The time to think about teaching your kids urban survival skills is before they’re out on their own.
Basic cooking skills
Your kids should know their way around a kitchen. They don’t need to be chefs, but they should know some basic skills.
These include being able to:
- Properly wash their hands before cooking
- Properly handle kitchen utensils, such as knives
- Prevent cross contamination of food
- Properly clean cooking surfaces before/after cooking
- Follow cooking directions
- Measure ingredients
- Boil water
- Grill a sandwich
- Mix batter
- Cook pancakes or waffles
- Cook pasta
- Cook an egg
- Make toast
- Bake a potato
- Cook a frozen dinner
- Reheat food
Laundry skills
To help your clothes stay clean, they need to be washed. An important skill is knowing how to separate whites and darks from colors into separate loads. Another skill is having the ability to read the label for special instructions. It is also essential to know what temperature to use for washing and drying clothes. Finally, it is useful to know how to fold and put away clothes.
Cleaning skills
Every person should know how to wash dishes and sweep and mop floors. They should also learn how to keep a toilet and tub clean. A particularly important skill is knowing how to read the directions for proper use of cleaning agents.
Effective communication skills
Say what you mean and make sure your audience understands you. Verbal and written communication are very important skills that will help you survive in the real world.
Time management
The ability to get to appointments on time is key to success. This includes the ability to go to bed at a reasonable time and wake up on your own.
Proper hygiene
Nobody wants to be around someone who has a hygiene problem. Hygiene falls into several categories.
- Oral – brush & floss daily, visit the dentist regularly
- Hair – keep hair clean and brushed
- Body – shower or take baths frequently
- Clothing – make sure your clothes are properly washed and cared for and not showing excessive wear.
Financial management
While the ability to earn money is a great skill, there is an even greater skill that will help you get ahead in this world. It’s the ability to hold on to a portion of what you earn for future needs.
Personal responsibility
This is probably the trickiest one. Sometimes, while growing up, young ones have not been held accountable for their actions. This is probably the hardest one to undo. Every action or inaction a person takes has consequences. The sooner this is learned the better chances of survival they have. Blaming your past actions on someone else will not solve the problems you have today. Taking responsibility for where you are, good or bad, is the right thing to do.
Great Tips Wes!! If I can add just a couple:
Basic Cooking Skills
How to use the microwave (what can and can not go into the microwave).
Financial Management
25 to 50% rule (monies received are split between savings and spending money)
Discernment of what can and cannot be used in a microwave is a good call. Something the experienced take for granted.
Regarding the money 10% debt reduction, 10% savings. Of course the wiser thing is to not be in debt in the first place. Everybody would be in better shape if they would learn that.
Can you explain the 25-50 rule of money? I’m not sure if I’ve heard that one before.
The % amount is a variable that can be discerned by the parent. The idea is that the child is always setting aside money for the future. That having a nest egg is important. It makes saving for a treasured item take longer and therefore ensuring that the item is still important to your child. It allows a parent lots of opportunities to discuss the importance of always having money saved for rainy days. Also, if it is difficult to save money it is more difficult to pay back a credit card for items already purchased. It is so easy to get into credit card debt and it is our moral obligation as parents to give our children a strong foundation of credit card debt understanding. How long did it take you! Don’t we want our children to have that basic understanding? Thanks for sharing!
Sadly, finances were never talked about in my parents’ household. I didn’t really learn about money until I was over 30 years old. I have made it a point to share with all my kids the importance of living on a cash basis and saving up for the things you wish to purchase.
I’m afraid that’s the point! Most parents often rationalize that their children will ask them; learn about it at school; or will just never make that mistake. My parents were too busy divorcing to give any financial advice to me or my siblings. I too made it a point to teach my kids about finances and credit cards. It has made a big difference both in their lives as well as in our relationship.
Isn’t it our job as parents, to try and do better than our parents did? We hope we make the right choices and teach our children how to survive, knowing that they in turn will try to do better for their children.
I totally agree with you. Parents should never assume that other people will teach their kids about finances. Your kids might be taught about finances, but what will they be taught? Would it be the lessons you want them to learn? Parents need to be proactive with their kids’ futures and teach them early to be savers not spenders.
You are so right! Children do not come with a “How To” manual; so it is up to the parents to talk to their children about the good, the bad, and especially the difficult. There is no wrong or right way, just make sure you can talk to your kids about anything and they can talk to you. Thanks for the refresher!