Life skills to teach your kids

One of the most amazing things about being a dad is passing on your knowledge and helping your kids to lead fuller, happier lives. In this two-part series we offer a guide to teaching them ten key life skills, from looking after their money to being a computer whizz

From the moment they’re born, children are like sponges, soaking up knowledge in every waking moment. As they grow up they continue to learn from friends and family, books, television and at school.

But their most important teachers are you and their mum. You are the most significant people in their life with the power to teach, encourage and support them right from the start.

To help you make the most of this privileged position, here are five skills you can teach your son or daughter, each of which will make a fundamental difference to their life.

Money skills

Research shows that one in 20 people aged 18 to 24 years old owed more than £10,000 on credit cards, overdrafts and unsecured loans (Consumer Credit Counseling Service).

Helping your children look after their finances is vital and a good place to start is with their pocket money.

"Encourage your kids to save 25 per cent of their pocket money. They will develop the savings habit early on and will be delighted to see their money earning interest," says financial expert Adrian Kidd.

"Most importantly, teach them to ask themselves whether they really need that new toy or game. If you help your kids differentiate between what they want and what they actually need, you’ll take the pressure off them when they’re older to buy things they can’t afford."

• Teaching your child money sense

Cooking

Teach them the basics from an early age and they’ll grow up cooking for themselves – and you, if you’re lucky.

Ask them to weigh and measure ingredients for you and teach them to chop soft foods like banana and avocado with a blunt knife.

• Teach them the difference between foods that are undercooked, burnt or ready to eat.
• Show them how to season food, mix vinaigrette and make gravy.
• Teach them to smell, taste and test as they go along
• Make pizzas with them by buying ready-made bases and letting them experiment with toppings.
• Chef Dad: involving your kids in cooking

IT skills

Although it won’t take long for them to be more techno-savvy than you, in these high-tech days it’s a good idea to get them started young. Try the following:

• Help them handle a mouse by teaching them what it’s for, how to use it and sitting with them as they learn.
• Put a coloured sticker on the left button to differentiate it from the right.
• If kids are learning to spell, let them practice with a word-processing program.
• Turn off the monitor and get them to spell their name. This is a great way to practice touch-typing.
• Teach them how to troubleshoot. Show them how to shut down and restart, and teach them commands like Control + Alt + Delete.
• Teaching your kids to use computers

Managing conflict

Disagreements and arguments are part of everyday life. And the best way for your kids to learn how to manage them is through your example. "Kids watch what their parents do," says Suzie Hayman from Parentline Plus.

"If you shout and scream, that’s what your kids will do. So you need to be able to talk, negotiate, listen and explain yourself – with other adults and your children. Then they’ll learn to manage conflict in the same way."

• Fighting fair: managing conflict without destroying your relationship

Public speaking

In the US, they help kids develop public speaking skills from an early age, with regular show-and-tell sessions at school. Here are some tips to build your child’s confidence at speaking in public:

• Get them to stand up and speak to you, reciting a poem or just telling you about their day.
• Expand this out so they tell other family members about a recent sporting event or school activity.
• Get them to write down what they are going to say – this helps them to plan their speech and become familiar with the words.
• Encourage them to look up and speak with confidence.
• Tell them to practice speaking to a mirror first – a technique used by Winston Churchill, one of the great public speakers.
• If they have to speak at school, get them to focus on the back wall, so the audience doesn’t seem so scary.
• Life skills you can teach your kids - part 2

Author

Dan Roberts is a feature-writer and columnist with over ten years’ experience of working for The Guardian, The Observer, The Independent, Daily Express and Mail on Sunday, as well as numerous national magazines. His areas of expertise include health, wellbeing, relationships, psychology and parenting. Dan also writes two monthly columns, including Diary of a Single Dad, a humorous but affectionate account of raising his teb-year-old son, Ben. The best of Dan’s work can be found on his website at www.dan-roberts.net

Your experiences

How do you go about teaching these key life skills to your kids? What's worked, what hasn't, and what have we left out? Use our comments system below to share your thoughts and experiences.