Five Life Skills Students Need to Develop Before They Leave for College

0
2018

Life skills and development go hand in hand. Children need to learn these life skills early on because they can have a ground-breaking impact when they leave home and go out for studies or jobs. They are critical skills for your child and are detrimental to their overall success. But what are the essential skills of life that your child needs to learn? Here, in this article, we will discuss a few life skills that your child should know. Let us get started and address these skills one by one. 

Being fully present

Being fully present in everything is quintessential for a student – be it at social gatherings, classes, lectures, assignments, and at work. Fortunately or unfortunately, the teens and the young adults today are a part of the most connected yet socially yet physically isolated generation. So, as concerned parents, we must make an adequate effort to ensure that the students take the desired steps to convert their virtual connections into real-life bonding. This is possible only when they are physically present through everything. The student must be attentive – both mentally and emotionally. For this, continuous eye contact with the speaker is vital. So, while the lectures are on, they should steer clear from their phone and not do birdwatching. Instead, be fully attentive, and listen to what the teacher is saying. Further, you must also make your contribution by being a part of the conversation, instead of making the whole thing about themselves or changing the topic.

Self-awareness

Someone who is self-aware knows what they feel, think, know, believe, and say at any point in time. This is a part of internal monitoring and is a quintessential skill. Thus, as a parent or a teacher, you must continually keep a check on the students to know what they think and feel. However, through all this, please do not be judgemental. Further, as a student, you must continually do a self-analysis to ensure that you are well aware of your thoughts, likings, and disliking. 

For instance, if you find it hard to do your math homework and are continually feeling, I wish I had someone who could do my math homework, do not put yourself under unnecessary pressure. You could either check platforms like TopAssignmentExperts wherein you can find experts to do your homework, or you could take an online math course suggestion from TrumpLearning. 

This holds for every aspect of your life. Only if you are self-aware of your shortcomings, feelings, and thoughts can you rectify them and proceed with them.  

Having the integrity to discern between right and wrong

Right we are in school or college, that is when you must learn to differentiate between the right and the wrong, the good and the bad. Only if you know what is right for you will you be able to do things that do not consciously or subconsciously affect or harm those around us. The idea is to do the right things, even when no one is watching. Having integrity implies you can discern between the range of behaviours and pick your response according to what’s best for everyone in the situation. 

Focus and self-control

For long-term success, you need to thrive by routines, habits, and schedules. This is vital to yield a sense of security and aid in helping them imbibe focus and self-control. As a parent, you should hold your child accountable. Ask them what you can expect from them in a day’s time. Simultaneously, as a student, you must also hold yourself responsible. Write down all the things you want to achieve in the day, and keep working towards it. 

For instance, if you have ten things to do in a day, make a list, and keep checking them off one by one. If there’s anything that you do not find time for, consider outsourcing it. Let’s say for a day, you have five assignments to complete, along with your daily routine activities, and you have time for only 4, then look for a reliable homework help provider to assist you with the fourth. So, if accounts are your week point, look for good accounting homework help online to help you with the task. There are platforms like EduWorldUSA that can assist you on all subjects. So, whichever assignment you find hard doing, you can seek help for the same, but do ensure whatever you decide for the day is done in the stipulated time.  

Simultaneously as a parent, if your child is small, you should be proactive and ensure that everything is very well-organized. So, when your child sits for the homework, they do not have to waste time organizing things. Additionally, to help them improve their focus, you can encourage them to read a book, solve a puzzle, as these activities target the sensory brain and help improve focus. 

Communication

Lastly, for students and all of us, communication is pivotal for healthy social-economical skills. You should have the ability to communicate what you are feeling and simultaneously understand what the other person is trying to communicate. Of course, not all children will learn to comprehend and communicate at the same pace, but the child needs to be taught to pick social cues. At the same time, they must also be good listeners. The child needs to understand what they want to communicate initially and then find a way to put this across. As a parent, you can speak to them as an interested adult. This gives them a sort of comfort that makes it easier for them to communicate with you and simultaneously understand what you expect of them. To facilitate better communication, you need to spend some part of your day listening to them. Give them your full attention so they can communicate without inhibitions, and you can hear without distractions.