Life skills as school
How do I teach life skills and chores as part of homeschool?
Teach them like any other lesson: one task at a time, show it, do it together, then watch your child do it alone, and give it a regular place in the school day. Cooking, laundry, repairs and money are real skills, and many families log them as school.
Roughly by age
Young children can put toys away, set the table and sort laundry by color. By about 8 to 10, most can fold and put away laundry, make a simple snack and wipe down a bathroom. Teens can cook a full meal, do their own laundry, make small repairs and keep a budget.
Break the task into steps
For a child who struggles with chores, including many neurodivergent children, "clean your room" is too big. Name one step at a time, tape a picture checklist to the wall, and do the steps in the same order every time.
Clareza's life skills courses
Home Base: Practical Arts and Life Skills, for grades 6 to 8, is a semester done for real with a parent nearby: cooking, comparing food prices, sewing and mending, basic tools and small repairs, laundry, cleaning a room with a system, and money and time, ending with your child running the household for a day. Short check-ins with Clara keep the record. Grade 2 math has a money unit, and Grade 9 has Personal Finance.
What this is not
- There is no chores or life skills course below Grade 6, apart from the money unit in Grade 2 math.
- Clara cannot see the meal or the folded laundry. Your child does it and tells her about it.
- Whether life skills count toward required subjects depends on your state.
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Questions parents ask
Can chores count as homeschool?
Many families count them as life skills or home economics. Check what your state asks you to teach.
How do I teach a neurodivergent tween to clean their room?
One step at a time, with a picture checklist and the same order every time. Do it together first, then watch, then let them do it alone.
Does Clareza teach money?
Yes. Grade 2 math has a money unit, Home Base covers tracking money and saving, and Grade 9 has Personal Finance.