Going off to college is a crucial point in your child’s life. Not only do they get to meet new people and pursue their education, but they get to live on their own in the world for the first time as well. Of course, this comes with lots of advantages including increased privacy, and independence and decreased curfews and bedtimes. Although moving to college is such a big change in their lives, it is important that you properly prepare your child for the experience, if they are to have a happy and successful one. The good news is you can find the most important things you’ll need to teach them before they depart for university below. Read on to find out what they are.
Laundry
You may think that you are doing your child a favor by always washing, drying and ironing their clothes for them. However, being able to do laundry is a crucial skill they will need to master before leaving for college. Poorly done laundry can be a nightmare and end up a wrinkled, damp, and smelly mess. Something that can make your child look and feel not at their best. With that in mind, giving them the responsibility to do, dry, and iron their laundry for the year or two before they head off to college can be a real investment in their future. You can even reward these tasks with extra allowance which can be paid into their account, combining both the skills of laundry and money management.
Cooking
While it is possible to eat out every night, it’s usually not that great for your child’s health or their bank balance once they get to college. That is why you must teach them to cook before they go. Basic meals such as spaghetti, curry, stir fry, and a roast should do. Oh, and boiling and frying an egg is pretty vital as well. Meal planning and prepping are also skills that will be very useful to your youngster. This is because instead of buying whatever they feel like that day, they can create a menu for the week, and even prepare and cook these meals on the weekend. Something that will not only save them money but time in the week for studying and partying too, while still eating a decent meal.
Studying
Now, you may think that as your child has managed to get to college, they are pretty good at studying. However, it’s not always easy to see the impact that good teachers have on your child’s progress. The main issue here is that when they get to college and no longer have these teachers to support them, their quality of study can go downhill fast. Oh, and that’s without all the other distractions that come with living on Campus such as new friends, new clubs and even fraternities and sororities. With that in mind, brushing up your child’s study skills is a good idea, and making sure they know how to utilize the latest study tech will not hurt either. Happily, all sorts of tech can make studying faster, easier and more interactive even for college-level kids. In particular, AI study tools, designed specifically for academic work can make even the most difficult and verbose text quick and easy to understand. Then once your child has understood the text they can use the same tools to create flashcards and quizzes to ensure they have the proper understanding they will need to pass their midterms.
Talking on the phone
Back in our day, phones w2re a social lifeline connecting us to our friends, and community. This meant we spent a lot of time speaking on the phone, so it was slightly less scary when we had to do it in a more formal setting such as calling up the University to query accommodation or speaking to the bank to report a problem with our account. Sadly, most kids do not have much practice with speaking on the phone these days, instead, they are much more at home streaming live, or posting on social media. The issue is that not every problem can be resolved in this way, so making sure they know how to make a proper phone call is a vital skill we must teach them before they leave for college.
You can help prepare your child for making phone calls by role-playing this experience with them. Have them use their cell to call you, while you act as the recipient of the call. Throw in some curveballs like needing to be put through to the right person, or encountering a robot voice screener to really help them get ready.
Managing money
Last of all, a skill you will want to make sure your child knows before they head off to college is how to manage their money. Indeed, there are several factors that all cover when a child is at college that can lead to them getting into money trouble pretty quickly including them having access to their student loans and credit cards, them being away from your supervision them having to pay their bills. That is why it’s so important that your child already has experience in managing their money before they find themselves responsible for it at college. The good news is that you can start teaching money management skills early, and even through play when your child is younger. Then as they grow, providing them with their own bank account where they can save and spend their earned money and allowance is a good idea. It’s also very helpful to go through making a budget with them. You can do this with the family budget for one month, or make it super relevant by assigning them an amount of money for a specific purpose like decorating their room, and allowing them to come up with a budget for that. Just remember that they will need to live with their decision even if they make them wrong this time as this is where the real learning happens.
