ereks mom Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 (edited) I'd rather do something that does NOT involve cooking or sewing, but I'll take it if that's all you've got. ;) I want something that can work as an introduction to life skills/home ec. And by the way, do any of you know of a survey or questionnaire along the lines of "what are your responsibilities around the house" or "which of these chores/household tasks have you (n)ever done"? I want to see where they are so I'll know how to proceed. Edited August 20, 2012 by ereks mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Are you focusing on home skills? Because my first thought was to learn some basic car skills--checking fluid levels, tire pressure, how to change a tire. For house skills: changing the air filter on the a/c, finding/using the shutoff valve for the water, gas. Winterizing your outside water faucets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Money management Fashion full price vs. make your own at the thrift... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 I like the idea of doing something with money. I think some kids/teens just don't understand the value of a dollar. When my dd20 started paying for all of her own things, she learned how to budget shop. She stopped wanting $75 jeans and was thrilled when she found $20 ones that look just as good. She learned that it's not really important to have tons of clothes and shoes because every dollar she spent was a dollar out of her bank account. She found less expensive shampoo/conditioner and stopped getting her hair done at an expensive salon. All of those things were fine when she was working part-time and just using her money to buy fun stuff, but she reached a point where she started paying bills and her attitude changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Make soap, candles or lotion. Build a fire outside and cook a meal (or just popcorn) on it. Make Christmas ornaments. Knit or crochet. Plant an indoor herb garden. Get an old chest of drawers and have each girl paint and decorate a drawer. Then donate it or raffle it. Make a flower arrangement with native plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted August 20, 2012 Author Share Posted August 20, 2012 Are you focusing on home skills? Because my first thought was to learn some basic car skills--checking fluid levels, tire pressure, how to change a tire. For house skills: changing the air filter on the a/c, finding/using the shutoff valve for the water, gas. Winterizing your outside water faucets. Yes, home skills--cleaning & laundry, using basic tools (hammer, pliers, screwdriver). I'm not so much interested in car care or yard work, but we might get to that too, later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise in Florida Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Consumer Choices contest. Our 4H does this during the county fair, kids can compete as individuals or as teams. Tables are set up with comparative products, such as 5 boxes of granola bars, 5 backpacks, 5 packages of batteries, one year they had descriptions of 5 checking accounts at local banks. The kids are assigned a scenario. For instance in selecting the best granola bar, they might need to find the healthiest bar or the most economical bar. They then list their choices from 1 to 5 with 1 being the best buy for their scenario. One member of the team presents the rankings and gives a brief explanation of how they determined the choices. Teams win based on points for selection and points for presentation. I could not find an example on the Florida website, but the North Dakota website had a good sample contest. They are judging beverages, e-readers/tablets, and insulated jackets. http://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/4h/Consumer_Choices/2012JrSrStudyGuidesSampleClasses.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Home maintenance- how to fix a leaky faucet, running toilet, etc. Simple stuff everyone should know. Do a lesson on laundry and why it is important to clean the lint filter every load on the dryer. You could even take a small thing of lint and show how fast it lights (over a grill or something fire proof). Car maintenance- how to check tire pressure, oil, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 I believe every teen, not just girls, need to learn basic car maintenance. Checking tire pressure, oil, coolant etc. How to change a flat tire how to add oil, coolant etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Yes, home skills--cleaning & laundry, using basic tools (hammer, pliers, screwdriver). I'm not so much interested in car care or yard work, but we might get to that too, later on. How to hang a picture on a wall. How to clean bathrooms. How to clean kitchens. Sorting laundry, treating stains, washing and folding. Washing delicates and woolens. How to tighten loose screws (ex. handles on kitchen pots), showing difference between screwdrivers heads. How to clean the coils under the refrigerator. How to clean the lint filter and pipe on the dryer and why it is so important. How to use a kitchen fire extinguisher. What to use and what not to use to attempt to put out an oil fire on the stove. What do if there is a natural gas leak from a gas stove. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbpaulie Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 I believe every teen, not just girls, need to learn basic car maintenance. Checking tire pressure, oil, coolant etc. How to change a flat tire how to add oil, coolant etc. Our high school calculus (all girls school) taught us how to change a tire. A couple summers later when I had one, I stood, in my white skirt, next to my car until someone came and changed it for me. (I'd now call AAA. ):001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Ana White's site has some great simple plans on it for building furniture- incl doll furniture, simple step stools, etc. My kids and I built cubbie book shelves and a library cart (scroll down- it's blue) last year- simple, fun and very skill buildling! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Teach them to drive a stick. Or replace a light fixture. Or give them x dollars to plan a meal. Or teach them how to set up a cleaning schedule. Or change a washer on a faucet. Or assemble a piece of Ikea furniture. Always compare what it costs to have someone do this for you. (With the stick, compare gas mileage, maintenance costs, etc.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 I agree money is a geat one! Repairing appliances, where to go to get parts and advice on fixing appliances, how to maintain cars, a/c, and so on. How to care for a lawn. All of these I have had to learn as an adult without help, so I plan to teach those skills to all of my kids to save them from the struggle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuirkyKidAcademy Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Make soap, candles or lotion. Build a fire outside and cook a meal (or just popcorn) on it. Make Christmas ornaments. Knit or crochet. Plant an indoor herb garden. Get an old chest of drawers and have each girl paint and decorate a drawer. Then donate it or raffle it. Make a flower arrangement with native plants. These are my favorites from among those suggested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 How to get out different kinds of stains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 My dc have done some money management activities in school. One year, my son had to choose a career, research how much (if any) $ it cost to get the training needed to pursue that career (college, trade school, apprenticeship, etc.), what the "normal" rate of pay was for it, and things like that. Then he picked a city to live in. Then, he scanned classifieds from that city's newspaper (they could use internet sites, too) to find out the going rate for an apt or house or whatever. (Of course, they found the newspaper online.) They had to stay within a certain budget. I think they could only use 25% of their projected earnings on housing. He had to then budget for food, transportation (not necessarily a car), insurance and savings. It was a monster project, but really, really instructive! Maybe you could do it as a group. You could just pick your own city to live in, and maybe draw a job out of a hat (have them all contribute ideas, then randomly pick one). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 My dc have done some money management activities in school.One year, my son had to choose a career, research how much (if any) $ it cost to get the training needed to pursue that career (college, trade school, apprenticeship, etc.), what the "normal" rate of pay was for it, and things like that. . . . We did an activity like this in one of my high school classes. (It was called Human Relations and took you from birth to death and addressed lots of topics in between.) Perhaps something like this combined with developing meal plans/food budgets? You could add on figuring out how much it would cost to set up their first apartment. Blinds/curtains, cleaning supplies, linens, dishes, etc. Then you could go on to include calculating the cost of owning a car--payments, insurance, gas, maintenance, etc. This activity has the potential to really address issues that parents like their kids to be aware of but don't often go through with them in such detail. I like it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 My dc have done some money management activities in school.One year, my son had to choose a career, research how much (if any) $ it cost to get the training needed to pursue that career (college, trade school, apprenticeship, etc.), what the "normal" rate of pay was for it, and things like that. Then he picked a city to live in. Then, he scanned classifieds from that city's newspaper (they could use internet sites, too) to find out the going rate for an apt or house or whatever. (Of course, they found the newspaper online.) They had to stay within a certain budget. I think they could only use 25% of their projected earnings on housing. He had to then budget for food, transportation (not necessarily a car), insurance and savings. It was a monster project, but really, really instructive! Maybe you could do it as a group. You could just pick your own city to live in, and maybe draw a job out of a hat (have them all contribute ideas, then randomly pick one). When I was in high school, our home ec class did something similar. We were given a very reasonable budget and had to plan a wedding, reception, and so on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyndiLJ Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Our family class in high school had the "Egg Project". We had to create a persona for ourselves, a career, income etc. then were given an egg to be our child, and told whether it was healthy or not, gender was assigned, etc. We then had to carry that egg everywhere with us, arrange for babysitters, plan meals (on paper), figure out costs associated with child rearing, etc. VERY helpful course and made it all a little more real in terms of responsibility involved. Cindy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Self-defense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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