Life Skills for Kids: Equipping Your Child for the Real World

by Christine M. Field

Does your child know how to use a check book? Boil an egg? Do the laundry? Read a map? Homeschooler Christine Field helps parents systematically teach kids - from preschool to the teen years - what they need to know to thrive as adults.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Education

336 pages, Paperback

First published March 7, 2000

Reviews

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty helpful, and I have a lot of good take always/ideas. I felt some of the info wasn’t necessary and some was outdated since the book was written in 2000.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very useful to me, mostly because I could quickly go through and see which skills my children had and which ones we needed to work on. I don't agree with everything in it, but many of the life skills I had not thought of, myself, up to that point (my oldest was 12 when I read it). I did take to heart the idea that homemaking skills should be in place by age 14; it has since been my experience that young people older than 14 usually want to spend many hours on what they're passionate about doing, rather than on learning homemaking skills (dishes, laundry, toilet cleaning). The housework stuff needs to be learned before that age if possible. I'm not talking about being happy and singing while doing every job; that's something I can't even do and I'm their parent! I'm talking about, do they know how to do it safely and well when they have to? The motivation to do it consistently will come when they have their own homes... at least, that's when it kicked in for me, mostly.

[Katie Bliss · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really sweet book by a lady who has a very sweet, Christian family, about what you want your children to learn at home. I had a lot of good takeaways, but sometimes the author would go more in depth on a topic that didn't seem necessary, and this was also aimed at a younger family than the one I have currently. I should have read this when we just started having kids, basically. But it did enable me to compile a list of skills I'm planning on teaching/reinforcing with my own kids this year as part of their "life skills" curriculum.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is hard core bible quoting, submit to your husband, God is at the center of our life religious. I am not. This is not my kind of book.

That said, if you ignore the outdated internet advice and let the religious aspect float by, you can still sift out enough good ideas to make it worth a read.

[Ally Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really practical and thoughtful advice for parents - mostly of younger kids but some great life skills in there for teens too. Bit out of date but you can use your imagination to bring the examples into modern day parenting 😊

[Chelsie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My parents read this when I was a kid and did a lot of this. Just helpful stuff that no one teaches kids anymore. I’m sure current culture would call it outdated & archaic, but most of it is really really important stuff.

[Helena Harned · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four and a half at least. Very practical while emphasizing a Christian paradigm for choices. Worth owning as the skills presented apply to children/adolescents at different ages.

[Callie Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good info but very in need of an updated edition.

[Alysia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wake up call for today's parents - kids need to learn life skills and they need to learn them in the home, by doing! This book explains what past generations have always known - that kids need responsibility and to have experiences with work young in order to grow into healthy, confident, happy adults. It also gives suggestions on helping kids develop life skills like emotional health and responding to challenges and obstacles in a positive way, and ideas for celebrating the simple things in life with your family. This book encouraged me not to put off teaching the kids what they can learn today, and gave me some practical, do-able ways to start.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has lots of good ideas and I was happy to see that we're on the right track. The author believes that by 14 a child should be able to completely run the household. We now have a summer project list to work on some of those things that are deficient right now. I thought the decision making section had some really great tips, too.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book I read only part of to help with a communication topic for Maia. This provided us some subjects to review such as, handling money, communication, relationships, conflict, health......May be used as a reference again in the future.

[Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

How, why & when....great information that can be applied to any family situation.

[Alison Haldimann]

A friend gave this book to me. Seems like a good book to start the new year with a focus on the importance of chores and establishing healthy habits for your family.

[Michelle Cates · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of neat ideas for purposeful activities with your kids, a little outdated on some stuff, overall good resource with nice list in back for other sources

[Kathie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were some excellent ideas in here about things that our kids should know how to do, and how to incorporate them. It was a bit too religious for me, but I took away lots of things to try.

[Jenny Hoksbergen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good ideas about what we should be teaching our kids, even if I Don't agree with all her methods of how to teach those things.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

lots of great ideas, need to look at again in a few years to make sure everyone is on track!