Life skills that shape your child
Your child may have a lot to offer this world but may struggle with his/her day-to-day activities. He or she may be quite talented but may be scattered, not knowing how to handle people and affairs of daily life. He may be a good sportsman but may lack the discipline to be on time for practice every day or may lack the skill to gel with a team mate. These are times when you know that inculcating life skills in your child is vital.
Here are a few life skills that your child will need to hone in order to succeed at school; at home; after school; and at play. Getting cued into these skills will also ready him better for his future.
Here are a few skills that may ring a bell with respect to your child.
Prioritizing: Many a time, we are aware of the things that are important to do, say, in the next one week. Even as we are clear on the to-do list, we waver on what to do first. Many times, we end up focusing on what is urgent rather than what is important. It leads to the procrastination of many things, big and small. So, this tendency to procrastinate must be curbed right from childhood.
To enable your child to learn how to prioritize things, let your school-goer make day-to-day decisions without your interference. Let him choose what to eat; let him take a call on what he wants to buy from a store full of clothes; and let him decide what extracurricular activity he prefers the most.
Effective note-taking: Written words will remain important in all walks of life at all times, no matter whether it is on the web or on paper. Learning to write in a simple, clear and proficient way is critical. Writing things down helps us remember and retain what we learn new in our everyday lives and also as part of our academic endeavours.
Decision-making: The world at large is getting competitive and it hardly has any space for those who take much time to make decisions. The world needs risk-takers who are calculated and who can make informed decisions. In short, the world needs alert as well as smart people.
Overcoming fear: Most of us had misgivings when we started to learn driving. But we did it anyway. We felt geared up about doing it; we felt enthusiastic. We succeeded in learning the skill. As kids, many of us felt nervous about crossing a busy road. However gradually, we learnt to be alert and do it in spite of the fear. So, overcoming fear is important.
It’s a good idea to enroll your child in a sport or an art form. Especially, performing arts take away stage fright.
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