Little Bears Family Homeschool Study Notes

"Home Economics"
including
Godly Womanhood/
Preparation for Wife and Motherhood for girls

Contents

* Introduction *
* Childcare * Cookery * Housework * Gardening * Handicrafts * Pet Care/ Animal Husbandry *
* Money & Time Management * Internet Resources *
* General Resources for Godly Womanhood/
Preparation for Wife and Motherhood *

Introduction

There is no National Curriculum for "Home Economics". It seems to be a subject not taken seriously in schools but just squeezed in for a couple of years at Secondary school.

The training and qualifications necessary for the jobs of homemaking, and motherhood even more so, are seriously undervalued. In schools, the subjects of "home economics", "childcare" or "child development", "needlecraft" and related subjects, which are rarely taught prior to the "options" stage anyway, tend to be discouraged as non-academic subjects, leading only to "lowly" careers, and thus tend only to be taken up by a small minority of "under-achieving" girls, the assumption being that all girls will go on to a paid career and will have little or no need of these "lowly" subjects [the other implication being that these skills are easy enough and trivial enough to be picked "up on-the-job"].

However, since even high-flying career-women are more than likely to have at least one child in their life-time and be at home for at least a short period (and even high-flying career women still bear the majority of the childcare and housework burdens) this attitude is non-sensical and has led to a whole generation of women being under-qualified (or even totally un-qualified) for a job that they are very likely to have to fulfil at some point in their lives; leading, in turn, to a vicious circle of feeling inadequate and so leaving the children with carers and (too) early "educators" to go back to "work", convinced also that they have no choice financially (I speak from experience), thus setting an example for the next generation of girls and women.

Under the heading of "Home Economics", we would hope to redress the balance for the next generation in our family, including not only cooking but childcare, handicrafts, household budgeting and other such skills, and we feel that the best way to teach these things is by involving the children in the real-life running of the household.

Although I don't have any daughters (yet), I will be teaching "home economics" also to my son, as I feel that it is useful to at least introduce these things also to boys (1) in order that they may be able to take care of themselves (competent home-making wives are hard to find, and anyway, they may remain single) and (2) in order that they may appreciate the job that their wives are doing.

Childcare

Although it's wise to read as much as possible about childcare first, it can never prepare you for the reality of caring for a baby or child, so I feel that daughters (and sons) who grow up caring for their siblings have a great advantage when they become mothers (or fathers) themselves, over those who didn't have that opporunity (for example, through going to school). It can also be argued that such a child will relate to children much better than one who has been segregated with its own age-group.

Themes

* Pregnancy * Foetal development * Birth (& midwifery) * breast-feeding * weaning *feeding * nappies * bathing * clothing * Areas of development & growth: Physical (gross & fine motor), digestive, vision & senses, weight, mental, emotional, sleeping, speech * play * safety * equipment * First Aid * Emergencies * Illness * Vaccination * Caring for a sick child *

Recommended Books

There are, however, lots of really good childcare manuals, particularly for the birth-to-toddler stage:

Reccommendations would be appreciated!
Suggestions would be welcome!

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Cookery

Not so long ago, I was asked if I had learnt to cook at school. The answer was a definitive 'no'! Learning a couple of recipes badly is not learning to cook! So this, of all subjects, has been (and indeed, still is) learning on the job!

In addition to teaching cookery, I also hope to encourage a healthy attitude to food & nutrition.

Themes

* Food groups: Dairy, Meat, Fish, Cereals, Fat, Fruit & Veg, Proteins, Carbohydrates, Vitamins & Minerals * Breakfrasts * Lunches & snacks * Dinners * Desserts * Bread & Baking * Cakes * Food Shopping * Shopping Lists * Budgeting * Meal-planning * Sauces (sweet & savoury) * Jams & preserves * Freezing * Drying * Canning * Baby food * Food problems & eating disorders * Catering for special diets * Herbs & spices * World cuisines: French, Indian, Chinese, Thai, Italian, Jewish, Traditional British, American, etc. * Vegetarian *

Recommended Books

Specifically for Children

Cookery Courses

World Cuisines

Miscellaneous

Suggestions would be welcome!

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Housework

It used to seem to me that "housework", cleaning and tidying, was the biggest and most unpleasant part of being at home! Although I have changed my attitude, and realise that I should try and do it "as to the Lord", I still feel overwhelmed by housework and feel thoroughly unprepared for this job! Therefore, I want to try and make sure that my children are prepared, by making sure they grow up "doing their bit"!

Themes

* Routines * Cleaning * Tidying * Washing * Drying * Ironing * Sweeping * Dusting * Hoovering * Window-cleaning * Kitchen and bathroom hygiene *

Recommended Books

Suggestions would be welcome!

Gardening

Although my maternal grandmother was a green-fingered whizz with gardening, I never took the opportunity to learn from her wisdom, and so this is a subject I know very little about, much less have experience of or expertise in so, again, in order to "teach" gardening, I will be having to learn the art along with my children, "on the job".

Themes

* garden design * trees: evergreen & deciduous * shrubs * flower borders: annuals, bi-annuals, perennials * keeping a lawn * fruit & vegetables * herbs * seasons: spring, summer, autumn, winter * disease & pests *

Recommended Books

  • Dr. D.G. Hessayon's Expert series - we have "The Garden Expert" and "The House Plant Expert" which seem to be brilliant, but there's at least 9 or 10 others including Flowers, Fruit and Vegetable gardening.

  • "My Fun to Garden" by Percy Thrower of Blue Peter fame, published by Hamlyn in 1976 (also published as "Gardening is Fun"), it's most likely out of print so you may have to search hard to get hold of it.

  • Usborne: "What Shall I Grow?"

  • Usborne First Skills: "Starting Gardening"

    •

    Suggestions would be welcome!

    Handicrafts

    Handicrafts nowadays seem to be primarily seen as "hobbies", something to do with your "leisure time". Well, I can see my leisure time slowly dwindling away to nothing, and yet I see handicrafts not just as something pleasant to do with my spare time, but rather something beautiful and creative which homemakers should "make time" to do, in order to make their houses "homes". (Ideally, of course, there should be another advantage - that of saving money by making things yourself, but if you want to do that, you need to choose your suppliers wisely.) Of course, it can be a relaxing pass-time, but I really want to teach handicrafts to my children (as I learn them myself, surprise, surprise...) so I mean to "timetable" it in.

    Themes

    * Needlecraft * cross-stich * embroidery * tapestry * knitting * crochet * tatting * lace-making * machine sewing * dressmaking * soft furnishings * darning & repair * rug-braiding * toy-making * candlewicking * calligraphy * flower arranging * macrame * quilting * rubber-stamping * weaving * basket-making * candle-making * soap-making * spinning *

    Recommended Books

    I haven't put together a list of books for handicrafts yet (all the books I have are second hand from charity shops!); so in the meantime you may like to take a look at the links on my handicrafts page: here

    Suggestions would be welcome!

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    Pet Care/ Animal Husbandry

    It has always been a dream of ours to live and work on a far and keep small livestock, to be able to be more-or-less self-supporting, producing our own food, perhaps even producing enough to sell. It seems, though, that for us and for most people in this country, that this is an impossible dream, with land prices so high, for one thing.

    However, I still wonder whether it might be possible to have a small amount of animals even in our limited space. Of course, we're both "townies", and I have very little idea of what is involved in farming and keeping animals, but I thought I might start out by reading as much as I can, and then eventually it might be possible to get some chickens and/ or ducks for egg-laying, perhaps a nanny goat or small cow for milk (I'm told that the Dexter, for example, is a small breed of cow, which might be suitable), perhaps a sheep for wool and maybe one day a horse (complete with carriage) for transportation!

    I don't know whether I have the stomach for keeping animals for their meat - I do know some ladies who slaughter their own chickens (although some of them get their husbands to do it!) but we were both vegetarians not so long ago, so we're a bit squeamish about such things! Then of course, I would like a cat for "mousing" as well as guard dog, in traditional farm style!

    Themes

    * Chickens * Ducks * Cows * Goats * Sheep * Which breeds? * Eggs * Milk * Wool * Meat * Hygiene * Feeding * Housing * Slaughter *

    Recommended Books

    Money and Time Management

    How I wish I had been taught the value of money as a child! By the time you know it, you could have wasted a fortune! And when I consider the amount of time I've wasted so far in my life... well, it just doesn't bear thinking about! Again, this is going to be difficult to teach since l'm not sure I have the skills myself; and yet I'm determined to learn for the sake of my children.

    Themes

    * stewardship * budgeting * prioritising * time-tabelling * keeping to budget/ time-table * saving * using money/ time wisely * planning for the future * pensions * investments * giving * tithing * economics * home business *

    Recommended Books

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    Godly Womanhood and
    Preparation for Wife and Motherhood

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    © Sharon Mortemore
    11 February, 2000