I think back to my highschool days and I remember enjoying “Home Ec”. I recall exactly what I learned…how to make cinnamon rolls using Bisquick (not terribly difficult), how to sew a shirt I found fashionably misguided (it was a pretty ugly pattern), and basic care and development of young children.
I was recently reviewing my state’s guidelines for graduation requirements as I have a child who will be graduating highschool /homeschool in just 2 short years. It states: Electives units must include one or any combination of foreign language, fine arts, business, career-technical education, family and consumer sciences, technology, agricultural education or English language arts, mathematics, science or social studies courses not otherwise required. As I am one to try to stay a step ahead I began thinking on the elective units that we have met…hmmm…We have done a year of Spanish, several fine arts field trips (opera, museums, etc) what about everyday living?
I believe that my daughters can be anything that they are willing to work to be, but I also want them to learn how to cook a magnificent meal that will be a blessing to either their spouse, children or others. So we began last year working on kitchen skills with my two girls. Their first assignment after years of helping me prepare large meals? Make Thanksgiving Dinner solo…yes, you read that right. I was available to offer assistance/guidance, but I would not touch the food prep, it was totally up to them. They were very excited by the prospect of putting a whole meal on and claiming it as their own. I have to say, they did pretty good. I also figure we get double credit for the agricultural education/family sciences because the turkey they cooked was one we raised from a poult and then butchered on our farm (biology lesson anyone?) The menu included Turkey, mashed potatoes with from scratch gravy, rolls, pumpkin pie, corn and green beans. They did pretty good.
Recently I blogged about the day I had a car accident and when I say that I want my children to learn to make a meal that will be a “blessing to others” this was just such an occasion. After a horribly long day dealing with all the things that come from an accident (phone calls, insurance adjusters, claims, police reports, etc) I smelled a heavenly smell only to discover that my oldest had spent some time in the kitchen and whipped up a meal for our family…all to be a blessing because she knew I was falling behind in this area with all the other things I was dealing with that day.
She decided to make homemade yeast burger buns (recipe here), hamburgers, oven fries and green beans…it was delicious and the rest of the family even said her rolls turned out better than mine (not fair!) I think that gives her an “A” in home economics in my book! I have to say it took much more effort to do that then the simplistic bisquick cinnamon rolls I learned how to make!
I was recently reviewing my state’s guidelines for graduation requirements as I have a child who will be graduating highschool /homeschool in just 2 short years. It states: Electives units must include one or any combination of foreign language, fine arts, business, career-technical education, family and consumer sciences, technology, agricultural education or English language arts, mathematics, science or social studies courses not otherwise required. As I am one to try to stay a step ahead I began thinking on the elective units that we have met…hmmm…We have done a year of Spanish, several fine arts field trips (opera, museums, etc) what about everyday living?
I believe that my daughters can be anything that they are willing to work to be, but I also want them to learn how to cook a magnificent meal that will be a blessing to either their spouse, children or others. So we began last year working on kitchen skills with my two girls. Their first assignment after years of helping me prepare large meals? Make Thanksgiving Dinner solo…yes, you read that right. I was available to offer assistance/guidance, but I would not touch the food prep, it was totally up to them. They were very excited by the prospect of putting a whole meal on and claiming it as their own. I have to say, they did pretty good. I also figure we get double credit for the agricultural education/family sciences because the turkey they cooked was one we raised from a poult and then butchered on our farm (biology lesson anyone?) The menu included Turkey, mashed potatoes with from scratch gravy, rolls, pumpkin pie, corn and green beans. They did pretty good.
Recently I blogged about the day I had a car accident and when I say that I want my children to learn to make a meal that will be a “blessing to others” this was just such an occasion. After a horribly long day dealing with all the things that come from an accident (phone calls, insurance adjusters, claims, police reports, etc) I smelled a heavenly smell only to discover that my oldest had spent some time in the kitchen and whipped up a meal for our family…all to be a blessing because she knew I was falling behind in this area with all the other things I was dealing with that day.
She decided to make homemade yeast burger buns (recipe here), hamburgers, oven fries and green beans…it was delicious and the rest of the family even said her rolls turned out better than mine (not fair!) I think that gives her an “A” in home economics in my book! I have to say it took much more effort to do that then the simplistic bisquick cinnamon rolls I learned how to make!
