What basic life skills should I teach my child? (Skill Trek Review)

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Are your kids prepared for life? What life skills should you teach them?

We all want our kids prepared for life when they are ready to move out on their own. And there are so many skills that can make life so much easier for them, if they have learned them or are at least familiar with them.

How I Failed to Teach a Life Skill

I have to tell you a quick story about my youngest son. As most of you know, I have five children. And I am a perfect example of how things can slip by you without even realizing it.

My youngest son has always (until a couple years ago) had shoes that used velcro to close them. I can’t remember why really, but he really liked that style and it seemed there were always some really cute ones to choose from, so we just gravitated towards them.

You can probably guess where this is going. Well one day a couple years ago my son outgrew his dress shoes and I had some that my oldest son had used that were still in great shape. So I dutifully pulled them out for him to wear. The only problem was that they were laced up shoes, not velcro. My son promptly told me that he didn’t know how to tie his shoes.

I was floored. I couldn’t believe it! How had I failed my son so badly in this very basic and important life skill!

At the time I took it really hard, but looking back now I see how I needed to give myself grace and realize how easy these things can slip by me. I showed my son how to tie his shoes, and with a few day’s practice he had it down. No big deal.

But that experience made me realize that teaching life skills is an area that we, as parents, really do need to be intentional about. Life gets busy and many times we fail to teach these skills to our children.

How about you? Can you think of a life skill that has slipped by that you really want your kids to know how to do?

What Life Skills to Teach?

So some of you might be thinking, “But my children already know how to cook and clean! What other life skills do they need to know?”

How about life skills in these areas:

financial literacy
gardening
swimming/water
technology
recreation
calendar holidays
emergency preparedness
health
child care
current events
outdoors
dressing
organization
manners/etiquette
crafts
maintenance
hygiene
housekeeping
cooking
good character
and more!

Where can I find a resource that I can use to teach these skills?

I never thought you’d ask! A homeschool family recently created a wonderful resource that families can use together to teach life skills to their children. It is called Skill Trek.

What Is Skill Trek?

Skill Trek is a subscription service that provides life skills lessons (as of now there are 500+ skills available) for your children to work through.

As they work through and master skills, your children are awarded “nuggets” that they can use to spend in the store!

Lessons are offered in three different levels so your children can work on skills that are geared toward their age group.

What I Love About Skill Trek

Skill Trek will not only help your child build his life skills, but his character as well. I love this aspect of it. As your children begin acquiring more and more life skills, it will give them confidence and build their character as well.

Another thing I love about Skill Trek is that it is designed to work with your family and to strengthen family relationships. Everyone learns and shares what they learn with the rest of the family.

I also love the fact that you, as the parent, can customize your child’s learning experience. If there is a life skill you don’t think he is ready for, you can go into the Parent Portal and add or remove skills as needed.

Skill Trek can be used totally online, but they do offer printable lessons if you would like to print them out. I love the flexibility of this that allows you to use Skill Trek in exactly the way you want.