One year ago, The Guild School launched Without Walls, a curriculum designed to learn and practice functional skills in community-based settings. The program is implemented in all classrooms with a particular focus on independent living skills for youth preparing for the transition to adult programming at the age of 22. Educators deliver lesson plans in the classroom and students have the chance to put what they’ve learned into practice on an accompanying community trip.
To build out a full curriculum, the Without Walls team listed all the skills related to community participation and independent living in the Assessment of Functional Living Skills (AFLS). The skills in this assessment also fall into one of four categories: planning, independence, participation, and safety.
The educators combined similar or complementary skills into units and assigned each one a theme. Over the course of a month, in-classroom lessons incorporate at least one skill in each category, leading up to a planned outing to practice their new skills in real-time.
The first unit last spring covered navigating a trip to the grocery store, including creating a shopping list, locating products, following a recipe, and for some students, creating and managing a budget. Last month, students learned about restaurants. To start things off, Without Walls educator Julianna Cacciatore gave a presentation on different types of restaurants, how to place an order (independence), table manners (participation), waiting at a restaurant (safety), and where to go and how to get there (planning).
Julianna then set up a test restaurant at The Guild School with a custom picture menu. She served as the waiter and helped students practice choosing their food, politely placing an order, and using pretend money to pay for their meal. At the end of the month, classrooms tested their skills at a restaurant of their choice.
“The Without Out Walls Program is a great opportunity for our students to take what they've learned in class and put it to work out in the community,” Julianna says. “Our program focuses on building students' independence and including them in more opportunities out in the community. We will work on how to appropriately dine out in a sit-down restaurant which includes working on waiting skills, understanding clean from dirty, reading a menu and ordering our meals independently!”
Students have practiced their money skills at the mall, walked through emergency scenarios and learned how to get help in the community at the park, and tried setting and following a schedule of events at the skating rink.
Without Walls educators are dedicated to putting together lessons and activities that best fit the needs and IEP goals of the students. “It is always so rewarding to watch a student work on their skills out in the community that they have been learning over those last few weeks. Whether that be purchasing their own items with their own money after learning about money management skills, being able to order at restaurants independently or even understanding the differences in what is safe vs. unsafe in the community,” says Julianna. The Guild is excited to see how the program continues to evolve in the future.