A child begins to live independently from us the instant the cord is cut and they take their first breath. From that moment on, parents are responsible for guiding him/her, to live life to their highest potential. They are liable for teaching them how to navigate daily living for a sustainable and independent adult lifestyle.
In addition to raising an independent child, you will benefit from extra help. As busy parents, don’t make the mistake of doing all of the daily household chores on your own just because you can get it done quicker. Avoid the common parenting pitfalls of chore scoring and encourage independent skills while implementing the Simple 7.
Set the foundation early for independence with the Simple 7 living skills, including any child with a developmental delay or a high functioning disability. Begin “working out” your child’s independent abilities in the laundry room as soon as your child knows the difference between the color white and dark colors. If your child is flipping the light switch on and off, or swiping across iPads, she can flip the switch on a mini vacuum and clean up small messes. Those are just two tasks, read on for more.
The Simple 7
Sort Laundry – It’s a drop in the buckets – whites in one basket colors in another.
Skills target – Color identification, sorting, organizing, focus and memory.
Match socks – This wonderful task identifies and reinforces size, color, pairing and family identification by matching & sorting clean socks
Skills target – Memory building, basic math, classifying & focus
Grocery List making – Your child knows what they like to eat. Have them open the refrigerator and cabinets to look for the item to determine if it needs to be bought.
Skills target – Preparation, organizing, basic budgeting, counting & planning
Unpack groceries – Place unbreakable bagged groceries on the kitchen floor and have the child sort items by refrigerator or pantry.
Skills addressed: Classifying, sorting, organizing, fine & gross motor skills
Empty the dishwasher – Remove the cutlery caddy from dishwasher and have child match and sort utensils right
into the drawer
Skills addressed: Sorting, organizing, focusing, memory & fine motor skills
Sort Recyclables – Yellow bin, blue bin, garbage bin.Glass, paper or just garbage these sorting skills are incorporate social consciousness for the environment.
Skills addressed – Classifying, sorting, organizing, recycling, concentration, environmental awareness
Dust Buster – Bright shiny red hand-held mini vacuums, with easy to push buttons, encourage interaction. Your child can now “suck up” their messy crushed cereal or pretzel droppings on the floor with a press of button and a back and forth motion.
Skills addressed: Fine and large motor skills, responsibility, independence
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