Lessons in Responsibility for Girls Level 1

With the scramble to complete daily lessons in math, reading, history, science, etc., it's often too easy to ignore a girl's practical education. Yet most of our daughters will someday be wives and mothers—they need to learn how to care for a family and maintain a home! The three volumes of Lessons in Responsibility for Girls offers a complete home economics coure for homeschool families, offering an organized approach to teaching girls the domestic pursuits from cooking and cleaning to organization and hospitality.

Each volume contains thirty chapters to be used as weekly lessons throughout a normal school year. Chapters follow the same progression in every text:nutrition, cooking, baking, ironing, sewing, cleaning, organizing and hospitality. Students learn to read, layout and follow a store-bought pattern; steam or sauté vegetables; host a party for friends; cook with meat and sauces; dust, vacuum and sweep properly; organize a bookshelf; and all kinds of other practical housekeeping skills.

Unlike other Pearables offerings, this series is primarily practical. Girls are consistently reminded that they are to please God in everything they do, but this is not a character-building course, except to the extent that becoming a good housekeeper builds character. This is home economics, and each chapter is eminently practical. Kids will need adult supervision, especially in the lower grades—and since these are intended mainly for elementary-aged girls, that means as long as they're using these books.

There is a wealth of practical knowledge and skill-direction in each text. For chapters on cooking and baking there are recipes—smaller families should be aware that most of them yield 8 servings, and may want to reduce quantities. An old-fashioned strain runs through the series, and many of the skills described are particularly useful in our increasingly technologically dependent society, like being able to repair clothing by hand or bake bread from scratch. Some mothers may want to skip the first volume as too basic (most will not), but each text becomes more difficult than the previous volume. One of the best offerings from Pearables, this is a great hands-on supplement to your academic curriculum.