# Family and Consumer Sciences, Grades 6 to 8

## Course Syllabus

**Teacher:** Salvatore Prevosto
**School:** [school name]
**Room:** [room number], the FACS lab
**Contact:** [school email]
**Course length:** Full year, every day, one 40-minute period
**Credit:** This course counts toward the New York State middle level requirement of 1 3/4 units of career and technical education (Commissioner's Regulation 100.4). It covers what districts used to call Home and Career Skills, and more.

Draft of 2026-09-11. [Sal: fill the brackets, check the grading policy against the school's, and read the whole thing aloud once. It is written in your voice.]

## What this class is

Family and Consumer Sciences is the class where you learn to run your own life. You will cook real food in a real kitchen. You will sew something you can use. You will build a budget, invest in a simulated market, design a room, plan meals for a family, take care of a younger child safely, and pitch a business idea to a panel. Every unit ends with something you made.

I teach this class because these are the skills I wish someone had handed me at 12. I spent years in business, finance, and hospitality before I became a teacher, and I use all of it here.

## What we will do this year

| When | Unit | You will |
|---|---|---|
| September | Welcome to the FACS Room | Learn how the room works, make decisions as a team, and sign the Room and Lab Agreement |
| September to October | Kitchen Skills and Smart Eating | Pass the safety exam, learn the tools, measure, read recipes, cook two labs, read food labels, shop from a real circular, and feed a family of four on $40 |
| November to December | Me, My Goals, My Money | Figure out your strengths, set goals, build a budget, learn how paychecks, credit, and interest work, trade on ClassroomStreet, and explore careers |
| January to February | Growing Up, Getting Along | Understand how people grow, handle stress and peer pressure, communicate and resolve conflict, understand families, and build a babysitter's activity kit |
| February to March | Spaces We Live In | Make a home safer and greener, learn the elements and principles of design, mix color, draw a floor plan to scale, and design and build a room model |
| March to May | Make It, Mend It, Wear It | Learn fibers and care labels, sew by hand, fix a hem and a button, make a pouch or bag, shop smart for clothes, and upcycle something old into something new |
| May to June | From Farm to Table | Trace where food comes from, audit our food waste, cook in four kitchens at once, and plan and price a meal for the whole class |
| June | Launch | Write a resume, practice interviews, and pitch a product or service in FACS Shark Tank |

## What you need

- A folder that stays in the room (I provide it)
- Something to write with
- Closed-toe shoes on lab days (I will tell you the day before)
- Hair tied back on lab days
- An open mind about trying new foods. You never have to eat anything, but you do have to cook it.

There is no textbook. Everything you need is on the course website and in the room.

## How you are graded

| Category | Weight |
|---|---|
| Labs and projects | 40 percent |
| Topic quizzes and performance checks | 25 percent |
| Daily work (do nows, handouts, exit cards) | 20 percent |
| Participation and safety | 15 percent |

Labs and projects are scored with a rubric you see before you start. You can retake any quiz once after a review. If you miss a lab, you do a written alternative so you do not lose points for being absent. Late work is accepted; see the grading plan on the website for the details.

You cannot cook until you pass the Kitchen Safety Exam. You can retake it as many times as you need.

## How the room works

1. The do now is on the board when you walk in. Sit down, start writing.
2. In a lab, everyone has a role card. Do your role. Then help.
3. When you hear the reset cue (lights, countdown, hands empty), stop, look, listen.
4. Clean up is part of the lab. Nobody leaves until the station passes the check.
5. Phones stay put away unless I say otherwise. Some lessons use them.
6. We talk about food, bodies, families, and money in this class. Be respectful. Nobody is required to share anything personal.

The full Room and Lab Agreement is the first thing we read and sign together.

## Food allergies and food rules

Tell me on the first day, in writing, about any allergy or food rule (religious, medical, or family). I plan every lab around what is on that list. Recipes are posted a week ahead so you and your family can check them. No lab requires you to eat.

## Language support

If English is not your first language, you will get vocabulary cards and sentence starters in your language for every unit (currently Turkish, Portuguese, and Spanish; ask me for others). Every lab has picture step cards. Slides are posted for everyone.

## Technology and AI

We use a few web tools in class, including ClassroomStreet.com, a financial simulation I built. You log in with a class number and a PIN. No personal information goes into it.

You may use AI tools to brainstorm, check your work, or translate. You may not use them to do a project for you, and in this class most of the work is something you cook, sew, build, or say out loud, so it would not help anyway. If you use AI for a written piece, say so at the bottom.

## Cost

Nothing. The school covers lab food and materials. If you want to bring in an ingredient for a project, ask first.

## A note for families

FACS is the class where your child learns to cook, sew, budget, and plan. Ask them what they made this week. If you have a skill you would share (a recipe, a craft, a job you could talk about for ten minutes), email me. I would love to have you in.

## Standards

This course is aligned to the New York State Middle Level CTE Family and Consumer Sciences framework (six content modules and six CTE theme modules), the NYS Learning Standards for Family and Consumer Sciences (Intermediate), the NYS Career Development and Occupational Studies standards, and the National Standards for Family and Consumer Sciences Education 3.0. Every unit and lesson on the course website names the exact standard lines it teaches.

Sign and return the last page. [Sal: add the school's signature slip.]