I’m sure we have all heard that we need to teach our kids life skills, but what are they? Which skills are the most important for them to learn, and how do we teach them? Life skills are a great subject to incorporate into your homeschool, and they are just as important as academics. If your kid knows how to factor a polynomial but has no idea how to scramble an egg, then it is time to make an educational shift. Even if your kids are not homeschooled, it is still important for parents to teach these basic skills at home. I would venture to say that they are probably not going to learn these things in their classrooms.
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How I Prioritize Life Skills
There are certain life skills I knew I would prioritize for my kids long before I was a parent. These are mainly safety and survival type life skills, and for our family they are non-negotiable. Of course, there are other skills they learn along the way, but these are the ones that make the top of my list of importance.
Swimming
This one is important for safety. My dad was in the Coast Guard during all of my growing up years, so I grew up around water. I love the water. I’ve experienced the fun of water sports, boating, canoeing, and swimming. I have also experience how easily a canoe can tip and the power and energy in an ocean wave. Water is fun and beautiful, but it also can be dangerous and even deadly.
According to the CDC, drowning is the leading cause of death (aside from birth itself) in the 1-4 year old age group. For children in the 1-14 age group, it is the second cause of unintentional injury death. Now these are scary statistics, which is why it is so important to have a healthy respect for the power of water, and get our kids in swim lessons early and often.
Even if you don’t live around water, teach your kids to swim anyway. Even if you think they can just wear a life jacket in water, teach them anyway. My kids wear a life jacket anytime they are on any type of boat or paddleboard, but we still didn’t allow boating or paddle boarding until they learned to swim. If they find themselves in a situation where a canoe or paddle board tips, they need to be able to handle themselves in the water, even with a life jacket. For the sake of safety, this is a life skill kids NEED to know.
Riding a Bike
While this isn’t a matter of safety, it is still an important life skill. I think fostering independence is important, and there is nothing that makes a kid feel more independent than a shiny set of wheels. It’s also practical. There is the time period between 12-16 where kids want to always go and do, and riding a bike is an efficient mode of transportation for relatively short distances. It is also good exercise, and the bi-lateral coordination and balance required to ride a bike are also good for a multitude of things.
Cooking
This one is so obvious I almost didn’t put it on this list, but I will anyway. I am a BIG fan of getting kids in the kitchen. I’ve been doing this since my kids were toddlers, and they both are at least self sufficient in the kitchen. If you are not a fan of cooking, or not a fan of cooking with kids, there are a few minimal things you should still make sure they can do.
Teach them how to make scrambled eggs. This is a food they can survive on. Eggs are cheap and easy to make, so when they first leave home and have little money, this is a much healthier choice then packaged noodles.
Teach them how to boil water. Boiling is the main method of cooking for many recipes, so it is important to know what boiling looks like. Also, if they are ever in a situation where drinking water is contaminated, they will need to know how to boil.
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Cleaning a Bathroom
I have boys and they can do some damage to a bathroom. It’s only right that they clean up after themselves, and someday when they live on their own I want to come visit them. I think instilling this skill now will serve me later in life when I am the visitor. I am the type of person that appreciates a clean toilet, and this is also a way to teach kids to show hospitality. Anytime we have a guest we always prioritize cleaning the bathrooms in order to be good hosts. Nobody wants to experience our germs. The rest of our house may be messy, but our guests will always have a clean bathroom they can use.
Washing Dishes
This is a chore my children rotate on a weekly basis. Since they know how to cook, it’s important they know how to clean up after. I am pretty adamant about food being handled safely and prepared in a clean environment, and this is something that is important for kids to know too. My boys are learning excellent kitchen skills and that is learning how to cook AND clean a kitchen.
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Read a Map
My sister likes to tell the story of being on a college campus and telling someone she was from Alaska. One of the guys in the group she was talking to asked her if Alaska is next to Texas. We always use that story as a cautionary tale of why it’s important to make sure kids are familiar with maps.
Reading a map may seem like an antiquated skill due to modern technology, and to some extent I agree. I rarely use maps to get anywhere. However, sometimes technology fails, or you just don’t have a signal when you need one. Our family once spent a few months in Ireland while Mr. MyHomeschoolwithaView was on a work project. We decided not to upgrade my phone for international calling since my husbands work phone was equipped for that. My kids and I spent our days adventuring all over the place and I had to navigate us around solely using paper maps. I had no GPS telling me turn left here. While map reading may be a little bit of an antiquated skill, it is still useful and important for those times you really need it.
Those are my top life skills for kids to know. Are there any you would add to this list? Leave a comment below.