What should be taught in schools these days?

I think a big part of the problem is too many parents are relying on the education system to teach kids everything. The education system is supposed to do part of the job but so are the parents. As for not learning how to balance a check book and such, well such things were taught in accounting at the highschool I attended. And local history could be taken, or international history. It all depended on which courses you took. Same with politics, there was a class that you could take (and I did) which taught about the parliamentary system and part of the class was studying the platform of the various political parties.

they should all have a class for every class Freshmen , Sophmore , Junior, and Seniors called "The World is all about Money 101 -104 " so that every year you can take that class like 101 , 102 , 103 , 104 .. and another class on how "Graduatiing High School isnt a High Light " , and Buying a House ..they also should have a program for freshmen and all the students to help them get a job once their the legal age...when graduated High School in 05 i felt as if i was lied to .and i could have been taught more ...not to say i learned but i felt cheated for 4 years

Whatever we think should be taught another interest group is going to disagree and what wins out is a) transient, and b) politically correct, but not c) any excuse for parents to drop the ball, so to speak, in their role as their children's primary educators. Do I like this? Heck, no. Do I expect you to like it? I certainly hope not, but facts are facts and anything else is a dream. Cripers, no, I don't think high school seniors should be wasting school time balancing checkbooks, as I think they should have learned that in 4th grade and if they should have learned it on their own at least by 5th. This is the problem with a homogenized curriculum.

you are so right. That is how it has always been really. What we really, really need to know to survive in the world is not what is being taught in the schools. Most of what is learned will never ever be used later in real life. Even the basic skill of driving is not taught well. We now pay close to 500.00 for a class to teach our kids driving skills and yet we are required to risk our own vehicles, lives and pay for gas to give them so much driving time. At the end of this course,our kids still don't know how to check the oil or fluids, change a tire or drive a standard. They pretty much knew all that I myself taught them...which was all of it.

Most of the things I learned in school were a total waste of time! I too learned about Romeo and Juliet and Egyptian history and a lot more things that I have never used or needed. These things may have been interesting to learn but I came out of school not knowing anything about credit, insurnace, how to file my taxes, how to buy a home and the important everyday life things that everyone needs to know at some point in their life. I struggled when I went out on my own for the first time becasue I didnt have a clue....12 years sitting in a classroom and I didnt know a thing!

I think that alot of subjects that are taught now probably shouldn't be taught because to be honest we don't use half of it in the "real world" so I don't think they should teach it...I think that one class that should be taught is a class on the "real world"and how to budget money..because again theres not alot of people that can do that well...

I think learning art in school is very important. A person is much more well rounded if they learn about poetry, music, design, or any other art. The way I see it, learning about a mortgage is something you learn from experience. Your parents should teach you that. Balancing a checkbook is just simple math (adding and subtracting) and wouldn't need more than a mere mention in school. We were taught how to deal with money from a young age by our parents. But on the other hand, your parents won't be able to teach you a lot about art, psychology, or other things like that unless it is their special interest. I want my kids to learn a language, learn all kinds of art skills, and turn into very creative people. I can teach them how to add and subtract their checkbook (that should only take 10 minutes). Finally, as for interest rates on credit cards, there is only one thing you need to teach your kids - DON'T CARRY A BALANCE. Simple as that. I still don't understand what interest rate my credit cards charge, but it doesn't matter b/c I've never once in my life carried a balance b/c my parents taught me not to. You send your kids to school to teach them about the world and about the things you cannot teach them. Then you can spend time at home with them teaching them the life lessons. However, in the end, they won't learn a thing about balancing a checkbook until they have one and won't learn a thing about a mortgage until they have one. A school can only teach theory, but it's not until they experience it first hand that they will learn.

Great topic and so true! I learned so much garbage in school that I haven't used once since; Ancient History - what did I need that for? Even biology isn't really necessary except for those who intend to go into a scientific or medical field after they graduate. Obviously we should all come out of school with a good knowledge of math, and knowing how to read and write. Proper grammar is essential to a good future and I think we should learn more about our own nation's history and geography than we do as well as more about our government and how it works. Romeo and Juliet? Maybe stuff like that could be an elective but there should be things they don't currently learn in school that should definitely be put ahead of Shakespeare, no disrespect intended. I'd like to see classes in "Real Life" where the kids get the opportunity to act out real life situations throughout their last two or three years of high school. They should do all the things people do when they go out into the world on their own - set up a household budget, balance a checkbook, make decisions such as whether to make a major purchase, write their resume and go on a pretend job interview. Make it sort of like the game of "Life"; sometimes a crisis will come up, someone will get sick and have to miss work or they'll even get laid off. The refrigerator will break, the car will blow up, someone will have to deal with an a$$hole for a boss. Things that happen in the real world to adults! Let them learn at least the basics about the stock market and how it may affect their retirement income in the future. Also, throw in some situations where a baby comes along and let them learn that it's not like having a toy doll but a real person that they're responsible for forever. One more thing, I'd like to put my two cents in about teaching foreign languages to the lower grades; this is something they may or may not use at some time in their future but chances are more and more as time goes one that they will. Having them learn at least the basics at an early age is the best way to do it because that's when they learn it so much easier and are more likely to retain what they've learned. Annie

I so agree with you on this topic, now Im not a big fan of history and growing up in europe for most of my life (maybe Im ignorant) I have a hard time understanding or figuring out what use the education of history has for the kids ? I also believe that the most basic topics of everyday living is way more important to the students today. They are so focused on materialistic stuff that I feel they definately need some understanding on how money works. Ofcouse the parents also play a huge role in this too. Thanks

I completely agree. Not to downplay the classics, but I haven't been able to apply anything I learned from Romeo & Juliet in my daily life. However, understanding personal finance when I turned 18 and was bombarded by credit card companies at college would have really changed my life. Real life skill like personal finance should be included in high school curriculum. However, on another note, we plan to teach our daughter the things we didn't know at that age so that she doesn't make the same mistakes we did. So I also believe that much of these real life skills should be taught at home, or at least started at home.

the best way to teach the children nowadays is how to manage money, characteristics of a good entrepreneur, ways on how to become a successful businessman...more rich more every year because they engage in business...do you agree?

Ha,Ha. Totally agree with you. But the kids should learn how to read and write the number first. I hope you can be the princeple of the school.

This is one of the reasons I homeschool. My kids are taught academics and life skills. They know more life skills than most adults do and they are 17, 14, and 11. You can not leave your childs education up to the school. If you want them to know something it is best you teach them. Oh, and by the way my two oldest have been to public school. My 17 year old went through 4th grade and my 14 year old went through 1st grade. My middle child is dyslexic among other things and the school had NO clue how to teach her. I saw one of her old teachers last week and she said I was doing the best thing for my kids by homeschooling them.