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Parents of special needs children need to help each other out. My friend, Susie, is a saint. She's a seasoned girl scout leader and she decided to apply her girl scout skills to helping our little rag-tag group of special needs teens.
We tried a community college cooking class. It was a disaster. There were too many kids with anti-social and inappropriate behavior in the class. The teacher was very young and totally not prepared to deal with the behavioral issues the kids brought to the room, the large class size, and the teaching of cooking. The kids would sit at a table for 30 or 40 minutes waiting for their turn in the kitchen. Once there, they would make some stupid dish like fruit roll-up sushi - all sugar, no nutritional value. How did that teach them self sufficiency? It did not.
Parents of special needs kids know the struggle of finding appropriate classes and activities for our kids. It can be a disaster.
Susie decided to hold the class in her home. Our venue. Our kids. Our menu. Together with the kids and moms she sets the menu and estimates the cost of groceries. We all pitch in to pay. Foods like mac and cheese, grilled cheese sandwich and soup, eggs and bacon, grilled chicken caesar salad. Real food the kids could easily prepare if they needed to feed themselves, which, God love 'em, we all pray that one day they WILL be feeding themselves. They learn to read a recipe, measure ingredients, use kitchen tools like a shredder, can opener, wire whisk, colander. They set the table, play games that reinforce table manners, and CLEAN UP the table and kitchen together. Each teen is assigned a task and they are encouraged to help out somebody who is struggling with their task. They hold accountable the kids who are not pulling their weight in the group project. It's an awesome group.
We tried a community college cooking class. It was a disaster. There were too many kids with anti-social and inappropriate behavior in the class. The teacher was very young and totally not prepared to deal with the behavioral issues the kids brought to the room, the large class size, and the teaching of cooking. The kids would sit at a table for 30 or 40 minutes waiting for their turn in the kitchen. Once there, they would make some stupid dish like fruit roll-up sushi - all sugar, no nutritional value. How did that teach them self sufficiency? It did not.
Parents of special needs kids know the struggle of finding appropriate classes and activities for our kids. It can be a disaster.
Susie decided to hold the class in her home. Our venue. Our kids. Our menu. Together with the kids and moms she sets the menu and estimates the cost of groceries. We all pitch in to pay. Foods like mac and cheese, grilled cheese sandwich and soup, eggs and bacon, grilled chicken caesar salad. Real food the kids could easily prepare if they needed to feed themselves, which, God love 'em, we all pray that one day they WILL be feeding themselves. They learn to read a recipe, measure ingredients, use kitchen tools like a shredder, can opener, wire whisk, colander. They set the table, play games that reinforce table manners, and CLEAN UP the table and kitchen together. Each teen is assigned a task and they are encouraged to help out somebody who is struggling with their task. They hold accountable the kids who are not pulling their weight in the group project. It's an awesome group.
I nominate Susie for mom of the year. She is the BEST.
