7 Skills To Teach Your Children

Essential Life Skills For Your Children

Although children learn to read and write at school, there are many useful life skills that both children and adults need for living life. Skills that set you up for success, learning, and love. You can model these acts in your everyday life to show how to live them out naturally and wonderfully. Keeping these skills at the forefront of your mind will remind you to open up a conversation with your children whenever a teaching opportunity arises. If you or anyone you know struggles with life, the odds are that there is a lack of knowledge in one of these areas. That’s how critical these skills are!

If you or anyone you know struggles with life, the odds are that there is a lack of knowledge in one of these areas. That’s how critical these skills are!

Teach your children something that will benefit them for a lifetime:

1.    Asking questions. If you can’t figure out something important to you, you can save yourself a lot of grief by asking the appropriate inquiries to the right people. Exploring and asking yourself questions is another way to learn.

2.    The ability to solve problems. Life is full of challenges. Figuring out how to succeed in school, navigating through a new job, and making the soccer team: are all typical challenges we must manage. Life is less intimidating when you learn techniques that help you overcome whatever challenges you face.

· Resist the temptation to solve your children’s challenges. Let them attempt to find resolutions on their own.

3.    Finding a passion. No one ever prepared us to go out and find the things that excite and motivate us. Most of us have learned that from working and having a job stinks. However, this isn’t the way it has to be! Everyone needs and should have something they are passionate about, and they should have enough sense of independence to connect to it.

4.    Independence.  We must groom our children to become more independent each year they grow up. This attribute is also true for adults. Aim to increase your child’s independence in small doses at a time. 

5.    Being content when alone. Some children are incapable of spending 15 minutes without the attention of the people around them. As children grow, they learn to connect with other things seeking contentment such as shopping, being online, food, video games, and more. These can all become addictions to fill the void of feeling lonely. Adults are no different.

·      There is infinite power in being able to entertain yourself. It makes life more comfortable, with fewer distractions.

6.    Compassion. The capability to work well with others and regulate our anger connects to our ability to be compassionate. Aim to be more compassionate in your everyday life and teach your children the same. Being kind is one of the greatest strengths you can give yourself.

7.    Managing change. One of the few constants in life is change. People with flexibility can deal with change more effectively and are often more successful and happier than those who cannot adapt. Help your child learn to deal with change, and you’ll be doing them a colossal courtesy.

Schools and teachers prepare us for many things, but they don’t teach us everything. These fundamental skills aren’t often taught in school, but they can most certainly be developed at home. These traits can be more valuable than anything we learn in formal education. Take time to evaluate your behavior and the children you influence for the presence of these qualities. Your experiences will be much better for it.