As an executive in the education space and a mother of three children now in college, I have always been mindful of the skills my teens were developing, both in and out of the classroom. While raising teens, I understood how essential it was to supplement their education with real-world experience and tools. This approach to education became the centerpiece of my career, and I am passionate about helping parents understand how to support their children’s growth in a way that builds a strong foundation for success into adulthood.

As the managing director for Pearson’s virtual schools, including Connections Academy, I oversee a network of virtual schools serving over 100,000 students across 31 U.S. states. These online schools offer a flexible, personalized learning environment, where students develop vital time management and independent learning skills.

While the increased flexibility of virtual schools can help in managing teens’ demanding schedules, finding a healthy school-life balance is crucial to thriving in any educational setting. Regardless of whether your teen attends a virtual or brick-and-mortar school, maintaining balance is the key ingredient for both their overall well-being and long-term success.

Why School-Life Balance is Important

Teenagers, much like working professionals, crave a sense of balance when it comes to their schoolwork, extracurricular activities, and social lives. A recent study of U.S. eighth-12th graders and parents of this age group by Pearson’s Connections Academy found that students with a strong school-life balance often have a clearer understanding of their future aspirations, with 76% knowing what career they want to pursue.

Gen Z cares about more than just a paycheck. They’re looking for careers that offer balance, meaningful teamwork, and inclusive environments and want their education to reflect those values. Achieving a healthy balance not only supports mental and physical health, but also fosters the development of critical skills like time management and decision-making.

Through learning to balance their responsibilities, teens improve their ability to prioritize tasks, make informed decisions, manage their time effectively and explore career paths. As parents, we can look back on our own experiences, recognizing in hindsight how these skills would have made a difference in our lives. In fact, 72% of the parents we surveyed wish they had explored more career options before graduating from high school, and 67% regret not learning better time management. By helping teens build these skills early on, we can set them up for success in both life and work.

3 Ways to Develop the Life Skills Needed for School-Life Balance

In my years of experience, I have seen how developing essential life skills can help students maintain a healthy school-life balance. These skills, also known as soft, durable, or human skills, are also prioritized by employers when recruiting prospective employees. The following are some actionable tips you can use to support your teen in building the skills that will aid them in achieving a well-rounded, balanced life.

1. Build life skills through teachable moment

As busy parents, everyday moments provide rich opportunities to teach essential life skills. And we can teach kids basic skills by incorporating them into daily routines such as seeking their input on academic choices and involving them in decision-making. Some simple tasks that can help children learn safety while fostering interpersonal skills can be as simple as learning how to meal prep, drive, and apologize when they have done something wrong. A few top skills I wanted my children to learn before entering college included how to:

Drive
Change a tire
Prepare recipes for three simple meals
Ask for help and advocate for themselves
Manage stress and time
Be a good friend

2. Ask questions to assess skill gaps and refine career interests

Since 30% of students begin thinking about careers in sixth to eighth grade, the tween era is an ideal time to discuss future aspirations. Parents can ask about their child’s interests and strengths to identify skills in which they excel or need support.

Creating a list of interests and connecting them to simple household tasks and extracurricular activities are engaging ways to develop life skills that will work in both their professional and personal lives. When my children were young, I started with small, manageable tasks like helping sort laundry. As they get older, I would encourage them to help research and plan a family meal.

Hobbies and extracurricular / volunteer activities also teach essential life skills, enhancing social abilities and expanding networks by connecting them with peers, mentors, and diverse communities. Encouraging your teens to participate in clubs offered by their school or community centers are also fantastic options to promote socialization and interest exploration outside of the classroom.

3. Provide career exposure opportunities

Starting in middle school, students should explore career options and develop skills by reflecting on their interests, participating in vocational activities, and visiting colleges and gaining work experience through internships, job shadowing and part-time jobs. These experiences will, in turn, offer a range of perspectives when it comes to future career paths. Research shows that teens want parental involvement in career exploration, such as helping them find jobs (48%) and sharing resources (43%). For example, both of my daughters chose their majors at college through a local volunteer experience that ignited a passion. This involvement can improve communication and lessens gaps in school-life balance. Parents can help by discussing their teens’ strengths, exploring career options, sharing personal experiences, and encouraging guidance from school counselors.

By helping students develop skills for a healthy school-life balance early on, we can provide them with the tools needed to support both academic achievement and personal growth. This increased support encourages resilience, confidence, and self-awareness, better preparing them for success in and beyond the classroom.