mass]

It wasn't anything formal, just a list of things I wanted mine to know before they went off on their own. There are probably some major things missing here. I didn't do it for credit or anything. I didn't write it down for my oldest, but with the other two, I have a notebook where I write what they have read and projects they've done, so I wrote it there.

Living Skills

Cooking
---
How to plan meals (food groups, complimenting proteins, buying locally and in season, etc.)
How to shop (avoid things in boxes, look for sales, etc.)
How to make: Annie's mac+cheese, real mac+cheese, scrambled eggs, pizza, johnny cake, gingerbread, cake, oatmeal cookies, salad, omlette, bread, hamburgers, frozen veggies, baked potatoes, chicken, baked beans, soup, white sauce, spagetti
How to wash dishes and clean the kitchen

Baby care
---
Changing diapers
Babyproofing
Playing
Development
Bottles
Feeding
Carrying
Consistency
Bath

Cosumer Savy
---
How to buy a car
Planning a trip on the internet
Bank accounts, how to keep track, how to write out a check, different types
How to buy a house
How to rent an apartment
Taxes
Propaganda/advertising
How to register a boat
How to buy appliances
Utility bills
Stocks

Laundry
---
Running the washer and drier
Hand laundry
Sorting laundry
Going to the laundromat
Going to the laundry
How to iron
Fabrics

Health
---
First aid
How to take care of a cold, flu, stomach bug, headache, bump, bite, stomach ache
How to avoid sports injuries
Sex ed
When to go to the doctor
When to go to the vet
How vaccines work
Vitamins
Addictions
How to keep yourself happy and sane
Excersize
Pets' health

Work
---
Manners
Politics
Finding a job
Paychecks
How to do something that makes more than minimum wage

Travel
---
How to pack
How to drive
How to take a bus, train, plane, ferry
How to get a hotel room
How to camp
How to use a travel guide
How to read schedules
How to hike
How to backpack
How to read maps and charts
Time zones
How to be safe
Double check to make sure they are strong swimmers

As I said, I probably left lots out. Some of what is missing is skipped because my children already knew how to do it (like sewing). I just made the list to make sure I covered at least some of what was left. Mine didn't do much cooking before high school because they were short and I didn't really want them dealing with pots of boiling water at face level.
-Nan

[DeeFL]

This is all good stuff!
Thanks!