Comments Wanted: The Absence of Practial Education
Today’s topic for discussion (which I skipped over yesterday–oops! Sorry Kathy) is posted by Kathy:
“My debate (if you want to call it that), is about why so many people value a strict academic education and then squeeze in the practical skills where they can? Why do parents let their children be involved in extra activities (sports or whatever) but their kids can’t build a bird house, change the oil in a car, cook a meal from scratch or sew a garment? I know a guy with a Masters Degree…as sweet as he can be, he was in his early 20s and had no clue how to use a hammer. That to me is insane!Even among Christian homeschoolers the majority seem to still be making a god out of education and are lacking in the basic everyday skills needed to make a well rounded adult.”
No related posts.
homeschooling | Word Warrior | 
October 31, 2007 2:11 pm
Audio available soon!
I agree that this is a tremendous problem! We are becoming more and more dependent, and less able in just about every area.
Perhaps the biggest problem is that parents that did know how to do things became to busy to pass it along. It goes back to a lack of understanding about the sheer importance of discipling/training children.
Other things are now more important…we pass the torch onto someone else and trust they will teach our children all they need to know.
And how true that so many parents feel it absolutely essential that their child become immersed in sports (not that there’s anything wrong with sports, per se), as if he will actually grow up to be a professional (very few do), while completely neglecting to teach basic life skills that could make a difference in whether they are able to survive on one income once they’re married!
(What I mean is, if a man has to pay someone to do everything for him, and if a family is always eating out and buying convenience food because Mom doesn’t cook, and if they don’t know how to do basic repairs and such, the budget gets tight in a hurry.)
I totall agree. I a friend that would like to stay home. While they do a lot of things to their house on their own, I see a lot of areas that they pay for a “professional” when a little do-it yourself book or asking a friend for help would make a huge difference.
I want my children to be “book smart” but I would rather have them “street smart” (as grandma put it) any day.
Don’t know if that all makes much sense…I’m in a hurry.
Hugs,
Carmen
Academic skills are not unpractical, especially in today’s rapidly changing, technology-based world.
Sure there needs to be balance. Popular Mechanics recently ran an article listing 25 skills every guy should possess (ie. changing a tire). I thought that was great.
The kid who doesn’t know how to wield a hammer may go on to make millions by inventing an Internet search engine.
In order to succeed in today’s economy, one’s skill base has to be relevant.
This requires flexibility and non-rigid thinking.
I agree with what elizabeth said, buuuut I also feel that basic life skills training has really fallen by the wayside. I mean, if a guy is smart enough to make millions making up a search engine, then he should be smart enough to pick up a ‘do-it-yourself’ book.
Really, there are different intelligences, and different personalities, and different economies, and different talents, yadda yadda. I think ignoring any area is detrimental to the whole person. I think it is very important and practical to be book smart, and very important and practical to know how to sew a button back onto a shirt. The artist may never paint well with words, and the poet may never rhyme with colors. But understanding and appreciating art is no less important for the poet as learning to construct proper sentences is for the artist. Maybe the ‘intellectual’ won’t build himself a Craftsman home, and the carpenter won’t be able to create an innovative avenue for information dissemination. But basic computer skills are a handy tool for the carpenter, and at least understanding the difference between a socket wrench and a phillips screwdriver and in what manner they may be applied is a handy tool for the web developer.
I guess what I’m saying is, there isn’t anything wrong with sports or dancing or art or music or classical educational disciplines, any more that there is something wrong with gardening, sewing, cooking, and cleaning. To me, they are all necessary and part and parcel of being an adult. Being fluent or at least fluid in basic life skills as well as more intellectual pursuits is a must for our rapidly changing world.
I agree that this is an important issue; I think what is often missed by the educational elite is that the practical skills ARE necessary.
My husband really dealt with issues of identity as a young man because his father had never taught him to barbecue, or change the oil, or mend a fence. These things aren’t difficult to teach- but they do take time and intentionality.
I have to admit I have felt resentment that I never was even asked if I wanted to learn to cook. It wasn’t even a thought. My mom did a GREAT job of loving us and showing us servant love. But I never learned to mend a ripped knee on jeans. I never learned to make basic things (for example, when we got married, I had to read the back of the package on the rice bag to know how to make it)… I missed out on many essential, daily things that are a part of womanhood.
We owe it to our children to not just teach them the big things of life, or the interesting things of life, but also the basic things of life as well… my husband now knows how to grill and has fixed many things around our house, and I’m learning to mend clothes, and have been carefully studying and practicing cooking for years now… but we still lack skills in these areas because we lacked a simple introduction.
It doesn’t have to be a gourmet cooking course or a handyman’s dream education… but a few things here and there would go a LONG way to encouraging masculinity and femininity and secure identities in our children as successful, contributing adults in their families and homes.
Thanks for bringing this up!
~Jess
By no means am I saying that one should not be well educated in academics, but after 15 years of home schooling I have no doubt that the majority believe their children need to know the higher maths and sciences (which is fine), and their children are involved in a dozen extra curricular activities, but they don’t see the importance of the simpler, needful things of maintaining a home and property.
I know God did not create all of us to be able to do well in all areas, nor enjoy them all and we do have to train our children towards their God given bend. My issue is that the computer engineer also needs to know how to change the tire on a country road in the middle of the night and how to temporally mend a burst water pipe.
I have one daughter that loves to clean and one that loves to cook, but they both are capable of doing both task well.
I grew up homeschooled, sorta in the middle of no where. As children, my brothers and I learned that if we couldn’t fix it, how to figure out if someone we knew could, and how to barrow a necessary tool from a friend of a friend. We watched my dad learn plumbing from library books.
So when something goes wrong, most of my thinking is outside the box. Can we fix it? Who do I know who is knowledgable about this sort of thing? Could we offer an invitation to dinner in exchange for help? (We’re a young couple and most of our friends are single and starving, so this works, LOL)
On the other hand, dh grew up with a “Something’s not right – better call in a proffesional” approach. Mainly because of my hesitancy and willingness to seek help elsewhere, he’s learned all kinds of things about cars, pumbing, and electical work. Dh *LOVES* to learn – but most of the time he simply has no idea that a non-professional can do such a thing.
And yes, his family is a ‘sport’ family.
After reading all the comments, I feel extremely lucky for catching a man who is getting his PhD AND can paint walls and build shelves!
Wow, great discussion. I don’t know how it’s happening but it does seem as if there is an over emphasis on “book learning” and truly useful everyday skills are being left alone. My mother never really learned any homemaker skills and so passed virtually nothing onto me. I do remember one comment she made about the importance of me going to college and having a “career” so that I could afford to pay somebody to cook and clean for me.
I wonder if that is part of the loss of these skills. Parents are thinking that their kids can just get good jobs and pay someone to do all these everyday things.
It is a shame though. Now we’ve got a generation, possibly two generations, who are self teaching these skills just so that they can pass them onto their own children. I know that I’m going to make sure my kids can cook, clean, and do basic repairs!
It all depends on what you’re raising your child FOR! My parents, for example, love me very much but raised me to hire things out and not do them myself. They had the money for that lifestyle and just passed it on to me. (Now it drives me crazy when they move every couple years and buy ALL NEW FURNITURE b/c the old stuff doesn’t match the new house… Argh… But I love ‘em I love ‘em I love ‘em LOL!)
Of course, getting to college and not knowing how to do the laundry, or how to make a SANDWICH (!!) or anything was downright debilitating. On my first attempt at making spaghetti, I threw away an expensive pot because obviously I couldn’t cook. I didn’t know you had to DRAIN the noodles and the stuff congealed and got very nasty. And I was *not* going to touch that pot again.
So I had a few third thoughts about whether to post on the “girl going to college” scenario because I know most young ladies being “trained up in the way they should go” by the readers of this blog do NOT have those difficulties. But for me, it helped me to become an adult.
I came from a very secular home and just learned worse and more liberal secularism at college LOL! But I also learned that the Bible had books INSIDE it and it wasn’t one book. I also learned that Abraham wasn’t really a man; he was an amalgamation of various nomadic tribesman common to the area during that era… LOL!! (Yes, I unlearned that later!)
GOD is good though.
I have married a very good fellow who has taught me that money does not magically arrive in the checking account and you need to keep track of it. How to shop different places for different things, even. A broken button does NOT necessitate a trip to the department store, you know.
To me, college and marriage WERE my “practical education.” I hope I’m not muddying the waters by saying that b/c I see BOTH SIDES of that sending the girls to college conviction because of this practical education issue.
God bless. Thanks for listening LOL!
Mrs. C
There’s a wonderful book for sons (and their dads!) called The Dangerous Book for Boys by the Iggulden brothers. It teaches boys all the things that boys are “supposed” to know. How to build a fort, read nautical flags, identify bugs and animal tracks, building simple circuits, building a workbench, shooting marbles, the constellations, tying knots, even some grammer advice.
It’s a very fun book. My son LOVES it.
“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, “I used everything you gave me.” Erma Bombeck
I just want to say, “Kathy makes me tired!”
BTW, we are a sports family. My hubby has figured out a TON of electrical, and practical skills on his own since he is from a sports family. He thinks sports are important, for a bunch of reasons he told me the other night (when I told him about this topic) that are really great and I believe right and true. He thinks physical fitness is important and learning how to deal with situations outside of the homeschool environment is important and it has been a positive thing for our family and children. We are there all the time and he coaches a lot and we KNOW what is going on all the time.
That said, it’s also important to us to try to “teach” the practical skills. Right now my dh is installing a pocket door and the boys are helping. My daughter is sewing all her Christmas gifts, with no help from me, I ihave provided books and materials for years, but am lacking in the patience dept. LOL We aren’t very great practical teachers b/c we don’t know much. But I CAN cook pretty well and I can clean of course. The other stuff I can encourage…I am just not too crafty.
All that to say, maybe the sports crowd and the intellectual crowd and the practical skills crowd don’t have to be mutually exclusive…but different bents of personalities and backgrounds (and energy levels,
) may lend themselves more to certain ones.
Just for the record, we are not anti-sports, our kids have played on teams for several years.
) Though I must admit, I’m glad we aren’t now.
Bran…how do I make you tired???
) Sorry.
Kathy …Oh I was referring to the quote you posted about using all God gave you.
I think you are doing a great job at that and are so industrious and creative and busy teaching all of those great practical skills. You’ve always got something going! I think it’s great.
awww
) Thank you Brandy…you’re sweet!
I just came across your post. I totally agree. So many people feel that books are more important then real life skills. My kids know both. and the ones that are interested have joined some sports, too. Most of their physical education is on our property, building and cleaning up after the animals that they choose to have. My kids also have inside and outside jobs and learn to solve problems of many kinds by 1st hand experience and a little question answering from books and their parents.