Opting out of Home Ec.?

I am a ways from Home Ec....but I would have to insist my kids NOT take it because of FA. I think shop would be a much better match! Are you thinking about it, or having problems getting it done(for your kid)?? I wouldn't risk it, personally....good luck!!
------------------
Chanda(mother of 4)
Sidney-8 (beef and chocolate, grasses, molds, weeds, guinea pig & asthma)
Jake-6 (peanut, all tree nuts, eggs, trees, grasses, weeds, molds, cats, dogs, guinea pig & eczema & asthma)
Carson-3 1/2 (milk, soy, egg, beef and pork, cats, dog, guinea pig and EE)
Savannah-1 (milk and egg)

See Re-raised post on Food Technology

We are dealing with peanut and tree nut allergies for my 7th grader. She has had Home Ec. (they call it FCS - Family Consumer Science and get in trouble if they say Home EC.!) this year and last. Before starting middle school, I met with the teacher and principal and they took away all nut and peanut products and all may contains for all grades. DD checks all labels. This is all part of the 504. We have had no problems. Being in middle school, she would not have been comfortable with opting out (what if someone notices???)

Dd is in 6th and so far there has been no home ec class. It never crossed my mind that they would still require that.

Last year, FACS was part of the 6th grade curriculum for half of one quarter (8 weeks). DD loved it. Really loved it. I think she felt empowered working with all that food. It was an amazing experience for her, and in our circumstances, had we opted her out I think it would have created a different set of 'issues' for her.
We had to make some significant changes, revamping for sure, but since 6th grade is the first year at Middle School, they (the kids) didn't know any differently. So no blame/stigma. I understand that concern though. It was a big part of our consideration too. We considered opting out, but since it was part of the curriculum we pushed forward. For us, I'm glad we did.
As for safety. . . our district knew they must do whatever it would take to our satisfation. We already fought that battle, so they completely revamped. Voluntarily, and erring on caution. They addressed it all, and then some. We considered it far safer than eating in a resturant.
For our daughter, it was a powerful experience to prepare foods, delicious and safe foods, next to her peers. Something deep. I don't want to sound dramatic, but the experience was [i]profound. [/i]
I think it had a big impact for the school to have had this experience too. In soooo many ways. On a personal level. I'll venture to say that there was a sense of empowerment for staff . . . and even an impact on the overall culture of the school buildling. That the 'issue' of food allergies (a.k.a. 'problem') can be safely addressed. Even at this detailed level of preparing foods in a kitchen.
There is much to be gained here. And impacts to consider related to 'opting out' can be profound as well. I think it's more complicated than first look. At least for us that was certainly the experience.
[This message has been edited by Gail W (edited March 03, 2007).]

Our school gave us the option of opting out or not. Since the teacher was not necessarily reliable in regard to allergy awareness and because our son didn't really want to take it, he opted out. It was the right decision for us. Less concern on our part, less dealing with the school on a daily basis and explaining why something was or was not okay, and he was put in something that he enjoyed more than a home ec class. I think you need to weigh both sides and do whatever works best for you. Some kids would really feel left out if they weren't able to participate in a home ec class but in our case, the other class was more appealing and more fun. (Our school is big enough so there were only a couple of kids that actually knew he had opted out- so not a big deal in that regard.)