50 Things I Want My Kids to Know Before They Leave Home

People don't always agree with me, and I am okay with that.  I started homeschooling back when people would ask if it was legal to do so.  I believed in safe homebirth way back when, and I have never thought I was raising kids.  I am raising adults!  With that goal in mind, I intentionally teach my kids certain things.  Many years ago we wrote a list of what we want them to know and understand outside of traditional academics.

It is like cooking a meal.  You start by knowing what you want to cook and how you want it to end up and how long you have to do it.  If you are cooking a turkey dinner, you know that it will take 4 hours to cook and if dinner is at 5 pm and you need to let it rest you should pop it in the oven at noon, and if the rolls take 15 minutes you need to get them in at 4.30 to get them cooked and served.

The same principle applies.  If you want your kids to be able to cook well, you have to start early enough to teach it well, and give them time to practice before they leave home.  By the time my kids are 10 or so they can cook at least one breakfast, lunch and dinner meal, by the time they are 15 or 16  they can manage a week's menu and cook the meals, and by the time they are 18 they can do all of that plus do the shopping, including sales planning, and cook for a special occasion.  It just isn't possible to teach all of that in a year or less and do it properly.

By the time my kids are 18, and in no particular order of importance, I want them to be able to:

1. Talk to a stranger for a job, or help, or to make a friend.
2. Speak or perform in front of an audience.
3. Change a tire.
4. Do their laundry.
5. Plan a menu and shop for a week's food.
6. Speak about classic books.
7. Know why they believe what they do, not just what.
8. Be comfortable caring for a baby, child, and elderly person.
9. Type at least 30 words per minute.
10. Cook at least 10 different complete meals.
11. Change the oil in the car.
12. Find an alternate way to make money, be entrepreneurial and able to sell.
13. Cut hair.
14. Articulate their thoughts.
15. Manage their money, including tithing, giving, and saving.
16. Manage their time including punctuality and not procrastinating.
17. Work hard.
18. Be adventurous and try new things.
19. Know and understand nutrition.
20. Basic home repairs, such as a clogged sink, window repair, painting, etc.
21. Have basic survival skills like purifying water, starting a fire, and finding directions.
22. Know how to tell what is a bargain and what is not in various things: food, cars, clothes, housing and services etc .
23. Drive in snow.
24. Write a letter of complaint.
25. Give to people in need.
26. Find information and sort through the good from the bad, and truth from fiction.
27. Bookkeeping for home and a small business.
28. First aid and how to treat illnesses.
29. Drive a stick shift.
30. Cook for a party or special occasion.
31. Bake a pie.
32. Plan a party or special event
33. Basic sewing: mending a tear, sewing a button, making a curtain or pillow etc.
34. Change a bad mood.
35. Store food, and what to keep in a pantry.
36. Make people laugh.
37. Read a recipe and cook with it.
38. Cook without a recipe.
39. Jump-start a car.
40. Get a job.
41. Plan a strategy.
42. Share feelings appropriately and handle conflict.
43. Have fun.
44. Take a good photo.
45. Braid.
46. Bake bread.
47. Love people.
48. Plant a vegetable garden.
49. Do the best you can do, not the least you can get away with.
50. Forgive.

Someone took this list and made an interactive quiz from it.  Want to take it?  :)
http://www.listchallenges.com/50-things-to-know-how-to-do