7 Old School Things We Should Teach But Don't

by Guy E. White on 16 October, 2014

What old-school, seven lost arts should we reinstitute today?

There are “oh my” moments experienced by every teacher: those moments where you realize that your students are missing a fundamental literacy – one that could have a huge impact upon their whole lives. What literacies have your school lost?

More and more schools are ditching teaching classic elements of high school life. These are pivotal to the development of a young person. Which of these has your school long left behind?

1. Financial Literacy

Many schools once taught students how to balance a checkbook, how to do your taxes, and how to open and manage financial accounts. No more!

2. Entrepreneurship

I took a business law class in high school where I learned how to put together simple contracts. This made me $1000’s during my sophomore, junior, and senior years of high school. Students are rarely taught how they can make money for themselves.

3. Sex Ed

While most districts have sex ed classes (“health”), often their curriculum has not been updated in 20-30 years, discussing ancient contraceptive information. What’s in your wallet?

4. Leadership

Student leadership programs ran the out-of-class programs for most schools. Now, these are being increasingly cut. Where are students learning how to manage large programs and projects with others?

5. Driver’s Ed

Does the student parking lot scare you? Once upon a time, schools used to have driver’s ed programs. Now, students often have to take out-of-school classes to get behind that wheel for the first time.

6. Child Development

Ironically, probably one of the most critical skills any parent would want from their children is to understand how to properly rear kids. It’s also one of the hardest classes to find in high schools today. There are no more robotic babies crying in the middle of the night to scare students into not having those high-school babies.

7. Reading

“Remedial” classes, allowing students to grow at their own pace, have largely disappeared. Students are often now placed in integrated classes with other students many grade levels ahead of them. Some schools continue to have remedial support classes available. Many schools largely make families take summer school classes to catch up.

What else should be on this list? What are schools not teaching students, but should?

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