My mother also would not allow me in the kitchen. My dad taught me a little, then I learned the rest when I got married. The biggest problem people have with my husband's cooking ("what's a recipe?") is he will make something incredibly delicious, but never be able to duplicate it again, because he just throws things together.
My dad is also a cook-by-the-seat-of-the-pants type guy. He's just a natural. Usually he remembers what he did though.
My curriculum (such as it is) includes - (1) how to mix and bake a typical drop cookie (and add different ingredients); (2) how to make biscuits (necessity in the South); (3) how to prepare and roast a whole chicken; (4) how to grill steaks and chops over charcoal and how to broil them in the oven; (5) how to boil rice (and how to add various things such as sauteeing the rice grains in butter first, adding chicken stock to the water, etc.); (6) cooking green beans or any other tender green vegetable by quickly parboiling and then sauteeing with onions, garlic, mustard seed, etc. (7) the whole egg deal, with variations - scrambled eggs, omelettes, French toast, pancakes, etc. My father teaches them how to make loaf bread, that's his particular area of expertise. And they have known how to mix and dress a good salad since they were 6 years old.