5 attributes that school did not teach you (and what you can do differently for your child)

In a country like ours, school education is considered sacrosanct for the development of a child. While a formal school education is a must, school curriculum, in a broader aspect of the term, is riddled with issues. The undue pressure of exams on children, coupled with the rigmarole of long classes, projects, and the like, can turn their innocent personality into a bit of a robotic existence. However, even after all the hustle bustle, there are still some life skills that schools do not teach us, and leaves us to figure out on our own. Here they are, and what should you do about it...

Most of us start learning about finances when we start working ourselves. However, that should not be the case. True, children don't have their own money to save, but that in no way, means that they can't be taught about the importance of money at a young age. Talk to them about investments (the piggy bank/pocket money allowance can be a starting point), and how it is important to build up a corpus, in case of emergencies.

This is the hard truth of life, but there has never been a mental well-being class in school, though immense importance is placed on physical education (which in itself is a great step). However, while things might have changed in new age schools of today, kids need to learn how to process their emotions, and that can start at home. Talk to your kids about their feelings, don't negate their concerns (no matter how trivial they might feel), and most importantly, provide a safe space for them to speak, without fear of being judged.

In schools, while we were taught about etiquettes, and the like, we never were taught about any sort of interpersonal skills. The result: we grew up to be learned individuals, with fat paychecks and a fancy degree, but zero skills on how to manage our relationships, how to communicate better with people, and so on. It has been proven that individuals with better interpersonal relationships tend to be happier in life, so start young.

While we were told to pay attention to academia, that in turn led to good grades, and hence, a decent job, we were not taught anything about entrepreneurship. Skills like personal branding, scaling up, upskilling etc, might not be huge a few decades back, but are right now the need of the hour. Children should be taught about entrepreneurship at a young age, and it should be left to them what they want to do later in life.

Remember if you were ever taught 'cooking' or changing light bulbs in school, except for an odd 'special' class here and there? While education is, and will be of paramount importance in life, survival skills will get us through the daily struggles. Skills like cooking, cleaning, changing the light bulb etc are not only essential, but non negotiable in today's world, where children leave home at a young age to step into the world, and make a name for themselves. And before you think further, it is not a gender thing. Teach you son and daughter alike!