8 Life Skills We Forget to Teach Our Kids

From dadomatic.com

In part from an article  by Jeff Sass

In a world where toddlers are touch screen wizards, and teens can text more  eloquently than they can talk, it is easy to lose sight of some basic “life skills” that have no connection to being “connected.” and that ultimately may be more useful than how to manage their Facebook presence.

1. Cooking and Nutrition – If you look around you it is impossible not to see the serious problem we have with health and fitness in this country.  Our Fast Food nation is fast becoming an unhealthy nation. Teaching kids to cook for themselves is a great way to get them to understand basic nutrition, and to get them to eat better.

2. Doing Laundry – Sure, it is a chore.  But it is a chore that one day or another we all have to do.  Do your kids know how? Can they add  detergent  to a load without causing a suds tsunami in the laundry room?  Do they understand the concept of separating colors, and hang drying vs. the dryer?  

3. The Automotive Trio: Filling Up, Using Jumper Cables, Changing a tire – When your kids hit age 15 or 16, one of their primary objectives will be learning to drive, and before you know it, “can I borrow the car?” will replace “can I have some money?” as the number one phrase you dread hearing from your kid.

We often don’t bother to show our kids how to do three basic things every driver needs to know: How to properly put gas in the car (you’d be surprised how many kids don’t know what to do the first time), how to safely use jumper cables, and how to properly and safely change a tire.

4. Basic First-Aid – If your kids have been Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts maybe they have this one covered, but even younger kids should know basic safety and first-aid skills, and where you keep the first-aid kits, fire extinguishers, etc.  Even if they won’t be administering first aid themselves, if they have an understanding of band-aid basics (and other things, like applying pressure to a cut, keeping it clean, etc.) they will react better when they get their next “boo boo.” Needless to say, as young as possible kids should understand the proper use of dialing 911 in an emergency.

5. Basic Finances – Even if we rarely use checkbooks anymore, our kids should understand the basics of balancing a checkbook and managing a simple budget. It is not something they get a good handle on in school. They should know the difference between a credit card and a debit card, and they should have an interest in what interest means and how it impacts their financial health. As soon as you feel they are old enough, include them in appropriate discussions about purchases. If you are dealing with mortgages and car loans or leases, explain to them how it works. Allowance, used properly, can be a great learning tool. 

6. Basic shooting and Gun Safety  Just like pools, guns are everywhere and most of our kids have no way to process gun information unless they have been trained.  Things as simple as recognizing a real gun in the hands of a playmate can truly be a lifesaver for a child.

7. Teach them to Swim.  Pools are everywhere and swimming survival should be a top priority on the learning list from the time they are two months old…that’s right, two months!