The confinement to home can make it difficult for kids to keep their patience and calm afloat as for most of them, school, classes, and outdoor playtime were a huge part of their routine and growth. But can’t the indoors be fun and nourishing? To see the silver linings of the situation, this is the perfect time to make them learn new skills; the ones that prove to be an asset for them when they move out of the house, stay on their own and find jobs. There are ample of new skills to learn, probably for which they couldn’t find time before the outbreak. So, looking at this additional time as an opportunity to build a kid’s persona, we have put together a comprehensive list of useful skills to learn right now.
Also read: Quarantine Parents Guide: Activities for Kids at Home to Fight Boredom
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New Language
Learning a new language has more than one merits. It adds to your resume, becomes a great help when you travel to the place where it is natively spoken, gets you so much insight into the culture of its speakers, and after all, it’s uplifting. It also benefits your learning ability by rendering improved memory, enhanced concentration, better listening skills, and critical thinking skills. According to The Telegraph, “Students who study foreign languages tend to score better on standardized tests than their monolingual peers, particularly in the categories of maths, reading, and vocabulary.” Studies even show that multilingualism betters financial decision-making skills. Thus, it is one of the most valuable skills to learn and also an easily accessible one. There are many applications and online courses that teach new languages for free. In the 21st century, when the world is closer than ever, a language other than your own becomes one of the most useful things to learn. -
Cooking
Bring your little chefs to the kitchen and talk to them about what you’re preparing. You can ask them to help you with simple things like buttering a slice of bread, tossing up a salad, mashing some potatoes, or beating your cake batter. Out of all the new skills to learn mentioned in the list, cooking is the most basic life skill. Everyone needs to know a few simple recipes to survive and learning about it right from childhood is beneficial. That places cooking among the most important skills to learn for kids. -
Yoga and Meditation
With all the talk about practicing yoga to build immunity during the pandemic and the multitude of other benefits that it has, it is certainly one of the most useful skills to learn. When kids learn new skills like yoga and meditation and practice them regularly, it leads them to an active and healthier lifestyle in the future. The perks of yoga and meditation for kids include better growth of mind and body, improved concentration and grasping abilities, reduced stress, and body-awareness among many others. -
Upcycling
Living in a world where we are running out of resources and at the same time, can’t manage our waste, reusing items is not just a trend, but almost a necessity. If your kids are looking for new skills to learn, upcycling is something that will go a long way for both them and the environment. Creating something useful and aesthetically pleasing out of waste instead of adding to the garbage heap can be a very fulfilling exercise. Along with being one of the most fun skills to learn, it is among the essential 21st-century skills too. Head on to the internet and you’ll find thousands of ideas to upcycle your waste with your kids! -
Reading and Writing
Image: rawpixel.com When we learn new skills at a young age, we find it easier to get a hold of them and tend to form a habit of practicing them which becomes helpful in some or the other way. Two such valuable skills to learn which are worth forming a habit of, are reading and writing. Both of these are an integral part of your kid’s academics but they shouldn’t be just done within the school. Additional reading and writing can definitely get your kids some pats on their back as they tighten the grip over language, including grammar, phonics, and vocabulary, enhance imagination, and also boost confidence. Besides, they are some of the best skills to learn in today’s time when there is so much information to take in and give out.
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Cleaning and Washing
Kids are usually associated with mess. But if guided properly, they can be a massive help in tidying up the house. Moreover, useful skills to learn like cleaning and washing can play an essential role in their personal development. Involve the kids in your household chores whenever they get bored and introduce them to some new skills to learn like sorting objects, doing laundry, washing dishes, making their bed, sweeping small areas, etc. Other than giving you a helping hand, this will also make it easier for them when they live by themselves in the future. -
Basic Budgeting
Image: rawpixel.com A study by the University of Cambridge showed that children develop financial and economic understanding when they have ‘‘personal economic experiences’’. Basic budgeting is one of the most important skills to learn for kids today. Teaching them the right saving and spending patterns today will lead to smart money management tomorrow. You can help your kids learn basic budgeting by talking to them about your expenditure, letting them know the cost of some things that they use, keeping a check on impulse buys, maintaining jars for saving, spending, and giving, etc. Get as creative as you can with this and make your kids learn new skills of relevance.
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Coding
This is yet another skill that will help you enhance your resume. One of the best skills to learn in today’s technological times, coding can earn your kids some brownie points when they enter the jobs market. According to an analysis, programming jobs are growing 12% faster than the market average. This makes it a lot easier for those who have coding literacy to secure jobs. And even if they don’t aim for a job, it can be of much use to them in whatever they take up, as a huge part of most of the new age businesses functions online. It’ll make it easier for them to express themselves on internet platforms. Moreover, learning to code shows significant development in cognitive abilities like memory and problem-solving along with creativity. So, if your kids are trying to do away with idleness and finding new skills to learn, coding is perhaps the best way to make use of the time. Now, if you are wondering how can your kids learn to code, here is just what you need:
An Online Course to Learn New Skills
To make your kid’s time worthwhile during the quarantine, we at STEMpedia have designed an online coding course for beginners where anybody can acquire knowledge on the basics of coding, one of the most useful skills to learn today. The course, Introduction to Programming, is an ideal choice for all those who are new to the world of coding but are enthusiastic to learn new skills like this. The course acknowledges the importance of learning by doing and offers live tutoring sessions for better understanding, fun-filled quizzes and assignments to put your learning to work, and also has a COVID-19 based challenge at the end of the course to create awareness and a sense of responsibility among kids regarding the pandemic. It promotes Scratch coding for kids, the right way to begin their journey of learning to code.
Among the various new skills to learn today, coding proves to be a beneficial one whether seen from a career point of view or that of personal development. And this skill can be easily learned by not only kids but anyone in a fun and interactive manner with this course. The best part about the course is that it can be attended from the comfort of your home and in the company of your loved ones which also allows you to bond with them.
Also read: How Online Coding Courses Help Kids Learn Coding at Home
In a Nutshell
There are numerous new skills to learn today. The ones mentioned here are known to be beneficial for the overall development of kids which can happen only at home right now given the current crisis. Staying at home doesn’t have to stall their learning. You can always occupy them with skills to learn which will help them grow and come out as better versions of themselves on the other side.
