Page 6 - GC Library Homechooling Resources

Can your 12-year-old wash his own clothes and cook a meal for the family? Can you 5-year-old brush her teeth, comb her hair and wash her face without help? If not, take the opportunity to start working on independence skills with your kids.
Parents have a lot to do, so teaching your kids indepen- dence skills not only prepares them for life, but if frees up some of your time and reduces your stress level. It’s a win-win. It does, however, require effort and a lot of trial and error.
If you aren’t sure which skills your kids should have at which age, check out Family Education.com’s age-by-age guide to life skills at https://bit. ly/2WAt0U1.
Here are some ideas on skills to teach while you’re spending a lot of time at home.
CHORES
Laundry, cooking and yard work are all appropriate age-level skills for children 10 and above, according to FamilyEducation.com. (After all, if kids can work a video game controller, they can cer- tainly work a washing machine.) If you haven’t taught these skills, start with small tasks, such as sorting laundry
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Giving kids projects to do can help them learn and take pride in their own indepen- dence. Let your child choose a project of which to take owner- ship. This can be a long-term
project, such as planting a gar- den or redecorating their bed- room, or a short-term project, such as building a craft or small wood project, or hand-making a Halloween cos- tume. Let them research, plan and execute the project, only providing input when abso- lutely necessary.
With all independence skills, it’s important to know that your child will not “get it right” the first time. There will be lots of wrinkled laundry and half- cooked chicken — and lots of patience required on your part. Kids learn from failure. It’s your job to remind them that you believe they can do it, and encourage them to learn a les- son from their failure and try again.
Also keep in mind that they might be more willing to take ownership of a task when you allow them to do it their own way. They might be perfectly happy to wear a wrinkled shirt, and you might have to be OK with that.
For more help teaching independence skills, follow HR Mom on Facebook. Melissa B. Griffin says her advice is “for parents who realize they have ONE JOB: to work themselves out of a job.” She offers ideas for teaching independence and leadership skills. In one post, she challenged her 15-year-old son to take on the task of replacing a broken headlight on the family car, including finding and purchas- ing the part, and using a YouTube video to learn how to complete the repair and finish- ing the job.
HOMESCHOOLINGRESOURCES | REAL-LIFESKILLS
Teach Independence Skills
or chopping vegetables, and encourage your children to work their way up to full inde- pendence.
ORGANIZATION
Ask kids to make a schedule for their day. According to Scholastic.com, even pre-
schoolers can benefit from a picture schedule to start learn- ing time management, and grade-schoolers should be learning to plan long-term projects and set priorities. Teens should learn about bal- ancing socializing (including time spent on social media)
and their education.
PROJECTS