Research suggests that 90% of a child’s brain development takes place before the age of 5. Now, think of key skills that come to your mind when you read the word – success. Reading and writing skills, technical skills, analytical skills?
Well, these are the IQ or hard skills that form only about one-third of the skills needed to succeed. But the rest two-third of skills are the actual differentiators. It’s these skills that are taking a prominent place in classrooms, playrooms, and war rooms across the world.
Here are the top 5 skills to teach your child to succeed in the 21st century:
1. Creativity Skills
There is an involvement of art in every solution proposed to solve a business problem today. Art is also involved in becoming a skilled athlete, a professional tutor or a video gamer. We live in a world where there are a plethora of solutions, but the solutions that work out are usually the most creative ones.
Fostering and honing creative skills can be tricky, but here are a few things you can start doing today:
- Let your child use their free imagination while proposing solutions to academic questions
- Ask your child to solve the same question in multiple ways, let them try out weirdest methods of solving it
- Give your child lots of examples from the world around them while explaining a concept or even life philosophy
- Let them visualize as much as possible, use videos, nature walks, educational tours to instill creativity
- Foster at least one creative hobby in your child, for example, painting, sketching, or even music composition
2. Collaboration & Leadership Skills
Team building and team playing are two quintessential skills that every child will need. Being able to work with others effectively will be the key to succeeding in heterogenous organizational setups. Also, displaying leadership qualities will play an equally important role.
There are many facets of collaboration and leadership skills. Some steps that you can start taking today with your child are:
- Engage your child in the community play, take them to parks, play areas, etc. and encourage participation in team sports
- Encourage your child to take part in team-based, inter-school competitions
- You can also discover interest or hobby groups for your child
- Let your child work their way out of an unpleasant team fallout, do not help them by intervening and talking on their behalf to others
3. Critical Thinking Skills
The 7 critical thinking skills include observation, analysis, interpretation, reflection, evaluation, inference, explanation, problem-solving, and decision making. While having a hunch for analyzing numbers may not be innate, critical thinking skills can be made almost second nature.
Here are a few things that can help you build critical thinking skills in your child:
- Ask your child for reasons or examples when they agree or disagree with something you propose
- Encourage the habit of thorough analysis before reaction (even in the case everyday situations at home and school)
- Develop your child’s logical reasoning skills by questioning them in a sequential manner (ask them why followed by counterexamples and explain general principles and rules as the last step)
- Encourage reading habit to build a rounded perspective of your child
4. Communication Skills
If you underestimate the importance of communication skills, rethink! Here are some curious facts to help you evaluate the importance of effective communication:
- Research says that 70% of workplace mistakes are a result of poor communication
- The stress caused by having to work under a manager who lacks interpersonal skills is believed to cost American companies an estimated $360 billion every year
You should always try to develop and hone your child’s communication skills from early on. Teaching them to be able to express themselves unambiguously is fundamental to helping them succeed in life.
Do the following to enhance your child’s communication skills:
- Encourage open communication, listen to your child (or student) patiently and never spurn them away for talking silly
- A Salesforce article states that 93% of the communication is non-verbal. If you’re a parent reading this, help your child develop writing skills (hire professional tutors if required)
- Help your child build their language skills, help them expand their vocabulary by encouraging healthy reading habits
- Lead by example, communicate regularly with your child (or students) and leave no place for assumptions and unaddressed conflicts
5. Curiosity and Questioning Skills
According to Success magazine, “Asking the right questions gives people the answers they need to move forward in life.”
Encourage children to ask questions and retain a sense of wonder. By telling them how things must be, parents and teachers limit their thinking and learning capabilities to what is already known.
But by allowing them to ask questions, they can open up horizons of infinite possibilities. Both teachers and parents should value and reward curiosity in the children. In the classrooms and in tutoring sessions, teachers should allow students to stretch their imagination beyond what is usual.
Also read: 3 Signs Your Child Needs a Tutor
We hope this post will help you realize the key life skills you should start developing in your child early on.
Looking for some help there? Talentnook can help you discover thousands of afterschool lessons for your child. However, if you’re looking for a life and learning coach to guide you and your child develop these skills, check out Palo
