5 Life Skills Every Teen Should Learn
There are many things parents want their kids to be good at. These things include school, extracurricular activities, money management, time management, communication, and more.
Navigating all of the skills out there can be intimidating and disheartening at times – both for parents and kids. This is why we are bringing you the top three skills that your teen is going to want to learn in 2022. Trust us, these three important skills will make all the difference.
In this article, we will be combining a variety of everyday and long-term skills to give you a rounded approach. These skills will range from money management and handling stock investing for kids, to organizational skills and time management, as well as behavioral skills.
Keep in mind that you don’t have to adhere to this list exactly in the way that it is written. Regardless of which one you rank most urgent, what matters is that you take a comprehensive approach and cover all of them with time.
1. Financial literacy
Handling money is a life-long task. With that being said, you don’t want it to be an everlasting headache and source of confusion, debt, anxiety, or fear. The worst would be to stay away from this topic, especially with technology coming to our help.
Teaching your child about financially responsible behavior and good money management habits is one of the most important skills you can provide them with. After all, this skill might make or break their success and odds of figuring their life out at the earliest possible stage.
If you are not sure that your teen is equipped with all of the necessary knowledge in terms of finances, there are easy and safe ways to expose them to theoretical and practical knowledge.
Nowadays, most parents rely on mobile apps and related debit cards because they are easily available, effective, and inexpensive.
A popular and trusted app, for example, would be BusyKid. An all-in-one app that allows parents oversight regarding their teen’s expenses, while giving kids greatly executed classes and practice on concepts like saving, spending, and even investing.
2. Organizational skills
Of course, organizational skills are a high priority. It cannot be stressed enough that this skill will have a great impact on your teens, both now and throughout adult life. Organization, planning, and good time management make crucial parts of success or trouble.
This skill is going to help your teen understand how to best prioritize their time, energy, and efforts toward any obligations and goals they have. They will learn how to stay on top of tasks, and how to cover homework, jobs, social life, household chores, studying, and more.
To promote learning this skill both theoretically and practically, it might be worth investing in practicing creating checklists and priority lists as well as using planners and calendars. If your teen is not into pen and paper, you can look into mobile apps that can do the trick.
A parent favorite in terms of apps would be Evernote. A great thing about it is that it is visually organized, which makes organizing way less scary for your teens. It has all you can ask for, including notes, to-do lists, sketches, and other interesting options worth your time.
3. Behavioral skills
Good behavioral skills, and in particular good communication skills, are a soft skill that shouldn’t be disregarded although sometimes it is. This skill will not only help your teen make friends and build meaningful relationships, but it will help them to be employable.
Given that behavior is something we portray and build daily, you will want your teenager to learn all about manners, communication, emotional coping, responsibility, respect, and all things related to this skill.
Granted, this is a skill that doesn’t come by as fast as some others do but it is that one key skill that always requires patience, understanding, conversation, and constant improvement. You will want to be as supportive as possible in terms of this skill and build on it little by little.
A great way to start is to lead by example. If you are a good communicator, your teen is likely to follow in your footsteps. If not, there are many books and articles that can offer useful advice on the topic, or you can always look for professional help.
4. Cooking skills
Learning how to cook is a very important skill, both for health reasons and practical ones. It is a skill that will save your teen time and money, and one that will teach them how to take care of themselves when they move out.
This doesn’t mean that you should expect them to become the next Gordon Ramsay but knowing how to cook basic meals is more than enough. There are many ways you can go about this, and many resources that can be of use.
If you enjoy cooking yourself, you can opt for bonding time in the kitchen and teach your teen all of your best recipes. If not, there are cooking classes both online and offline that would be fun and informative at the same time.
You could also look into mobile apps that offer theoretical and practical knowledge of cooking.
An app like Yummly, for example, is perfect for those who want to learn how to cook without any prior knowledge. It offers access to millions of recipes with clear instructions anyone can follow regardless of their level of expertise.
5. First aid skills
Last but not least, first aid skills are important for obvious reasons. This is a skill that could potentially save someone’s life, and one that requires very little time and effort to learn.
There are many ways you can go about this, and many resources that can be of use. You can look into online courses or offline classes, or you can find mobile apps that offer theoretical and practical knowledge on first aid.
One great example of such an app would be the Red Cross First Aid App. It is a free app that offers access to information on a variety of topics related to first aid, including CPR instructions, what to do in case of an emergency, and more.
Final Thoughts
There are many skills your teen should learn, and the ones mentioned above are only some of the most important ones. As a parent, it is your responsibility to make sure your teen is well-rounded and prepared for adulthood, and teaching them valuable skills is one way to go about it.
The good news is that there are many ways you can go about this and many resources that can be of use. You can look into online courses or offline classes, or you can find mobile apps that offer theoretical and practical knowledge on various topics.
What is important is that you make an effort to teach your teen as many useful skills as possible so that they can be successful both in their personal and professional lives.
