As explained in the book, "Home Economics: Fourteen Essays," the heart of this study is household management and stewardship. Though many might perceive this field as antiquated housewifery coursework, learning create a healthy, happy home is highly relevant and useful to either gender. Creating a course in home economics is achieved by touching on all of the principles in this field and balancing it with an educational component.
Instructions
1. Design a nutritional unit. Nurturing loved ones at home must be done through proper cooking techniques tempered with solid knowledge of nutrition. Teach the class the fundamentals of nutrition: Highlight the importance of food groups, fats, calories, proteins and carbs. Offer tips on read nutritional labels and which ingredients to avoid, like trans fats and too many additives.
Teach the class proper storage, measurement of ingredients and good hygiene.
Offer cooking and baking courses. Choose recipes that are healthy and simple to make. Select versatile recipes, like pastas, soups, vegetable stir-fries and basic cake mixes. For baking, teach breads and simple cake recipes.
2. Devise family-oriented lessons. Prepare students for the difficulty of being a stay-at-home parent by teaching basic child care. Explain the needs of newborns and what to expect during toddler years.
Show the class administer first aid. Give safety lessons like what to do in the event of fires and other emergencies. Provide extra credit to students who take initiative to become CPR-certified.
3. Develop lessons on resource management. Managing the resources in the household can save the family money. Teach students manage a budget. Explain interest rates on credit cards and maintain good credit.
Give life skills tips, like shop for groceries by looking at cost per ounce instead of the price tag. Additionally, teach "survival sewing" like mend a shirt, darn a sock and fix a broken zipper. Offer crafts that develop these skills, like make a backstitch and cross-stitch.
Provide ways to conserve water and electricity, like watering the lawn during dusk instead of the day and turning off lights that are not in use.
4. Design a community-outreach unit. In addition to being a good member of the home, teach students to be good members of the community as well. Stress the importance of voting, attending town hall meetings and parent teacher associations.
Design a project that requires students to volunteer in the community. Instruct them to sign up as a poll booth worker, blood donor participant, senior citizen home or recreation center volunteer.
5. Write homework and exams. Create worksheets that test a student's knowledge from each unit. For example, create short-answer questions that ask respond to a potential carbon monoxide leak or what to do when an infant is choking.
Lessonplanet.com suggests making a few homework assignments based on required reading: Choose reading topics that discuss the evolution of home economics or the importance of the home.
Tags: Teach class, this field