I want to make a list of things that should be taught in schools, but aren't.
A post on Slug Taggart's facebook page has me wondering about all the things that used to be taught to students in years/decades previous, but no longer are. And furthermore, subjects and ideas that maybe have never been taught in schools that would have huge benefits if only they were.
Damn, I was using modern euphemisms. Let's try this:
production forecasting: Johnny grew 200 bales of cotton on 200 acres which cost him $5.00 an acre to grow and gin. If he receives $5.20 per bale at the market, how much more acreage will he need to match production for next season?
construction programming: Ted has contracted to build a 2400 square foot house. The house will need so many board feet of 2x4 pine studs, plates, rafters and joists; so many board feet of 1x12 pine subflooring, 1x4 oak tongue-in-groove flooring; lathing and plaster; shingles, nails, paint, cabinetry and fixtures; and labor . What financing will Ted need to start the job?
Profit and loss: Samantha has a fabric store. If she buys muslin at .20 per yard and sells it at .26 per yard, what is her profit or loss if she sells a bolt of 50 yards?
I found it in a thread called 'rational self-interest vs. self-serving about 5 weeks ago. Since I don't know how to cut/paste from within the Gulch (Yet. I'm sure someone will 'school' me on it.), you may have to go to that thread and look. Sorry.
my high school allowed us to "major" in a subject. we had medicine, law, entrepreneurship, technology, and visual arts. I chose entrepreneurship, which they decided to get rid of the year I was graduating. I made my disgust at this decision very public and took the opportunity to give an impromptu speech about this one day when they asked me to give a public presentation to other school district groups trying to decide whether to adopt our quirky way of structuring the school. I learned after I left the school that teachers used to warn one another about me... anyway, I was upset and vocal because I saw a genuine difference in the mentality of "business students" and how we conducted ourselves versus others. I first realized this when, in an economics class, the teacher asked us to split into two groups: one who said it was okay for a poor man to steal bread to feed his family, and the other who said one should never steal. everyone broke into two sides of the room except for the business kids. there were only three of us in that class--we were always the minority--but we all said we wouldn't join a side because we didn't have enough information. the teacher just told us to sit down. right or wrong, smart asses or not, we were at least trying to think independently. I credit that to classes that repeatedly told us to think outside the box and make the world our own as we learned to start our own businesses. telling kids it's okay to be creative, to try and pick yourself off the floor after a failure and not to stop until you succeed makes a huge difference. we were encouraged to think. it was great. I felt free and had so much fun learning. there were no rules, which meant no limits. our senior project was memorable. we wrote a curriculum for middle schoolers to receive basic business classes. we got the curriculum approved by the district, then organized hundreds of kids to leave their middle schools and visit us for a day. we had workshops and an awards presentation. we got 500 t-shirts sponsored, nearly $10k in sponsorships from local businesses, and our curriculum was even published by a pro publisher who liked what we were doing. I distinctly remember talking to the president of the publishing company. he signed the check and said, "this is for exuberance." he smiled and I was ecstatic. we invited the businesses who gave us money to our event and gave them framed thank-you certificates. I visited one of those businesses the other day and they still have the certificate hanging in the hallway, with my signature scrawled on the bottom. it was all a great learning experience. after we graduated and entrepreneurship was killed... nothing. what little creativity and independence they allowed, they took away. now it's just another mediocre school likely filled with kids who are becoming molded robots.
oh, kind of went off there thinking about how things were, once upon a time...I just want kids today to think independently.
I'd suggest philosophy next, but I think that idea will receive even less enthusiasm than business.
I was reasonably introduced into the story of our Revolution...and who our Founding Fathers were in that respect (bedroom gossip thankfully omitted).
I knew the branches of government, and how they remarkably kept things heading in the right direction.
I learned that the President was working under our 'permission', and that was the most important thing....
Our history, and the recipe for that wonderful banquet, needs to be paramount in what our newest come to realize.
Without that foundation, we are building upon quicksand.
CPR
dog training
customer service skills
how to make change
In my day, we had "retail" classes for those who were not college-bound.
In my mother's time - and into my own; but phased out - based on the program created by NERO WOLF - we had a banking program in school tied to a local savings bank. But note that today in fact this is indeed already a part of public education in high school, the Retail Cooperative program.
That highlights a serious challenge to this discussion: so many people disregard "common core" simply because they have no perspective. Some might know what this school board or that school system did, but in calling for a universal (national) solution to "education" (however defined) you need a very broad experience across the national educational topography.
Here is an article on how the US tennis program has tanked since they instituted a central planning system to develop new talent.
http://www.tennisconsult.com/develop-ame...
Had to put the link here since it wouldn't allow it in the gulch post link thingy. (?)