Must Have Life Skills For Children

Children in Hong Kong often witness exceptional amount of pressure around faring well in various academic subjects, and perhaps a tad less on extra-curricular activities. While academics and sundry are important parts of learning, let us not lose sight of some of the other life skills that can truly define success of our kids in future. We can’t depend on schools alone to provide a holistic development plan for our kids. As parents and caregivers, we need to invest our time and energy to allow our kids pick up these crucial life skills.

If your kids’ schools are offering some of the below mentioned life skills, well and good. You picked the right school. If not, you may surely start introducing these to your kids soon enough. Let’s dive into these critical life skills, shall we:

• Morals and Values - The curriculums at schools mostly revolve around Math, Science, Social Studies, Geography and Language courses. Schools rarely discuss moral values and principles. If a child has never learned any moral values, how can you expect him/her to know the difference between right and wrong? Some of the core values children should be taught include honesty, hard work, respect for others, cooperation, compassion, forgiveness and unconditional love and kindness, among others. You can introduce morals and values through books or movies that are apt for their age.

• Cooking - This is a basic life skill every student should be confident in, right from an early age.  So often we see students are so busy in getting through the school tests and exams, they depend entirely on their house helpers and other grown-ups in their homes to prepare meals for them. When they eventually graduate and move out of their homes, they realise they lack the basic skill to feed themselves.  Such situation leads to not only unnecessary dependence on expensive restaurant food, it also increases the chance of having weight management issues in future.

This Christmas, ActiveKids is offering their signature cooking course - Stormy Chef Winter Camp.

• First Aid - It is imperative kids learn basic first aid skills so that they know what to do when stuck in crisis.  Knowing first aid skills can be a life saver before medical help arrives. Primary school kids can be taught how to call on an emergency service while secondary school kids can be taught how to resuscitate someone using CPR who might be suffering a cardiac arrest.

• Conflict Resolution - Conflict is an unpleasant part of life and work but unfortunately, it is unavoidable. Kids or adults don’t and won’t always get along and agree with one another. Smart conflict resolution leads to mutually beneficial and agreeable decisions and also helps strengthen relationships.  But if conflicts are handled unwisely, not only can it make the situation uncomfortable, it can lead to breakdown of relationships. There are several online resources that you can make use of. There is The Conflict Resolution Education Connection - This website provides a variety of resources on conflict resolution education, with pages devoted specifically to teachers and caregivers. Then there is Mediate.com - it provides information about all aspects of mediation, with specific articles regarding youth mediation.

• Self Defence - Hopefully no one would ever need to use self defence tactics but in the event that it is needed, exercising those skills could mean preservation of life. Telling your kids to have a pepper spray, a concealed weapon and to be alert of their surroundings might be a good start, but in scenarios when these things are not handy, it is advisable to teach the kids a good hand-to-hand combat method. For women across the globe, it is particular necessary they learn how to tackle an adverse situation and apply measures that may leave their potential violator incapacitated.

• Failure Management - We live in a society where we are over protective about our kids. We don't want them to feel left out, to get hurt, to fail at any cost.  But we need to start looking at failure as an opportunity to teach our children skills they will need to succeed. Failures open doors for skills such as collaboration, creative thinking, emotional strength and coping mechanisms.  "Parents see failure as a source of pain for their child instead of an opportunity for him to say, 'I can deal with this. I'm strong,'" says Madeline Levine, Ph.D., author of The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids.

• Manners - While schools can definitely reinforce the usage of polite word such as ‘please’, ‘thank you’, ‘excuse me’, the burden of teaching manners to children lie mostly with parents and caregivers.  When kids see their parents using manners with others, they will pick up on it.  Next time you are in MTR, give up your seat to the elderly or a pregnant lady. Little practices such as these help reinforce manners in the young impressionable minds. Most importantly, we should be treat our own kids with respect and kindness so that they can reciprocate it back to everyone they interact with, including other kids and teachers.

• Money Management- Money management can go a long way in teaching kids about decision making and making balanced choices. Research has shown that those kids who participate in family finances grow up to be more aware, confident, and responsible adults. Demonstrating sound money management yourself is critical, because children absorb money lessons from watching their parents and caregivers earn, spend, save, and borrow. Children who learn money management skills before leaving home can be in a better position to pay for their education, enjoy homeownership, and much more without stressing themselves. There are a ton of resources available online that can help with money management. For instance, MoneyInstructor.com has resources on teaching kids about money, including making money, starting a business, allowances, saving skills, and games.

So yes, there are many social skills and life skills out there that may not be served on a platter to your kids at school or at their playgroups. Our duty as parents is to be the best version of ourselves especially when we are around our kids. Robert Fulgham succinctly put it, “Don’t worry that your children never listen to you. Worry that they are always watching you.” Children often imitate parents. The more loving the family environment, the higher chances of your kid projecting the same level of love and respect to the outside world. 

Do not forget to kids in minor household decisions such as which colour to pick to paint their room’s wall, which crockery to buy, make them feel respected and valued. Honour their voice as and when you can. They are little adults in making and our job is to offer them the best mould possible and encourage them to walk the right path.

Do let us know which life skill do you teach your kids. We would love to know more.