In western society, we are fortunate enough to be able to go to school and learn academics so that we can obtain a career when we are adults. School is great and can teach you a lot about math, science, english and even some life skills. However, there are many practical life skills that schools don’t teach. The implications of this are that kids become unprepared as they enter adulthood and have to take on more responsibilities than they were taught how to. Below are 4 life skills that schools don’t teach.
Public Speaking
Many classes in schools require presentations, but very rarely do schools actually teach the art of public speaking. There might be speech communication classes in University but there aren’t any mandatory public speaking classes in the K-12 curriculum. With public speaking being required in presentations throughout a student’s schooling and it being so prevalent in the workplace, public speaking is something we feel should be mandatory for everybody to learn. Student’s shouldn’t be expected to instinctively know how to do public speaking, but should instead be taught to do so in a safe and constructive environment.
Creative Thinking
Schools might teach students how to relay information, but they don’t do the best job of having them think outside of the box. In the workplace, people need to be able to come up with creative solutions and strategies to help move a company forward. In 2019, LinkedIn published a report that highlighted the top soft skills employers are looking for in the workplace. Creativity was actually ranked #1 by employers as the most sought after skill.
Students in school are simply taught to repeat information like robots but aren’t taught how to creatively think about what they are learning about. When students become adults in the workplace, they will have the tendency to do what they are told rather than taking the initiative to come up with innovative solutions.
Financial Literacy
Managing finances is another important life skill that schools fail to teach. This has been one of the biggest criticisms of schools and some school boards have even responded to the critics by saying it’s up to parents. There aren’t any personal finances classes that teach basic personal finance principles to students. They aren’t taught how to pay their credit card bills, how interest works, how to properly budget/save money and the importance of it. These are things that students eventually have to end up learning as adults through experience. The problem is, some might have to go through missed payments, lack of funds, debt and other issues before they are able to learn. To avoid having to go through the pitfalls of poor financial literacy, students need to be taught financial literacy in an organized setting.
Leadership
In school, we aren’t taught how to unleash our inner leader. There aren’t courses dedicated to teaching students how to develop their leadership skills. When people think of leadership they think of bosses or managers, but the truth is everyone can be a leader. There are many different types of leaders and everyone can take leadership in whatever role they are assigned in school or in the workplace. A workplace that has many leaders is one that is productive and innovative.
Learn Learn Life Skills They Don’t Teach In School
At LSA, we specialize in teaching kids valuable life skills, including skills that don’t get taught in a typical 7 hour school day. We actually work in conjunction with schools and are approved by the Toronto School boards. We provide our classes as after school programs in various schools throughout Toronto. We have programs for teaching kids public speaking, successful leadership, financial leadership, creativity and more. If you or your child feels like their standard school curriculum isn’t doing a good job of teaching these things, then our programs at LSA are a perfect fit for you. For more information, click on the button below.
