39 steps to a better SELFSUFFICIENTish life

[GeorgeSalt]

Following on from the earlier post, what non-academic things should we teach young people?

Playing nicely*
Getting dirty**


* by themselves, with other children (same age, younger and older), with adults, with animals, plants and the environment
** playing outdoors, living outdoors, being creative


At the risk of bending the spirit of the question. There are two practical but slightly academic skills I think all children should be taught, General Knowledge and Critical Thinking. There are A-levels for both (General Studies was compulsory for me during A-Levels) but they're tragically under-offered (and the recent Critical Thinking syllabus haven't really involve being that critical or doing that much independent thinking) and to my mind they are both being offered too late (should be pre-GCSE).

[the.fee.fairy]

how to grow potatoes.

It starts with potatoes, moves on to tomatoes, then strawberries...than a whole allotment!

[marshlander]

........Remember What the Dormouse said.....

All I can remember is "You might as well say "I breathe when I sleep" is the same as "I sleep when I breathe."

Ok, got it, hands up anyone who remembers Woodstock! Grace Slick's White Rabbit "Remember what the Dormouse said.... Feed your head. Feed your head."

[berry]

know how to repair a book

I'd make that " how to make a decent job of repairing a book"
because if there is one thing that irritates me then it's books "repaired" with ugly great strips of sellotape that eventually dries out and leaves horrible yellow patchs.




Pete

i agree sellotape is a no no! but not everyone has the kit to repair a book.

for a quick repair use acid free brown gummed tape - the stuff used for sealing the back of prints. With the boy so young ive found this a great, quick easy and cheap way to repair his books. especailly when doing a full repair is a waste of time as they will just get ruined again. In fact id say get a roll or two of this as i use it for all kinds of repairs and i used small bits to label my jams this year!

Ive also found wrapping fragile books with a simple acid free paper cover - like you get on fancy books helps protect them if your not brave enough for a proper repair :)

[oldjerry]

........Remember What the Dormouse said.....

All I can remember is "You might as well say "I breathe when I sleep" is the same as "I sleep when I breathe."

Ok, got it, hands up anyone who remembers Woodstock! Grace Slick's White Rabbit "Remember what the Dormouse said.... Feed your head. Feed your head."

There you go,if kids were taught as I suggest,you wouldn't need to ponder!!!!! QED.. (I'm going out now to buy a larger hat).

[Skippy]

Sounds like you know what you are doing Berry, and take the time to make a decent job. I've been clearing my parents house and if my father is looking down on me I pretty much meant him by my comment. I loved him but he didn't half manage to infuriate me with repairs made with sticky tape or nails. Originally a farmer and a bit rough and ready. A friend recently told me his father had made a new latch for the washing machine door being an engineer and I'd replied my father would have done the same except that he would probably have used a hasp and staple.
Going back to the books, did you ever make covers for your books? I can remember as a child (and teenager) making covers out of wallpaper offcuts, nothing like a novel covered in anaglipta.


Pete

[trinder]

I cannot believe how far we have got with this topic and No one has said learn to listen

That miserable old goat who.... was a mean old..... but he could .... ( grow vegetables----- understand horses---) read ad infinitum the things that we decide the worth or value of another person so quickly . I remember my value system so clearly.
When someone spoke openly about a subject and their views were totally opposed to mine and I "wrote them off" they actually turned out to be really nice people in spite of being xxx and I learned a lot from them.

e.g. Just because they shoot foxes at the hunt doesn't mean they don't know about animal behaviour . I do not think we will ever agreed about hunting but I have learned to listen and I realise can learn from a most unlikely source.

sorry a long night and I have given up trying to say what I mean in a coherent way.

[berry]

Sounds like you know what you are doing Berry, and take the time to make a decent job. I've been clearing my parents house and if my father is looking down on me I pretty much meant him by my comment. I loved him but he didn't half manage to infuriate me with repairs made with sticky tape or nails. Originally a farmer and a bit rough and ready. A friend recently told me his father had made a new latch for the washing machine door being an engineer and I'd replied my father would have done the same except that he would probably have used a hasp and staple.
Going back to the books, did you ever make covers for your books? I can remember as a child (and teenager) making covers out of wallpaper offcuts, nothing like a novel covered in anaglipta.


Pete

sounds just like my granddad! duct tape, silicon sealant and nails. if he cant fix it with that lot its broke!

yes i still do it now. I dont want the whole world to know what im reading... or whats on my bookcase! its a habit from school. we had to cover all our books, our exercise books and put a slip cover over some of our text books to protect them.

one thing i do love is rebinding a completely worn out book that would just end up in the bin into a new notebook. old book pages are great to sketch on :)

[GeorgeSalt]

Don't forget baling twine..

[jim]

Dear Oldjerry,
"Feed your head!
Feed your head!
Feed your head!"
Glad to see someone else remembers Grace ....

Learn to think independently, everything else follows from it

Love and Peace
jim

[Annemieke]

Make your own stock, using bones from meat and fish you've eaten. Proper homemade stock is good for all sorts of complaints. And the lovely smell! Put in all your herbs and bits which need using up. See http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/ ... your-diet/.

[sleepyowl]

learning some basic home remedies
being able to massage
bake & decorate a birthday/Christmas cake

[Zech]

Learn to project your voice.

This may be an odd one, but a friend commented on my ability to do this yesterday and I reflected that since learning this as a teenager (I was quite keen on acting at the time), it's come in handy on quite a lot of occasions over the years. Compared with the alternative of using a microphone, it is pretty self sufficient to use one's own body as an amplifier.

[big brew ejit]

Be able to read both road and topographic maps as well as being able to use a compass competently.