I get to visit so many classrooms and schools every year, and I love being able to connect and support everyone. But one of the most common questions I get when we talk about life skills is – “What are life skills?”
It’s a fair question really. And what I would find when talking to people, is they just thought that it was stuff like washing hands and brushing teeth. And although those are right – there’s so much more to these skills as well.
What Are They?
Life skills is just a term that refers to the skills that you need to ensure you get the most of your day-to-day life. So, think of any skill that you think is really useful to help you live your life. And that is a life skill.
Now, this is also going to look different for everyone. Something that you think is an important life skill – may not be something that someone else considers to be a life skill. And it’s because of that, that you’ll never really find a list of set ones. But, you’ll be able to find lists of really great examples – and many of these can be done in your classroom too!
6 Key Areas
In 1999, the Word Health Organization put together 6 key areas of life skills, and they are as follows;
- Communication and Interpersonal Skills
- Decision-Making and Problem-Solving
- Creative Thinking and Critical Thinking
- Self-Awareness and Empathy
- Assertiveness and Self-Control.
- Resilience.
Communication and Interpersonal Skills
These are the skills needed in order for you to work and connect with other people. Communication is an essential skill for us to relay messages – verbally or otherwise.
Decision-Making and Problem-Solving
These are the skills needed in order for you to understand problems and being able to find solutions to them. This can be done individually or with others. And being able to put those plans into action.
Creative Thinking and Critical Thinking
These are the skills needed in order for you to think in different ways. This can also include the ability to think of new ideas and being able to assess situations and information.
Self-Awareness and Empathy
These skills are important parts of emotional intelligence. They are the skills needed in order for you to understand yourself, as well as those around you. Especially being able to feel for those people as if you were the one experiencing their situation.
Assertiveness and Self-Control.
These are the skills needed in order for you to stand up for yourself, and others around you. They are also important skills to allow you to remain calm, even in stressful situations, and possibly being provoked.
Resilience
These are the skills needed in order for you to cope with problems. You’ll be able to recover from setbacks and learn from negative experiences. These skills will help you to treat those setbacks as opportunities for you to continue to learn and grow.
Resources
There are so many great ways for you to work on life skills in the classroom with your students. But, if you’re looking for some additional resources to add to your classroom, check out my top 5 below;
- Life Skills Adapted Binder – You won’t believe how popular this resource is.
- Money Skills Adapted Binder – Comes in a range of currency options.
- Brushing Teeth Sequencing Adapted Book.
- Putting Away Groceries Task Cards.
- Social Narratives.
You can also view all of my life skills resources on Teachers Pay Teachers here and on my website shop here.
Do you teach life skills in your classroom? How? Let us know in the comments down below. And if you found this blog post helpful, please consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues on social media.
