Parents and Children Working Together
to Gain the Highest Level of Independence

ACTION PLAN: Learning How to Teach Living Skills

By:
Carolyn Parker Thompson
Supervisor of Residential Programs

What are living skills and why are they important?

It says it in the title of this page "living skills ". Sometimes I think we take for granted all the gifts that are before us. We have had many opportunities to gain almost all we need to become the independent adults we are today.

From the moment we were born we started on this fascinating journey and it continues today. We never stop learning. We have the enticing responsibilities as parents and family in presenting to our children pathways to becoming the best that they can be.

Every day, in many ways, we show our children how proud we are of them for doing their best. We also show by example. Your children may not realize all you had to do to be at the C.S.B. family weekend but they do know you are here for them. This in itself is impressive.

We know how important it is for our children to gain all the knowledge they can in independence so that they can reach the moon and if they fall among the stars, we can be proud to know they did their best and we had something to do with that! Are we pumped up and ready to get started?

Guiding your child through learning a new skill

1. Make sure you are not under a time restraint so you have enough time to complete the task.
   
   
2. Have yourself in a relaxed state of mind.
   
   
3. Do the task during the appropriate time and place in the day.
   
   
4. Gather all materials needed to perform the task.
   
   
5. Place the materials in the appropriate position.
   
   
6. Have your skill sheet and a pencil / pen set up to mark off your skill building sheet.
   
   
7. If this is a new skill and your child needs hand over hand guidance, get your child and your self in position. ( If your child' does not need hand over hand assistance, then skip this step.)
   
   
8. Narrate the steps of the task as your child does them. Example: Pick up your socks, very good, now pull them apart, that's right, great, you put down one sock on the chair, find the top of your sock, super! You did it. ( If your child does not need to be talked though the steps skip this step and move on to the next.)
   
   
9. Explain the task you would like your child to perform. Ask them what they need to do to complete the task. (Take notes as this is going on, it is easy to forget.) Ask them how they would perform the task. If you feel they missed a step discuss it with them. ( If your child is not on this step, then move on to the next.)
   
   
10. It is important to be consistent in teaching a skill. ALWAYS TEACH THE SKILL THE SAME WAY! Use the same words and phases each time you go through the skill. Have your method written out so if someone other than you is reviewing the skill with your child they teach it in the same way you do. The buzz word is consistent. If the next person will not be teaching the skill the same way you do , then don't ask them to practice with your child. You can easily confuse your child in a short period of time if the skill is not instructed in the same manner. All of the work you have done together will be lost. The core of this teaching process must include consistency and praise. You can't be too consistent, and you can't give too much praise.
    

Scoring and Evaluation Skills Sheet

1. Decide the length of time you wish to spend on a long term skill and then break the skill down into several short term goals.
   
   
2. Next figure out how the skill can be broken down into short term goals.
   
   
3. Fill out the short term goal section of the skill building sheet, using the four basic steps you wish the child to accomplish. You know your child best, so please think through this carefully when deciding how simplified you want these steps. What we do not want to do over stress yourself and the child in learning a new skill. We want this to be a positive, learning experience.
   
   
4. For the next six weeks have child perform tasks of the short term goals. Using the key at the bottom of skills sheet, mark your child's weekly progress.
   
   
5. At the end of the six week period, or if the child is successful in completing the tasks in less than six weeks, this is the time to determine where your child's skill level stands. If your child has been successful in completing the task, it is time to move on to the next step of the skill. If your child has made very little progress this is the time to consider two things. One, short term goals may need to be broken down into smaller steps. Two, is there an easier way for your child to become independent in the skill you are trying to teach. Example: The skill you are trying to teach is tying shoes. Could you switch to Velcro shoes and teach the steps to Velcro shoe closing easier than tying.
   
   
6. This is the time to determine the percentage of time the goal should be met. Example: looking at the sample page this child should be meeting all four steps of the goal at least 50% of the time, realizing that he's working on the development of this skill.
   
   
7. At the end of the next six weeks review step 5 & 6. At this time keep in mind if you are moving on to the next step~ of your short term goal, you do not want your child to regress in the performance ofthe previous steps. Let child do first step(s) independently, then help child with the new step(s). By the end ofthis long term skill building task, your child will successfUlly incorporate the smaller steps ofthe task into one complete task.

Scoring and Evaluation Skills Sheet Coming Soon. . .