Which subjects............

Nowadays?

Life ettiquite 101

Included in that would be the following topics

Empathy - This COULD happen to you.

Look behind ya before you drop that door on someones face!

How to say "after you" when the choice is for you or someone older than you going through a door, passage first.

How to behave in public places like restaurants aka "those looks you're getting aren't because there're checking you out"

Home Finances 101

How to balance a checkbook
How to understand a cel phone bill
How to understand what you're getting (and not getting) when you sign a contract
How to figure out credit card interest, and the length of time to pay off something if you only pay off the minimum amount every month
How to plan for retirement
How to budget
How to save money on necessities and luxuries

How to operate a lawn mower.
how to change a light bulb.
How to use a screwdriver, hammer and wrench.
Basic auto care (i.e. how to put gas, oil, etc... in it.)
Basic home maintenance (paint a wall, replace a faucet washer, etc..)

I'd roll Chai's and Jes's items in with my list and call it "Life Skills".

proofreading M&Ms. Kids are terrible readers. Might I suggest, no more fancy courses like "Gas Chromatography" and, instead add another unit of reading skills.

Well, spidergal, first I would make it mandatory to include a course in the learning process. If a child learns the nature of his mistakes, then he is not likely to repeat them. That would go across the curriculum and include most of what the other had said here.

That's about it for now.

More basic life skills

How to read a map
How to find your way around town
How to find your way around an unfamiliar place
Understanding the US/Canada highway system
How to program a VCR
Basic facts about home ownership (e. g. that, in many states, you're responsible for fully clearing snow on any sidewalks in front of your home, and can be liable if anyone slips)
How to unclog a drain
How to whip up dinner from what's in the fridge (not standard cooking as this comes under Home Ec; I'm talking about a quick supper with "found" foods in the fridge and pantry)
Understanding pet ownership
Dealing with the police
Understanding local government
Working with local government (e. g. how to look up a deed, how to file a small claims lawsuit, how to put in for a name change, etc.)

Work/Looking for a Job 101

Looking for a Job
Resume Writing
Cover Letter Writing
Interviewing
Networking
Researching companies
Using search engines
Using online job search services
Working with recruiters
Negotiating salary
Understanding benefits
Calculating overtime
Thank you letters
Cold calling
Dressing for an interview

Work
Office politics
Reviews
Getting in on time
Dressing for success
Working with a union (if applicable)
Getting along with coworkers
How to brew coffee
Office organization
Telephone skills
Handling paperwork
Very basic computer skills (other computer work would, presumably, be handled elsewhere, plus anything too advanced can easily become obsolete)

Communication

including identity, conflict, conflict resolution, empathy (stealing that from chai tea), assertivity, negotiation, etc. etc.

Everyone of us here seems to advocate the teaching of life skills. That is right in any case. Aeronautics, medicine, arts are all beautiful subjects- they teach us how to be engineers, doctors and teachers but NOT successful engineers, successful doctors etc....

I agree to Chai Tea.

I think, especially for India's education structure, that reading books like Magic of thinking Big, Think and Grow Rich and See YOu At the Top should be made compulsory. They could have it under a subject like Personality Development or Life Ethics or anything similar.

Spidey - Why do you think those books contribute to personality development or ethics.

Actually, whenever I hear people talking about books such as that, I very much distrust their ability to function as a empathetic, caring human being.

It makes me want to run in the other direction.

In other words, books that these are so Outwardly oriented.

I think by developing your inward thoughts and skills you will be better able to handle what life brings your way.

What's that salesmans name? Zig Zigler? ooooh, I cringe when I think of him....it's all about manipulating other people to think in such a way so that they further your agenda.

I'd rather be a person who is sure of what they need/want/desire and won't be swayed by others who are using you to get to the top.

Oh, and knowing how to unclog a drain too.

May be you are right, Chai. But, I am very young....you see i just turned 19 yesterday. I am learning, experimenting and for now, I find these books encouraging. They have really helped me. Some of the books written in the late 20 th century are manipulative, no doubt, but there are ones like Pilgrim's Progress and others which aim that transforming your internal thoughts and embellishing your character.

And btw, building strong characters would be first on my agenda if I were the principal of some school.

Well, for 19 you're very mature!

I tried reading Pilgrims Progress when I was in my 20's, but couldn't begin to get the message at that time in my life.

Maybe I should try it again. I'm 47 now

There were some classics I was never assigned when I was in school, that everyone else remembers having to read

For instance, George Eliot...I didn't read "Silas Marner until I was 40 something. You know, the strangest thing happened. When I read the forward of the book, I realized I was the exact same age the author was when she wrote the book.

If I had read it in high school, I would've thought it wasn't worth anything, and was too simple.

But reading it as both the same sex and age as the author, I just got so much from the story. It made me cry and really gave me a new perspective on some things in my life.


It's like - when the pupil is ready, the teacher will appear.

From Kahlil Gibrans "The Prophet"


When love beckons to you follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.

But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.




That love is some pretty tough stuff.

Love........I have only known it as love for parents,kins,friends.....even pets. You know,humanity in general. Never fell in love!

And, how mature were you at 19?
19 or 91 that child within me won't die ever.

School courses for Life Skills?

Are parents obsolete?

Unfortunately, some parents lack Life Skills themselves.

Actually while I was in high school, we had to do a project (not a whole class) where we had to assume we were married and had to figure a monthly budget.

It was up to decide with both worked, or only one.

Most of the kids were reasonable as far a budgeting for rent, food etc.

But some....I still remember this one girl allocating some outrageous sum (this was around 1977) for a haircut each month. Something like $60.00.

I guess that would be like a $200 a month for a hair cut today.

Chai--

During a divorce in my family in the '80's, we were informed that at least $90-$120 a month would have to be granted for her expenditures relating to hair and makeup.

How were you like at 19?

Me? Or Noddy?

I was a complete mess.

that was for Noddy but now i would say both

Spidergal--

At 19 I was about to graduate from college and getting a bit desperate about finding a "real" job. I wound up at a small, private, girls' school where I ran the bookstore, helped in the library, taught dramatics, English composition and a seminar in Modern Poetry. I also taught archery and assisted in the biology department.