One important thing we need to include in our homeschool is a high school curriculum for life skills. As homeschoolers, we all want our children to have a solid understanding of language arts, math, science, history, and other subjects. But in the pursuit of academic success, let’s not forget to teach them how to live.
The good news is that you don’t need a complicated program to teach those skills. By being purposeful and intentional, life skills are one of the easiest and most rewarding subjects to teach your teens.
The Easiest High School Curriculum for Life Skills
We often use words without really understanding what they mean. When parents say they are looking for a curriculum to teach a specific subject, they often mean books and courses for that subject, such as history.
What is a curriculum, though?
“A curriculum is a set of courses designed to give expertise, like the shoemaking curriculum at Shoe U: Advanced Cutting, Hammering, and Stitching; History of the Heel; and A Cultural History of Walking…” —Vocabulary.com
So let’s start with thinking about the life skills your teens need for “Life U”. When your children become adults, what skills do you want them to have mastered?
Ideas for Life Skills Teens Need
Here are a few ideas of life skills your teen will need, but it’s not an exhaustive list. Talk to your spouse and make your own list of the things you hope to help develop in your high schoolers.
- Personal finances. How many students take courses in math like algebra, geometry, and calculus, but can’t stay within a personal budget? How many end up with debt from college? One of the most important math skills your teens can learn is how to stay on the positive side of money!
- Cooking. The ability to cook at home will help with our first skill (living within a budget), and a lot more. By cooking food for themselves and their families someday, they can pay attention to cost and nutritional value.
- Health. In addition to learning to eat right, our kids need to understand the importance of other healthy habits such as getting enough rest and exercise. This isn’t about trying to reach the world’s standards of beauty, but of taking care of ourselves in order to do all that God has called us to do.
- Car maintenance & home repair. Once again, the ability to do things themselves saves money. It also means that they can know that the job is done well and enjoy the sense of pride that comes with doing things themselves.
- Organization. How much time in life is wasted looking for and taking care of things? Organization allows us to find what we need when we need it. It helps us to be good stewards of our time and resources.
- Productivity. Part of time management is the ability to use time to accomplish as much as possible when needed. When we are productive, we free up more time to spend with others and time for serving and worship. Teens and adults alike live in a world full of distractions, but they can learn to manage their time wisely and be productive when they work, whether in or outside of the home.
A Plan for the Easiest High School Curriculum for Life Skills
What’s the easiest high school curriculum for teaching life skills? Life. This is where real-world learning happens. Of course, you can use resources along the way, but it’s in day-to-day life alongside you that your teens will really apply all that they are learning. That doesn’t mean you have to be an expert in all things, either. You can teach them how to be lifelong learners as you figure these things out together.
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Some of the best resources are often those things your teens already have access to, such as the library, mentors, YouTube or Vimeo videos, teaching shows, and YOU.
Using a few of the ideas for life skills teens need listed above, let’s consider what it might look like to teach them to your teens.
Essential Life Skills for High Schoolers
Personal Finance For Teens
There are some great resources for teaching teens personal finance. Check out Dave Ramsey’s online store for a variety of products that are appropriate for teens. He has an article, How to Teach Teenagers About Money, to help you get started. You can also search on Google or YouTube for other tips on teaching personal finance to teens.
After working through some of the resources, show them your household budget and help them create their own. If you don’t have one, now’s the perfect time to teach them. It’s never too late to learn and implement something new!
Cooking For Teens
Find cooking shows and YouTube videos, purchase or borrow books that include both recipes and how to stock a kitchen. Research food prep and freezer cooking. There’s no reason today for anyone to say they can’t cook at home because they don’t know how!
Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes... in You and Your Kids
Passionate Parenting: Enjoying the Journey of Parenting TeensSolving A Crisis in Christian Parenting: Why so many prodigals?[(Child Training Tips : What I Wish I Knew When My Children Were Young)] [By (author) Reb Bradley] published on (August, 2014)
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Have your teens be in charge of planning and cooking a certain number of family meals each week. Take it a step further and ask them to do the planning and shopping at the grocery store. Encourage them to have fun and try new recipes and foods.
Teen Productivity Tips
There are many YouTube videos and blog posts about productivity! Search for terms like batching, block scheduling, and productivity tips. You may want to watch them together or have your teen do this in a central location such as the kitchen table, since teens can be tempted to click on other videos while on YouTube (and that wouldn’t be productive at all!).
Talk about what tips they want to incorporate into their schoolwork time. Have them make a list of the ideas they want to try and create a plan. Be sure to check in with them to see how it’s going!
Be Intentional About Teaching Life Skills To Your Teens
Don’t let the word easy fool you. Easy doesn’t mean you won’t need to be intentional about teaching life skills to your teens. What it does mean is that you can teach these skills in a way that directly relates to their lives right now, with you right alongside them. The resources are readily available and often free, and the concepts aren’t difficult to learn. They only require some planning and effort on your part and your high schoolers.
We know having teens can seem overwhelming! But I assure you Mom, you CAN do this!
Summary: High School Curriculum for Life Skills
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Best way to teach life skills? Use real-life experiences: budgeting, cooking, repairs, scheduling
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Start with core areas: finance, cooking, organization, time management, health, and home care
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Use what’s already available: YouTube, blogs, real-life practice, and homeschool tools
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Takeaway: Be intentional, involve your teen, and model the habits you want to pass on
Final Thoughts: Start Small, Be Consistent
When it comes to character training and life skills, small steps make a big difference. You don’t need a fancy curriculum or hours of instruction—just purpose, presence, and practical moments.
As you think through your homeschool plans, don’t leave these skills out. They’re not extras—they’re essentials.
If you are looking for some help homeschooling your teen and incorporating life skills, we’ve got you covered!
Discover The High School Course of Study & Planning Workbook! It will simplify the process for you and your high schoolers! And you can get all of the details here!
Your teen is unique, and so their homeschooling journey and character education should be too!
That’s why we love to share with you the very best curriculum for your high schooler —one you design yourself. You can incorporate life skills and character education in their journey! Introducing The High School Character Building Workbook! Grab yours today to get started!
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