Vol. 15, No. 2 • May 2011

Keep Your Eyes Open for Teachable Moments

A teachable moment is an unplanned event that can be used as a learning opportunity for kids. They often happen when the young person wants, needs, or is curious about something. When this occurs, the parent can open conversations to find out what their kids are thinking and invite them to engage in learning (CTSC, 2007). Spotting and using teachable moments is a great way to guide a youth’s life skill development.

The following examples of teachable moments are excerpted from Ready, Set, Fly! A Parent’s Guide To Teaching Life Skills (Casey Family Programs, 2001).

Daily Living Skills
There are many things our children need to learn in order for their lives (and ours!) to run smoothly. Meal planning, grocery shopping, cooking, dining etiquette, laundry, home safety: these and many other skills are essential. Make sure children know how a home functions and how to contribute to maintaining a household, so that one day they’ll be able to run their own home.

Meal Preparation
When you’re in the kitchen cooking and your children come in to see what smells so good, ask them to help you stir, mix, taste, measure, or help in some way. Use their natural interest to build skills!

Kitchen Clean-Up and Food Storage
When you clean out the fridge, have your children join you. They can “scientifically” examine food in the refrigerator and use their senses to see if food has gone bad. They can read the expiration dates, look at the food, smell the food, and then taste the food (unless it’s unsafe).

Transportation

• Unfortunately, we often see traffic accidents as we drive with our children. We can use these opportunities to talk about the importance of driving safety.
• Many youth enjoy helping with small aspects of automobile care. Whenever you’re washing the car, filling the gas tank, checking the oil and tires, or cleaning the windshield, and your youth says, “Can I do that?” take the time to let them help!

Saving Money
Create incentives for savings. For example, if your child asks to buy a pet hamster, visit the pet store with your child to find out the cost of the hamster, cage, food, etc. Have your child add up these costs and plan for how they will save at least half the money for the pet. If they can reach their goal, offer “matching funds” to cover the remaining cost.

Self Care
It’s a well-known fact that kids can be unkind when it comes to labeling their peers or putting them down. The next time your child talks about a schoolmate who isn’t liked because they “smell funny” or are dirty, use the chance to talk with your child about how poor hygiene can affect our relationships with others.

Health

• When someone in your home becomes sick with a contagious illness like a cold or the flu, talk with everyone in the house about how it could spread to others (by sharing cups/utensils, sneezing, etc.). Challenge those who aren’t sick to see if they can avoid catching the illness by taking precautions (handwashing, not sharing cups, etc.).
• When your youth is worried about something (school situation, peers, money, fears, etc.) invite them to problem-solve with you. Ask them to come up with at least three ideas for dealing with the problem they’re worried about. Then evaluate each idea and what the likely outcome would be. Encourage the youth to choose a solution and try it out.

Social Development
Unfortunately, many youths in our society today do self-destructive things. When your youth comes home with a story about how someone in their school tried to commit suicide or overdosed on drugs, talk about the incident. Ask your youth what they think caused that person to act that way. Talk about the idea of self-esteem and how people with low self-esteem may sometimes do self-destructive things because they don’t think they are worth much as a person. Talk with your youth about their self-esteem, and ask how they would get help if feeling alone, sad, overwhelmed, etc.

Cultural Awareness
If your youth does something that shows a racial prejudice, deal with it in a way that shows it is a serious matter. For example, if your youth calls another youth a racial slur, try to get together with your youth, the other youth, and the other youth’s parents to discuss the incident. Help your youth see that it is unacceptable and hurts other people.

Source: Casey Family Programs, 2001

Ready, Set, Fly! In 2001 Casey Family Programs published Ready, Set, Fly! A Parent’s Guide To Teaching Life Skills. This free, accessible handbook describes practical steps foster parents, kinship care providers, and others can take to teach life skills in the following areas: Daily Living Skills, Housing, Transportation & Community Resources, Money Management, Self-Care, Social Development, and Work & Study Skills. What’s more, the guide specifically describes skills for different age groups of children: ages 8-10, 11-14, 15-18, and 19 and older. You can find it online at <www.caseylifeskills.org/pages/res/rsf%5CRSF.pdf>