Are you going to make a class that's 2 weeks of Home-Ec and then 10 weeks of something else? how are you going to staff this school?
General What subjects are the biggest waste of kid's time in school, and what subjects should be taught but aren't?
- Thread starter John Lee Pettimore
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riiiiight.
"lazy millennials?" Point is, you're making a value judgment on someone else's decision.
That's different from a skill or knowledge that everyone in our society should have as a minimum requirement.
Yep.
Everybody knows how to do it, and everybody does it the same way. They can't afford to have soldiers who don't know to brush their teeth and don't know that clean, dry socks are important.
Even just getting into the habit of making your bed in the morning has a big impact on your day to day life.
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I did woodworking and metalworking for two hours one afternoon per week for about 3 years at school. You grow up doing 12 weeks of maths, then 12 weeks of science, then 12 weeks of English?
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Good post, unfortunately critical thinking skills are the antithesis of public education.
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World history is often taught in the most boring manner possible, but is vital to getting people to see their lives in a broader human picture so needs more emphasis and a rethink.
Media literacy is also a course that should be added to the curriculum.
As for cutting something, I'd say the best thing to cut would be P.E. It should be replaced by general whole school fitness that kicks off every morning and then give kids an opportunity to specialize in sports of their choice for a year at a time until they reach 5th or 6th grade then pick one to stick with.
Media literacy is also a course that should be added to the curriculum.
As for cutting something, I'd say the best thing to cut would be P.E. It should be replaced by general whole school fitness that kicks off every morning and then give kids an opportunity to specialize in sports of their choice for a year at a time until they reach 5th or 6th grade then pick one to stick with.
I asked a question. That's all. You don't know anyone who was missing basic life skills as an adult, because nobody ever taught them? I know one guy who is a 40 year old computer technician who eats fish and chips or Chinese takeout 5-6 times a week, every week, because he's never turned the oven on. He doesn't know how to cook anything. All he does is heat shit up in the microwave. And that is very clearly reflected in his physique, energy levels and overall physical health. Could have been avoided, IMO, if he'd just been taught the basics of cooking before he got old enough that he was embarrassed to start to learn.
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It always confuses me when I meet someone who thinks that "history is boring".
Do you like movies? Do you like TV shows? Then you should like at least SOME history. All history is, is a collection of awesome stories. Most people love a good story. I never understood why history wasn't taught in that way.
Take Julius Caesar. The story of young Caesar being captured by pirates is fucking awesome. They captured him and told him they were ransoming him for 20 talents of silver. He got the shits with that, and told them that they don't know what the fuck they are even doing, he's a young up and coming aristocrat with some hype behind him, he's worth at least 50 talents, go back and demand more you idiots.
They did. Then he spent a couple of months training with them, playing dice games with them, calling them ignorant savages when they weren't fans of his poetry recitals, and telling them that when his ransom was paid, he'd come back and crucify them all. They laughed at their little hostage.
After a couple of months, the new, higher ransom was paid. Caesar left their island cove, the location of which he'd memorised, immediately raised a fleet and came back, found them and crucified them all just like he told them he would. But he had their legs broken/throats cut first (accounts vary) so they wouldn't suffer, because he had liked spending time with them.
And that's not even the time that the Dictator of Rome called 18 year old Caesar to him and told him that he was on the wrong side of the civil war and that was a death sentence, but he'd give him a pass one time because of his youth and the fact that he showed some promise. All he had to do was divorce his wife, and he could live.
18 year old Caesar looked the Dictator in the face and told him to go fuck himself. He'll divorce his wife if HE feels like it, not if you feel like it.
The dictator laughed, thought that was ballsy, and let him go.
So there's young Julius Caesar, before he'd done anything important. I was never told those stories at school. But it's a hell of a lot more interesting than reciting a list of names and dates. You can build a pretty decent layman's general historical knowledge just through reading interesting stories like that.
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Yeah sadly due to the introduction of standardized testing and deliverables based education, the memorize trivia approach has been the way history is mostly taught. It's a shame really and is always discussed among historians, but unfortunately they don't have a ton of influence on education policy.
Yep.
Having a good teacher who can tell that pirate story and make it funny and interesting, is much better than rote memorisation of names and dates. It gives you a sense of what the world of the time was like to live in, a sense of the extent and limits of Roman power at the time, and a sense of Caesar's personality and the charisma/personal force he had.
Same as I never really understood how badass the legions were, because nobody ever explained their engineering abilities to me.
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so you don't think this guy could watch some YouTube videos and learn to cook for himself?
I think they should spend as much time as it takes to get to the point that all young adults can cook healthy food from scratch. It's a necessary life skill IMO.
Sure he could. He was one of my flatmates for about 3 years, I tried to teach him a few times but he just had it in his head that he didn't like veges, end of story. His mum used to boil the fuck out of everything, mind. He was like a six year old when it came to food. Maybe if he learned the basics in school, he would have had a base to start from that just plain didn't exist when he moved out of his parent's house. I legit don't think he's ever even attempted to cook (as opposed to heat) a single meal in his life. Honestly, not even one. And that has basically turned him into a physical wreck decades before his time.
You can't eat out anywhere with him either, he'll literally ask for the kids menu portions to be upsized. When I say that all he ever eats is fish and chips, Chinese takeaways, candy and porridge, I'm not even kidding.
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I trust people to use their time as they see fit. Obviously I know how to cook, post pictures of stuff I've cooked all the time, been cooking since I was old enough to sit on the counter and hand grandma carrots.
but I don't see how in your example, a couple weeks of cooking classes are the difference. I'd say that
@kneeblock's "general health and fitness" class would cover the advantages of eating healthy.you don't have to know how to cook or be rich to eat healthy. You need to know how to grow your own food and use critical thinking.
Just to make sure I'm on the same page as you, you think people should put in time and effort to not be disgusting fat slobs?I trust people to use their time as they see fit. Obviously I know how to cook, post pictures of stuff I've cooked all the time, been cooking since I was old enough to sit on the counter and hand grandma carrots.
but I don't see how in your example, a couple weeks of cooking classes are the difference. I'd say that
you don't have to know how to cook or be rich to eat healthy. You need to know how to grow your own food and use critical thinking.
i think each person defines where "fat and disgusting slob" is for themselves. And if that's the life they want, then so be it.
But they should have access to information and critical thinking skills to make good choices to guide their pursuit of happiness.
Right.
You learned to cook. So now you can do it, and you enjoy it and it's a useful skill that you take for granted.
I never learned to cook growing up. My family was very traditional immigrant, and as a male, I basically wasn't allowed in the kitchen except to make coffee. I was lucky I had a girlfriend who taught me to cook.
I wouldn't do "a couple of weeks of cooking classes". It would be part of the curriculum for a couple of hours a week. You'd start out making French toast, progress to making pizza bases and pasta sauces and learning to bake, and end up making proper simple but healthy meals. A general health and fitness class sounds to me like a teacher at the front of the class, droning on about food groups and calories and carbohydrates to a class of kids who aren't paying attention at all.but I don't see how in your example, a couple weeks of cooking classes are the difference. I'd say that
A lot of people aren't in a position to grow their own food. Anyone who lives in an apartment, for one. I'm only now in a position where I can establish a garden if I want to. Before this house, I was flatting on six month leases. How many hours do you think I'm willing to sink into a garden when at any point I can go to the mailbox and see a letter saying that my landlord has sold the place and I have six weeks to leave?
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apartment gardens are a real thing. Again - you're carving out 5 hrs a week for a teacher to stand in front of a class and drone on about carbohydrates and olive oil and boiling steaks...it's not for everyone, and if you want to learn how you need the internet and permission to use the stove.
you don't need hours/weeks/months of learning time in a classroom setting.
Yeah as an Aussie, it blows my mind when I meet someone who can't swim. We just take it for granted. I mean I don't LIKE swimming, but I could do it by the time I was what, five years old?
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my kids get thrown in with clothes and shoes on when they're 3.
the smart, strong ones figure it out.
Well, you're going to be spending hours /weeks/months in a classroom setting regardless. May as well learn actual useful life skills while you're there. And you keep talking like it's one teacher who is responsible for teaching everything in the same classroom. Did you not have the maths block and the science block and the history block, and the bell rings and you all individually make your way to the next class?
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