A lot of effort goes into raising kids, especially in their formative years.
Think about it!
Not only will how they are raised influence their lives, but it will also have a significant effect on them in their older years.
That’s why it’s not enough to rely on schools to provide your kids with all basic life skills. In fact, a lot of life skills are not taught within the four walls of a classroom.
Apart from that, the after school activities they’re involved in are not enough to equip them with the basic life skills they need.
Although, with the influence of technology, one can easily assume they are already up to speed with practical life skills given their ability to quickly learn and process. None the less, as a loving parent, there are loose ends that only you can fix.
If you want to give your kids a good head start with some basic life skills, you are on the right page. Here are some very valuable life skills we have compiled. They are sure to make your kids outstanding as adults.
Shall we?
1. Teaching Time Management
Knowing the importance of time management at such an early age is a good start. Children are not wired to know when to do certain things. At 9 pm, they could be craving their favourite treat, other times they want to go out to play instead of going to bed.
Raising them to understand the importance of time definitely helps them stand out wherever they end up outside the home.
Do simple things like; allocate different times of the day to specific activities, reward them whenever they do things at the right time, schedule free time, help them understand and establish priorities, create a family calendar to help them learn about time management.
2. Learn the Value of Money
Money remains a major tool that is used for day to day living. Trying to make children learn this early doesn’t necessarily need to come with boring long lectures. You can make it very interactive for them.
Get them a fancy money box or piggy bank, shaped and coloured to their taste. Encourage them to save the spare change and cash gifts in the money box or piggy bank and persuade them to wait a couple of months or a year before they access it.
Another neat trick is to give them allowances. Of course, the amount varies for each age group, but trusting them with a certain amount of money will help give more liberty to take financial decisions and hence, take responsibility for their actions and choices.
One more way you can help them understand money management is by involving them when planning family expenditure. They may not immediately understand the nitty-gritty but will end up having a basic idea of the value of money and in addition, help them make wise financial decisions.
3. Preparing Meals and Doing Laundry
Being able to cook is one skill that helps make life easier for an adult. It saves you a ton of resources on feeding. So teaching your kids how to cook is definitely a valid life skill and a fantastic way to be closer to them.
There are a couple of ways to go about it; you can allow them to watch you while you cook. Or give them the chance to stir food, add spices already measured by you, and wash and rinse food that requires some sort of cleaning before use. More so, breaking eggs, greasing pans and so on are little tasks they will find exciting.
Whatever you have them do, make sure it’s age-appropriate and fun for them. By a certain age, they should be able to make some meals without assistance.
When it comes to laundry, teaching them how to wash their clothes and using the laundry machine between the ages of 9-13 will be handy when they come of age and lead their lives eventually. Even at that age, if you ever come down with a slight illness, they can save you the stress of doing the laundry while allowing you rest.
4. Handling Failure
Realising that failure does and will happen is one bitter pill to swallow. It’s good to always tell kids to put their best foot forward and make them see themselves as stars. However, you also need to shore up their confidence with reassurances even when they don’t do so great. At the end of the day, they learn about resilience and adaptability. Also, don’t be too quick to scold them when they work hard and things don’t go as planned; instead, celebrate and remind them about their wins and how they can always achieve success.
Let them know the pros and cons of trying new things using subtle illustrations. Be transparent about your failures, be a guide and give them the liberty to make informed choices as they go on to full maturity.
5. Decision Making Skills
Everyone reaches a stage in life where they have to make tough decisions – like choosing the best schools, a career path, family planning and even financial decisions. Unfortunately, there’s usually no manual on making the right one because life never really has a pattern.
You can prepare kids to make appropriate decisions by teaching them simple ways to make wise decisions. Allow them to pick between two or more activities. Once they do this, they begin to understand the consequences of their actions and choices.
Also, guide them instead of influencing their decisions. This will help make them more independent.
