Important Lessons to Teach Your Kids Before They Go Off to College
College is a period of transition for your kids. It is where they will begin to grow from a teenager to a young adult. This transition into maturity will go more smoothly if your kids are mentally prepared for the challenges they will face. You can help your kids mentally prepare for their college years and the maturity they’ll develop by teaching them these important life lessons.
Signing Contracts
Once your kid turns 18, they are legally liable for any contract they sign. It’s important to teach them how to read the fine print on written contracts and how to negotiate terms clearly in oral agreements. Help them understand the jargon and phrases used in contracts and other binding agreements so they don’t ignore it and sign away important aspects of their lives.
Money Management
Once your child leaves for college, they’ll be on their own financially. They must learn how to hold down a job while going to school and paying all of their own bills. Teaching your child how to manage money by creating a budget will be crucial in their successful mastery of these skills. It will also be valuable for you to teach your kids how to shop using discounts and sales as well as opting for off-brand items. Once they leave college, they’ll likely possess a significant amount of student loan debt, so money management skills will help them deal with paying their debts while simultaneously keeping their bills paid. Money management courses can help your child thoroughly understand budgeting and dealing with debt after they’ve left home.
Writing Checks
Believe it or not, there are teenagers today who have never seen nor filled out a paper check. Most transactions they perform are done using a debit or credit card. The art of writing and using paper checks is quickly becoming outdated, but it is still useful to teach your kids how to properly fill out a paper check. If they decide to open their own checking account and use paper checks, they could be opening themselves up to being defrauded. Teaching your kids how to write out a check is simple and quick, so it can be done in an afternoon right before they leave for college.
Time Management
There’s a lot that goes into surviving college, and one of the most important parts of college is time management. You’ll set your child up for success if you can teach them strategies for using their time wisely. Try to teach your kids to make to-do lists and prioritize tasks. You can even teach them to set up their own reward system to help incentivize their work. These tips will help your college student stay on top of their homework and other school activities.
While you won’t be able to protect your kids from every challenge they’ll encounter, teaching them these and other important lessons can improve their chances of emerging victoriously from those challenges. When they graduate, they will definitely have learned many other valuable life lessons that they can carry with them into the future.
