About This Lesson
We teach kids many different skills, from math to the sciences. Yet, not every teacher is working with their kids on the important skills that are needed for adult life, such as budgeting, paying taxes and knowing how to find a job. Our society tends to focus on providing our youth with certain qualifiers for employment, such as a high-school diploma or college degree, but it ignores other important factors.
According to a survey from the job search website CareerBuilder, employers in India and the UK feel that entry-level employees are lacking skills in creative thinking, problem solving and interpersonal relationships. People are going to school to learn technical skills, but no one is teaching them how to manage day-to-day life in the workplace.
Life Skills Kids will Need to Thrive in the Future
The future is never a guarantee. By the time today's youth are old enough to seek employment, they'll be facing a different world, but there are still some important life skills we can teach them from a young age.
Good Credit
Maintaining a good credit score plays a huge role in a successful life, affecting everything from renting an apartment to finding a job. Many young people don’t even consider working on building credit until it’s too late, and their poor score or lack of a score affects their opportunities in life.
Teachers should discuss the importance of credit and explain to their students how the process works. When kids learn about the steps they can take to begin building credit from a young age, they'll have a better chance of succeeding in the future.
The Ability to Fail
Resilience and persistence are two important life skills that are difficult to teach. Kids learn by facing challenges head on and working hard to succeed. However, failure is also an important part of the process. These days, many parents are attempting to fight all of their children's battles for them, making it even more difficult for teachers to challenge their students. Through the process of trying and failing, kids not only learn resistance, but they also discover what passions and interests they consider worth fighting for.
Interpersonal Skills
Assertive behavior is an important aspect of strong interpersonal skills. Of everything on this list, this is the thing teachers should focus on. Without interpersonal skills, it will not only be difficult to find and maintain a good job, but it will also be hard to have healthy romantic relationships and friendships.
Through creative challenges and team activities, kids can begin to learn assertive behavior. You can encourage this by teaching kids to be direct and honest about their feelings. Help them understand how to express themselves while remaining respectful of the feelings of others.
A Long-term Dream
Not every child has a specific dream for the future. If a child isn’t sure what they’d like to do, don’t pressure them to decide. If, however, they do have a big dream, you can work on the first steps in building a skill-set that will help them get there.
These days, companies are hoping to do more than fill vacancies. They’re looking to acquire talent – but what is talent acquisition? It’s when an employer seeks out applicants with specific skill-sets that would allow them to become future leaders within the company. For example, if a child has the dream of being a graphic designer for a multinational corporation, they may want to work on other skills that could help them stand out. A good example of an additional life skill that can benefit someone in almost any area of employment is being multilingual.
Conclusion
More than anything, teachers should instill their children with the desire to better themselves. When a child experiences the joy of self-improvement, they’ll likely strive to achieve great things versus only doing the bare minimum in life.
