We all know that at school we learn math, science, history, and other important subjects. But what about life skills? Why don't we learn how to manage money, how to deal with stress, or how to stay healthy at school? In this blog post, we discuss why life skills are so important and suggest some ways to learn them outside of school.
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What is a life skill?
A life skill is a skill that will help you live a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life. Without these skills, even the simplest daily tasks can become a hindrance. We must be able to live independently. Practical life skills are important not only for living a productive, efficient, and successful life, but also for simply existing in the world around us.
When we are in high school, we all want to grow up and be independent from our parents so that we can follow our dreams and face our own adventures with confidence.
There are certain core competencies that will help you achieve this goal, which is why they are so important.
The social skills needed to interact with others, as well as personal life skills, need to be developed early for children or adolescents to have them into adulthood, as these kinds of life skills make things easier for someone who he's an adult now but not when he is. / was younger.
High school students need life skills to succeed in the real world
Why aren't life skills covered in school in a life skills class?
Well, the simple answer is that it's not your job. But it can be argued that today's society needs more than a good understanding of the water cycle to be successful in real life.
We are at a strange transition point in education. All over the world there are countries and cultures with very different ideas about what schools should teach, not to mention how they should teach, who should go to school and for how long.
And even within a country or culture, educational experiences can vary greatly from person to person.
Schools have been around for a long time: long enough to develop some pretty entrenched practices. The subjects we consider "important" today were once considered so new they weren't even taught, and many of them are still not part of curricula around the world (try to convince an Italian friend that every student needs four years of algebra). .
We are still trying to figure out where life skills fit into our educational approach.
But these are definitely important things for students, especially younger ones, to learn!
Because before most people can think about saving for retirement or buying their first home or whatever happens after high school (or after college), they need to know how to balance a checking account, write a resume, dealing in car oil, and accidentally wearing pink. socks like kitchen towels without washing clothes!
There is no question that higher education and critical thinking are important, but life skills are just as important.
Parents can help their children learn these skills, but they aren't always there to teach them. In fact, many parents don't have time to sit down and teach their children to cook a simple meal because both parents have to work to pay their bills.
If the school system focused on teaching students to cook and manage their finances, they would be much better off after graduation than having to face these overwhelming tasks.
Nutrition lessons can also have a positive effect on your health and pocketbook. It is cheaper to eat healthy than to buy fast food every day, and it also saves money in the long run, for example, in health care costs and the consequences of being overweight.
All of this is even more important when you consider that there are people who never learned these skills because they didn't have anyone to teach them or didn't have access to the resources needed to learn these skills.
What life skills are not taught in school?
First, learning the 3Rs (reading, writing, and arithmetic) is not enough. You also need practical skills.
For example, you need to know how to manage your finances. Banks lend money, but they don't teach you how to use it or invest it wisely. It is also important that today's schools not only include financial education in the curriculum, but also emphasize it, so that children are prepared for adult life where money becomes more important as children get older and older. to the labor market.
If people learned to avoid disease or obesity, we would have far fewer clients for medical services.
Homeschooling and financial education
These are two vital activities that a person carries out throughout his life, but schools do not integrate them into the daily life of students.
Schools should teach students how to clean, organize, and maintain their home, as this is important to living independently as an adult. Learning responsibility is also important because you need to be able to care for someone other than yourself, whether it's a family member or your own household.
It is also important to learn to work with others, with better interpersonal skills, for example cleaning the house together, to create a more harmonious environment, leading to better communication skills between people and an overall better quality of life.
Learning discipline is also an important skill that can be taught by having students tidy up the school regularly so they develop good habits early on.
Not to mention first aid training, a really basic life skill that I think should be mandatory for everyone.
Current life skills are not taught in schools
Here are some other examples of life skills that should be taught more in schools:
- To sew
- Cooking (a very important life skill)
- Prepare food and drinks (rather than just learning how to prepare them)
- Auto mechanics (a real life skill that everyone should know at least the basics about)
- Gardening/horticulture/permaculture (a valuable life skill as we enter a new era of economics and living)
- construction / carpentry
- healthy relationships
If, like me, you don't know much about cars, you may find this a bit strange. Why should I learn how to change my car's oil when so many mechanics do it? Well, if you know how to change your oil, you'll not only save money, but you'll learn a valuable skill.
Once you get really good at changing your own oil, you can change other things in your car.
An approach to technology.
If technology revolves around our lives and we use it more than any previous generation, why not teach young people how to use it?
If we are going to use technology, we must teach ourselves how to use it ethically and responsibly. This is the only way we can prevent ourselves from becoming another generation of housewives.
As a society, we make the mistake of seeing technology in black and white: good or bad. But it really is not. Technology can be used for both good and ill, and it is up to us, as citizens of the world, to use it ethically and responsibly.
We must not allow technology to dominate our lives, because that would mean losing life itself, and that defeats the whole purpose of technology, doesn't it?
social interactions
Young people are learning about the world at an increasing rate, but they are not being taught how to manage social interactions with others.
- This is a problem because students gain knowledge and prepare for the future, but if they don't know how to relate to others and work as a team, they will have little success outside of school.
- To be successful in school and in the job market, a young person needs not only academic skills, but also strong social-emotional skills, such as self-management or relationships.
- In social-emotional learning programs, youth learn to build relationships with others, understand emotional intelligence, manage their emotions, and behaveright, set goals and achieve them.
- When this is not taught in schools, it is up to parents to help their children develop these important life skills, which can be difficult when many parents don't know how best to do it.
The most important life skills to learn
Third grade is full of self-esteem lessons, and for the most part, it works. My problem is that after the second grade at school I was not taught to control my feelings and actions.
School doesn't teach what it means to be an adult in an environment where adults no longer just pretend.
I'm not saying it's wrong for schools to teach children what happens in life outside of school; they need to know so they can make good decisions when they go out into the world (what school are they supposed to teach them at).
I feel like we could do more to help kids who haven't had ideal experiences in school to stay calm even when things are hard, and sometimes precisely because things are hard!
One of the most valuable skills you can learn is managing your money.
Financial education is a set of skills that help people manage their money and make informed financial decisions. As the world becomes more competitive and resources become scarce, this is an essential skill.
Closely related to financial education is knowledge of personal information and how to manage and protect it.
A broad education is important for a young adult to make informed and smart financial decisions. However, most people do not learn these skills during their school years.
Why don't schools include life skills in the curriculum?
There are several reasons why life skills are not taught in schools.
- lack of funds🇧🇷 Many schools are struggling to raise enough money to teach what is already in the curriculum.
- Zeitmangel🇧🇷 Although there are cooking and sewing courses in schools, there is very little time for this each week. So it's hard for teachers to teach all these skills and use them correctly because they just don't have enough time to teach them.
- Lack of teacher training.🇧🇷 Many teachers who teach subjects like math and science have never been trained in practical skills like cooking or sewing, so it would be difficult for them to lead a class that teaches these things without training first.
- lack of resourcessuch as utility rooms. Teaching life skills requires facilities like kitchens and sewing machines, but many schools don't have these things on site! And when they do, they are often out of date and can be dangerous if mishandled by students who have never used them before (which is very likely).
- Lack of integration with other disciplines.🇧🇷 Life skills are often not integrated into core subjects like math or English, so it can be difficult for students to see the connection between these subjects if they are studied separately... The only way out seems to be that the kids learn basics Learn about their bodies in early grades (how much sleep should I get? What food groups do I need?), how finances work, etc., before moving on to more specific topics later in high school or college college. However, this can be very expensive as most parents want their children to learn everything at once rather than wait for someone later who knows nothing but an area they are passionate about (for example, politics).
Schools are already struggling to teach basic academic subjects.
Schools are already struggling to give students a solid foundation in core academic subjects and modern technologies like computer programming. The primary goal of schools should be to ensure that all students have a solid foundation in core subjects before they leave school.
The curriculum is designed to build on skills learned in the previous grade, so that as school progresses, concepts become more complex and abstract.
This means that each subject builds on subjects that have already been taught in school: the math courses complement each other, as do the science and English courses. Students who fall behind early have difficulty catching up with their classmates unless they receive extra help or support from teachers or parents.
Schools cannot do everything and there is not enough support to teach life skills
Schools can't do it all. In fact, without the support of parents and families, schools can hardly do anything truly effective. One way or another, home and school need to work together in this area.
It's just not fair to expect schools to teach life skills when there isn't enough time or focus. Also, teachers have a hard time reaching students who don't want to go to school!
Many kids don't take subjects like home economics seriously because they are too busy making progress in other subjects they consider more important, like science and math. And even if they were interested in learning how to cook, sew, or write a check, teachers aren't experts at teaching all of those skills…but your parents are!
Also, keep in mind that teaching many life skills requires specialized training and certification that most public schools these days simply cannot afford. It is better for organizations like the Red Cross to offer community programs (such as childcare training) than for individuals to do it themselves.
And due to budget cuts, community programs aren't always available…so we need family support here too!
Life skills are seen as something parents should teach their children
Parents should be involved in their children's education, act as role models for their children, and be actively involved in their children's lives. It is true that parents should teach their children what they need to know about the world.
But I also believe that the school has a responsibility to create an environment in which children learn to deal with real life situations and acquire the necessary skills to become self-sufficient and independent.
I think if all students took cooking classes, we would have a lot more happy campers eating their vegetables and a lot fewer obese kids.
You would learn about nutrition, how to make healthy choices, and how to cook delicious meals with foods that are good for you. The health benefits would be enormous.
Mental health is as important as physical health
Mental health is just as important to our overall well-being as physical health, but many of us don't know how to maintain and improve it.
Although it is a serious problem that affects millions of Americans each year.
That could be because the education system doesn't want to get too personal, but mental illness doesn't vary by age or gender, so there's no reason this topic shouldn't be taught in schools.
There are many ways to improve your mental health, such as: For example, regular exercise, time for yourself, and healthy eating. When people suffer from symptoms such as anxiety or depression, it is important to see a professional therapist who can recommend an appropriate treatment plan, just like with an upset stomach or headache.
Mental illness is still a problem in our society and we are not good enough at teaching young people how to deal with it.
It is also important that parents, teachers and anyone who works with children be aware of mental health problems, as this helps to avoid them when patients are younger.
How to teach students life skills
One of the most important ways to teach life skills to students is to be a role model. This includes openly dealing with one's own mistakes, successes, and weaknesses. Another option is to find mentors for students outside of the classroom. You can also use real-world teaching strategies, such as experiential learning and problem solving, to help students develop skills in an unstructured environment.
Experiential learning means that you encourage or allow your students to learn through experience rather than traditional textbooks and lectures. This approach allows for self-directed learning rather than teacher-directed learning, and gives students the opportunity to earn “Real World Credits” by undertaking real projects that solve real community problems that matter to them.
Real problems need real solutions! It is time for us to get out of the classroom, stop relying solely on textbooks and start experiencing life to learn its lessons.
It is important that we break away from our textbooks and learn about the world around us.
By putting the things we learn into practice, we can experience what we learn firsthand. Making something yourself is much more valuable than just reading about it. We can better understand what it means to keep our bank account in balance or pay taxes when we do it ourselves, rather than just listening to someone else talk about it.
Let's take advantage of this opportunity by creating a curriculum based on teaching life skills and incorporating traditional school subjects like math and science.
How can parents encourage their children to learn life skills?
As a parent, you can help your child learn life skills. The most important thing is that you teach your child that life skills are important and that they are not something that others have to do for him.
You can also give your child a chance to practice life skills and show him how to learn new skills. This could include showing your kids how to do different tasks so they know what to look for on the internet and checking in with them from time to time to see if they've learned something because sometimes it's hard when something doesn't like it, works well or isn't perfect! !
School doesn't teach life skills, but you can learn them
While there are certainly no courses in finance, time management, and communication, the good news is that there are many other ways to learn these skills.
Self-help books, Internet courses, seminars, and children's books can help fill in the gaps. If you don't know where to start, ask your parents or mentors what they would recommend. There are also many useful resources on the Internet; Even a quick Google search produces a host of useful results.
One thing is for sure, necessary life skills open doors to different areas of your life that would otherwise remain closed to you. While school teaches a variety of academic subjects (some more useful than others), it doesn't fully prepare you for the outside world. Therefore, whenever possible, I encourage you to take every opportunity to learn new skills and gain knowledge.
There should be mandatory life skills courses in high school
When I was in school, the weekends were the most important thing to me, followed by grades and third: my friends. I never quite understood people who said that a degree would get you a job. And even if you have a job, so what? My parents worked all their lives and were not so lucky.
They had money but they had no time to do anything with it.
The field of life skills education is changing
Life skills education is changing around the world. It is no longer limited to teaching young people to cook and clean. More and more schools are making character education a focus of their curriculum and incorporating life skills into the mix.
Character education teaches children to behave as good citizens of their community, their country, and the world at large.
Character education is designed to help students develop a desire within themselves to do what is right for their peers, family members, and other members of the community.
Topics taught in character education range from anti-bullying techniques to empathy training. Educators who study life skills agree that these are all important components of an effective school program. However, they also believe that there should be some emphasis on basic survival skills so that students are well prepared when they leave school and begin life as independent adults.
Some frameworks list character traits such as trustworthiness, respect, and responsibility. There's even a curriculum designed to help teachers embed these values ​​in the classroom.
Some schools have taken the idea of ​​character education even further. A school teaches them social skills like making friends and resolving conflict, skills that will make them more successful later in life. It is no coincidence that these lessons are taught from a young age. When children learn positive traits and develop good habits, they are more likely to stay on track when it comes to avoiding drugs or problems.
Therefore, many experts agree that teaching life skills is just as important as teaching school skills.
continuing education
Last but not least, learning life skills early on prepares us for something very important later in life:become permanent learning to continuously improve our lives and those around us.