New Skills Highschoolers Can Master Over Winter Break

December 8, 2023 byKristina Cappetta

4 min to read

A high school student practicing their sign language skills.

While the weeks between fall and spring semester are often time away from the classroom and time to relax, this time is also a great opportunity for high schoolers to master new skills. As your student’s parent or Learning Coach, you can encourage them to step out of their comfort zone or get a head start on their future career by learning a new skill. Whether your student has one week off or more, there is plenty of time to master these eight new skills for high schoolers.

8 Skills High Schoolers Can Learn Over Winter Break

Practice Interviewing Skills

When it comes to skills for high schoolers, practicing interviewing skills is at the top of the list. Whether they plan to go to college or head straight into the workforce after high school, knowing how to confidently present themselves and their skills will come in handy when it comes time for those inevitable interviews.

Students can practice these skills by learning how to gather their thoughts so they can give meaningful answers to common interview questions. They can also work on their conversational skills as they learn how to make eye contact and how not to fidget or have other distracting habits.

Make a Meal from Scratch

While some kids have already mastered some kitchen skills by high school, others have yet to break into the world of cooking. During winter break, encourage your student try to become more confident in the kitchen by starting with recipes that don’t require many ingredients or complicated directions and that push them out of their comfort zone without being too daunting.

Help your student look up some recipes or share some family recipes with them. Take them to the store if they need any extra supplies but let them figure things out on their own if they hit any snags. The most important thing is to encourage them to keep trying. Cooking is a skill, and all skills take practice and time to perfect.

Learn Drawing Basics

If your high school student has always wanted to learn more about art, encourage them to learn how to sketch over winter break. You may even be able to find local winter break programs for high school students that can teach them this skill or enroll in an online art class.

While they may not be able to become a photorealistic artist in just a few weeks, they likely will be able to master the basic principles of art such as shading, texture, shaping, and color theory, and they may have the foundation to take their art to the next level.

If your student wants to learn more about art, you can use materials you have around the house, but buying some basic sketch pads and pencils can go a long way to help them feel more like a real artist.

Explore Basic Computer Coding or Earn Certifications

A 2022 survey of 1,000 students found that 45% of students can currently code or are at least learning one computer coding language. Since coding is growing in popularity, learning some coding basics in high school can be a great resume builder.

There are lots of introductory tutorials and explanations online to help your student learn the basics of web design, learn about optimizing content for social media, or even get started learning the basics of data analytics. Some of these courses can even be done in a couple hours for free or at a low cost.

Brush Up on Language Skills

Learning another language is not only fun but can open many doors that can lead to careers and new adventures. Chances are your high schooler is taking a second language as part of their curriculum. Why not use winter break to start learning a third, or brush up on their current language skills? While they may not be able to immerse themselves in a foreign culture over winter break, they can find apps that can help teach language skills to high schoolers.

Learning to Spell in American Sign Language

Learning how to spell in American Sign Language (ASL) can be a handy skill to have. Your high schooler can watch videos online to learn the basics. As they master each letter, they can first learn how to spell their names. From there they can try to spell different objects they see around the house. By the end of their winter break, have them show you all the words they’ve learned to spell using ASL. And if they want to branch out further into non-spoken languages, encourage them to maybe try learning Morse Code or Braille.

If you don’t have winter break programs for high school students in your area, there are plenty of resources online that can help teach your high schooler a variety of valuable skills. From apps to video tutorials, your high school student will be amazed at what skills they can master in just two weeks or less!