Friday, June 7, 2013

Before College: Eliminate Your Life Skills Deficits

Before students can graduate from our local high school they have to prove they can cook a meal and change a car tire. Back in the "olden days" (as my kids call the 1970s) a required class for my high school graduation was Life Skills.

Nowadays, many students head off to college with some life skill deficits. Here is a great article by Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz entitled 30 Practical Things Students Need to Know How to Do Before Heading Off to College.

My addition to her list is that all college freshman should also know basic self-defense. Many local police departments offer free workshops, which are worth taking over the summer.

Per Marjorie, "Now is the time to start working on the above list. If you are a student, go through and circle the items about which you want to know more and talk with your parents or friends who are already in college about the issues. If you are a parent, set aside a time to sit down and go through the list with your teen. Dinnertime is good for these discussions. Use the list as a checklist and one by one, help your student identify an issue, gather information, talk about what's involved and then act on, learn about or practice what is needed (or set up another time to do that)."

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