Life Skills: 6 Steps to Maturity for Homeschooled Teens
Published:
May 15, 2021
Contributor:
Shannan Swindler
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Teen Maturity Life Skills For Lifelong Success
Helping our homeschooled teens step into adulthood with maturity, confidence and grace is a life skill that leads to lifelong success. Get started with the checklist at the end of this post. Here are a few things to keep in mind when gauging your teens’ maturity.
Life Skills: 6 Steps to Maturity for Homeschooled Teens
Society is rapidly changing in a number of ways, so it can be truly hard to gauge someone’s levels of emotional maturity (especially if you are thinking your teens may be the immature ones!). And added stress often confusion about emotional maturity. Regardless, there are a few signs to watch out for to know if your homeschooler is actually growing in maturity.
Mature Teens Keep Their Word
Gone are the days when you promise someone you will do something, and then for whatever reason, you never follow through. This is not a trait of a mature homeschooled teen. Mature teens follow through with their commitments no matter how far in advance they may be. And even if it becomes physically impossible to follow through completely, they still show up and give it their best shot.
Mature Teens Are Humble
Oftentimes, teens think being mature means you are always right, that is largely incorrect. Mature teens are humble, quick to admit when they are wrong, and then offer to fix their mistakes. They know they aren’t always right, and they are willing to listen to someone else’s opinion. Mature teens also don’t spend time bragging about themselves. They also know that there is always more to learn and that they will never be “always right.”
Mature Teens Pick Values Over Feelings
Think of a child throwing a tantrum. They are doing so because they aren’t getting their way. Reacting in an emotional way to a situation as a young adult is basically the same thing as a little kid throwing himself on the floor and screaming.
Although it may not look the same, getting emotionally upset when you don’t get your way is childish and immature. Instead, mature teens set their attention to strong values and virtuous character, and aim to stick to them. And if something doesn’t go their way, they choose to calmly accept it and begin to work on a solution that they can be happy with.
Mature Teens Don’t Play the Victim
Sometimes, immature teens often “play the victim”. They think that there is nothing they can personally do to better their life. A teen who is mentally mature knows this isn’t the case. They don’t sit around waiting for life to change, rather they go out and change it themselves or seek resources and input to help create change.
Mature Teens Don’t Gossip
This one is a tough one but engaging in petty gossip or drama is a time-waster that distracts from pursuing life’s goals. Mature teens understand this, and they take special steps to avoid all the drama. They don’t want to get sidetracked off their path to success.
Mature Teens Don’t Give Up Or Give In
Mature teens know that giving up isn’t an option, and they will keep attempting to achieve their dreams over and over again even if they fail. They become good at strategic problem solving and know-how to seek wise counsel for input into problem areas.
Mature teens keep their heads up and start working towards a solution to get them back on track towards their goals.
Are Your Homeschooled Teens Seeing Positive Growth?
Help them take the next steps in maturity by teaching them the vital skill of problem-solving. Use the Strategic Problem Solving Checklist and Workbook to help your homeschooled teen learn how to solve problems with maturity.
Must-Read Books About Teen Maturity Life Skills:
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Adulting 101: #Wisdom4Life By Josh Burnette & Pete Hardesty |
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Becoming the Next Great Generation: Taking Our Place as Confident and Capable Adults By Jonathan Catherman |
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The Teen’s Guide to Social Media…and Mobile Devices: 21 Tips to Wise Posting in an Insecure World By Jonathan McKee |
You may also enjoy these character-building homeschool resources.
- Character-Based Bible Studies for Kids
- 30-Day Character Challenge
- How to Develop New Habits and Build Character in Kids
- Printable Character Charts for Your Home
- FREE: Our Favorite Character Building Curriculum
Start Working on Teen Maturity Life Skills with this FREE Checklist!
Get Your Problem-Solving Checklist Here.
