In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “The New School.”

Everyone should be able to read and write so I would keep that in the syllabus.
Arithmetic was my favorite so that can stay. And now for the fun part where I make the decisions!

Typing lessons. For a humble one year course I did in the year I was fifteen, it has turned out to be the one most practical skill I use everyday. Let’s be honest, not many kids are going to sit and type ASDF for fun, so throw it into the syllabus.

Musical instrument. Every kid should be able to leave school being able to read music and play at least one instrument. Even if it is just a humble recorder. Make some music, people!

Second language. Should be taught from day one!

Sport. Get those bodies moving, learn how to hit a ball, swim in the pool and bend bodies over backward.

Budgeting. Oh yes. This is a big one. Teach them kids what happens when debt grows to more than income. Going out exceeds coming in? Yeah, problems.

Respecting others including women. Hot topic for me. Boys will grow up to be physically stronger than women. Fact. If my husband wanted to pin me down he could. Boys need to be taught how to treat women when they are older. And no guarantees they are taught it at home.

Cooking and nutrition. We all need to eat. So let them boil some rice, and learn what sugar does to their bodies. All those nutrition guides on the back or sides of boxes? They need to know how to read them. What does it mean when sugar is the main ingredient? What does it mean when artificial colors and sweeteners are added. What the heck is a guava or pomegranate? No, a watermelon is not a giant cucumber, you get the idea.

Conservation. We have been given a planet to live on. Let us learn and teach the next generation how to look after it. Recycle. Don’t toss plastic bags into the sea, where turtles swallow them and choke to death. We all live on the planet. We all need to look after it, inasmuch as we can.