Instilling Life Skills in Children - An Integral Part of Parenting
Posted by Strategic Communications, JGI Group on 17 Aug 2021

“Children are great imitators, so give them something to imitate." — Joy D. Jones

We live in a society where academic success and extra-curricular activities are laid extreme focus upon for a child’s overall development. But are these enough? What about life skills? Life skills are elementary practices carried out by human beings to survive, and considering the same, should not these be an integral part of parenting? Many of you must believe that your kids have their entire lives to learn these skills or they are too young to know all this, but the wise decision would be to begin early, as kids are impressionable. The earlier you start, the better and easily they learn. Without much hassle or effort, these skills become a part of their personalities, enabling better survival instincts and a smooth transition into adulthood.

The post mentions below some valuable life skills that you can teach your children for their holistic development:

Self-Defence and First-Aid: Your child’s safety is something that you would prioritize over everything else, so irrespective of gender, a child must know basic self-defense and first-aid practices. Knowing self-defense not only increases your children's survival chances by manifold in an untoward situation but also makes them feel secure and confident. You must also familiarize your child with a first-aid kit and its contents so that your child can handle minimal injuries and assist others when they are injured or hurt.

Remembering Important Information: Your children need to remember certain things by heart, and these include your house address, phone numbers of emergency services, parents’ contact numbers, your office name and address, information of local relatives, their school name, etc. Knowing these things can be of great help in emergencies. Do not try to make them mug up all this information, instead, come up with innovative ways and games to help them register and remember such vital pieces of information.

Basic Household Chores and Cooking: The regular practice of handing over small responsibilities to your children makes them independent and responsible. You do not need to assign heavy tasks for them to develop a responsible mindset. You can make them segregate dirty laundry, put the same in the washing machine, arrange their study table or school bag, engage in fireless cooking, wash their utensils or at least keep them where they are supposed to be washed, arrange their shoes, clean up their toys, etc. Such practices ensure that kids grow up to be adults who are responsible, independent, and able to understand the importance of hygiene.

Money Management: Money management is something that children must be taught from a young age for them to be able to manage their finances efficiently as adults. You can start the practice of giving them pocket money on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Teach your children to manage their regular expenses with their pocket money and save a small amount from it regularly to buy themselves gifts they want. This practice will ensure that your child knows how to budget and manage expenses.

Time Management: You need to teach your kids the importance of time management as it is an integral quality for success. You may begin with teaching your children how time gets observed or buy them a digital clock saving the confusion of second, minute, and hour hands. Inculcate in them the practice of setting alarms for regular events like going to school, doing homework, and pursuing other activities. You may also get them a planner for them to lead a more organized and planned daily life.

Decision-Making Abilities: A human being makes several crucial decisions in life, so it is better to start working on decision-making skills as early as possible. You must make your children understand that every choice brings along with it a consequence, and thus good decision-making skills are vital. Moreover, you cannot always accompany your kids, so they must know how to make decisions. You may instill this skill in them by offering various options in day-to-day life, for example, make them choose between pairs of clothes they want to wear or buy, decide what they want to eat, plan how they want to go about doing their homework, come up with which game they would like to play, etc.

Communication with others: While it is crucial to teach your children the dangers a stranger can bring, it is also of utmost importance to teach them how to interact with others, make new friends, and express themselves. The intention is to make them cautious and not timid or awkward. Focus on their social skills and teach them how to behave around strangers; especially judge if the stranger has good intentions or not.

Kids are impressionable, so habits and practices acquired at early stages remain with them in the long run and even determine the kind of adults they will become. Parents must understand the value of instilling life skills in them so that their kids become capable enough to be on their own in the absence of parents.