I am pretty certain that many parents on this forum have at least a mental list of the skills they want their children to have. I would like to get some feedback from others to see if there are areas I have overlooked. I definitely want my children to know how to cook and bake. Most of them know already. When I think back to when I started cooking at 18 or 19 years old I can’t help but laugh that I did not even know what garlic was. I wanted to cook something that had garlic and I had to wait for my mom to come home and tell me what it was.
I want my children to
Know how to clean and maintain the house.
Cook
Sew
Write letters to friends and family
Budget their money properly
Learn some basic self defense
When my children are older I’d like them to undertake some regular voluntary work of their choice. Something to instil responsibility, gratitude for what we have and develop a more charitable nature.
Do basic maintenance on household things, change a tire, plant and keep a garden, intermediate to advanced computer skills, public speaking/debate experience (not professional level, just being able to present themselves clearly and logically), and some kind of basic music ability to read music would be nice to have. I also want them to be street smart travelers and being bilingual is a plus.
Creative problem solving skills too, but I don’t know how to teach that except through life experience.
Besides household skills especially cooking (which I lack) i would like my kids to have values and:
have musical skills, play an instrument
be joyfull and cheer people up
good listening skills to be able to help friends or family when in trouble
good comunicator or to have the ability of transmiting correctly what he wants to express orally or in written including the other way around, the abilitiy to understand what is said or written. Speaking multiple language will help a lot.
strong personality and not be handle by others, to defend their point of view, to persuade others
I want to know he can survive, whatever situation he gets in, I want him to have knowledge and skills to draw on…and that something extra that marks the survivor.
Everyday my list gets longer - but my aim is to make sure he has
self acceptance
self respect
self awareness
a good understanding of consequences
the gift of forethought
mental & physical agility
ingenuity
natural science basics (poisonous plants, first aid, survival)
all terrain competency (dirt, water, rocks, snow, ice, etc) - especially in regards to driving!!
multiple communication skills
appreciation of and at least basic skills in creative arts (a spread from fine motor to gross motor arts)
teamwork (team sports - physical & mental)
leadership
self discipline
self defence
health & hygeine (cooking & cleaning & all things personal)
I would like my children to have the skills, ability and confidence to follow their dreams. I would also like them to know that they need to work hard for anything they want and that nothing worthwhile is free or easy. I would like them to have a sense of self, of family and of our history because I think this is very important.
I would like my children to know basic things as well, self reliance, work ethic, self defense, keeping house, cooking, basic mechanics, self discipline, etc…
But I would also like them to learn a trade to fall back on. I know that college education is desirable, but if they don’t have real advanced skills in at least one area they might be in for a hard time later looking for a job. I would like them, for at least a year, to pick something they like doing and just do that, learning everything they can about it for a year, and then go get a job doing whatever.
