September 2017

This month’s newsletter addresses the topic of manners as presented in this month’s unit titled, “Mind Your Manners.” The unit provides lessons and activities about the importance of recognizing the difference between good and bad manners including activities in the Transition Passport: Personal Life/ Everyday Communication. As we assist our young adults in the transition from school to work, it is necessary that they receive training in how to use good manners in social situations. Being polite and using good manners affects how others treat you. Knowing how to use good manners is an important skill to have to support employment. Some people may need opportunities to practice these skills. This unit will provide our young adults with the tools needed to learn about the consequences of having good and bad manners. • The unit stories help young adults learn the importance of using good manners. In the first story, Tori is visiting Matt’s house. This story highlights the importance of using good manners when visiting someone’s home. In the second story, Matt visits Tori’s house. This second story provides the setting for using bad manners. Three articles offer more information and activities that give our young adults the opportunity to learn what are considered good and bad manners and why. • Regular monthly lessons are provided which offer the opportunity to practice the skills needed to use good manners in social situations. Manners are addressed in banking and budgeting where the importance of budgeting for needs before spending money on wants is stressed. Daily living skills involved in cooking are part of a regular monthly lesson offering five recipes where our young adults can practice the skills needed to use proper etiquette and polite manners while eating. Social and communication skills are the focus of lessons presenting daily social trivia scenarios, offering more opportunity for our young adults to practice skills needed to use good manners. • Employment continues to be a regular focus for several lessons each month. Lessons include exploring different jobs, reading job ads, completing job applications and practicing interview skills. Simple, realistic scenarios address job skills and interactions at work. The final lesson highlights volunteering as a way to practice job skills and gain practical work experience. This month's volunteer activity provides the opportunity to volunteer at a local book bank to help sort and pack books. The activity can be role played if it is not practical to participate in a real-life situation. Job skills are emphasized as team members take on various tasks. • Related topics can be researched using the internet or interviewing others about the topic.