Life Skills: Home Ec and Beyond

This course offers a practical, Biblical approach to learning necessary life skills. Students learn to craft resumes, budget, plan balanced meals, tackle laundry stains, and much more in this fast paced, hands-on course. Keeping Christ in the forefront, students apply decision making skills to the everyday tasks they will face as adults, thus creating a portfolio of life skills.

Many soft skills in home economics are forgotten in modern education and this course brings those skills back to life. By exploring the works of C.R. Wiley and Wendell Berry students learn the importance of the home in today’s society.

We are called to manage our finances well, and that starts in the home with wise financial decisions. This course teaches basic budgeting skills and wise use of consumer credit. In addition, we explore types of insurance, banking services, online shopping tips, and taxes. Crafting a working resume and convincing cover letter are important skills in the workplace. Students learn to create a unique resume using their existing experiences and practice responding to commonly asked interview questions.

Building on that foundation, students take their knowledge to the work areas of the home to explore the science of everyday tasks. What is baking soda and what does it do? What properties does hemp have in textiles? What temperature do you cook meat to? How do you get berry stains out of a shirt?

To round out the skills needed to survive the post-high school world, this course teaches students to consider the financial impact of student loans, and to evaluate a rental lease.

Course Objectives:

1. Understand the Biblical view of the household and its importance in today’s society
2. Create and implement a household budget
3. Create and implement a balanced weekly meal plan
4. Understand credit and the importance of credit in the finance world
5. Create a working resume
6. Understand the time-value of money and financial decisions

Texts:

• Wiley, C. (2019). The Household and the War for the Cosmos: Recovering a Christian Vision for the Family. Moscow, ID: Canon Press.
• Berry, W. (2009). Home Economics: Fourteen Essays. Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint.