What are you doing today to prepare your teen for adulthood? I’m not talking about academics. I’m talking about real life skills that they’ll need to survive outside your home.
Looking back, I realize that I was not prepared to leave the nest. I could do laundry, and I could cook a few casseroles. But, I wasn’t really prepared for all that it takes to be an adult. I couldn’t make a budget. I didn’t know what a meal plan was.
I know that much of adulthood is learned from everyday experience, but I also know that there was so much my mom could have taught me that she didn’t. So, I am striving to make sure that my daughter is prepared to manage her own home when she leaves my house. Life is full of unexpected surprises, and I want to help her be prepared as much as I can.
Life Skills for Teens
Financial Literacy
This is a biggie, and it’s one of the most important things you can teach your teen. Teens need to know how to make a budget and stick to it. Start them out with a written budget so they can track their income and expenses. Seeing where the money goes each month makes a budget easier to stick to.
They need to be able to know how much they’re allowed to spend and know how to balance treating themselves to being responsible with their money. An example of this is one of my kids loves to play the piano but when they moved out they didn’t have access to one anymore. They knew they wouldn’t be able to afford bills if they bought a new piano so instead, they looked at a used piano price in Malaysia and decided to buy that one. This is a perfect example of being able to treat themselves to something nice while also being able to save money.
Let your teen open a student checking account as soon as they are earning enough money to warrant one. Student accounts tend to have different limits and penalties than a regular account – almost like an account with training wheels. When they open a bank account, allow them to begin using a debit card so they are in control of their own spending.
Help them determine which percentage of their money will go to savings and to spending. Will they tithe or donate to charity? Tracking where their money goes, helps teens learn to set a realistic budget. One they can stick to.
Taking Care of Her Body
Teen bodies are changing in big ways. In fact, my daughter, 13, grew 2.5 inches in six months! As a result, she has needed more sleep recently. She’s going to bed earlier, and she’s sleeping later each morning. I’ve learned to tailor our homeschool day to accommodate her need for increased sleep.
In addition to sleep, though, she’s learning to eat healthier and trying to drink more water. She’s learning the benefits of regular exercise, as well. With her recent diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, all of these have taken on a whole new meaning. When she doesn’t make wise choices – no water, poor diet, no exercise – her joint pain is much worse.
All teens need to learn to take good care of their bodies, however, regardless of whether they have a chronic illness or not.
Housekeeping
Learning to keep their belongings tidy and neat is an important life skill for teens. Not only does it involve knowing how to wash the dishes, do laundry, and clean a bathroom, but it includes knowing how to organize a space to accommodate the items in it. More than that, though, it’s about know how to do all of the above well. A job that isn’t done right isn’t done.
From a young age, my children have chores and responsibilities. They have to mop, vacuum, scrub, and pick up around the house. We’ve had elaborate chore systems, and we’ve had simple ones over the years. I’ve purchased chore charts, typed them on the computer, and even written them on color-coded index cards.
The easiest way to track jobs in our house is to use a chore chart that can be printed. Printable chore charts can be laminated and wiped clean each week. This especially helpful if your kids rotate chores.
Meal Planning
Meal planning may be one of my least favorite chores each week. However, if I don’t plan, we’re more likely to run through a drive-through or eat lots of ham and cheese for the week. This is a task, however, that my daughter can learn to take over. She can go through my recipes and cookbooks and create a working menu for the week. At thirteen, she’s fully capable of printing a weekly menu plan and writing it all out. She can also use that menu plan to write out our master grocery list before we head to the store. This will give her the practice she needs to be able to do this for herself and/or her own family one day. I’ve told her to check out Sun Basket review from My Food Subscriptions since meal kits like this can make cooking much easier, especially if you’re pressed for time.
Basic Cooking Skills
Not only do teens need to know how to plan a meal, they need to know how to cook it. Emma loves to be in the kitchen. She loves to bake – cookies, scones, pancakes, etc. It wasn’t until she saw a post though about FBOI.in Bakery courses which is one reason she got into baking. Plus, she loves watching cooking shows, so it comes as no surprise that she’s always in the kitchen. However, she doesn’t yet know how to make dinner for the family. She can pop a pizza in the oven or make Ramen noodles, but that’s not enough. So, we are beginning to work on basic cooking skills like browning meat and cooking fresh vegetables. We’ll progress to making full meals together, and then she’ll be in charge of dinner once a week. My goal is for her to have a full recipe book of meals that she can cook on her own when she leaves the nest one day.
Time Management
Time management is becoming a huge topic of conversation in my house. Em has been bitten by the planning bug! She loves to grab my planner each weekend and plan out her own week in her own planner. I love that she is taking control of her schedule. She’s in charge of making sure her homework is done for co-op. Nutcracker rehearsals and youth group are blocked out on her planner so she can see when she has free time each week. Knowing what non-negotiables are on her schedule, she can plan sleepovers and time for crafting or catching up on her favorite shows.
Life After High School
No matter what the plan is – college, trade school, full-time work, or being a homemaker – the important thing is to have a plan. It’s important for teens to have a goal they’re working toward. Explore career options to feel out different paths. Allow teens to volunteer in places that line up with things they’re interested in doing after high school – animal shelters, dentist office, political campaign, day cares. Getting a first-hand look at different options will help teens narrow down their ideas for the future and will help them determine whether college is necessary or not.
What are you doing today to prepare your teen for adulthood?
Related Posts:
 |
 |
 |
Great food for thought! My tween already earns a bit of pocket money and we talk about saving versus spending. All three of my kids help out in the kitchen and we plan our monthly meals together as a family. All three boys do their own laundry, clean & organize their rooms and take turns with various household chores. I hope to give them more and more responsibilities as they grow so they’re prepared to move out on their own and be successful when the time comes.
Really great tips here. Learning to budget, manage time and clean is so important. I work with high school grads that have no idea how to fold laundry, cook anything and it always blows me away. These kids are working, where are their life skills?! Thanks for sharing at the nook which is where I found you 🙂
Great tips, all are needed to prepare to leave the nest! Thanks for sharing on Funtastic Friday!
I’m working on this every day with my two Tara. Although only 12 and 10, I’ve been teaching them things for years. For some strange reason they think they’ll be living with me forever but I’ve got news for them, and it’s all bad! (Just kidding.) A great list and thank you very much for linking up to Thriving on Thursdays. It’s always great to see your posts. They’re very informative.
Anne @ Domesblissity
I feel fortunate to have found your blog! With 2 teenage daughters, I find they do sometimes struggle with balancing work, school, drivers education, rehearsals and friend time.
When that occurs, I encourage them to step back and assess what is working and what is causing an imbalance. Self reflection is an essential aspect to aligning with one’s goals. I find that once we engage in that process, they quickly readjust and fine tune their time management. When they regularly practice this, peace and harmony return to the daily round.
Does anyone have a suggestion for a phone app that works well as a daily planning tool? My girls spend more time in that space than on paper these days. Thank you in advance for help here!
Lisa Roberts @ HS.fitness