Why Social and Emotional Life Skills Are Important for Children's Success, and How New Innovative Schools Are Building These Skills

The future of current students is complex. We see continuous innovation and technological advancement, but increased automation means that routine-focused jobs are disappearing.

The result is that the tools necessary for success have changed. There is an increasing demand to prepare learners with academic and social abilities that are crucial for success in work and life.

Common problems: Children are not good, children lack confidence, children do not have skills.

Many families face the same problem: children are not academically skilled enough to compete in today’s world, or children lack self -confidence, which results in children not having the skills needed for the future.

The problem of children lacking skills does not only occur with academic skills, but also includes very important life skills. When children are not good at communication, problem solving, or working with others, it will affect their future development.

Why are life skills important?

Solving the problem of your child lacking confidence and skills starts with understanding the importance of life skills. These skills include:

Social and emotional skills

When children are not good at controlling their emotions or lack the skills to understand others, it will affect their relationships and working together.

Problem solving skills

If your child does not have analytical and problem-solving skills , they will have problems adapting to new situations.

Communication skills

When children lack confidence in expressing themselves or are not good at communicating, it will affect their ability to build relationships and future opportunities.

Supporting research

A new research study aimed to examine the relationship between the striving for excellence as a life skill and the motivation to learn. The method used was a quantitative approach with a descriptive method in hearing impaired students with a sample of students with cerebral palsy in the Bantung region.

The results showed that the striving for excellence had a very strong relationship with the motivation to learn, thus it is an aspect that needs to be developed in vocational education as a part of life skills.

How to solve the problem: Your child is not smart, your child lacks confidence, your child has no skills

1. Strengthen self-concept.
When your child is not good enough or lacks confidence, developing a good self-concept will help your child see more of their potential.

2. Develop coping strategies
for the problem. Your child does not have the skills to cope with stress. Teaching coping strategies will help your child better handle difficult situations.

3. Strengthen interpersonal and intrapersonal skills.
Problem solving. If your child lacks communication skills, it is necessary to develop both interpersonal skills (understanding others) and intrapersonal skills (knowing yourself).

Innovative school model

Modern schools are starting to focus on solving the problem of children not being smart by not just focusing on test scores but also developing life skills:

• Project-based learning to solve the problem of children lacking confidence by allowing children to demonstrate their abilities in various forms.
• Group activities to develop social skills and problem solving. Children do not have skills in working together.
• Learning from real experiences to help children who lack skills in applying knowledge.

Advice for parents

Modern schools are starting to focus on solving the problem of children not being smart by not just focusing on test scores but also developing life skills:

For the problem of “children who are not smart”

• Look for your child's strengths instead of focusing on their weaknesses.
• Support learning in your child's preferred style
• Encourage your child when they try, not just when they succeed.

For the problem of “children lacking confidence”

• Create a safe environment for offenders
• Praise effort more than results
• Give your child the opportunity to make their own decisions on small matters.

For the problem of “children without skills” and “children lacking skills”

• Organize activities that require a variety of skills
• Be a good role model in problem solving and communication.
• Let your child learn from their mistakes without being criticized.

Conclusion

Solving the problem of children not being smart, children lacking confidence, children lacking skills , and children lacking skills must start from understanding that life skills are just as important as academic skills.

Developing life skills will help children cope with future challenges better, whether they are social skills, problem-solving, or communication.

Parents and teachers must work together to develop these skills so that children grow up to be adults with complete skills and are ready for a rapidly changing future.

Investing in children's life skills is an investment in a strong and sustainable future.