Every parent wants to foster self-reliance and develop independence in our kids. They want to cultivate vital habits that will give their children a sense of confidence and boost their self-esteem.
Well, why not start now?
The aim is to strike the right balance between life skills and academics, where the school plays an especially important role.
Let us know these top15 important basic skills which will set your child on the path to success. Read on and find out these fundamental skills
1.SELF DEFENCE
The ability to defend oneself physically from harm is of utmost importance, especially for children who are the most vulnerable. Safety and well-being of your child is not optional and so it is important to ensure that our children can defend themselves if the need arises.
Self-defence classes not only teach that the kids protect themselves, but it also helps in building up new techniques, persistence, new physical abilities, discipline.
Several CBSE schools in the city, especially Glentree Academy conduct self-defence lessons and martial arts classes to inculcate this life saviour skill.
If your child’s school does not do so, do you enrol them for defence lessons outside of school?
2.FIRST AID
Being able to watch out for the children at all times is unrealistic. As children grow, so do their activities and small accidents and falls become inevitable. If the child is equipped with the knowledge of basic first aid, it reassures the parents that their ward can take care of themselves. It helps the child become alert and active.
Ideally these lessons should be an integral part of the school curriculum. However, it can only be inculcated strongly if the same is reinforced at homes. The first essential step in teaching first aid starts at home.
Pro Tip: Start by helping your child to make a mini first aid kit.
3.IMPORTANCE OF HEALTH
Making a child self-aware of the importance of a balanced diet, active lifestyle and their benefits is the key to make them aware of the importance of staying healthy.
After all, health is wealth, isn’t it?
The trick is to ask them to decide how to strike a balance healthy and junk food and maintain it on a day-to-day basis.
Pro Tip: If you find your child fussy about consuming a particular vegetable or fruit, whip that up into a soup or smoothie by adding their favourite toppings of their choice!
4.RESPONSIBILITY
How hard is it for us to teach our kids to be responsible? Down the lane, the kids are likely to leave homes to pursue their career and education. If you do not teach them how to be responsible and tackle daily life challenges, they would find themselves in a crunch in the future.
Most parents run around doing even the most minute things for their child, making things easy on them. That is definitely not wrong, however, you can always teach them to do their own work and guide them when they backtrack, this way you will be there at every step ensuring they don’t fall apart.
Pro Tip: Make a weekly checklist of tasks you want your child to learn. Once they complete the tasks reward them to keep them encouraged.
5.TIME MANAGEMENT
“Time is money”, they say. Procrastination can be a big problem and will always cause rushed up or delayed work and high stress levels.
Children should learn to manage time wisely without requiring constant reminders. It will give them more time to spend to unwind, pursue hobbies, do a better job and perform well in all their work.
Pro Tip: Get your child a planner to help them track their schoolwork and the time they spend on extracurricular activities. By getting them a planner, they also inculcate the basic manners of note-taking and being organised.
6.DECISION MAKING SKILLS
Throughout our lives, we make several important decisions with respect to our education, career, and other important life choices. But have you wondered what kind of effect it would have on your child if you instil the skill of making decisions at an early age itself?
Once you help your child to understand the consequences of each of their choice of decisions, they are sure to understand the importance of making the right decision.
Pro Tip: Here’s a simple and easy way to help your child to make a wise decision – Pick any two activities, two games or any two different types of clothes or even two distinct food items. Teach them the consequences of choosing between the two activities and help them to make a wise decision.
7.MONEY MANAGEMENT
Every parent wants to give the world to his child. They want their children to have every tool and opportunity to lead a successful and happy life. To ensure that the child gets all that one has to inculcate the skill of smart money management in the child from an early age.
Helping the child learn the basic financial principles and lay a strong foundation a happy lifelong relationship with their money.
One of the easiest ways to help them learn this skill is to provide them with minimal amounts of pocket money twice a week, asking them to save up their pocket money.
Pro Tip: Get a piggy bank for your child every year and help them to save even if the amounts are meagre. On any important occasion or your day of choice, break open the piggy bank and get your child the things he or she desires.
8.SHOPPING
One of the most difficult tasks even for adults is to shop smartly. Most times people end up buying much more than what they need after getting lured by deals or sales.
Buying things what one needs, being frugal and trying to be minimalistic is an important life skill which child needs to be exposed to.
Encouraging children to make a grocery list, asking them to compare various products, judge the quantity required as per need, paying the right amount can be an educational experience which will teach a child multiple things like the importance of money, mathematical and logical skills etc.
Pro Tip: Make a monthly grocery list distinct for your child and yourself. Put all the easy to find, less heavy things on their list. By doing this you will help them to buy the right goods in the right quantities and ensure that they shop only necessities.
9. BUILDING EMPATHY
Empathy is a quality which makes an individual have stronger social connection, meaningful relationships, and good mental health. Children learn empathy largely from parents, other adults around them including their teachers.
It promotes tolerance and makes children be compassionate towards others.
By encouraging them to be sympathetic to the ones less fortunate than them, considerate towards their grandparents, younger siblings, take care of animals and plants helps them build their emotional language.
Pro Tip: Read books with your children to help them learn to associate feelings and actions with their favourite characters and stories.
10.TO BE INDEPENDENT
Yes, it’s a dream for us parents to see our kids being independent. There are a lot of tasks and daily activities the children can do themselves. Give them a task every day to do it by themselves.
You can let your kids pack their bags, pack their lunch and even do other tasks.
Pro Tip: The easiest way to get our kids to do tasks is to make these tasks more engaging for them. Buy bedspreads of their choice of cartoon or movie, this will help them to make their bed every day. (phew, you’re free now!)
Pro Tip: The easiest way to get our kids to do tasks is to make these tasks more engaging for them. Buy bedspreads of their choice of cartoon or movie, this will help them to make their bed every day. (phew, you’re free now!)
11.INTERACTION WITH PEOPLE
Instead of teaching your kids about stranger danger, teach them how as adults you differentiate between the good and bad. Teach them to identify good and bad manners. Teach them how to make friends (but wisely), how to be adults and how to interact with people.
Pro Tip: make it a rule for the children to greet and carry out at least a small conversation with your friends when they visit your home.
12.INVOLVE THEM IN CHORES
Now comes the most difficult part of our lives, the never-ending chores!
Parents often re-evaluate the idea of assigning chores to the children thinking that they will take away the pleasure of the kids to just be kids.
Involving children in everyday chores not only helps share the work but also makes the children feel the part of a team.
Assigning some everyday chores to the children allows them to acquire and demonstrate their skills and master new responsibilities.
Pro Tip: Start by assigning simple chores like watering the plants or laying the table.
13.BASIC ETIQUETTES
Raising a child with good manners is an area that will never be ‘out of style’.
A child with good mannerisms and etiquettes grows up to be a confident and well-liked person.
Greeting people around, developing good table manners, answering phone calls courteously etc. are important social skills and a must-have skill for every child.
Pro Tip: Encourage the children to write thank you notes, get well soon cards. Teach them the use of cutlery, eating with mouth closed etc.
14.Personal Hygiene
Covid has taught the importance of washing hands and it is extremely vital that every child learns to keep himself clean. Teaching children about hygiene and creating a personal hygiene routine for them early on is important as they are more susceptible to infections. This habit not only helps in keeping oneself clean but also prevents the spread of diseases.
Personal hygiene includes oral hygiene, bathing, washing hands, wearing clean clothes etc.
Pro Tip: Set a routine for daily, weekly, and monthly activities of maintaining personal hygiene like skin care, cutting nails, trimming hair etc. and help the children follow it.
15.ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
Every child is a curious naturalist.
Imparting knowledge about the environmental challenges and prospects of nature will teach children to explore all the problems related to the environment, and engage in wise ways of preserving it from an early age.
Small lifestyle changes at home that help in preserving the environment like reducing the use of disposables, saving water, electricity will leave a deep impact on children’s way of living. Get them to practice some eco-friendly habits in everything they do.
Make them do other environmental activities, like helping them to plant a seed every year on their birthday, teach them to segregate waste into dry and wet bins.
Pro Tip: Help your kids to set up their own compost bin at home by doing this you can reduce the waste generated at home.
Now that you come till here, these are the top 15 skills that you should ensure that your child acquires this year!
This year 2021, let’s focus on educating our children in a fun-filled and entertaining way so that we can be worry-free and confident when it comes to their morals, manners and skills!
Have we missed out on any other important life skill? Just drop a comment and let us know what skills children must learn this year!
Also Read: 10 Reasons Why Physical Education is Important In Schools.
