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Quick Tips to Renew Your Parenting
Your go-to podcast for practical parenting support in under 10 minutes
Quick Tips to Renew Your Parenting
Teaching Our Kids Life Skills
Our kids won’t always have us there to guide them—so we need to equip them with skills that will serve them for life.
Join me to learn a few quick tips to incorporate teaching life skills into your family.
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Emotional Regulation for Parents Mini Course
As parents, we spend so much time focusing on school, activities, and responsibilities—but are we making time to teach our kids real-life skills? The things they’ll actually use every day as adults? From managing money to making appointments, from handling emotions to maintaining relationships, life skills are the foundation of independence. Today, we’re talking about how to teach life skills in a way that’s simple, practical, and even fun.
Hi there, I’m Emily Scott, PhD from Renewed Hope Parenting, and welcome to Quick Tips to Renew Your Parenting—your go-to podcast for practical parenting support in under 10 minutes. As always, I keep this podcast short and sweet because we are busy parents without a lot of time to spare. If you aren't already following along with me on social media, I would love for you to join me—just search @RenewedHopeParenting.
Today, we’re talking about life skills. As much as we want our kids to succeed in school and activities, we also need to make sure they’re learning the basic skills that prepare them for independent adulthood. Let’s break down simple ways to start building these skills today.
Our kids won’t always have us there to guide them—so we need to equip them with skills that will serve them for life.
Why are life skills so important?
- They build confidence and help kids feel capable.
- They reduce stress and anxiety about growing up.
- They increase independence so they can handle responsibilities.
- They prepare kids for adulthood in ways school doesn’t always cover.
When our kids are little, it can be hard to picture them as future adults. But that’s exactly what they are. So while we are trying to enjoy their childhood and give them the best childhood we can, let’s not forget that they are future adults who we are responsible for raising. Adults need to be able to make appointments, manage money, work on interpersonal relationships, manage their work schedule, fix their car, pay bills, go to the bank, and all the other things we parents do.
The good news? We can weave life skills into everyday life. Here’s how:
Quick Tips for Teaching Life Skills to Kids
1. Make a List of Life Skills You’re Glad You Learned
Think about what you learned as a child that has helped you in adulthood. Maybe you were taught how to budget, cook, or handle tough conversations. Reflect on things you learned as a kid or teen, either being taught by your parents or you learned on your own. I remember as a teen learning how to make calls for appointments despite feeling so anxious about it. But that practice paid off.
2. Make a List of Life Skills You Wish You Had Learned
What do you wish someone had taught you before adulthood? Maybe it’s understanding credit scores, handling car maintenance, or setting boundaries in relationships. Whatever you wish you knew sooner is something valuable to teach your kids now. I appreciated how my dad took care of all my car maintenance and insurance stuff for me. But it was a huge wake up call when I became an adult. I had no idea what to do.
Now combine these two lists. What you are glad you learned and what you did learn into one master list.
3. Cover All Kinds of Life Skills
Life skills aren’t just about practical tasks like:
✔️ Doing laundry
✔️ Cooking basic meals
✔️ Making appointments
✔️ Car care and home maintenance
They also include emotional and relational skills, like:
✔️ Managing stress
✔️ Handling conflict
✔️ Setting and respecting boundaries
✔️ Advocating for themselves
Teaching a balance of both gives kids the tools to navigate life successfully.
4. Make It Fun and Part of Daily Life
Life skills don’t have to feel like a lesson or a chore! Try:
- Letting kids help with real tasks (booking their own doctor’s appointment, planning a meal).
- Turning it into a challenge (who can grocery shop under budget?).
- Letting them make mistakes in a safe space so they learn from experience.
The goal is not perfection—but practice and exposure.
5. Don’t over involve yourself in their own life. This can be tricky because we need to guide our kids and help them. But we can overdo it. I find myself sometimes overmanaging our kids homeschool work or schedules. While I feel like this is part of my job as Mom, it is also my job to train them to do this all themselves.
Teaching life skills is about preparing our kids for adulthood in ways that school doesn’t always cover. Start by making a list of what you learned and what you wish you had learned, focus on a mix of practical and emotional skills, and incorporate these lessons into everyday life in fun and natural ways. The more we give our kids real-life experiences now, the more capable and confident they’ll be as adults.
If today’s episode was helpful, I’d love for you to check out my online parenting classes or my parenting book for even more guidance. Visit RenewedHopeParenting.com to learn more.
Thank you for joining me on Quick Tips to Renew Your Parenting. Small changes can bring big renewal. See you next time!