Here are some important life skill competencies which can give your children a\u00a0leg-up in their futures for college and the rest of their lives thereafter.<\/p>\n
1. It is never too early to begin preparing for college.<\/b><\/p>\n
Preparing for college should begin as soon as\u00a0elementary\u00a0school. Start by helping your child\u00a0organize\u00a0a list of long term goals. These goals will change as your child matures and furthers their educational\u00a0careers, but starting a list of goals can help your child become organized and goal oriented.\u00a0Organization and list-making is a great habit to instill at an early age. Even as adults, being prepared and understanding what goals we want to accomplish helps us stay on track and allows for some sense of\u00a0accountability. Understanding what your children may desire for their future helps them formulate a plan of achievement and helps them self\u00a0monitor their progress. There are many scholastic tools like\u00a0student agendas from Meridian Planners<\/a>\u00a0that can help your child begin making achievable long term plans or even earn college credit without taking college courses through CLEP exams<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2. Financial literacy.<\/b><\/p>\n Children must have a strong understanding of fiscal\u00a0responsibility. It is never too early to begin preparing your child toward this goal. Many families give their children some type of allowance. It is vital that these allowances be given as reciprocity for deeds or work done. This helps build a strong work ethic and understanding of earning power. When money is earned children should understand how to save for things they may need or want. It isn’t enough to have money to spend\u00a0frivolously, help them make a savings plan and\u00a0budget. This life lesson will prepare them for adulthood where they will be solely responsible for their own financial security. Education.com recommends once your child reaches the appropriate age help them setup a checking account and have a discussion on the\u00a0benefits and pitfalls of credit and credit cards<\/a>.<\/p>\n 3. Understanding emotional stability and\u00a0instability of\u00a0adolescence.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n As children mature, especially during their teenage years, their bodies undergo\u00a0massive chemical changes<\/a>. This can lead to emotional difficulties associated with teenage maturity. Parents need to understand that these chemical\u00a0imbalances are\u00a0physiological and lead to psychological\u00a0imbalances\u00a0and behavioral\u00a0changes. Helping your children\u00a0understand\u00a0themselves and the changes they may be undergoing can lead them to make better decisions. Help your child formulate\u00a0strategies\u00a0for coping with their emotion states and changes will be prepare them for future emotional\u00a0challenges.\u00a0Encourage your children to write and keep personal journals and record daily thoughts and feelings. Writing things down can help them track changes and help process their feelings.<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0Developing strong and\u00a0responsible\u00a0decision\u00a0making skills.<\/b><\/p>\n Parents are\u00a0inherently geared to make important\u00a0decisions\u00a0for their children. Parents set household rules and childhood\u00a0boundaries. When a child leaves the home and begins to create a life of\u00a0independence, the parameters of those boundaries will begin to widen and are often pushed\u00a0due to peer pressure. By fully developing the first three\u00a0competencies children will better understand how to make better decisions when\u00a0their\u00a0boundaries begin to widen. Allow your children to make some significant life\u00a0decisions\u00a0on their own. They may fail or make bad choices but making bad choices under your protection can help them learn valuable\u00a0consequences with less risk than when they become\u00a0independent.<\/p>\n 5. Teaching effective time\u00a0management.<\/b><\/p>\n The skill of time\u00a0management\u00a0is extremely important for any child to\u00a0develop and managing time is a learned skill. Children learn this skill from their parents. Parents must lead by example.\u00a0If children see their parents in a constant state of\u00a0dishevel and\u00a0chaotic\u00a0rush, this may imprint into them a poor example of planning and time\u00a0management. Take steps to ensure your children learn the\u00a0benefits of proper time management<\/a>. Give them a\u00a0calendar\u00a0and\u00a0encourage\u00a0them to organize their activities and daily lives. By\u00a0instating\u00a0this skill early children will learn to\u00a0analyze and\u00a0conceptualize\u00a0their daily and future lives. This may also help children prioritize their activities and desires and help them make decisions on which of their activities are most important to achieving their goals.<\/p>\n It is important for any parent to\u00a0understand\u00a0that our children need help, encouragement and learned\u00a0skill-sets\u00a0to help them mature into fully functioning and\u00a0successful\u00a0adults. By starting early we can help ensure a successful future for our children. These are just a few examples and ideas that will give your children the best chances in their future in their college\u00a0endeavors\u00a0and the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n This is a guest post contributed by Becky Wilcox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here are some important life skill competencies which can give your children a\u00a0leg-up in their futures for college and the rest of their lives thereafter. 1. It is never too early to begin preparing for college. Preparing for college should begin as soon as\u00a0elementary\u00a0school. Start by helping your child\u00a0organize\u00a0a list of long term goals. These […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1754,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-careerdev"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1753"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2256,"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753\/revisions\/2256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}