Real Life University is the intentional study of life skills to equip young people.

Our little Sarah at 3 years old, washing garden tomatoes

Here she is at age 10, with the Caprese Salad she whipped up for supper. This is how RLU works through the years!

The spiritual training of our children should always be our top priority. And, we need to be aware that real-life skills are a huge part of spiritual training for our kids. Life skills equip our children to be capable and confident, to help others, to care for their own families, and to be compassionate toward others. It is absolutely each parent’s job to teach them these skills before they leave the safety and security of our home. No one wants to turn out clueless young adults into this world, right?

Real Life University (RLU) is my method to help you intentionally teach life skills to your children. While textbooks, classes, and curricula teach your children things they need to pass tests or pursue a certain career, RLU covers all the other things your child needs to know. And, RLU is not taught in a textbook. You can’t hire someone to teach it for you. You’re it, and you are gonna be great!

My simple RLU method will help you get on track and stay on track as your children grow, teaching skills through the years in age-appropriate progression. You can begin at any age, and check back here soon for details about how to teach RLU to every age and stage of development, and how to make RLU work for every child!

Haden and Houston changed a tire quickly and easily last summer, to keep us ladies from messing up our clothes. RLU grows with your child, and your child will grow with RLU!

What do you need?

• 3 ring binder
• RLU Checklist

It really is that simple! RLU is really just a mindset and a method. You don’t need expensive curricula, classes, schedules, or materials. You don’t even need special training, and you certainly don’t need a teaching degree. The fact that you have lived longer than your child perfectly equips you to teach RLU to your child. Since you adult every day and you do life every day, you are well suited to teach Real Life University to your child.

How to teach RLU?

• Make your own RLU checklist
• Do life with your child

I’ve included a link to our family’s RLU list at the end of this post for you to use if you wish. But, I encourage you to make your own RLU checklist that includes your personal goals for your children. Moms and dads both have unique input for a list of life skills, so take an evening together to talk this over. Think back to when you were 22 years old. Did you ever think, “I wish someone had told me about this!” Then put that on your family’s checklist. List all concepts you want your children to learn, and print one list for each child. Then, just check things off as each child completes them through the years. It’s that simple!

After you get your list together, just do life together. Spend time together. Be with your kids. Do not buy the current philosophy that tells us our children need to be entertained all the time. Do not buy the lie that children should not work. You and I work each day, don’t we? It is a terrible trick to play on young people when we parents set them up for shock and failure, by never showing them what real life is like.

We parents have to adult every day. If we didn’t take care of our real life responsibilities, our families would end up without shelter, food, and security.  Responsible parenting requires us to use our life skills every day. So, make sure that when you are doing life, your child is right there beside you, watching and learning and helping. We need to allow our children to work alongside us in our daily tasks, so they naturally develop these abilities. And it really becomes easy and natural, once you begin.

Don’t sell yourself short; you don’t have to be perfect to be able to teach a child skills. You don’t need to be an expert to share the basics with your child. Give yourself credit –  you have survived all these years, and you have gained wisdom through experiences. You have plenty to share, and you will soon find that your own life skills improve as you practice with your apprentice!

You can find our family’s RLU Checklist here.

In addition to our checklist, we recommend a binder for each child. Any 3 ring binder will work, and I use clear pockets like these, so you can easily slip things into the binder. The 3 ring binder is what we use to collect things we want our child to remember. Sometimes my husband and I write them notes and stick them in their binder. Sometimes we print out bits of wisdom, clip articles, or print out sermon notes we feel are especially important for that child. I even include shopping tips, home management methods, meal plans, and some favorite family recipes. Anything you feel may be useful to train up a child into a capable and competent young adult, stick it in their RLU binder. By the time your child leaves home, he or she will have a nice collection of things you selected especially with that child in mind. Easy, right? At the same time, it’s been a powerful tool for our family!

So, print your RLU Checklist and grab a 3 ring binder. Then get started doing life together. I am always happy to answer questions or make suggestions, so message me any time. Plus, I’ll keep encouraging you here, so come back often to dive deeper into the RLU method and the RLU mindset!

3 Ring Binder

RLU Checklist