Independent living skills (ILS) are the tasks students need to manage their daily life, such as housework, hygiene, and time management.
Checklists
These documents help you track what students should be able to do at each grade level.
ILS Checklist
Use the ILS Checklist to document when a student is able to accomplish each skill.
ILS Guides
These guides outline what skills are appropriate by the end of each grade. The skills are included on the ILS Checklist.
- Preschool [PDF]
- 2nd Grade [PDF]
- 4th Grade [PDF]
- Elementary School [PDF]
- Middle School [PDF]
- 10th Grade [PDF]
- 12th Grade [PDF]
ILS Modules
The ILS Modules were designed to help regional and local districts easily set up an ILS program to help children who are Blind/Visually Impaired (BVI) to learn the skills necessary for managing daily life. ILS is one component of the nine categories of the expanded core curriculum (ECC) and includes cooking, cleaning, dressing, hygiene, home maintenance, laundry, organization, and more. These skills are essential for students’ immediate use as well as use in the future as they go on to seek and maintain employment.
These easy-to-follow, downloadable ILS modules contain sample lessons, templates, checklists, and embedded trainings.
- Development Module [PDF]
- Kickoff Module [PDF]
- Module 1: Handwashing and Making Lunch [PDF]
- Module 2: Morning Routine [PDF]
- Module 3: Trays, Cutting, and Spreading [PDF]
- Module 4: Dressing Skills [PDF]
- Module 5: Clothing and Organizational Skill [PDF]
- Module 6: Laundry Skills [PDF]
- Module 7: Evening Routine [PDF]
- Module 8: Basic Maintenance Skills [PDF]
- Module 9: Virtual ILS Workshop [PDF]
- Module 10: Template [PDF]
- Resource Module [PDF]
ILS Calendars
These calendars provide suggestions for practicing one ILS task each weekday. The tasks are to be completed at home, and the sheet may be returned to the student’s teacher at the end of each month.
- Early Childhood ILS Calendar [PDF]
- Early Childhood ILS Calendar - Large Print [PDF]
- Elementary ILS Calendar [PDF]
- Elementary ILS Calendar - Large Print [PDF]
- Middle School ILS Calendar [PDF]
- Middle School ILS Calendar - Large Print [PDF]
- High School ILS Calendar [PDF]
- High School ILS Calendar - Large Print [PDF]
Tips and Lessons
These resources explain how to teach different ILS.
General
Five-Minute ILS [PDF]
This MDE-LIO document lists ILS activities students can complete in five minutes or less.
Video Clips on Blindness Tips
The Washington State School for the Blind hosts videos that show how to teach various skills.