Planning for summer

[sunshine]

Graduation is May 19th here. . so it's coming up fast!

I work 3-4 days a week. . . .on my days off:

I'd like to be teaching Deana (and maybe Sarah if she wants) some
"life skills" stuff.

I figure one day we'll do cooking, one day texile stuff
(sewing/crocheting/mending, etc) and one day of finance stuff.

So--- ideas please. Especially the finance stuff, but any input you
have on any of it is welcome.

I've already been asked to adopt a few people on an email loop that want to learn some life skills too.

I've been teaching my kids some skills all along-- but am quickly realizing as they start to attatch to others, that many parents don't teach these skills to their children. I want to expand on what my dd already knows, and maybe teach Jake's SO a few things.

[Laurie in Bradenton]

Teach them to write out checks and balance a checkbook. Make them learn the old fashioned way with pencil and paper. So many kids are learning to do online bill paying that they lack the basic knowledge of how to properly write a check and balance the register themselves.

We are also having "summer enrichment" at our place. This year we'll have DH's niece staying with us. DD Charlotte (13) is looking forward to having an older sister for a few monthes. Crystal is (14) and has never made more than a pnut butter and jelly sandwich. Boy, are we gonna have lessons!!!There will also be floor washing exercises and mending lessons.
There will also be a few fun things like the Holocaust museum and the Dali museum. And a few side trips to the beach and local parks.

Laurie in Bradenton

[leezza]

Sunshine,

Just an idea: with so many young people being so dependant on computers...I agree about teaching them the paper way, (also to write everything down in their check register and keeping all receipts for proof and backup). Maybe some of that, "If it sounds to good to be try it probubley is".

Quality over quantity: like those french women, (buy good quality, it is always in style and it lasts).

Maybe you could even contact your local community and see if your local law enforcement is having any classes/programs about personal safety and what to do in different situations.

leezza

[PrairieRose]

Be sure to throw some menu planning and even though I know you will, frugality is always a great thing to teach young people (I know though, your kids probably already know most of what their is to know). Be sure to teach them about copycat recipes. I think that is a great help.

[ironmaiden]

I would want them to figure out how much "having a life" costs.
First you need a job. Either different weeks they get different jobs with corresponding salaries or come up with various ones and put them in a hat to pick - more fun if you have more people.

Then you take that grandious YEARLY salary number and turn it into weekly pay - subtracting social security, state tax, income tax, health insurance and show them that WEEKLY number.

Now they need an apartment - roomates are okay. And then pay for electric, heat, phone, cable.

Anyone need a car? Used or new? Don't forget the sales tax and insurance.

Anyone want to eat?

Don't forget your student loans if that salary has a college degree attached.

Savings anyone?

So how much is left over for their "lifestyle?" Ipods, videogames, take-out pizzas, vacations etc?

Personally, I think this should be required of all highschool and college students as a project.

[treeluva]

I think the holocaust musuem is a good thing for them to go to, but I wouldnt spout it off as being fun. I have gone to the Dachua Concentration Camp, and it was horrific. I couldnt even stay inside during the tour. I had to walk out, and then I felt worse because I just walked out of the building that so many others could not just walk out of, when all I did was HEAR and SEE pictures of what happened, and they had to live it.
It was worthwhile, and the magnitude of what happened hit me in a way that the history channel never could.
But I had a massive headache the rest of the day. I felt like poop. ANd angry. I wanted to go find some bad people and hurt them for that.
Just saying, maybe be prepared for some emotional outbursts. If not from them, (they are still a bit young) definitly from yourself!

Teach them to write out checks and balance a checkbook. Make them learn the old fashioned way with pencil and paper. So many kids are learning to do online bill paying that they lack the basic knowledge of how to properly write a check and balance the register themselves.

We are also having "summer enrichment" at our place. This year we'll have DH's niece staying with us. DD Charlotte (13) is looking forward to having an older sister for a few monthes. Crystal is (14) and has never made more than a pnut butter and jelly sandwich. Boy, are we gonna have lessons!!!There will also be floor washing exercises and mending lessons.
There will also be a few fun things like the Holocaust museum and the Dali museum. And a few side trips to the beach and local parks.

Laurie in Bradenton

[canadian gardener]

I found with mine, that much of what I taught didn't get used till they were out and on their own. Once they needed the info, the stuff I taught which seemed to go straight in one ear and out the other, came back.

Which may be a comfort should yours tell you yeah yeah mum, can I go now? when you are in the middle of an important lesson. Mine did. And mine didn't always look like the cleaning/frugality/cooking/home maintenance stuff sank in, but it's amazing now.

The day after dd left home, she called wanting to know what I'd taught her about cleaning bathrooms, particularly shower stalls.

I've watched her in the last year get a shock when the utility bills came in-- rent doesn't cover THAT, and track prices, and do her own menu plans and shopping lists and cook a bit of OAMC for her own little freezer.

She actually seems to remember quite a bit.

Ds is busy painting his suite now as I taught him. Who knew the lesson sank in. And he is messy, but he does remember to do a good cleaning on his kitchen and bathroom, and is fairly food safe.

With both of them, I made a recipe book. With ds it is a set of 3x5 cards, held together with a hole punch and a butterfly brad. More masculine and only containing with ds wanted to have.

I also have printed off a lot of my mega threads teaching OAMC, gardening, cleaning etc for their future reference should a time come when I'm not around for them to say WHAT WUZ THAT you used ta use mum? I'd been playing with a mini book just for them, with chapters on subjects I wanted to get across but it's pretty much all in my mega threads.

You have some pretty fine threads Denise, you might just access some and print them off edited down a bit for essentials. Make up a few binders, title it Mum's Wisdom on Household Matters and inside put a love note to each kid. It's what I keep meaning to do.

[pkellyc]

My dd went away to college and would call on a weekly basis asking for information about cooking, money and cleaning. She is making noises about getting married so I have been thinking of putting together some kind of manuals one with her favorite recipies, another with money tips and web sites (including this one) and the same for cleaning. A lot of this stuff I have tried to teach her but she never took much of an intrest at the time. But she is interested now, her and her boyfriend spend time checking out prices of apartments, inquiring about utilities, cable and phone prices. She is also saving her money and getting after him to do the same. She recently had a talk with him about eating lunch out everyday when he could be bringing lunch from home. I guess at some time they are listening even when they appear not be.

My dd's have had checking accounts since they were 18 dd#2 has bounced checks but I figure that is part of the learning process. Sometimes they have to learn the hard way.
They have also enrolled to have savings automatically taken from their pay. DD#1 is just estatic on fast her savings is growing.
They also pay their own auto insurance and cell phones and dd#1 will be starting to pay off her student loans
there are no lessons that can compare with real life so we need to give them real life lessons

Sewing skills are a little tougher for I can't get either one is interested. Dd #1 can work a needle by hand but, is tough on my sewing machine so I don't like her touching it.

Cooking, shopping and meal planning is easy. Let them know what the meal budget is, decide what to cook, then let them shop for the ingredients.

Please keep us posted I would love to hear your ideas.

[peanut]

There's lots you can chose from to teach them! Here's a rundown of our gr. 9 - 12 home ec, consumer math and careers programs for our homeschool. See what might be useful/interesting for you and your children and try them.

- Time Management ("Teach Yourself Time Management" by P. Bird). Most kids do not have time management taught in school.
- Selling stuff to earn extra money. The concept of save 1/3, give 1/3 to charity and spend no more than 1/3.
- Helping renovate (or working alongside parents learning practical skills)
- Catering a homeschool graduation party – contracts
- Society for Creative Anachronisms - helping cook for feasts and sewing costumes
- babysitting course
- "Life on the Edge" Dobson
- "How Rude!", a book on teen manners.
- stress recognition and management
- volunteering
- bank card and legal contract,
- how to use ATM,
- helping with summer garage sales.
- Videos: “Economix” (Canadian. There must be an American equivalent. Check your library.)
- field trip to bank (I arranged to have a bank officer talk to them for awhile to explain the bank to them.)
- figuring out price per serving and price per unit in grocery store.
- percent and dollar conversion on sale items
- managing her own money - banking, saving, budgeting
- balancing a chequebook
- discussion of advertising gimmicks
- taxes (they really only got into this when they had to fill out their first tax return.)
- percents
- Reading: “The Money Tree Myth” - bonds, stocks, mutual funds;“Money, Money, Money” by T. Morgan;“A Girl Needs Cash”;“Don’t Get Taken Every Time” R. Sutton
- credit cards
- Buying a car
- Travel
- Income
- Budgeting
- Housing
- Food
- Clothing
- Leisure
- Banking
- cooking - creating their own cookbooks from a young age. Let them pick the format.
- student has an introduction to grocery exile and megacooking.
- baking a birthday cake from scratch and decorating it.
- menu planning, cost analysis of meals, grocery shopping and cooking meal from scratch as part of a team.
- Canada's food guide, the US pyramid, Asian food pyramid, Mediterranean food pyramid and vegetarian food pyramid.
- volunteering baking and selling it.
- uses internet to search for recipes.
- reading cooking magazines.
- Cooking terms:

0 boil
0 toss
0 bbq
0 julienne
0 grate/shred
0 poach
0 marinate
0 baste
0 mash
0 brown
0 simmer
0 cream
0 snip
0 thaw/defrost
0 fold
0 pare
0 cube/dice
0 grill
0 mince
0 saute
0 rotisserie
0 braise
0 scald


Sewing and Fashion
- hair fashion, history - “The Five Minute Hair Stylist”, “Braids and Styles for Long Hair”
- items sewn:

0 Pants
0 Pajamas
0 Shorts
0 Sleeveless shirt
0 Shirt with set-in sleeves
0 Skirt
0 Nightgown
0 Recycled Blue Jean Bag
0 Small teddy bear
0 Dress
0 Vest

- designing and sewing Barbie doll clothes, knitting scarf and Barbie sweater.
Fashion Designing
- creating fashion accessories such as: friendship bracelets, etc.
- designed and sewed her own Halloween costume with Mom in 2001: paper mache armour, sewed sequins on a cape, leather like fabric, stretch knit fabric, and napped fabric (velour). She was an elf.

Housework
Clothing Care
0 separate and sort dirty laundry
0 wash laundry
0 simple mending
0 straighten laundry room
0 fold, sort and put away laundry
0 hand wash clothing and hang dry (delicates)
0 fold blankets and sheets neatly

Kitchen Upkeep and Cleaning
0 clear table and put away leftovers
0 set table; basic and formal
0 wash and dry dishes and put away
0 clean counters under items
0 clean stove top and control panel
0 clean sink
0 operate appliances
0 polish silverware

Bathroom
0 clean toilet properly, inside and out
0 clean sink and counter
0 clean mirror
0 clean cupboard and drawers
0 clean bathtub
0 clean combs and brushes

General
0 dust furniture
0 use vacuum cleaner and attachments
0 shake and clean area rugs
0 scrub and spot clean walls and doors
0 mop and scrub floors
0 change vacuum cleaner bag
0 empty wastebaskets
0 wash windows, inside and out
0 wash window screens
0 clean mini-blinds
0 clean light fixtures
0 use broom and dustpan
0 replace light bulbs and understand wattage
0 change bed sheets
0 clean fireplace
0 clean windowsills
0 clean cobwebs
0 put away groceries
0 clean messy room
0 damp wipe dining room chairs
0 damp wipe table
0 vacuum and clean air and heating ducts
0 vacuum upholstery and curtains
0 clean linoleum floors
0 clean hardwood floors

Yard/Outdoor Work
0 wash vehicle
0 water grass and garden
0 sweep porches, patios and walks
0 correctly discard garbage
0 pick up trash around yard
0 weed flower beds

Telephone Skills
0 write down phone messages
0 answer phone appropriately and take verbal message
0 place long distance calls
0 place collect calls

Organizing Skills
0 set up hall closet
0 set up closets and storage areas
0 set up personal drawers, shelves and closet

- Reading:
“The Complete Tightwad Gazette” and other housekeeping books.
- Discussions on frugality, especially in the area of clothing.
- student created a soap timeline.

I also did up a "Frugal Journal" for dd#1 when she first left home. She wasn't talking to us much at the time. This allowed her to save face while still teaching her. It included:
- notes on frugality and what motivates people to be frugal.
- comments on society's emphasis on collecting things.
- first steps to becoming frugal.
- what to do with extra money.
- a discussion about money in general. About it being a tool. What our attitude towards money should be. (Christian perspective)
- budgeting - discretionary and non-discretionary. Sample budget categories. Setting one up.
- an article off the internet by Gregory Thomas "Do You Really Want to Save?"
- another article "Budgeting for Teenagers" by Karen Jones
- "Getting Money with Budgeting Why Budget? Seven Things a Budget Can do For You!" by Jane Chidester (I worked on the premise she needed to be convinced to budget). In fact, there were a lot of articles on budgeting by Jane Chidester and Gary Foreman that I printed out and included. They're from the Dollar Stretcher website. "A budget You'll Stick With: 9 Things to Look For", "How to begin Budgeting", "Budget Yes! Maintaining the Budget Habit"...all by Jane. Then Gary's "Budgets: a Management Tool for Expenses" and "Why Budgets Fail".
- an overview of frugality and what it means.
- setting goals (short, mid and long term), breaking them into steps and setting price tags to them.
- different ways to save money (investments)
- retirement planning (yes, I started when they were teens) from the angle of creating financial independence.
- frugal websites.
- creating a wealth building plan.
- shopping for jewellry (she loves the stuff!)
- an summary of posts on simplifying your life from an iVillage board
- collecting things (I discourage it)
- living arrangements
- article by Gary Foreman on "Low Overhead" (check the Dollar Stretcher website again)
- low cost decorating (use library books on low cost decorating to supplement)
- utilities and how to decrease them or keep them low
- how to decrease medical/dental costs (including herbal remedies)
- insurance - how much do you really need and what kinds
- recreation, entertainment and hobbies - how to have fun for free, or next to it.
- female stuff - low cost periods
- food - the usual grocery shopping tips, menu planning, pantry principle, comparing cost of hm with storebought, budget recipes, OAMC, etc.
- gifts - how to make them or get them cheaply.
- transportation - how to figure out how much it costs to own a car. Looking at alternative transportation.
- health - more alternative medicine/herbal medicine stuff...practical things to do.
- clothing - cheap ideas to clothe yourself.
- cleaning - what to use, some recipes.
- and at the very end, a listing of frugal books she could use for resources.

That should give you more than enough to chose from! I'd start with what your child is interested in and work out from there. Taking time and opportunity to show her how her interests in, say, sewing doll clothes, relates to real life sewing. Maybe asking her if she might like to sew a shirt for herself like her doll's shirt. Ultimately you have to start where the child is at, or your efforts will fail. Timing, learning level and learning pace are everything in this business of learning. Best of luck!

Jean