“Home Qualification Development” Education in the Lower and Middle Grades of Elementary School in Japan

Current Status and Problems of “Learning about Family Life” Found in “Current Course of Study”

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze all the course of study at elementary school level, and to clarify the current situations and problems of “home qualification development” in the first to fourth grades of elementary school. Our result shows that, the extracted “learning about family life” in grades 1 to 4 was linked to home economics in grades 5 and 6, but there was a gap. In addition, since the contents aimed to achieve the goals of each subject, they are only fragmental learning of knowledge and skills of family life. In order to solve this problem, it was considered indispensable to develop a cross-curricular unit and practice lessons in grades 1 to 4 that lead to home economics.