Surviving the Real World: Essential Skills to Teach Your Graduating Student

 

Only about 50 percent of students report that high school prepared them for leaving home. The other half of students believe that school did not teach them the life skills to be successful in the real world, let alone at university. This is because the school system focuses on acing tests, learning the process of schooling, and getting into college. As parents, we also tend to focus on school and getting through high school successfully that we lose sight of the bigger picture – making sure our kids are well-rounded and that they have the right skills to navigate life.

Teach Your Kids Money Management Skills

In a survey of 500 millennials, LendEdu found that 45 percent didn’t know their credit-card interest rate, 36 percent say they have maxed out a credit card, 17 percent didn’t know their credit card limit, and 6 percent believed a missed credit card payment made their credit score go up. With many schools taking out financial classes from their core curriculum, new graduates do not know the essential money management skills that will get them through life. Therefore as parents, we need to teach them about credit cards, paying off student loans, prioritizing financial goals, saving money, and shopping on a budget.

Creating a Chef in Your Home

Research is showing that people who cook more meals at home eat healthier, consume fewer calories, and spend less time at the hospital. However, 60 percent of millennials don’t know how to make salad dressing and 25 percent were incapable of preparing a birthday cake from a boxed mix. Along with financial management classes, cooking classes are also disappearing from high school curriculums and leaving our kids unable to fend for themselves. You should have your child cook up a meal or two once a week in order to prepare him or her for the reality of cooking for themselves. They will learn essential skills and start to understand the importance of a balanced nutritional diet.

The Golden Rule Goes a Long Way

Most of us were taught the golden rule at a very young age: Treat others how you want to be treated. However, in today’s age, the golden rule is sometimes brushed aside. Although it may seem like common sense, the habit of treating everyone fairly can help children go a long way. It will teach them essential skills at work and at university that will help them gain respect and can also transfer to other skills such as environmental habits and conservation. At the end of the day, the golden rule can teach us all the underlying meaning of being a good citizen.

Your child is probably excited to rush off to university and be on their own. However, it’s up to you as a parent to fill in the gaps in their learning and teach them the essential skills they need to survive.

Jennifer Dawson
Guest Blogger