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- This topic has 16 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated March 10, 2008 at 4:08 pm by Liss.
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- March 10, 2008 at 4:08 pm #256581
Liss
KeymasterCLOTHES WASHING:
mine learned to do wash early .. probably 7 ish
even my dd who is mentally retarded and was TINY did wash .. I had to
break it down into easy steps just like everything else .. ie: first 3
days she learned how to pull out the button on washer (standing on
step stool to reach it), second 3 days was turning it to the right
spot (mark with sharpie), then it was how to open the door, how much
soap, etc etc it took a while, but then everything did .. In reality
waiting till she was older meant she would have had tons of life
skills to learn
I had 1 bed wetter till almost 11, I started kids early so it wasn’t an issue
COOKING
mine learned to cook early too .. Mine started tossing things into the
crockpot when really little (I opened the cans at first)
again it was baby steps , how to peel carrots, break eggs, electric
can opener, etc etc .. But by the time Bonnie was 8 she could cook
spaghetti sauce from scratch – that meant using canned tomatoes,
cutting onions, carrots, and other veggies, adding spices etc ..
It took 2 years of working with B before she could cook without a
recipe on simple things like tuna salad, she was probably 12 by then
.. She’s also OCD, so if we didn’t have carrots she thought she
couldn’t make it without them
The recipe I wrote out about 4 years ago (she would have been 17-18)
for pizza is 2 pages long because I have in it when to put hot water
in sink, and put the dough hooks in so the dough won’t turn to cement
.. I was trying to eliminate the need for verbal cue from me – get her
ready for real life
CLEANING:
cleaning generally meant I had to be there all the kids (and myself)
are ADHD that meant we used lists, lots of lists
I have posters on the wall of every room of what needs to be done
If I had to do it again I would use a digital camera and take pictures
of what it is supposed to look like
I had the closet wire shelving as wall to wall floor to ceiling
shelves for the kids rooms, dish pans with pictures and words of what
belonged in them ..
Clothes were also in the ‘bins’ it saved huge amounts of hassles ..
When clothes are dry send a munchkin up for their underwear, Tshirt,
shorts, PJ etc bin .. they bring up and put on shelf … last one is
the sock bin and toss them in it (have them toss and count) .. we also
did colours using the T Shirts etc
Toys were in the bins so one would be just the hot wheels (pic drawn
by me of hotwheels and CARS & TRUCKS written in sharpie) again pickup
was by colours or using numbers “toss in 5 cars not red’ ..
SNOW REMOVAL / YARD:
I had 27 different sized wheelbarrows in my yard when I had 5 kids, so
the littles could help too .. I had mini snow shovels too .. We are a
family and there are some things that EVERYONE needs to help on
MISC LIFE SKILLS – this is the catch phrase in schools etc
Chores are the lessons of life – they will grow up and need to be able
to make a balanced meal selection, and cook their own meals .. You are
doing NO HARM by teaching them HOW to cook .. Try pizzas from scratch
on days they have friends over (you can start it in the morning with
the kids), You’d be surprised how many kids are excited about making
food at your place
Generally they are NOT going to have maid service so they need to know
how to clean the bathroom (mine didn’t do that till late teens), how
to do wash, and how to wash dishes BY HAND so there are not dried food
particals, surrounds by grease ..
Do they help with writing out checks for bills? (*you sign of course)
This enables them to understand the costs of living in real life .. Do
they know how to balance a check book? Do they handle money? Save?
Do they have basic first aid skills?
Ria
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