You learned that in school!?

cleaning pot and rolling joints

This came up recently when I was teaching my kid how to make knots on the ends of threads after you finish hand-sewing something. My mom was here and said, "Where did you learn to do that?" Up until that moment I'd thought she taught me, but as I cast around for where else I would have learned it I remembered that it was my 1st through 3rd-grade teacher who taught me (and everyone else in the class). We all learned sewing basics and how to knit.

Our school had a sort of a wild reputation -- hippy-dippy, loosey-goosey, etc. -- and I remember a story about our principal taking some sort of skeptical people on a tour of the school and coming to our class, where everyone was contentedly knitting scarves.

I took (co-ed) Home Ec in high school, too, but I don't remember details. We did learn some good practical stuff.

Typing. (I almost typed "typoing".)

It was an elective.

snort

I learned typing and how to make a grill cheese sandwich using an iron.

I think that's about it.

the high school i attended had offered a male home ec course, but it was long gone by the time i got there, too bad i always wanted to learn how to hem pants, i can sew a button and i can cook, but any other sewing is way beyond my capabilities

wood shop, tools, power tools.

Typing, some cooking and sewing, auto mechanics, algebra, film production. Neat courses.

I learned how to read maps

Sewing - 7th grade
Cooking? No, that was in the Girl Scouts
Typing? No, taught myself on my mother's old Underwood
Knitting? My mother taught me knitting and embroidery
Art? Well, finger painting in kindergarten. Didn't take it in high school.
Music? Piano lessons after school in grammar school years; choir, in grammar school years, was a school activity. I still cringe remembering when I sang a funeral mass alone, no one else having shown up. (I am a miserable singer, always have been. That poor family...)
Carpentry/Shop? I wish I'd been able to take carpentry - not offered at my high school
Driving? My father taught me.
Baseball? Yes, Sister Mel was the pitcher (sixth and seventh grades)
Swimming? High school gym period
Tennis? High school gym period

I also learned knitting and sewing in school. Lots of other crafts too - typing later on, and then we had great electives like wood working and carving. One of the small wood boxes I made, I still have. Girls chose wood working and boys
got into cooking classes.

Yes .... but not in the 60's. (While the girls were in the needle etc classes, we taugh ourselves in ... how to demonstrate effectively and such)

We had home economics, wood shop and auto shop. Home economics consisted of both cooking and sewing lessons. I learned about nutrition and how to prepare various foods. In sewing class I learned how to make aprons, skirts and curtains and how to do basic knitting stitches. My brother learned cabinet-making and auto repair skills that he's used all his life.

In music classes, I learned to read music and play several musical instruments. I took graphic arts, photography and journalism classes and learned how to develop black and white film, use an enlarger to make prints, how to run a printing press, how to do page layouts, etc.


I learned to type, learned how to use microscopes, and a lot more practical skills.

Those classes all taught me skills I've used all my life.

I learned that I don't have ESP. But, accidentily, I was learning about statistics and scientific method.

I took auto shop and wood shop, welding and chemistry.

I learned the most from Home Ec.
Cooking .. basics. How to work with measurements, how to read maps...
I too had a teacher who gave us odd lessons. Interview lessons, no application forms though.

We had an elective about 'animal psychology' ... THAT... was interesting.

Woodworking, yeah. I loved that. Power tools, saws, all that fun stuff.

In addition to the basic things others have mentioned (typing, basic computer programming, sewing, basic cooking, woodworking), I also learned CPR. I had the option of learning automobile maintenance and repair, but I wasn't able to fit it into my schedule (conflicted with band... I was a band nerd).

Cool classes!

When I was in school girls couldn't take the shop classes. I did take stage craft though where we built and decorated sets for the school plays. That class served me well when I did studio photography!

We were required to take typing in high school.

Girls were required to take cooking and sewing in junior high. The boys took shop. I learned some fancy sewing in addition to the basics. Enjoyed it.

In our high school, we also had the option of taking "child care," which was more specifically a class on how to watch over groups of kids. I think the class served a double function because parents were able to drop their kids off for the day while students got to learn a few things about child development.