Life Skills
At Penrith Farms the Living Skills Program focuses on future planning.
Students set goals for themselves by stating where they are now and where they
would like to be 3 months from the present. The state what issues the need or
want to address and why they need to be addressed. Later they’re 3 month plan
will evolve into a 6 month, 9 month, or potentially 12 month plan.
Penrith Farms teaches social skills: primarily basic etiquette. We assist
students in updating their resume with references and provide mock job
applications and job interviews to allow students a chance to practice interview
skills. Throughout the process students learn how to organize important
documents.
We instruct students on financial basics such as: establishing a checking
account and developing realistic financial goals. Instruction on basic financial
terms, how to write checks and manage their bank accounts, and the effects of
bounced checks and ATM/Debit card fees on their finances. We provide assistance
with online banking, budgeting and bill paying, and how to pay their taxes. In
the end, with a healthy balance sheet, we teach how to establish good credit,
and the ability to maintain it.
We teach students the basics of setting up a home. The basics of rental
agreements, what cleaning supplies are necessary to maintain a home, and the
necessities of regular housecleaning and laundry. The importance of cooking at
home, the basics of shopping, and the determination of needs versus wants. We
also include the principals of car insurance, renters insurance, health
insurance and the significance of proper vehicle maintenance.
At Penrith Farms, we also concentrate on the importance of the individual and on
basic well being. We build a basic foundation for general health and wellness
highlighting the importance of exercise, lifestyle, nourishment, the occasional
indulgence, and sleep. In the end, we envision all students being capable of
living independently and being able to present a potential employer with a
portfolio including their goals, resume, and letters of recommendation.
Recommended Reading:
Life Skills 101: A Practical Guide to Leaving Home and Living on Your Own by Tina Pestalozzi
Me: Five Years From Now: The Life Planning Book You Write Yourself by Sheree Bykofsky
