INTRODUCTION

TO HOME
ECONOMICS
LITERACY
 • 1950- images of girls busily sewing and
cooking
HOME • 1960 & 1970- discipline that worked to
restrict girls and women to traditional
ECONOMICS domestic and maternal roles
• 20th century- formalize and teach
principles of domesticity
Treatise on Domestic Economy for
the Use of Young Ladies at Home
(1841), written by Catharine Beecher
importance of domestic life and
sought to apply scientific principles
to childrearing, cooking, and
housekeeping, and she also
advocated access to liberal education
for young woman
 • establishment of land-grant
colleges in each state
• mandated a wider mission for the
institutions it funded, covering not
MORRILL only the traditional curriculum, but
also research and instruction in
ACT IN practical areas of endeavor
1862 • "mechanic arts," but the major
emphasis was on agriculture, given
that the United States was at that
time still a predominantly agrarian
society

land-grant schools were open to women, and,
over time, a belief emerged that farmers'
wives were also in need of scientific training in
order to carry out what was then understood
to be their role in rural life: management of
the household.
Activities such as cooking, housecleaning,
sewing, laundry, care of the sick, and
sanitation were all to be transformed and
modernized through the application of
scientific theories and techniques. In the last
decades of the nineteenth century, the land-
grant schools, along with a few private
institutions, established courses of instruction
in what was generally called "domestic
science.
 • active in public health and social
Ellen reform efforts in the Boston area
• emphasized the influence of
Richards environment on health and well-being
• organized a series of annual
(1842- gatherings that became known as the
Lake Placid Conferences
1911) • formed the American Home
Economics Association
HOME ECONOMICS

founded for the purpose

of helping individuals
and families relate to
study of families and the
change. Its uniqueness
management of
discipline which is lies in the holistic view
resources available to
explicitly concerned of daily living of
them for the satisfaction
with the family and all individuals and families.
of basic needs in
aspects of family living Issues are approached
changing environments”
both from its physical or
(UP CHE, 1996)
material and relational
dimension of life and
their interaction
specialized fields under
home economics
• Specialization in the Arts and
Sciences Professionals
• Specializations in Business
• Specializations in Education and
Extension Services
• Specializations in Human Services
• Specializations in government and
public policy
IMPORTANCE OF HOME
ECONOMICS

helps people to improve the quality of their lives

has a very significant role in nation building.

Promoting a well- being of an individual

teaches students practical skills for daily living

AREAS OF HOME
ECONOMICS
Cooking
Child Development
Education and Community Awareness
Home Management and Design
Sewing and Textiles
Budgeting and Economics
Health and Hygiene