This guide is intended to assist teachers in using a life skills approach to introducing early adolescents to the five basic areas of home economics. The following topics are covered in the individual units: life skills in family communication (hearing and listening, speaking, writing, obtaining and responding to feedback, holding a sustained conversation, resolving conflict, communicating with children, aging, and relating to and communicating with an elderly person); food (kitchens and utensils, safety and sanitation, food groups, menu planning and food preparation, factors affecting food choices, food habits, and nutrition); life skills in money management and consumer choices (financial framework, record keeping, resources, needs and wants, values or principles, goals, decision making, financial planning, techniques of budgeting and shopping, sources of consumer information, and consumer rights and responsibilities); clothing-related life skills (textile fibers, clothing care and maintenance, and sewing techniques); life skills in sharing housing space (personal relationships and shared space/property, space/property shared by groups, storage, organization of storage space, chemistry of cleaning, cleaning products, and cleaning techniques); and careers in home economics. Each unit contains some or all of the following: unit title; overall objectives; topical lesson outline; note to the teacher; lesson plan consisting of a topic title, objectives, generalizations, resources, and activities; and handouts. (MN)