When most people recollect home economics class, they remember building a birdhouse or parenting a lifelike baby that cried and wet their diaper. Although home economics is no longer a widely offered course, it is an important field of study. Mainstream public school curriculum, especially in the western hemisphere, lack the inclusion of pertinent life skills that a course such as home economics offers.
The goal of home economics or family and consumer science as it is referred as now, is to educate students on the multi-dimensional aspects of dominating and maintaining a home and a family. These skills are crucial for success, peace and unity in the home and in the community.
The Seven Key Areas of Home Economics
Cooking
Cooking in home economics entails being able to cook a balanced meal, and being knowledgeable on food safety and preservation. Meal hosting for one’s family and large crowds is another important skill to acquire as being a great host leaves a lasting impression on guests. There are many things you can do to strengthen your culinary arts skills and knowledge. You can attend physical or virtual cooking classes. You can purchase several cookbooks to broaden your skills. You may even want to shadow a family chef or friend.
Home Design and Management
This area focuses on educating on interior design, cleaning, decor and organization. Having a keen understanding of flow and item placement is necessary to excel in decorating a space. Pinterest offers plenty of home decor and organization ideas. If you wish to improve in this area, you can download home design applications such as Property Brothers Home Design from Android’s Play Store or Apple’s App Store. Home design magazine subscriptions are also a good tool.
Child Development
Child-rearing through education on the various stages of child development, safety, and care are the highlights of this area. Taking child safety courses such as first aid, fire safety and CPR are beneficial in improving one’s knowledge in early childhood education and development. You can even become certified in those areas. Another necessary channel to being a great caregiver is to seek therapy. Getting therapy to deal with any of your own childhood traumas will aid in thinking clearly while dealing with children.
Education and Community Involvement
Moral and ethical lessons, as well as basic reading and math skills, are necessary know-hows to instill in children before they enter school. There are many avenues to develop these skills. There are plenty of free applications with chronological lessons on reading and math. You can rely on the positive principles you have adapted from your own childhood. Joining a local church and serving in a ministry has proven to be spiritually beneficial. You can get to know your neighbors and be active in your community. It is also rewarding to have regular family gatherings.
Budgeting and Economics
Family shopping includes wise planning and budgeting of the expenses within a household. Improvement in this area consists of using accessible tools such as Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets to aid in organizing and identifying financial transactions. Additional helpful tools are user-friendly financial applications which aid in finance and accounting. Dave Ramsey’s EveryDollar Budget App is also a great resource.
Sewing and Textiles
Being adept in sewing clothes and doing alterations is a great skill to have. To develop or improve in this area, you can take a few sewing classes, setup a sewing room or sewing area in your home and practice sewing regularly. Educate yourself on the origins of various textiles and how to properly care for them. Sewing patterns help novice learners perfect their craft. You can purchase patterns from any fabric store or large retailer with an arts and crafts department.
Health and Hygiene
This division of home economics deals with caring for ill family members, sanitation, and being able to quarantine the sick from the healthy. Familiarizing with common remedies for common illnesses is paramount. Do so by maintaining good stock of generic or brand-named medicine as well as natural medicine, supplements, teas, herbs and vitamins. Having canned soup on hand is also helpful since they typically have a long shelf life.
Which area(s) of home economics do you excel in? Which area(s) would you like to improve on?
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-Love
