50 Things to Teach Your Kids Before They Leave Home

Somewhere around your child’s 14th birthday, the math hits: you have four years left. Maybe less if they leave for college early, or more if they don’t. Either way, the window is closing.

The question isn’t “am I a good parent?” The question is: what does my kid actually know how to do?

This isn’t about making them grow up too fast. It’s about making sure they’re ready when they do.

Feeding themselves

1. Cook 5 basic meals from scratch — not recipes that require 47 ingredients. Eggs, pasta, rice and beans, a stir fry, a soup. The kind of food that keeps you alive when you’re broke.
2. Grocery shop on a budget — walk through a store, compare prices, buy what’s needed, skip what isn’t.
3. Read a nutrition label — not to obsess, but to know what they’re eating.
4. Meal plan for a week — even roughly. The skill is thinking ahead.
5. Handle food safely — raw chicken isn’t a toy. Leftovers don’t last forever.

Managing money

1. Open and manage a bank account — understand what a balance is, how transactions work, why overdrafts hurt.
2. Build a basic budget — income minus expenses. That’s it. Everything else is noise.
3. Understand debt — credit cards charge interest. Student loans are real money. Minimum payments are a trap.
4. Save before spending — the habit matters more than the amount.
5. File a simple tax return — or at least understand that they’ll need to and what it means.

Taking care of a home

1. Do laundry start to finish — sort, wash, dry, fold, put away. The whole cycle.
2. Clean a kitchen properly — not “I wiped the counter.” Actually clean.
3. Unclog a drain — before calling anyone.
4. Change a lightbulb, flip a breaker — basic electrical awareness.
5. Maintain a bathroom — toilet, shower, floor. Regular upkeep, not crisis cleanup.

Handling their body

1. Maintain basic hygiene independently — without reminders.
2. Do basic first aid — clean a wound, apply a bandage, know when something needs a doctor.
3. Manage their own sleep schedule — alarm, bedtime, understanding that sleep deprivation makes everything worse.
4. Exercise without a coach — go for a run, do pushups, stretch. Move their body because they choose to.
5. Navigate a doctor’s visit — make an appointment, describe symptoms, ask questions.

Navigating people

1. Have a difficult conversation — disagree without destroying the relationship.
2. Apologize and mean it — “I’m sorry you feel that way” doesn’t count.
3. Set a boundary — say no and hold it.
4. Read a room — know when to talk, when to listen, when to leave.
5. Ask for help — without shame. This one takes most adults decades.

Solving problems

1. Troubleshoot before asking — Google it, try restarting, read the error message, think for 5 minutes.
2. Make a decision with incomplete information — because that’s every decision.
3. Break a big task into steps — the meta-skill behind every other skill.
4. Handle a mistake without spiraling — fix it, learn from it, move on.
5. Negotiate — for a price, a deadline, a better seat. The ask is free.

Getting around

1. Read a map — digital and paper. GPS dies.
2. Navigate public transit — or at least not be intimidated by it.
3. Change a tire — or know who to call and what to say.
4. Maintain a vehicle — gas, oil, tire pressure, registration. The basics that prevent expensive problems.
5. Travel alone — pack a bag, get to the airport, handle a delay.

Handling the bureaucracy of life

1. Fill out a form — rental applications, job applications, insurance paperwork. They’re all forms.
2. Write a professional email — subject line, greeting, point, close. Not a text message.
3. Show up on time — consistently. This alone puts you ahead of most people.
4. Understand a lease or contract — at least enough to know what they’re signing.
5. Keep important documents organized — birth certificate, social security card, insurance info. Know where they are.

Managing themselves

1. Manage their own calendar — appointments, deadlines, commitments. Without you tracking it for them.
2. Say no to things that don’t serve them — events, requests, habits. Time is finite.
3. Sit with boredom — without reaching for a screen. This is becoming a superpower.
4. Recover from failure — not “bounce back” like it didn’t happen. Sit with it, learn from it, keep going.
5. Ask good questions — in class, in a job interview, in life. Curiosity compounds.

Understanding others

1. Listen without planning their response — actually hear what someone is saying.
2. Recognize when someone needs help — and offer it without being asked.
3. Respect people they disagree with — disagreement isn’t disrespect.
4. Understand that their experience isn’t universal — other people have different lives, and that’s real.
5. Forgive — not because the other person deserves it, but because carrying it is heavier than letting it go.

The real point

This list isn’t meant to stress you out. It’s a map.

Most parents don’t fail because they don’t care. They fail because they don’t have a system. Important things get postponed by urgent things. “I’ll teach them that later” turns into “How do they not know that?”

The fix isn’t to cram 50 skills into a weekend. It’s to pick one, start there, and build momentum.

That’s what progress looks like. Not perfection. Movement.

This checklist shows you what to teach. Forging Gumption shows you how — the framework for turning this list into action. Or track your progress for free.