What Are Life Skills?

Life skills can be widely categorized as anything from learning proper hygiene to communicating with peers effectively. Although most would assume that these develop naturally for everyone, this is not always the case. Those who have had roadblocks in life, are neurodivergent, or have other circumstances arise may be lacking in vital life skills. Learning why life skills are important for youth and how it can benefit the community is helpful for not only the teenager but those they interact with on a daily basis. At Eva Carlston, we ensure to check in with our students to evaluate what skills they could benefit from working on.

What Are Life Skills 

Life skills are typically developed throughout childhood and adolescence. However, as stated before, this is not the case for everyone. The importance of life skills is ultimate as it helps people deal with daily encounters, challenges, and interacting with others. Qualities such as empathy, self-awareness, decision making, problem solving, time management, responsibilities, and emotional regulation are all examples that someone will learn in their lifetime. For others, having a safe environment where they can be guided in the right direction can make all the difference in their success in taking on these life skills.  

How Life Skills Can Help Youth

As you may imagine, learning how to cope with stress and have critical thinking skills can be incredibly important in helping teenagers develop. Oftentimes, as a teenager, this is the time where many are making connections with peers, understanding hard problems, and overall gaining independence. If one is lacking in these skills as defined above, it can be more and more challenging for them to socially adapt, and they may begin to fall behind in comparison to their peers. 

Furthermore, life skills for teens help them become a functioning member of society once they grow into adulthood. An adult who does not understand self-awareness or empathy may find it hard to integrate into the social aspects of life. However, learning and understanding what they are and how to implement them will greatly increase their quality of life and chances of building lifelong friendships, connections, and building on their careers. 

Activities and Curriculum

Life skill activities for students will range from the students perspective, what they may be having a hard time with, and what they would like to work on. At Eva Carlston, simple chores around the house such as sweeping, mopping, or keeping rooms tidy teach our students time management, problem solving, self-awareness and much more. It also teaches them to take accountability for their own space. Additionally, our nutrition program encourages students to meal prep for themselves and other members of their home, plan a grocery list, and much more. As one can imagine, this greatly helps with communication skills and critical thinking. 

Eva Carlston also approaches life skills in a therapeutic manner with group and individual therapy. Group therapy or group activities in general have our students interact in a safe learning environment. This helps develop their empathy, communication skills, and social skills. Having programs like dance, art, emotional regulation groups, and more are all ways that help our students learn these essential life skills and how to use them in specific situations. Life skills are integral in helping teenagers become the best version of themselves and have successful interactions with their community and peers.