Important skills like managing money, building credit, cooking, looking for jobs, and managing time are often not taught well.

Here we’ll explore five life skills that should be a part of every student’s education.

How to Handle Money

While schools teach the basics of money: what it is, how it works, and why we need it. They rarely dive deeper into how to manage personal finances. Few students graduate knowing how to open a bank account, create a budget, or save a portion of their paycheck.

It is important for students to know how to manage their money. They should learn to prioritize spending, save for emergencies, and avoid financial mistakes before going to college or living on their own.

Teaching these skills would empower students to make informed financial decisions, ensuring they are better prepared for adult life.

Teaching this life skill: Create a classroom budget project where students allocate a fictional paycheck to expenses, savings, and discretionary spending. This hands-on activity helps students practice making financial decisions.

How to Establish Credit

For many students, their first experience with credit comes after high school, often in the form of a credit card.

Without proper education, they may see a credit card as free money, leading to overspending and missed payments. This often results in debt and poor credit scores, setting the stage for long-term financial challenges.

Schools need to teach the basics of credit: how to build it responsibly, the importance of paying bills on time, and how to avoid common pitfalls like accumulating debt.

By learning these ideas early, students can begin their money journey in a good way. This helps them avoid problems from bad credit management.

Teaching this life skill: Have students research credit card options and create a mock plan for using a credit card responsibly, including budgeting for monthly payments. Discuss the consequences of missed payments and how credit scores work.

How to Cook

Home economics classes, which once taught students how to cook and manage a household, are now rare in schools.

Yet cooking is a fundamental life skill that everyone should know. Whether it’s for maintaining a healthy diet or saving money by eating at home, learning how to prepare meals is crucial.

Basic cooking skills, such as food preparation, understanding nutrition, and following safety and hygiene protocols, should be part of the school curriculum.

By equipping students with these skills, we set them up for healthier and more independent lives.

Teaching this life skill: Incorporate simple cooking demonstrations or recipe-planning assignments into a science or health class. Consider trying a “meal math” activity where students calculate portions and costs for cooking at home.

How to Find a Job

Education’s ultimate goal is to prepare students to become contributing members of society, and this includes helping them transition into the workforce.

However, many students leave high school without knowing how to find, apply for, or succeed in a job.

Skills like writing resumes and cover letters, preparing for interviews, and negotiating contracts are rarely taught but are crucial for students entering the job market.

Schools can address this gap by incorporating mock interviews, career workshops, and lessons on job search strategies into their programs. For students who enter the workforce directly after high school, these skills are especially vital.

Teaching this life skill: Run a mock interview day where students practice answering common interview questions and receive feedback. Pair this with a lesson on writing resumes and cover letters tailored to specific job postings.

How to Manage Time

Time management is a skill that benefits students not only in school but throughout their entire lives. From elementary school onward, students should learn how to prioritize tasks, plan their schedules, and balance their responsibilities effectively.

Teaching time management early on helps students navigate their academic workload, extracurricular activities, and personal lives more efficiently.

As adults, these skills translate into managing careers, families, and daily responsibilities. Building a foundation of time management in school prepares students for the increasingly hectic demands of adulthood.

Teaching this life skill: Introduce time-blocking or priority-setting exercises where students plan their day or week using a calendar or planner. Discuss strategies for balancing homework, extracurriculars, and relaxation time effectively.

These are just five of the life skills that are not taught in school or just briefly touched upon.

Schools should teach more important skills. Students need to learn how to live independently, defend themselves, perform first aid, understand the law, do home repairs, manage healthcare, and use good manners.

For your students to be well-rounded, successful people, there needs to be a change in the current school curriculum.

Educators never stop learning; check out our available graduate degree programs  to hone your skills and promote lifelong learning and academic excellence.

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The Importance of Life Skills for Teens

Life skills learned during the summer can help promote independence for teens, prepare them for life after school, and also help with increasing social-emotional learning pathways. The skills and strategies discussed can bring a multitude of benefits to teenagers and have a positive effect on them and society as a whole.

Skills Teens Should Learn this Summer

Summer Employment

Traditionally, the summer rite of passage for teens has been working a part-time job. Recently, as the job market has shifted, many traditional summer employment jobs have either gone away or are now held by recent college graduates or young professionals. This means being hired for seasonal help has become increasingly difficult.

For this reason, understand several simple yet key points of emphasis in applying for jobs: First, dress your best. The expression “dress for the job you want, not the one you have” means regardless of the job you are applying for, dress as best as you can for your first impression. Second, inquire about various types of jobs and have different options. Depending on flexibility, many teens can work multiple jobs during the summer. Finally, be on time! Being early to an interview shows initiative and eagerness to work, while being late could show potential employers a sense of not being dependable.

Practice “Soft” Skills

Recently, many schools across the nation have a renewed focus on skills that every student can master. These real-life, relevant skills are designed to help young people in the workforce and can be used throughout day-to-day interactions. These skills include being able to collaborate with one another; understand problems and develop solutions; practice appropriate workplace mannerisms such as eye-contact and professional language; and demonstrate respect for other cultures, beliefs, and traditions. While working your summer job, practice these skills. Oftentimes, lessons learned during summer employment can carry over into adulthood, with best practices learned during the formative years having lifelong benefits.

Creating a Budget (and Managing It)

Once employed, summer jobs provide a number of benefits for teens. Obviously, the financial impact of having a job provides teens with the financial freedom to gain independence from others. To help make money earned during the summer last, create a budget. There are countless free tools that can help teens track spending, savings, etc. Many financial institutions provide free checking accounts to teens and/or college students, oftentimes with no balance restrictions or overdraft charges. Financial independence learned during these formative summer months can translate into sound money management practices as teens get older.

Be Practical

By nature, teens are resourceful. There is no better time to practice resourcefulness and try new things like the summer. Live in an urban setting with public transport? Get out and explore your communities and cities with public transportation. Familiarize yourself with maps and landmarks while discovering unknown places and history you may not have known existed.

Moreover, take time to learn skills that could prove beneficial down the road. Do you know how to change a flat tire? What to do first when a traffic accident or “fender-bender” occurs? What about phone communication skills? Although we are a society geared toward text messaging and emails, strong communication skills, both in-person and on the phone, are vital. During COVID-19, many job interviews, college admissions interviews, and other pertinent events are happening remotely. Remember to speak clearly, professionally, and with enthusiasm. Also, be yourself!

Time Management/Organization

Time management and organization are not words you often see associated with today’s youth. Unfortunately, all too many times teenagers are labeled as not possessing these two important qualities. All the practical skills and strategies mentioned are pointless without sound organization and time management. Want to build your budget? Organize your finances and understand due dates, pay schedules, etc. Want to work more? Practice effective time management!

Summer months are great for delving into these strategies, honing them, and fine-tuning them without the added pressure of school. Developing and harnessing sound time management and organizational beliefs will only benefit you in the long run.

Ultimately, the summer months are great times for teens and young people to step away and decompress from the academic environment they’ve lived in during the school year. However, the summer months present a myriad of opportunities for teenagers to develop valuable skills that will help them in their return to school, workforce, and in their general day-to-day routines. Make the most out of your summer. Enjoy!

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