Ideas for teaching home management to teen home schooled girls?

Question

I am starting to plan next years curriculum and want to include home management/life skills as a subject this year. I was wondering if anyone knew of some good web sites or curriculum's. Also any ideas that you might have or things you have done with your girls would be helpful.

Answer 1

http://www.pearables.com/home_economics....

This is one used by one of the homeschoolers in our group with a houseful of girls  :-)))))

It is hard to suggest because we don't know if you want a scripture based or secular program.  Either way, I would include a component for personal finance, one for homemaking, you may want to include sewing and other handicrafts, gardening, child care.     You really can put this together yourself for free for the most part.  

For homemaking, you can use resources like "flylady" on the internet, teach them how to maintain household records.  Teach them how to write checks or walk them through on line banking with you for a few months.  ********teach them the difference between wants and needs and how to delay gratification ***************

Cooking --they need to know how to read and adapt recipes, healthy alternatives, etc.  

It really isn't too hard.  You may also want to find a way to include a family or community elder in your curriculum planning.   Women in the past really mentored young homemakers and taught them "the ropes."   They lived through a time when the mindset was not so ME-centered and credit obsessed.  They have valuable things to share and would love the opportunity to make an impact on a young person's life.  They really knew how to make a $ stretch (a very valuable skill in this day and age)

Something else you may wish to include is a way to make them aware of the societal influences toward excess and poor stewardship and pressures on the family to conform to the world. They need to develop some discernment when it comes to ads and marketing pressures and reactions to faulty reporting.   The world will always bend their values to accomodate the latest trend, and the kids need to learn that solid foundation is a solid foundation.  A home well grounded in that which is practical and frugal will have a much better chance of weathering storms that come by the way.

Answer 2

Involve them in the cooking and cleaning of the home. Let them write out the checks (not sign just write) for the bills and balance the check book (be sure you check it so you don't accordantly bounce anything). Let them plan the menus and do the shopping. Make them stick to your budget. Let them Divide up the packs of meat and put the grocery's away. Teach them to do repairs as needed. Have them change the air conditioner filter. Basically anything you typically do have them do of help with.

Life Skills are the things parents teach to their kids that the schools don't necessarily teach. You don't need a curricula for that,  just a bit of patience and know how.

Answer 3

Brilliant answers ladies... I taught my young BOYS these things !!! They are self-sufficient and will be good helpers for their young wives before I am prepared for that day.lol I don't know if you are a Christian homeschooler or not, but if so, I also have an achievement class I teach to adolescent girls and I have found that very few of them are aware of what Proverbs 31 has to say about women. I love just talking to them about WHY we should learn to do these things when the world now poo-poos women who are home-makers and moms as a career. I am amazed at the discussions we have and that they frequently tell me of discussing this with friends at their public school... even from 8 -12 years of age they are working this out in their young minds. My favorite activities with my boys were budgeting, meal planning/shopping. We found scraps of wood in the garage and built a very simple shelf for videos and paperbacks to tuck into a closet. They measured it out and built it with very little help. The sense of pride was remarkable! I also did a unit in which we thought of how to make something out of odds and end around the house... what most people would throw away. It was fascinating to do this. We had made punched tin lanterns w/ old cans, used dryer lint and wax to make charcoal starters... odd stuff... but it was useful,  and the kids researched all kinds of things for this. I think, more than anything, they learned to stretch their creativity, think outside the box, problem solve, shed a bit of a  "throw away" mentality, be frugal and also to be good stewards of the earth by finding new uses for things that might otherwise be in a landfill. They are 20 and 18 years old now, and I am really glad I did all those sort of "silly" things like this.

Good luck to you !!! You may contact me for any further ideas.

Answer 4

I've honestly never heard of a curriculum going through this, although there may very well be something out there.

I do know parents who have developed their own programs, but not at all gender-specific. Here are some things I remember that they've come up with:

-cooking/meal planning/grocery shopping

-budgeting (being a part of looking at all the bills and income and everything)

-laundry--includes stain treatments, how to wash and dry different fabrics, sort laundry properly, etc.

-banking, how to write cheques, balance a chequebook/bank statement

-utilities--knowing who to call to set something up or when there are problems

-basic housekeeping--cleaning lists or other suitable resources as needed, some have even gone so far as to have their kids involved in making homemade non-toxic cleaners

-how to wash dishes by hand, even if you have a dishwasher (it could always break down!)

-basic repairs or maintenance things that the average person can do (how to plunge a toilet, for instance, or turn off the water if there's a problem or fix a bike chain...)

Answer 5

I think I have the book for you.  It is Christian, but I think anyone could use it-and just taylor it.  I have 4 boys, and they have a "boy's" version and a "girl's" version, but I use both.  The name of the book is Keepers at home.  

http://www.keepersofthefaith.com/Catalog...

The book covers such areas as:

Creative Skills:  basketweaving, calligraphy, candlemaking, candlewicking, ceramics, counted cross stitch, crewel embroidery, crochet, decoupage....though to weaving...

Homemaking:  Baking, budgeting, cake decorating, camping, cleaning, cooking, fire safety, first aid, food preservation, gardening, health and fitness, home decorating, hygiene...through to soapmaking

Knowledge and Skills:  biography, computer, foreign language, genealogy, library, literature, music, poetry, sign language... through to writing

Nature:  birds, butterflies, flowers, horses, insects, pets, trees, wildflowers,

Other:  bus worker, child care, church, ecology, etiquette, etc...

Recreational Activities:  badminton, bicycle, croquet, hiking, ice skating, swimming, etc...

It has 374 pages, so obviously it doesn't go in depth on any one subject, but tells you what to do to cover them.  Kind of the same way scouting would cover things for badges.

Answer 6

You've received some good input already.

AOP has a home economics & a health elective.

http://www.aop.com/lifepac/Subjects_Elec...

Your local extension office should have a ton of resources.  Even if you're not in 4H, you can purchase their curriculums.

Many universities with Home Ec/Human Ecology programs have great websites with info.

I have a 10 y.o. son, but he's learning a lot of cooking skills right now - just from me.  We have several children's cookbooks that are very helpful.

I have the "Money Matters for Kids" series of books and they are great.

Is there a HS co-op where they could learn sewing?