Blog Post 2: Connecting School and Home Experiences

I am excited to respond to this blog post. The topic of connecting school and home experiences relates perfectly to the major I want to teach. Which is, Family and Consumer Sciences. These classes relate perfectly to the home life. It is what are major is based on. We have the responsibility of making the home life better through their interpretations taught in the classes provided. 

When growing up, I had numerous experiences that I had with my discipline. Every Sunday night I remember making a fun treat for the family with my Mom. Sometimes it was caramel popcorn, other times it was chocolate chip cookies. No matter what the treat was, I always enjoyed making the treat simply because I had fun cooking with my Mom. When I was little, I just remember sitting on the counter by my Mom helping her pour ingredients into the bowl. At that age I wasn't allowed to do much but help out when I was asked. As I grew older I was able to gain more responsiblity. My Mom would let me measure everything out and be her partner in crime. This soon turned into myself making the treat while my Mom was on close supervision. Over the years, I learned a lot from my Mom. A lot of it I learned from just watching. I am grateful for the positive experiences I shared with my family in the kitchen. I am now prepared to know the basics of cooking and some. I can give all the credit to my Mom for letting me sit on the counter and watch her cook. 

Another concept I was taught from a young age was budgeting. I have had the same pink piggy bank since I was little. My parents always taught me to save my money and only use if for things of importance. I am grateful for that home experience I had because I now have the basic knowledge I need to save and budget my money. 

Family and Consumer Sciences has five major classes that we are able to teach. They are Food & Nutrition, Child Development, Sewing, Interior Design and Consumerism. I believe Food & Nutrition to be one of the most important that we teach. There are many problems in the world today that are associated with Nutrition. Such as, obesity, eating disorders, eating healthy, etc. In the classroom we can prevent students from participating in these practices and also help them to eat healthy and learn more about nutrition. Consumerism is also an important area of our major. There are several individuals in heavy debt because they weren't taught the basic knowledge of saving or budgeting their money. As stated many times- I want to teach my students these skills to be able to use them in life.

The experiences I shared most definitely shaped the way I feel about my discipline and influenced me to become a teacher. I want to share what I have learned with my students. I know that teachers can have a huge effect on their students and can teach them essential life skills. I have always loved how there is such a variety with this major. I love the five different categories and can relate to all of them because of my home experiences. I hope that everything I teach as a teacher will influence my students to want to go home and make the connection to having a better home life. I hope that they will be able to implement what they learn to their daily lives. I want to be able to take the students' personal experiences and relate it back to the lesson plans so that they are involved and interested in what is going on. I am grateful for my major and the way it can help everyone do better in the world. If I only influence one student in my years of teaching, I will know I have helped one student succeed in the everyday life.