What if the seniors in your school district weren’t really ready for life after graduation?
Many people like to make a distinction between school life and “the real world” as a way of saying that what someone has learned from writing essays and studying textbooks isn’t sufficient practice for a real career. And they may be onto something.
One study found that 93% of employers use applicants’ proficiency with soft skills (also known as life skills) when it comes to decisions about who to hire. Unfortunately, valuable soft skills such as emotional intelligence, leadership, and collaborative problem-solving skills are often absent in the classroom.
But what skills are most important to teach, and how can you integrate these skills into your existing curriculum? This guide will provide the answers you need to improve the existing curriculum and offer more robust life skills to your graduating students.
Main Takeaways
- Schools are working hard to provide enough of the life skills that graduating students need.
- Incorporating life skills activities into a curriculum can make your own students more competitive.
- Free educational technology resources make teaching these skills and conducting these activities easier than ever.
Table of Contents
The 8 Most Important Life Skills High Schoolers Need
All life skills activities for high school students are important. However, districts only have the time and resources to offer so many of these activities to the student body. That means administrators must make some hard decisions about which skills are most important and why.
Those decisions are challenging, but we’re here to make them a bit easier. Below, you will find a breakdown of the most important life skills to teach high school students, including what makes the skills so crucial. Armed with this information, you’ll be one step closer to giving all your students the “real world” preparation they deserve.
1. Financial Literacy
The average high schooler scores 60% on the pre-assessment of EVERFI’s no-cost foundational personal finance resource, showing that students are not prepared to manage their money without additional support.
By making financial literacy one of the life skills to teach high school students in your own district, you can help prevent graduates from eventually falling behind on credit card payments and accumulating heavy amounts of debt.
Examples of financial literacy skills:
- Budgeting
- Investing
- Balancing a checkbook
- Filing taxes
- Reading a credit report
After completing EVERFI’s personal finance lessons, high schoolers experience an average learning gain of 28% enabling them and their teachers to dig deeper into more advanced topics like financing higher education, filing taxes, and crypto.
“Financial literacy is an important life skill that EVERFI is providing our students free of cost. Every high school student in America needs to be exposed to this course. I am so glad my students have an opportunity to learn this valuable life skill through EVERFI.”
– High School Teacher, GA
2. Communication Skills
While traditional school curricula require plenty of writing and the occasional presentation, they don’t usually teach students the full range of communication skills they need. These interpersonal skills are the kinds graduates need to complete job interviews, succeed in workplace collaborations, and assume leadership roles. For these reasons (and many more), LinkedIn reports that communication remains the most valuable skill among employers.
Examples of communication skills include:
- Active listening
- Speaking clearly
- Giving and receiving feedback
- Writing precise emails
- Conducting professional video calls
While every teacher works to strengthen students’ communication skills, school administrators can build a culture around this via teacher workshops that provide practical strategies and goals followed by consistent modeling of the skills in all classes as well as common role-playing activities for students in their homeroom or advisory classes.
3. Job and Career Skills
One way to prepare students for life after high school is to enhance the career-connected learning activities available to students in your district thus increasing their opportunities for hands-on practice of real-world skills. Such programs are effective and enjoyed by students: In fact, one study found that 64% of students would prefer to have more of these opportunities in high school.
Examples of job and career skills:
- Flexibility and adaptability
- Growth mindset
- Conflict resolution
- Workplace etiquette
- Teamwork, including giving and receiving constructive criticism
Researchers have found that students enrolled in CTE programs performed higher on a national college and career readiness test (i.e., ACT) and that they were more likely to be employed after high school.
Looking for more resources to build career skills? EVERFI’s free suite of workforce readiness resources is aligned to your state standards and has average learning gains ranging from 20%-38%.
[EVERFI] has completely transformed my students’ understanding of entrepreneurship. While many begin the year with a hesitant interest…the growth in their confidence & creativity as they explore their own business ideas is truly inspiring. [It] not only teaches them essential entrepreneurial skills but also instills a passion for innovation & a belief in their own potential to succeed.
– High School Teacher, LA
4. Health and Wellness
Health in America appears to be at a crisis point. For example, nearly one in three adults are obese. This is a problem for many reasons, including that obesity increases the risk of someone developing heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and so much more. By teaching health and wellness skills to your own students, you can help provide them with a better (not to mention longer) future.
Examples of health and wellness skills:
- Shopping, cooking, and eating healthy meals
- Physical fitness
- Emotional regulation
- Time management
- Substance abuse prevention
Over one million students learned these skills and more last year with EVERFI. Explore the free health & wellness suite to see which turnkey resources will work best in your lessons.
5. Digital Literacy
Digital literacy represents the ability to adequately and accurately use technology to pursue and accomplish goals, and far too many lack this skill. In fact, one study found that one in three Americans is digitally illiterate.
By incorporating digital literacy into your life skills projects for high school students, you can give them the skills to identify fake news and fraud as well as keep a clean digital footprint.
Examples of digital literacy skills:
- Competency with basic software such as internet browsers and social media apps.
- Media literacy skills, including how to verify when someone is making false claims.
- Communication skills, including writing formal and informal emails.
- Using cloud-sharing technology to navigate the digital world.
- The ability to search for and apply for jobs.
Our digital wellness & safety curriculum is one of our most popular resources year after year. Thousands of schools each year use it at the start of each semester to refresh students on the skills necessary to be considerate digital citizens.
6. Stress Management
These are stressful times for your student body. Studies have shown that more than 60% of students experience daily stress, and that stress can affect their academic performance as well as their overall happiness and well-being. By teaching stress management skills to your students, you can help them keep stress and anxiety away and reach their full potential.
Examples of stress management skills:
- Breathing exercises
- Setting personal limits
- Clearly communicating boundaries
- Communicating needs and frustrations
- Turning to friends for help when needed
7. Relationship and Emotional Skills
It’s not hard to see why young people take breakups so seriously. One study found that relationships tend to last about six months for 16-year-olds and about one year for 17- and 18-year-olds. That’s a huge amount of time relative to a young person’s lifetime, and most young people lack the emotional skills to process their feelings, leading to poor academic performance and other negative outcomes. Now is the time to teach your students the relationship and emotional skills they need before another bad breakup sends them spiraling.
Examples of relationship and emotional skills:
- Clear communication
- Conflict resolution
- Empathy
- Cooperation
- Emotional intelligence
With CASEL competencies embedded in our digital and offline lessons, districts are integrating EVERFI’s free character and mental health resources into their curriculum maps.
They not only produce strong learning gains but help shift student attitudes & behaviors. For example, 26% more students reported being more confident in their ability to handle stress from relationships after completing Character Playbook.
8. Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking
One study discovered that even though 90% of 4th-grade teachers emphasize deductive reasoning in their classes, only 40% of 8th-grade teachers do the same. By bringing problem-solving and critical thinking education to the forefront of your own school district, you can reverse this troubling trend and give students the skills they need to set themselves apart from the competition in the future.
Examples of problem-solving and critical thinking skills:
-
- Analytical thinking
- Open-mindedness
- Creative problem-solving
- Lateral thinking
- Asking relevant questions
Life Skills Activities School Districts Can Implement
The skills above are vital for modern students, but school districts don’t always have the resources to implement these skills via various activities. One of the best methods is to create committees and develop activities that can be integrated into your existing curriculum. For example, critical thinking skill requirements can be integrated into English and language arts classes, problem-solving skills into math classes, etc.
Remember, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel; EVERFI offers districts over 40 free life skills resources aligned to their state standards.
On top of that, EVERFI also provides districts will free services such as:
- Professional learning
- 24/7 tech support
- Curriculum alignment
- Data analysis & more
Looking for some quick activities to share with your teachers? Many of the ones below can be completed via classroom discussion while others require students & teachers login to EVERFI.
Financial Literacy Activities
The following financial literacy activities can help your students with skills like money management.
Dream Life Budgeting
To help students see the importance of budgeting, have them identify the specifics of their dream future, including the type of home they want to own, the car they want to drive, etc. Next, have them determine how much such a lifestyle would cost and compare that to the average salary of their intended future career. This simple activity helps students see the importance of budgeting and money management.
Needs vs. Wants
Print cards with various items on them and randomly distribute them to students. Ask them to pick out the six items they would need to survive if stranded on a desert island. The basic idea is to help students determine what they actually need to survive and what is just a luxury. As adults, this knowledge can help them better spend their money.
Personal Finance Course
As mentioned before, EVERFI offers a number of free resources. These personal finance courses offer very directed practice on saving money, growing wealth, and spending wisely. Afterward, students will be able to make better decisions when it comes to their most common financial decisions.
Time Management Activities
The old saying tells us that “time is money.” Accordingly, activities that help improve time management are just as important for students as activities that help with financial management.
The Mayo Jar
Here’s something different: Hand students a clear jar as well as objects of different sizes (rocks work well). Challenge them to put as many of the items in the jar as they can in a limited amount of time. This encourages critical thinking and time management as students try to do what they can with the time and resources they have.
The Block Game
This one is simple but effective: Begin by spreading out a number of different-colored blocks, and ask students to pick up as many as possible in one minute. Next, have them repeat this activity, but give the block colors different values. Students will have to determine what to focus on with limited time and sub-optimal resources, helping them learn more about time management.
Problem-Solving Activities
One thing students and teachers alike can agree on is that there are too many problems in the world. By mastering the right activities, though, students can become masters at solving them.
The Problem-Solving Documentary
Have students create a short (5 minutes or less) documentary about the social problems facing their school or community. This is easier to do than you might think because of the recording and editing functionality of their smartphones. Students will enjoy this media-centric activity and will also learn more about identifying meaningful local problems and thinking creatively about how to solve them.
The Minefield Game
In the Minefield game, a blindfolded student must navigate a virtual minefield (where there are designated safe and unsafe areas to walk) using only advice from his peers. The one navigating must master listening skills, while everyone else must master clear communication and teamwork skills. Everyone involved will learn how to collaborate creatively to solve a very dynamic problem.
Giving Every Student a Brighter Future
You’re working hard to ensure that all students in your school district are ready for life after high school.
You’re not in this alone. EVERFI is here to help.
Let’s meet to discuss how EVERFI can help lighten workloads while improving student learning and confidence.
“To say I have been pleased with the EVERFI Team is an understatement. We are appreciative of the standards-based curriculum modules, the ease of teachers being able to assign the lessons to their students, and the aspect of them being self-graded. I look forward to continuing to work with…the EVERFI [Team].”