Teaching your kids important everyday life skills
Reading, writing, arithmetic and that is it, right? Well, almost.
Schools are excellent at teaching children some very important skills (see below). They are also some of the best places for them to learn how to properly socialize with their peer groups and behave in front of authority figures.
But what about the little things? Addressing an envelope? Changing a tire? Math teachers do not typically cover the best way to floss. The gym coach has no lesson on folding a fitted sheet. For this education, it is up to parents to ensure their children learn these small (but important!) everyday life skills.
Few people understand this better than Health and Transformation Coach, mother and grandmother, Mitzi Carlin.
Carlin, along with her husband Curtis, owns Steps2Thrive, a Tampa-based health coaching business. In raising her two children, she discovered and implemented many simple but effective strategies to help her kids become well-adjusted people.
“Consistency is huge,” said Carlin. This is step one. “Parenting is a full-time job, but it doesn’t have to be that hard if you build consistency.”
It takes a conscious effort on the parents’ part. About teaching her children something as basic as making eye contact when speaking to someone she said, “That required me to come down to their level.”
Training and conditioning are also a big part of prepping kids for adulthood. Carlin’s example involves clothing. “You wear certain clothes to church, and you wear certain clothes to go out to dinner, so we’re posturing them from a very young age to understand, ‘when I’m in certain kinds of clothes, this is the behavior,’” she said.
Limiting, and in some cases excluding, screentime early on is another strong must from Carlin. Phones, tablets and TVs in the bedroom can be a hindrance to a child’s socialization, preventing them from developing the necessary skills to communicate like adults.
Children often learn through mimicking behaviors. Watching their parents perform consistent chores and activities like ironing clothes, cleaning up after themselves and addressing and mailing letters teaches them these softer life lessons.
“You’re raising humans. You’re raising the next generation of adults,” said Carlin.
Life Skills 101:
- How to have a firm handshake
- How to floss correctly
- How to run laundry (and fold clothes!)
- How to make simple meals (scrambled eggs, sandwiches)
- Memorizing a social security number
- Memorizing your own phone number
- How to order at a restaurant
- How to be hygienic
- How to wrap a gift
- How to politely make a phone call
- How to address an envelope
- How to write a check
- How (and when) to write a thank-you note
- How to do dishes