Getting your child ready to fly the nest and move on to their next adventure is exciting and scary for both parents and teenagers. The college application process is intense, but the prep work needs to begin once they secure that coveted spot in their educational institution.
Your child did their part, they hit the books, they crafted the perfect admissions essay, and they are ready to start the next phase in their lives. Surely they don't need their parents anymore? Wrong.
As a parent of a college-aged teenager, preparing them for life outside of the family home and teaching them to be self-sufficient and ready for the big wide world is one of the best ways to support their development as they prepare to start living life independently of you.
So what do they need to know, and how can you help them before you pack up the car and drop them off at their dorms?
Financial Literacy
Financial literacy is the cornerstone of adulthood, and as a parent, you have the power to equip your child with this vital knowledge. Teaching your child about money, finances, and reasonable spending can set them up for life. It's about more than budgeting and living within your means; it's about paying taxes, understanding APR, the impact of using credit, the importance of a healthy credit score, and the consequences of being irresponsible with money and credit.Helping your child to understand all of this as much as possible prior to them leaving for college can help them not only look at the right private student loans for their education but also understand how to deal with money to avoid financial disaster. This way, they won't ruin their future with some poor money mistakes due to not understanding finances.
Cooking
Everyone needs to learn how to cook. And while the notion that students are living off ramen and energy drinks is true for some, being able to teach your teen how to cook even basic meals or the essentials of food prep can serve them well in college and beyond. Sure, they will have a cafeteria to dine in; however, cooking skills are useful regardless of this, and developing even the basics can assist them as they become self-sufficient through their college career, especially when they move out of dorms and need to cater for themselves.In addition, you can impart the essentials on nutrition, cupboard essentials to always have to hand, and the best cooking appliances. Even if they only have a microwave and an air fryer, they can still assemble delicious, healthy meals with minimal appliances and skills.
Time Keeping
Time management is a crucial skill for college life, and as a parent, you can play a proactive role in preparing your teen for this. From attending lectures to balancing job responsibilities and extracurricular activities, your teen will need to master the art of scheduling. By helping them create effective schedules and prioritize tasks, you can instill in them the importance of this skill, preparing them for the structured life of a college student.Creating schedules can help prepare them for the structure of college life. Splitting tasks into the order of urgency can also be helpful, as it can help them prioritize aspects of their lives. For example, how important is it to get to work on time compared to meeting friends or staying in bed an hour later?
Decision Making
Teenagers can be impatient and impulsive, and it's not their fault. They don't fully develop their critical thinking skills until later in life. As we know, the brain isn't fully developed until the mid-20s, while the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for decision-making and reasoning, is not fully developed until around 25 years of age, even in the late 20s.With this in mind, teaching your teen the importance of decisions and the consequences of their actions can help them avoid significant issues they might encounter due to their still-developing brain and decision-making skills.
Everyone makes poor decisions from time to time, but showing them how to come to the right answer or conclusion and decide between certain choices they might be faced with can set them well for college success and life on their own.
Personal Hygiene, Chores and Laundry
Some kids are great around the home; others are more of a disaster. But when your child is living alone or sharing a dorm with someone else, they need to understand the impact of their cleanliness. It's not just about personal comfort but also about respecting their living space and their roommate's comfort.They need to be on top of their personal hygiene and aware of good hygiene; some kids need more encouragement than others. They need to be able to keep their own space clean and tidy and use household appliances to help them keep their living arrangements clean.
Teens will also benefit from learning how to do their own laundry. Sure, they might still bring piles home with them, but having them know how to do a load of laundry, the right products to use, and how to clean different materials will serve them well when living away from home. And maybe, just maybe, it might make your life easier when they come home for the holidays.
How To Shop for Groceries
It might seem silly, but if your teen isn't used to helping you with grocery shopping, they might not know what they're supposed to do and how to buy. This can lead to poor decision-making and unwanted people buying the wrong foods.Whether you need to teach them the different types of foods to buy, how to buy the best value goods, spot good deals, how to choose fresh fruit, veg, and meat, sell by and use by dates, and what a decent grocery shop looks like for their situation can serve them well.
Setting teens loose in a store for grocery shopping when they don't know what to buy is a recipe for disaster. So before they leave, take them grocery shopping with you and share some tips that will come in handy.
.jpg)
.jpg)
