Every parent wants their child to succeed in life. And most have complete trust in schools to equip their kids with necessary skills.

But the fact is that there are many important skills that are not taught in schools; it’s up to parents to teach their children those skills.

Here are four critical skills that you should teach your kids to ensure that get ready to face any situation that they confront, and succeed in life.

1. Critical Thinking Skills

Most schools don’t teach critical thinking skills to students. You need to teach your kids to develop this important skill. Creativity and inquisitiveness should be encouraged. Tell your kids to examine problems, get to the bottom of things, and find solutions. Give them hypothetical questions to solve on their own. Help your child come up with innovative solutions to problems.

2. Financial Skills

Student debt loans in the US amount to more than $1 trillion. The credit card debt stands at nearly a billion dollars. These and other grave financial statistics clearly show that schools don’t teach us about money management skills.

To prevent your kids from making bad financial moves, you need to teach them how to manage money.

Kids can form good money habits by as early as age 7, according to a study by the University of Cambridge.  You should teach your kids about how to manage money so that they live financially fit and avoid the debt hole. They need to be told about essentials of money management like budgeting, living within the means, investing, and other critical money management skills. Tell them how to save money through bargains, promotional discounts, and shopping online.

3. Discipline

A lack of discipline can lead to destructive behaviors. You should teach your children the value of time. Consider telling them the consequences of spending too much time on wasteful activities. Tell them to limit time on activities such as video games, TV, and the internet. Inculcate in them the habit of going to bed early and getting up early in the morning. The good habits formed during childhood will prove invaluable when your kids enter adulthood.

4. Responding to an Emergency

Your kids should know what to do in case of a fire, heart attack, or any other emergency. They should know how to dial the emergency number. Also, they should know what information to give to the emergency dispatcher such as the name, house address, type of emergency etc.

You should also teach your kids how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Unlike common perception, CPR can be performed by both adults and kids. You should consider enrolling your kids in an online CPR first aid certification course. In this way, they can know how to respond to an emergency – for instance if they witness someone suffering from a cardiac arrest or drowning.