We Find Out The Importance Of Teaching Life-Skills To Children In Q&A With Jyppzer Founder Hemali Turakhia

With the advancement in technology, there has been a large emphasis on co-curricular activities and practical knowledge. Be it in parenting classes or schools, parents are always asked to teach their kids some life-skills for their better growth and development. Recently, ZEE5 approached Hemali Turakhia – Founder and CEO of Jyppzer (India’s first life skill development app)  to know more about the importance of teaching life skills to kids. We had a fun and interactive session with her and we hope the Q and A session will benefit our readers as well. Have a look…

1) What is the basic motive of teaching life skills to kids? 
With the world getting more competitive and advancing at each step, parents are keen towards making their child be a part of the race and succeed instead of sitting back.  Thus, coping skills is one of the most important life-skill which should be taught to the kids. It’s important for parents to teach their kids about how they would cope with challenges, stress or even different kinds of people they meet. For instance,  tomorrow your child can be a CEO of a company but will academic merits be enough? Skills like grit and resilience or emotional intelligence to understand the other team member is also an important part of progress and growth. As in today’s world,  EQ is more important than IQ.

2) What are practical life activities? 
Life skills are not only about doing household chores. It’s just a part of the gamut of skills. It’s about having a growth mindset and an attitude of gratitude. These skills are relevant in all aspects of life be it studies, sports, developing any skills, inter-personal relationship, etc.

Growth Mindset is all about “believing in one’s ability” when the child is empowered, they are not afraid to fail and will keep learning and trying. This automatically increases the child’s self-confidence which is the most powerful skill to have. The moment your child is ready to face his fears, he is growing as facing fears makes you fearless.

3) Why parents should concentrate on teaching their kids life skills? 
Problems, challenges, and stress are inevitable. Parents cannot safeguard their children at every point in their lives. We have to get them equipped to solve problems independently and be a decision-maker. We have to empower them to think creatively and approach problems from different angles to find practical solutions.

4) What is the ideal age and process to start practical life skills in kids? 
It can start as early as 6 months in a baby which parents can do by simply encouraging their child to eat independently or to crawl or even ask them to put back their toys in a box where they belong. Of course, it’s going to be a mess and will not be perfect and may even increase your work but you are planting seeds of independence, responsible behaviour and decision making. Similarly, there are multiple age-appropriate activities you can do with your child to impart life skills.

5) What are the basic skills which should be inculcated in kids?
While all life skills are important for children, we would give most importance to:

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving: It is a skill that is useful in your child’s day-to-day life as it helps them make logical decisions, understand the consequences of their actions and help with problem-solving. Right from solving a puzzle to making the right career step, critical thinking plays an important role.

Creativity and Innovation: The ability to think of new and original ideas and create things that are novel or different is a skill that artificial intelligence cannot replace. Creativity uses imagination or divergent thinking and is often brought out through art – poetry, music, stories, drama, sketches, paint or ideation.

Source: ZEE5

Entrepreneur Skills: Children have fewer mental barriers. Exposing your child to small odd jobs from a young age increases their self-confidence. They develop a value for money and start seeing problems as opportunities.

Perseverance, Grit, and Resilience: Children, too, face pressure and challenges – be it academic, personal or social. And while avoiding them may seem a safe option, facing and overcoming them is what truly brings success. Encourage your child to try new things which are out of their comfort zone. Let them fail and build the attitude of not giving up easily.

Empathy: Empathy is the ability to put yourself in somebody else’s shoes and feel the same feeling they are feeling. Younger children are usually egocentric, this makes developing empathy important in young children. Empathy yields kindness, helpful nature and encourages tolerance and acceptance of others

5) Is it advisable to include programs for practical activities in nursery and schools?
Yes! It is. Infant life skills are already a part of the core curriculum in western schools. India’s latest NEP has stressed holistic development however it’s a wait-and-watch story of how and when it is going to be implemented. However, I’m really happy that the government is taking the right educational policy decisions.

6) In the digital era of learning, how watching shows and kids’ content is favourable to a child’s growth?

Today’s kids are digital natives. You can’t take screen time away from them. 40 per cent of the net new internet users are kids. They account for one-third of internet users globally. Also, this pandemic has proven how quality education can be delivered online. Good edutainment can have a great impact on a child’s growth.

How ZEE5 is helping importance of life-skills 

ZEE5 helps parents to create a watchlist for their kids. Therefore, it makes it easy for them to provide a certain kind of content to their kids to watch and learn. It also has animated movies with meaningful endings which is a must-have part of visual learning. ZEE5 has shows like Chhota Bheem, Vir: The Robot Boy, and Gadget Guru Ganesha. The platform also provides shows like The Artroom which teaches kids about different kinds of arts like origami.

Source: ZEE5

While this was a fun and knowledgeable interaction we had with Hemali, let us know if it helped you in any way.

About Jyppzer:
Jyppzer is an education-entertainment app that provides age-appropriate brain stimulating activities, carefully created and approved by Early Childhood And Child Development Experts.

Watch more kids-related content on ZEE5.