Does your child's middle or high school offer FACS/Foods/Life Skills/etc. classes?

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

my 6th grader is taking FACS now. It is ofered for 10 wks along with Art, Music and Tech.

I think it is very important. They learn basic sewing(this year), cooking(next year) , consumer, and time management skills.

In Tech they will learn to use basic tools.

Everyone should have the basics in these things. Not every one has a chance to learn them outside of school. I have a love hate relationship with the sewing machine, so I am glad DD is getting it from someone else! My mom still does our sewing for us - but I can if I HAVE to! Back in "the day", I learned much of this both in school and in 4H. Kids don't do 4H or Girl Scouts like they used to. I don't even think there is 4H around here, except for kids on farms raising/showing animals.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

In my experience, these classes have always been offered from middle school through high school, and in the younger grades, they have always been required. DS13 had a FACS class in sixth grade in his previous middle school.

This year (7th grade), we changed schools (open enrollment) for several reasons. One of the reasons was because according to what was presented on the school website, it actually looked like they offered more and better classes than the school we were in.

It has recently come to my attention during a conversation with my son, that they don’t have a FACS class in seventh grade. (I should have noticed earlier in the year as I check his grades online all the time, but I just didn’t think about it) I looked at the list/descriptions of the courses online again, and sure enough, it shows required FACS courses for grades 7-9, and then optional foods, sewing, life skills, and other similar classes for grades 10-12 (this school is K-12).

I asked the principal about this, and she replied that a while back, the teacher for those classes retired, and they haven’t been able to find anybody to replace her, even though they have kept the department open and have tried to replace her. The problem with this claim is, throughout this year, I have looked several times at the employment page on their website, and this position has NEVER been posted during this entire year. So I believe this may not have been a completely truthful answer. I think the more likely scenario is that they intentionally left the position open for budget reasons.

In addition to being concerned that my son is missing what I feel is an important part of his education, I also worry about what other classes I have been led to believe he will have the opportunity to take, but they will no longer offer (including several college credit classes we want him to take in the upper grades)

So my questions are:

If you have a middle schooler or high schooler, does your school have a FACS/Foods/Life Skills/Sewing/etc program?

For what grades are they offered?

And finally, how important do you feel these classes are in your child’s education?

Yes both the middle school and high school here have FACS classes, all grades.

However we have all kinds of "CORE CLASSES" that are on the table. Nine of them, I do believe.

For example if you are in music or choir and language for 7th/8th you are not able to take any FAQS.

My older dd when the band route and did not take FAQS and my younger dd did want to do music or choir which left free slots open. She is in 7th grade.

They call those classes "encore classes". They meet everyday at the same time. Last yr., she took keyboarding, sewing, cooking, art, french intro, spanish intro, woodshop, and materials processing (building machines).

This yr she is taking French all yr so she only got to pick 2 "encore classes" in which she took, art and business tech class.

She learned she is done with art and that she loves BUSINESS.

So to answer your question for my youngest the FAQS classes were vary valuable to her.

Next yr she is taking French again so can only take 2 classes and she choose Public Speaking and Business. Two of her favorite things.

 

[AtlantaSue]

My middle schooler had FACS last year (but I really can't remember what all they did....) and will have it again this next nine week period. I believe she has Band every Quarter as a "connections" class, and then gets assigned one other "connections" class such as FACS. We are in a somewhat rural area, so this Quarter it was AgTech...she and DH built a doghouse.
I told her this morning that she was going to be having FACS next Quarter and she was very happy, and said "OH Good!"-so obviously, she enjoyed it, which is half the battle in our house!

 

[Cindy B]

No the district hasn't had those type of classes for YEARS (I want to say at least 15 years!)

My home district is about 15,000 students, 17 schools. No Home Ec or shop classes of any kind in any of the three middle schools. Technically the only elective you have is the choice of either French or Spanish in middle school and the choice of either vocal workshop (chorus) vs. a regular instrumental class.

At one time they did offer a cooking class in the middle school but it was back in the late 70's early 80's. I worked at one of the district middle schools in the early 2000's and an electronic/robotics course was given to all the students. There were no true "shop" tools, just soldering irons.

At the high school level they have very limited "shop" electives. In fact most will be cut this year due to budget cuts. My son's high school has one wood shop class (and teacher), cooking class (a few periods a day-- one teacher). There is no auto shop, metal shop or anything like that.

There is a life skils class but it is only for the developmentally delayed older students who continue at the high school as a job training program. This job training program combines life skills, cooking, some basic trade skills along with job skill training. These older students are 17 to21 years old that don't go to college and continue at school as part of a sheltered workshop where they learn job and life skills. As part of this program, local businesses do have these students come in for job training part of the week as well. Most of the students work at a local grocery store.

 

[golfgal]

I'm in MN as well and our kids have FACS in middle and high school. We are on a trimester system (3 grading periods). In middle school they take one tri of FACS, one of art and one of shop (wood, metals, drafting, etc). FACS in 6th grade was cooking and sewing, 7th grade was cooking, sewing and something else, in 8th grade cooking, sewing and financial/money matter-with a fake checkbook and money management. In high school they have to take one tri of FACS-choosing from cooking, child development and about 5 other options. They can take more as electives but everyone has to have at least one to graduate.

I can understand where the school is having a hard time replacing the teacher. Most of the colleges have dropped that program area so finding new teachers is next to impossible.

 

[Anne34]

DD is in middle school. What would be Home Ec-old school term, they have starting at 6th grade. Now it does progress, because in 7 , they can bring home the "baby" home.


DD actually started taking sewing classes this week, not through the school but through a friend of ours who has her own studio. And she is started wanting to help me cook and she can do a couple things on her own.

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My kids have this in junior high -- it is on a trimester basis with art and tech or/computers -- they call it consumer ed. They do cooking in 6th, sewing skills in 7th, have the baby in 8th as well as other things. My kids have all loved it.

In high school there are many types of classes like this as well: Foods, sewing, family & consumer ed (like paying bills, job info, etc) and many others. We are in a big high school district and I really think that helps.

 

[Sgt Mickey]

No and I was disapointed.

 

[5lilfish]

My 6th grade DD and my 7th grade DS both take Home and Careers (basically sewing and cooking). They also take, in this rotation, Technology (woodworking), Art and Music. Both of them are in Band and that alternates with Physical Education.

Jess

 

[MerMom60_94]

DD didn't have any of these type classes in junior high. She now goes to an agricultural high school. She does not have cooking or sewing, but she does have health classes and three years of career planning courses. In the Senior year the students take a business management course that focuses in on finance and insurance and so forth. I think these are especially important classes for her. Also, due to the nature of the school, she has learned woodworking, welding, some basic mechanics, how to mow the lawn, how to plant, etc.

As for cooking and sewing, I always had DD in the kitchen with me as a toddler / small child so she learned some basics from me. As she grew older, she became fixated on the Food Network and now she's an awesome cook. Actually, if I want to buy steak I bring her with me because she does a much better job of choosing good cuts than I do. I have also taught her some sewing basics. We have a store near us that offers sewing lessons but she has never taken me up on signing up for them. She knows enough to get by. I am surprised, though, that these classes aren't standard offerings anymore.

 

[lillygator]

this is what we have here along with art, pe, chorus, comp tech, foreign lang, arts and instrumental music.
Life Choices 6th grade, Personal Development 7th grade, and Teen Challenges 8th grade are middle school courses that teach life skills. These courses focus on healthy, productive and responsible living. The life skills include nutrition, wellness, consumer awareness, family relationships and careers. There is a weekly food preparation activity. A craft project is completed in class. Teamwork and positive work habits are emphasized during the hands-on classroom projects

 

[PlutoPony]

FACS is required for 6th and 7th grade, and is taken for one quarter each year. The other 3 quarters students take shop,art, and computer. It's optional in 8th grade when kids taken either a full year of music (band, orchestra, or chorus) or one of the arts electives from the previous years. My son learned a few things in there and the kids seemed to enjoy the classes, but mostly they were considered breaks in the day from their academic classes.

Am not aware of any classes like this in the traditional high schools. It's possible these things are offered in the more vocational oriented programs however, in preparation for a career in fields like cooking/food prep, seamstress, etc.

 

[Motherofboys]

I am very thankful that our district still has these kinds of classes and has kids take them in 7th and 8th grades. Here's why:

Some kids are good at cooking, budgeting, sewing, woodwork -- why shouldn't they be able to discover that through school? Not everyone is going to go into a career in one of the "core" subjects.

Some kids have never been exposed to "from scratch" cooking, as research continues to prove how bad all of the processed foods are for us, maybe these kids will be the ones bringing that pendulum back in the other direction.

My son was taught checkbook balancing, budgeting, job/interview skills, and how a credit card really works, those things are critical for young people to understand (trust me, DH could have used that teaching! )

It makes me sad that we have become so short sighted as a nation to think that the only things that matter are what is on standardized tests.

 

[SydSim]

DD's future high school just added the financial life skills course to the curriculum - and it's mandatory. There are other life skills classes that she gets to choose from.

I had home ec/shop classes in middle school. Personally, i can't say that they taught me much but were enjoyable. I'm sure my DD will love cooking and getting to get what she makes

 

[Becky2005]

Our school very much is set up like it was eons ago when I was in school.

It's not really optional! 6th grade -- art/general music; 7th grade Home Ec./Tech Ed.
8th grade -- you get to pick your elective -- art, general music, Home Ec., Tech Ed. OR Foreign Language.

Now, in our case, my DS has not gotten the elective because he needed a reading booster class. In the general scheme of things, I guess it's OK but I am sadden he won't at least get to take Home Ec. It's really going to mess him up for next year because he won't have a clue how to sew anything and if he takes Home Ec. I guess they will expect you to have taken 7th grade Home Ec.

Once you get to High School -- more things open up in that regards...one class that is REQUIRED is Consumer Ed. They have Foods classes which basically if you want to be a chef, by the time you get done it's pretty detailed as I think they have several classes even advanced & the kids hold a Culinary Corner where they sell their creations at lunchtime. My DD is taking Fashion I this year and she is really liking it. I believe Fashion is basically sewing class but it's way more than that. I think they only offer Fashion I and Fashion II.

After reading through all the others -- I figured I would expand ours.

Middle School -- You have the core classes but then you also have the choice to take a Choir, Band, Orchestra or Study Hall. You may combine Band/Choir or Orchestra/Choir -- you can not combine Band/Orchestra or Music/Study Hall (normally). They take Choir T/Thu and Instrument M/W with Friday alternating or you just take 5 days/week of whatever your music choice is or study hall.

Then PE is required for all years of school. They have that every day. It's required to graduate other than you 1/2 semester of Health, you will have 3 1/2 years of PE.

6th grade -- 1 semester is General Music (so if you are in Choir/Band/Orchestra you get Music 2x day) and then 1 semester of Art. Those are not optional.

7th grade -- 1 semester of Home Ec (1 quarter sewing/1 quarter cooking); 1 semester Tech Ed. (1 quarter computer stuff/1 quarter woodworking). These are not optional.

8th grade -- 1 full year foreign language or you pick 2 electives out of the 4 you were offered the previous 2 yeas -- so basically 6th & 7th grade you get a taste of each thing & then 8th grade you pick 2 that you liked the best or you take a foreign language.

There are really are a lot of choices in our high school. We have everything from being able to get your cosmotology licenses by graduation time to the AP classes and everything in-between.

 

[Pigeon]

Ours has "Home and Careers" for a semester in 7th grade. My dd just finished it.

They learned a little sewing and a little cooking. They researched a career or two and took an aptitude quiz.

I'd hardly consider it a vital part of her education. We talk about different careers all the time, the education required and the expected salaries and benefits. She can already do a little cooking. I could show her the sewing in ten minutes if she was interested.

I'm not a big fan of "life skills" classes as mandatory school curriculum. That's why you have parents.

I'd be ticked off by the obvious lies you were told about filling the position, though. If they advertised it, they'd have a million applicants.

 

[golfgal]

Ours has "Home and Careers" for a semester in 7th grade. My dd just finished it.

They learned a little sewing and a little cooking. They researched a career or two and took an aptitude quiz.

I'd hardly consider it a vital part of her education. We talk about different careers all the time, the education required and the expected salaries and benefits. She can already do a little cooking. I could show her the sewing in ten minutes if she was interested.

I'm not a big fan of "life skills" classes as mandatory school curriculum. That's why you have parents.

I'd be ticked off by the obvious lies you were told about filling the position, though. If they advertised it, they'd have a million applicants.

Not true at all. First, very few colleges these days have a degree program for FACS any longer so there are not any new teachers coming out of college certified to teach this subject and since you can't teach without a teaching license, you can't fill this spot. If they could fill it they would. Our high school hasn't been able to replace the driver's ed instructors at our high school. The 2 they have have been trying to retire for 4 years now and they keep offering incentives to stay. They are both retiring after next year and they will probably have to drop that class from the curriculum because of that.

 

[Pigeon]

Not true at all. First, very few colleges these days have a degree program for FACS any longer so there are not any new teachers coming out of college certified to teach this subject and since you can't teach without a teaching license, you can't fill this spot. If they could fill it they would. Our high school hasn't been able to replace the driver's ed instructors at our high school. The 2 they have have been trying to retire for 4 years now and they keep offering incentives to stay. They are both retiring after next year and they will probably have to drop that class from the curriculum because of that.

Dh is a public school teacher. The guy he carpools with teaches these courses at his school. When they advertised this job last year, they had over 200 applicants.

The jr. high where my child goes replaced their retiring home and careers teacher a few years ago, with no problem at all.

 

[WDWMom]

At our MS we have a cooking class for 6th grade students who are not taking a music class. I think they made 6 things plus learned safety, tools, measuring. DS took it and it was a 6 week class. In the past, there has been a culturals food class for 8th graders not in music but that is gone.

In HS we have Food I and Foods II. They are both semester long classes. Next door neighbor used to teach these (she is now a counselor). I think they cooked once a week and learned the basics of nutrition, measuring and such. Foods II was more cultural based.

 

[luvmy3]

My dd will be in 7th next year and these are some of the courses offered in career and life sciences:
Clothing Management
Nutrtion Management
8th grade- Resourse Maganagement (career skills)
I don't know what the HS offers.

 

[Tigger2252]

In our district the kids are required to take half year of shop and half year of FAC in 8th grade. In shop they learned to build a rocket that they took outside and launched. They also built a beautiful clock for me.

In high school there are several different course offerings. My youngest took a Food and Nutrition course as well as a Culture and Foods course the first half of this year. In F&N they prepared meals and desserts, learned knife safety, food preparation, etc. In Culture & Foods they learned about different countries and prepared recipes from those countries. She really enjoyed both classes and was proud to bring home samples for us to try. I had never really gotten her to show much interest in cooking before she took these courses.

My oldest took a half year course that covered consumer stuff like apartment rentals, decorating, budgeting, etc.