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SimplyMom
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Really great list so far.
I have been working on something similar, but for homemakers who, like me, missed learning this stuff before having the job.
a couple thing I haven't seen on your list yet (or may have missed:
Menu and Pantry planning - This might be part of cooking or budgeting but it should be there.
Storage - How to store items properly is actually rather important.
Logistics - Learning how to analyze what you are doing, and how to eliminate inefficiencies in your work-flow (classical logistics planning)
Learning how to schedule things like minor repairs, keep maintenance records for autos and appliances.
How to find important professional help when you need it like dentists, insurance agents, lawyers etc. How to check references.
How to file taxes, register to vote, get a passport.
Minor home repair and decorating.
SimplyMom from Simply Catholic
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JennGM
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I don't have Alice's books to know what they contain. But OLRS old home economics in high school covered nutrition and cooking. Begining sewing included some altar linens and advanced sewing had altar vestments. I always thought that was a neat course.
And nutrition would be something to cover for both.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Mackfam
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I printed all of your suggestions off and I've started adding them to the different focus areas we talked about earlier.
This morning I started a post that included book links and topics for focus, but it was overwhelming and I had to keep leaving in order to tend to life. Then I considered that each family will want to tweak to fit their needs (although most of us want to cover the same basics I think.) And, since I'm blogging most of this anyway for my own use, I didn't want to re-do all of that linking from here over there at my blog. So.....I'm just going to post a link to my blog here...for what it's worth. You may not be interested at all. I'm blogging specifics in little bits focusing on one area of study at a time. I intend to complete both the young lady's course and the young man's course plans by the end of the summer, so if you're interested in using anything I have for the next school year you are welcome to it! 
Here you go...
Tending the Kitchen
and...all of my posts on St. Martha's Apron Strings (our home economics course) if you're interested. I'll be adding a link on my sidebar soon to make it easier to get to all of the posts.
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Jen Mackintosh
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Wildflowers and Marbles
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Cay Gibson
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Jennifer,
If it's okay by you, I'm going to hold onto your Apron Strings. 
I just printed out your blog posts and have them ready to go into the homemaking binders I make for my girls.
Thank you!
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
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krygerzoo
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I've got a 'liturgical year' notebook. I include recipes and activites. In Susan Fowler's cookbook (she's the founder of the LightWeigh a Catholic bible study/weight loss prayer group) she has saints listed and a recipe for a good dozen days per month.
I think incorporating our faith into our daily feasts is an important aspect for a Catholic home economics curriculum.
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Peace, Katherine
wife to David '89, mom to +Kaden Michael (8/15/94-5/10/05), DD'97, DS'99, DD'01, DS'05, (+baby'08), DS'09, (+baby'12) & DD '13
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Cay Gibson
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I was thinking about my own daughters today as I read Kim's thoughts about Mothers-Daughters.
My oldest daughter has also become a delightful, eager, capable, self-motivated young woman. She cleans the house better than I do. She loves to cook. She takes care of boos-boos and craft projects with more grace than I do. She sweeps the floor when she gets bored.  And she hums while doing it.
Not so much with my two younger girls. I hope they learn from their elder sister but I'm afraid they've been pampered. They do have chores: doing dishes, emptying bedrooms/bathroom trash cans/ feeding pets/ watering plants/ folding towels/ cleaning bedroom/ picking up living room...the regular stuff. But their work attitude isn't as graceful or as willing as Kayleigh's.
Is it an "oldest daughter" syndrome? I honestly didn't do anything to make her this way. I personally hate dust and grime. Shower mold makes me  .
While my attitude in the kitchen is creative and nurturing, I can't claim victory in the other areas of domestic arts.
Can we talk about creating and nurturing the "spirit" of the domestic arts as well as the how-tos of various tasks?
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
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missionfamily
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Jennifer--Your post is wonderful. I can't wait to see how it develops from here. AS soon as I can put my hands on my American Boys Handy Book -- I hope on my American boys didn't leave it at a camp site somewhere -- I'm going to try to flesh out a boys' version for ds9 to begin next year and continue from there.
I was struck reading Anne of Avonlea last night...does anyone else remember this? Diana's biggest concern about getting engaged is that she is not prepared to be the housekeeper she should be as a married woman...she has no doilies sewn and her skills are not perfected! How different we are today. I think this is such important work we are fleshing out here.
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MaryM
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Those are really intriquing thoughts to ponder, Cay. I think the discussion you propose is very fitting. I think it should be a separate thread to give it its due.
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Mary M. in Denver
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MaryM
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I was looking at examples of how a home ec. course for the middle school age is set up and what was included in the curriculum. I used the basic categories and classified all the mentioned suggestions along with those by topic. SOunds similar to what Jennifer is doing, too. I'm including it here as a framework to compare to. Most home economics classes seem to have a family life/child development component which really hasn't been suggested here (they already live it ) except for the diaper changing suggestion. So I figure this is an area we probably aren't going to cover within this design.
Hospitality and Ettiquette
-Conversational skills (make an introduction, shake a hand, change the subject graciously, pay an honest compliment, accept a compliment, eye contact)
-Telephone manners
-ettiquette -simply charity to others
-table manners
-cleanliness
-hospitality/entertaining
-Know how to make take-out look lovely! (even on a really bad night, we can scoop up take out, add cloth napkins and serve it nice dishes instead of cardboard!)
-Gift Ideas
-Lead grace
Child Development/ Family Life and Parenting - probably won't be part of this particular curriculum
Clothing and Textiles
-sewing basics – basic stitches, hemming, mending, buttons (stuffed animal sewing project)
-read and follow sewing instructions/pattern
-sewing machine use - threading, stitches
(make apron – use it when moving on to food unit)
Food and Nutrition
-good food choices, food groups (prepare dish that represents particular food group)
Eye a healthy portion size
-food safety and cleanliness
Meat handling and safety
-proper use of cooking utensils
Names and proper use of set of knives, basic
-kitchen gadgets, and pots and pans
Measure wet a dry ingredients
-table setting
-follow a recipe
-read food labels
-preserving (make jelly)
-plan and prepare meal
-baking (cake, pie)
-Menu and Pantry planning
-Cooking basics
Cooking eggs---hard boiled, scrambled, fried, poached
Steaming veggies
Cuts of meat and best preparation--poultry, beef, pork
Taste of basic herbs and seasonings
One good bread recipe
Prepare at least one good soup and one slow cooker meal
Know how to grill something
Housing, Home furnishings, and Equipment
-Home Keeping
making a bed
folding laundry
ironing
cleaning a bathroom
sweep and mop a floor
-Minor home repair
-Interior decorating
Color selection
-Storage - How to store items properly is actually rather important
how to tidy and organize a closet
how to declutter on a weekly basis
-use a lawn mower and weed eater
-gardening
-wash a car - how to clean and wash a car/van
-bathe a pet
-vehicle maintenance skills
Management and Consumer Economics
-How to file taxes, register to vote, get a passport
-How to find important professional help when you need it like dentists, insurance agents, lawyers etc.
keep maintenance records for autos and appliances
-Learning how to schedule things like minor repairs, keep maintenance records for autos and appliances.
-How to check references
-How to set up a filing system
-Personal finances, saving
-How to make a deposit, write a check and keep a check register
-How to write a business letter
-Logistics - Learning how to analyze what you are doing, and how to eliminate inefficiencies in your work-flow (classical logistics planning)
--------------------
Basic First Aid Skills ? not sure where to put, since we cover it in health/science
diaper a baby
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Fe2h2o
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Cay Gibson wrote:
an we talk about creating and nurturing the "spirit" of the domestic arts as well as the how-tos of various tasks?
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Yes please!
I know my own attitude to these things is not always the best, and I'd like to consider ways of minimising this for my children!
MaryM wrote:
| Most home economics classes seem to have a family life/child development component which really hasn't been suggested here (they already live it ) except for the diaper changing suggestion. |
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This may be true for older children in larger families, but there are smaller families here as well, and also younger children... for them a more 'direct instruction' approach may be useful... I certainly would think it might be worth people's time:-)
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guitarnan
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Mary, perhaps an optional Child Development section should be included after all. Not all hs kids get the chance to learn this "on the job" because they live in smaller families. My family is a perfect example. My dc are almost 6 years apart - ds was going to traditional school by the time dd was born.
I know that I, personally, would have hugely benefitted from knowing a few basic things about child development (like basic ages-stages stuff, positive discipline, etc.) before I became a parent - and I had tons of experience as a babysitter, day camp counselor and so on.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Lara Sauer
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Last year for the first time our homeschool group held a "Home Economics Camp" (how's that for a racy title! Anyway, we had 16 children attend, both girls and boys from rising 4th graders through high school. There were two components last year: cooking and sewing. Happily, the kids divided easily into two groups, a younger set, which I think was roughly 11 and under and an older set which was 12 and older. The camp met from 9:00am in the morning and ran until just about 3:00pm each day. We started with morning Mass and then met in the hall of the church for the rest of the day. In the morning session, the younger kids started in the kitchen. They were responsible for making snacks and lunch. Skills that they would have learned throughout the week were, working with knife/peeler: cutting, peeling and chopping; working with measuring cups and spoons: dry measure vs. wet, doubling, leveling; cooking: frying, sauteeing, boiling water. They also learned to arrange meat and cheese platters. The foods that we made for lunch were usually an "easier" version of the foods that the older kids would make for dinner: mac and cheese from a box, meat ball sandwiches, submarine sandwiches, etc. While the younger kids were in the kitchen, the older girls were in the other room learning to work on a machine. The first project for both sets was a kitchen towel apron!
After lunch, the groups switched areas and the older children came into the kitchen and the younger children went out to sewing. The older children learned all of the same skills as the younger children, just at a deeper level. Instead of just learning to chop, we would work on different types of cutting like, cubing, dicing, julienne(ing?), mincing. Measuring, we would talk about not only doubling but tripling or even quadrupling recipes, essentially doing higher fraction work. The meals that they would make would be more elaborate. When the younger kids made boxed macaroni and cheese, they made homemade macaroni and cheese, when the younger kids made meatball sandwiches, the older set made a stuffed meat loaf, when the younger kids made submarine sandwiches, the older set made pork medallions in a taragon cream sauce. The beauty of the cooking plan was that every family went home with dinner already prepared.
The younger children had one day on the sewing machine and then a lot of handsewing for the rest of the week.
It was a great success overall and we will be holding another camp this summer, the last full week of June.
In reading through your ideas for a curriculum, I have been trying to think of how we might be able to bring some of these other ideas into play...particularly etiquette lessons, pantry/menu planning, and budgeting. Last year, we were limited by only really having two adults to work the camp...suffice it to say we were exhausted by the end of the week!
Are any of the books that you are recommending for a full year curriculum available from the library?
If you could add just one more component to this camp, what do you think you would add? Would you bring in another skill, like knitting/sewing? Or would you bring in something more along the lines of budgeting?
If I am changing the focus of the discussion too much, perhaps someone with infinitely more knowledge than I have could move this to a different area of the forum!
Thanks for starting this great thread!
Peace,
Lara
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Mackfam
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Lara,
I taught an ettiquette/manners course at our co-op a couple of years ago. It lends itself well to a group setting. I used Karen Santorum's Everyday Graces as well as Emily Post's (published 1920) Etiquette which you can either find on ebay, or a digital version is here. I covered basic forms of ettiquete including table setting and table manners. We also discussed some gender specific etiquette, such as how a lady offers her hand to shake, how a young man always offers to open a door for a lady.
This topic is something that figures in largely to the home ec course I want to teach to my daughters and sons.
Basic First Aid would also be a great course to offer in a home ec course setting.
Perhaps Gardening skills as well?
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Mackfam
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Cay Gibson wrote:
Jennifer,
If it's okay by you, I'm going to hold onto your Apron Strings.
I just printed out your blog posts and have them ready to go into the homemaking binders I make for my girls.
Thank you! |
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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~Rachel~
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I'm bumping this up because I'd really like to discuss the BOYS options. I am very interested in beginning DS's education in the 'things he should know' and my DH is on board  .
Obviously, since he will be turning 9 very soon, some of the recommended books might be great birthday presents
What skills/books and such do YOU think are necessary for a young man?
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MLoustalot
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Has anyone thought of using this resource for some course ideas?
http://www.chcweb.com/catalog/category8_213/catalog.html
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God Bless,
Melinda in SE Texas
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MLoustalot
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I have been working on a home ec course as well, and had the idea of having a patron saint for each homemaking activity -- here's the list my local homeschool group came up with. . it's been a while, so I don't recall why some were suggested, tho most are well-known and obvious.
Some activities are not particular to housekeeping, but may be necessary or helpful to living a proper Catholic life
Cooking - St. Martha
Sewing - St. Anne
Housekeeping - St. Zita
Laundry- St. Veronica
Budgeting - St. Matthew
Child Care and Education - Gerard Majella
Hospitality - St. Meinrad
Job seeking - St.Cajetan
Typing (typesetters) - St. John the Evangelist
Gardening - St. Gertrude of Nievelle
Flower arranging - St. Therese of Lisieux
Mary gardens - St. Rose of Lima &n bsp;
Hair and nails - St. Martin de Porres
Complexion - St. Anthony the Abbot
Wardrobe - St. Homobonus
Embroidery, Knitting, Crocheting - St. Rose of Lima
Prayer Life - St. Francis Xavier
Works of Mercy - St. Elizabeth of Hungary
Spouse Seeking - St. Valentine
Discernment - St. Francis de Sales and St. Alphonsus
Holiness - St. Josemaria Escriva/Teresa of Avila
Modesty - St. Maria Goretti
Reverence - St. Aloysius Gonzaga
Virtues - St. Hallward or Halbard
Outward happiness - St. Dymphna
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Melinda in SE Texas
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Marcia
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I have been working on the lists from the back of the Thomas Jefferson Education books...does anyone use those for life skills for kids? I really like the idea of "graduating" from different skills-the whole grocery thing is one on the list-being able to plan, shop and feed the family. Car maintenance is one I thought would be excellent....I am marking this thread...it's loaded with great ideas.
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krygerzoo
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For BOTH genders -- a simple WALTZ! It is sooooo sad to see a newly married couple sway back in forth/round & round for their first dance!
Boy manners - even my 3yo son lets girls or "old ladies" go first at any game played!! :) And the girls must be gracious when they accept!
Katherine
wife to David '89, mom to +Kaden Michael (8/15/94-5/10/05), Cassidy Grace '97, Collin '99, Claire '01, Ramsey '05, +MaryJosephine straight to Kaden's arms in '08, and a new one due Jan '09!
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wife to David '89, mom to +Kaden Michael (8/15/94-5/10/05), DD'97, DS'99, DD'01, DS'05, (+baby'08), DS'09, (+baby'12) & DD '13
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Mary G
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MLoustalot wrote:
I have been working on a home ec course as well, and had the idea of having a patron saint for each homemaking activity -- here's the list my local homeschool group came up with. . it's been a while, so I don't recall why some were suggested, tho most are well-known and obvious.
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This is a great list ... but what about St. Rafqa of Lebanon for knitting? I'm trying to make her the official patron but I haven't figured out how to do that so I figure if I get enough folks THINKING she is ... well, there you go!
We started a St. Clare Craft Club here and were doing the same with the patron saints -- it's fun to sit and do knitting or stitching or whatever while talking about a saint who has a connection!
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Home Economics Course - Planning Here
