We rely on the school system to teach our children many of the skills they will need to succeed in later life. However, while the qualifications they obtain in school may help them to find meaningful employment, there are some very important life skills that do not feature on the school curriculum that they must learn if they are to achieve their goals.
In this guide, we’ll take a look at three very important skills our children aren’t learning in school that they really need to know.
Financial literacy
Financial literacy is arguably the most important lesson that children are not taught in schools. Financial literacy includes everything from the simple concepts of earning, spending, borrowing and saving to an understanding of common financial products such as mortgages and credit cards.
Financial literacy is important because it equips us with the skills we need to manage money effectively throughout our lives. Without it, the financial decisions we make can have dire consequences on our future success. The lack of financial literacy lessons in our schools is the reason why nearly half of people don’t have the money they need to retire comfortably and why consumer debt has reached its highest ever levels.
As a parent, it is your job to step in and teach these crucial lessons. This educational guide from Wonga will help to give you an understanding of the lessons you should be teaching your children at every age.
Practical cooking
Although many children do have food tech lessons at school, it’s often the case that they are not taught the practical lessons they’ll need to prepare well-balanced, nutritious meals for themselves and their families in later life. While baking might form part of the school curriculum, the vast majority of school leavers will not spend their time baking when they’re in further education or out in the wider world.
With the health of the nation in crisis and one-in-10 children aged four to five and one-in-five aged to 10 to 11 classed as obese, practical cooking is a life skill we desperately need. It also has a marked impact on physical and mental health, so it’s something our children really should be learning early on.
Mental resilience
Mental resilience is all about a child’s ability to cope with the ups and downs that everyone experiences in life. These challenges include everything from changing schools and moving home to dealing with the pressure of exams and coping with the death of a loved one.
Given the current mental health crisis we’re in, building mental resilience in children has never been as important as it is today. Building resilience helps children develop the basic skills and habits that they’ll need to manage stress now and overcome the difficulties they’ll face during adolescence and into adulthood.
What lessons do you wish you were taught at school? Please share your thoughts with our readers in the comments below.