Should there be a HS class that focuses on life (not biology)

oops wrong image

 

this is why I'm leaning towards going for a Masters degree in middle school counseling.

because the trips to the counselor's office were never as dreadful to the trips to the principal's office. the counselors cared and had a meaningful effect on us that were straying down the wrong path...

as for the OP, when I was in middle school and high school, some of the best electives classes besides band were wood shop, metal shop, auto shop, agriculture, personal dynamics, home ec, etc... many of these were offered off site- at the local ag barn for instance, and in conjunction with a student work program. the auto shop kids got out early release and would work in the local garages as apprentices.

and the last time I checked economics is still being offered in schools.

these options must not have been available for the OP?

 

the underlying point of algebra type classes is to teach people how to problem solve... and there are multiple ways to solving 1 problem. different ways of thinking.

i do believe there should be more 'practical' classes. cant believe so many people dont know the difference between DC and AC power.

but instead high schools push academics and higher level education when they should focus the majority of the students on trade/practical applications.

 

My high school geometry teacher did nothing but throw us random "life lessons" like he just discovered them or something. He spent like 10 minutes on math and the rest was telling us how the real world was and took it upon himself to get us prepared. Also the tests were open notes/book.

tldr: I didn't learn jack in school.

 

Yes! I always thought there should be one. College isn't for everyone and even at that, kids at that age could use a class that teaches life skills. It would help immensely.

 

It wasn't required, but my high school had a class called "math of money" that taught stuff like this.

 

I think things like that should be absolutely necessary. I didn't learn things like investing, how to build credit or how to buy a home. I had to research them and find out.

 

Are you still attending High School?

 

We have a mandated personal finance class that teaches all of that, as well as a cooking and sewing class, and in driver's ed we learned how to change a tire.

 

I wish, been out for a long time, but even when I was there Home Ec and Shop etc were gone.

 

My high school didnt have a lot of those classes. I tried to take an auto-detailing class (was supposed to teach how us to detail a car and eventually learn how to pin stripe a car). They counselors looked at my grades and told me no. Apparently, they reserved those classes for people who they thought wouldn't make it into college.

I feel like a lot of high schools (especially ones with smaller budgets) don't do the sort of classes that will prepare kids for the real world who don't go to college. Now, through my work, I'm volunteering for a program called Junior Achievement. It is kind of a personal finance class for middle school and high school kids that people volunteer to teach.

 

It was kinda the same at my high school. The credit didn't count towards an advanced diploma so as a result most of the people in it weren't college bound.

 

We did have classes that did all of those but they were seperate classes. Cooking class, checks and balances class ect. If all were slammed together they would have been very hard to keep up with.

 

Some very interesting anecdotes about the kind of classes people would've preferred. Although I want my children to have the same type of schooling as I had (physics, philosophy, calculus, study abroad trips, Spanish literature, etc.), I would vote for people who reform our education system so that there are more choices on trade-type programs.

 

Most of the OP suggestions sound like stuff parents should be teaching to their kids. I don't think it's a school's responsibility to teach this stuff. If you have ****ty or distant parents then you're SOL; hope you have enough common sense!

 

Funny enough, I liked that first picture more. I think it applies to this topic: young people neglecting to learn basic skills leading to difficulties later in life. Put in the work early, seek out this info, and it will benefit you in the long run. But if you don't, don't complain that nobody taught you: its out there, you just have to go get it.

The greatest thing missing from young peoples' lives today is intellectual curiosity.

 

That's a good image for the D&D.

 

Or someone raising his daughters well. :grin:
I'm not depending on the school system to turn my children into well rounded and skilled individuals.