Life Skills That Make a Difference

As parents of children with LD or ADHD, we often focus on their academic challenges. Research shows, however, that how children use information to solve real-life problems, manage their daily lives, and what type of learner they are may be better indicators of success than their cognitive skills. Grades and SAT scores may impact a student’s ability to get into college, but they are poor predictors of happiness or professional success.

The real predictors of a child’s ability to learn, problem-solve, and interact successfully are his social, emotional, and ethical literacy—the same attributes that are the basis for adults to love, work, and participate in communities.

All modes of literacy are grounded in the ability to decode, whether it’s letters or situations involving a person’s tone of voice and facial expression. Being able to decode complex information allows children to be creative problem solvers, flexible learners, and good decision makers.

PROBLEM SOLVING

Flexible problem solving is an important competency. As a parent, you are a powerful social, emotional, and ethical teacher and role model. Everyone has an array of strengths and challenges, and how you describe and discuss them is essential, both to yourself and to your child, who mimics your words and mirrors your actions.

In a given day, you make approximately 11,000 decisions. How you go about solving problems shapes your life. Each moment offers a chance to model creative or rigid problem-solving strategies and put them in perspective: was that solution helpful or did it cause more problems?

Children need to know that they are not the only ones who struggle or get stuck. How you talk about your problems and solutions can leave a profound impression on their developing minds.

The ways you think and feel about yourself shape your child’s abilities and the way he sees himself. The life of a person who engages in positive self-talk will be quite different from the life of someone whose inner dialogue is: “I am dumb; I am worthless.” Therefore, as well as promoting cognitive abilities, you must purposively support social, emotional, and ethical capabilities. It is those skills that provide the foundation for pleasure and meaning in life.

Continue reading:

https://www.smartkidswithld.org/getting-help/raising-independent-kids/life-skills-make-difference-kids-ld-adhd/