Fostering Life Skills in the Home and Community

1. Fostering Life Skills in the Home and Community Taylor Eichenlaub- Guidance Counselor

2. Understanding Life Skills • Life skills have been defined as “the abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life”(WHO). • ‘Adaptive’ means that a person is flexible in approach and is able to adjust in different circumstances. • (UNICEF) defines life skills as “a behavior change or behavior development approach designed toaddress a balance of three areas: KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, and SKILLS”. (UNICEF ,2013)

3. Why are life skills at home and the community important? • Socialization skills, rules of society, how people fit into the world and with each other. Helps create expectations of your children/our students. • Life skills promotes one to pay attention on understanding their own strengths and weakness. This leads to the openness to opportunities available and ahead of us. (Learning-lift-off, 2018)

4. The 7 Essential Life Skills Focus And Self Control • Children need this skill in order to achieve their goals, especially in a world that is filled with distractions and information overload. It involves paying attention, remembering the rules, thinking flexibly and exercising self control. Perspective Taking • Perspective Taking goes far beyond empathy: it involves figuring out what others think and feel, and forms the basis of children understanding their parents’, teachers’, and friends’ intentions. Children who can take others’ perspectives are also much less likely to get involved in conflicts. Communicating • Communicating is much more than understanding language, speaking, reading and writing – it is the skill of determining what one wants to communicate and realizing how our communications will be understood by others. It is the skill that teachers and employers feel is most lacking today. Making Connections • Making Connections is at the heart of learning—figuring out what’s the same, what’s different and sorting these things into categories. Making unusual connections is at the core of creativity. In a world where people can google for information, it is the people who can see the connections who are able to go beyond knowing information to using thisinformation well. Critical Thinking • Critical Thinking is the ongoing search for valid and reliable knowledge to guide beliefs, decisions, and actions. Taking On Challenges • Life is full of stresses and challenges. Children who are willing to take on challenges (instead of avoiding them or simply coping with them) do better in school and in life. Self-Directed, Engaged Learning • It is through learning that we can realize our potential. As the world changes, so can we, for as long as we live—as long as we learn. (Galinsky, 2010)

5. 9 General Areas of Home Living Skills • Planning and preparing meals - Food prep, cleaning up, packing up food. • Self care – Physical, mental, emotional. Help your student identify their needs and tell others. What hurts, how do you feel, when something is wrong. Journal writing, writing letters to vent. • Bathing and hygiene – Part of self-care, being clean, healthy, etc. • Cleaning and care of the home – Taking care of where you live makes you feel better. Creates order, comfort in knowing where things are. (Learning-lift-off, 2018)

6. 9 General Areas of Home Living Skills • Cleaning and care of clothing – Picking out their own clothing. Learning to do laundry and fold clothes. • Telephone use – Either cell phone use, gaming, etc. Being safe, model good cell phone use. • Leisure Activities – How can you be safe and have fun? • Safety Procedures – Whom do you contact in safety situations? Police, firefighters, Ambulance, other family member. Set up and practice an emergency system. • Time Management, Scheduling, and Self Advocacy – Training for students to prepare them for independent work, living, taking care of themselves. Preparing them for the idea that you will not always be around to help them (Learning-lift-off, 2018)

7. Categories of Life Skills: THINKING SKILLS: • self awareness, critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, and creative thinking SOCIAL SKILLS: • effective Communication, empathy, and interpersonal relationships EMOTIONAL SKILLS: • dealing with emotions and coping with stress (WHO) (Freifeld, 2017)

8. The Benefits of Teaching Life Skills at a Young Age • Building life skills is essentially an exercise in helping children develop sound judgment and good habits for long-term stability, wellness, and success. • Start as early as possible. Practice makes perfect, gets students into a routine of expectations. • Creates structure. Helps with self efficacy and self esteem, as well as instills personal pride and responsibility. • Gives a base for students to grow and develop independently. (Ruchismita)

9. How Can Parents facilitate Life Skills at Home? • Let them try to do the math when purchasing something or paying the bill at the restaurant. Support them as you look for groceries, go shopping for new clothes, or do anything that is expected in a typical day. When going through these every day situations, challenge your kids, “how would you do this/that?” “Is that a good idea, why or why not?” Model how to think things through. • Create Checklists – easy and visual tracking. Checklists create an abstract sense of accomplishment to the concrete. Students can see what they accomplished and what they have left to do. Can help prevent feeling overwhelmed or anxiety, spells out expectations of what needs to be done. Allows for chunking or grouping of tasks, and breaks in between. (Learning-lift-off, 2018)

10. How Can Parents facilitate Life Skills at Home? • Assigning household chores and budgeting exercises through an allowance, to caring for a pet or volunteering in the community. • Fun and simple-to-organize activities, like game nights (or afternoons) with family and friends with an educational focus that also encourage working in teams, can help to build social and interpersonal skills. (Learning-lift-off, 2018)

11. Teach Everyday Survival Skills In addition to brushing their own teeth and learning how to tie their shoes and get dressed, young children should know what to do in common situations as well as emergencies, such as: • Who to call in an emergency (memorize phone numbers) • How to safely cross the street • What to do if they are bullied or witness bullying • How to safely use kitchen appliances and prepare basic meals • How to do the laundry (Ruchismita)

12. After School/ Additional Services • ACCES-VR • OPWDD • NY Metro Parents (NYMetroParents.org) • Academic Enrichment programs • Art/Design Class • Cooking Class • STEM • Theater and Acting Class • Dance Class

13. ACCES-VR What is ACCES-VR? • Adult Career and Continuing Education Services- Vocational Rehabilitation (ACCES-VR) services are for individuals with disabilities that interfere with getting or keeping a job or who have difficulty advancing at their job. VR services may only be provided if your goal is employment. • To apply or be referred for VR services you should be at least 14 years old and must be available to participate in the vocational rehabilitation process. There is no length of residency requirement for anyone present in New York State. If you are not a United States citizen you must provide proof you are allowed to work in the United States as determined by the United States Department of Immigration and Naturalization Services. (http://www.acces.nysed.gov/vr)

14. ACCES-VR To be Eligible for VR You Must: • Have a disability that interferes with getting or keeping a job; be able to benefit from Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) services; and need VR services to get, keep or advance at your job. • Presumed Eligibility- If you provide proof you receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) that is based on SSA determination of your disability, ACCES-VR will assume you are eligible for VR services. • Eligibility for vocational rehabilitation services is made without regard to age, color, religion, creed, disability, marital status, veteran status, national origin, race, gender, genetic predisposition or carrier status, or sexual orientation, the service needed, cost of the service or the income level of the individual or family. (http://www.acces.nysed.gov/vr)

15. Office of Persons withDevelopmental Disabilities • OPWDD offers an array of services and supports to help people with developmental disabilities live in the home of their choice; find employment and other meaningful activities in which to participate; build relationships in the community, and experience health and wellness. • The various levels and combinations of services and supports mean that OPWDD can accommodate the strengths, needs, and preferences of virtually any person with developmental disabilities. (https://opwdd.ny.gov/)

16. Office of Persons withDevelopmental Disabilities • People new to the OPWDD system can access services and supports through the Front Door. • The goal of this process is to discover the particular abilities, wants, goals and needs of each individual served. • Help for people to live in a home in the community. • Help for families to support their family member to live in the family home with respite and other family support services. • Help for people who want to work in the community with employment training and support, volunteer opportunities, and other types of community engagement. • And help for people who need intensive residential and day services. (https://opwdd.ny.gov/)

17. Middle School Life Skills Courses: Socialization • The Tiegerman socialization program is a form of language learning whereby facilitators reinforce appropriate communication skills. Concepts such as starting a conversation, maintaining a conversation, ending a conversation, changing topics, introducing oneself, assertive behavior, complimenting each other, asking appropriate questions, handling sensitive topics, respecting a classmate’s property, and accepting criticism are covered in this course. • The goal of the program is to provide our students with necessary social skills that will help them adequately function in their educational, personal, and vocational lives. (Tiegerman, 2018)

18. Middle School Courses Continued: Home and Careers • This course is required for all middle school students. Topics include: exploring careers, health and wellness, food and nutrition, clothing and housing, and building relationship skills. Exploring Careers • In this course, students will explore their interests, abilities, and preferences for working with people, information, and/or things in order to begin to develop a career plan that will assist them in transitioning from school to eventual entry into a career. Additionally, students learn how each new skill can help them build successful careers. Entering the World of Work • They learn that choosing the right career requires self-exploration, research, and planning and will explore the relationship among personal interests, skills, abilities, and career research in order to further develop their career plans. The course also covers essential workplace skills such as responsibility, self-management, leadership, and integrity. (Tiegerman, 2018)

19. References • Freifeld, L. (2013, October 22). A Positive Approach to Modern Living. Retrieved from https://trainingmag.com/content/positive-approach-modern-living • Galinsky, Ellen. (2010). Mind in the making : the seven essential life skills every child needs. New York :Harper, • Learning-liftoff-staff. (2018, June 11). The Importance of Life Skills-Based Education. Retrieved from https://www.learningliftoff.com/the-importance-of-life-skills-based-education/ • Life skills. (2013, December 09). Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/lifeskills/ • Ruchismita. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.preservearticles.com/2011111517238/various-types-of-life-skills-which-have-been-identified-by-agencies-such-as-who-unicef-and-etc-are-as-follows.html