Life Skills For Teens Before They Go To University
“These are skills we can take wherever we go in life, no matter what we do.”
— Millie Hogue
One of the best things students can learn is life skills.
These are the skills they can take with them:
… in university
… at their first job
… throughout their careers
… and for the rest of their lives.
These are also the skills that are often not explicitly and effectively taught in schools.
Because the teens of the present grow into tomorrow’s world citizens, it is that much more important to equip them with the right skill set.
Here are 3 life skills to teach your teens:
Money Management
Money can’t buy you happiness, but we can’t ignore reality: financial struggles don’t help with happiness either.
That’s why teaching your teen financial discipline and literacy is imperative.
University students aren’t always the best when it comes to making financial decisions, especially if budgeting and investing are new to them.
Young adults can even cause major issues for themselves down the line if they run into significant debt with credit cards or fail to keep track of important financial needs like insurance.
One way to start is to teach your teen about budgeting, and help them create a budget for themselves.
A simple exercise is to set up a time to go over their weekly or monthly budget and input their expenses, income, and savings. This can be done on a simple spreadsheet.
For larger purchases, encourage them to save money themselves rather than asking for help.
Ensure your teen is exposed to important financial concepts like credit scores, savings accounts, investments, financial aid, and interest.
It’s typical for this kind of critical personal finance education to be left out of the high school curriculum, and as your teenager becomes an adult, the decisions they make will impact them for the rest of their life.
Start them off right with some learning about financial literacy!
Focus, Time Management, and Organization
Between work, doctor’s appointments, working out, and spending enough time with family, this is a skill that even many adults struggle with!
However, these are very much learned skills, especially for teens and young adults whose impulsivity and hormonal influences are still running quite high.
Tips for better focus:
Encourage “unplugging” from mobile devices and screens
Headphones can help
Make it a habit to create a checklist of everything they need on hand
Tips for time management:
Encourage plugging due dates and deadlines into an agenda or calendar
Teach them to record their daily activities in a time log. After, conduct an honest (and probably somewhat annoying) “Time Audit” to see where they can optimize their time.
It sounds counterintuitive, but creating structure and establishing a healthy routine can allow students to be more productive during “work” periods. This frees up more time later, allowing a balance of priorities, rest, and leisure.
For large school projects, help them map out a pace at which they need to break down tasks. Find smaller mini-goals within their larger project that they can manage more easily. With the goal that by university, they’ll be able to manage their time independently, take a step back and try not to micromanage. Let them take the reins bit by bit.
Tips for organization
Use written reminders
Try a consistent routine to help keep their days and months in rhythm
Put homework, tests, and all documents in order, either in a physical or digital folder
These strategies don’t stop with school-related responsibilities – encourage them to manage their time when it comes to extracurricular activities, household responsibilities, and their social life.
Help them maintain a calendar or planner, and then stick to it.
Avoiding Burnout Through Self-Care
First-year university burnout is a very real struggle that so many students face, resulting in poor physical and mental health.
Even fully prepared students with the skills they need to thrive in university can find themselves struggling with motivation and wellness.
Teens who are used to being cared for by parents may struggle with feeling unsure of how to self-manage.
The common adolescent coping strategies of scrolling endlessly on social media or procrastinating to avoid deadlines aren’t great coping skills.
Encouraging self-care can involve helping students check in with their own emotions, and finding healthy ways to move forward.
Physical exercise, reading, relaxing, or treating themselves to a nice meal occasionally are all great ways to manage stress. Another factor to consider is that stress is a natural part of life, and it’s how we cope that changes the outcome.
The major transition from high school to university is one of the biggest events in a young person’s life.
Encouraging self-care helps students feel prepared not just for the world of higher learning, but for adulthood and the professional realm.
To your teen’s success,
Francesca Cadhit
P.S. - Building life skills takes consistent effort and the right guidance. If you want to know how we help scholars develop life skills so they can achieve their aspirations, reply to this email with the words “LIFE SKILLS’.
“Persistence is incredibly important. Persistence proves to the person you're trying to reach that you're passionate about something, that you really want something.”
— Norah O'Donnell
Founder (www.TopClassEdge.com)
Governor General’s Academic Medal Winner
University of Toronto Graduate and Merit Scholarship Recipient
