Bridges to Work Curriculum

Following is a sample of some of our class offerings. Curriculum classes are continually added to serve the interests of our participants.

Art Class

Art class is a hands-on class that focuses on the history of famous artists and their different styles of work. Participants produce their own interpretation of the artwork studied. Class also focuses on seasonal crafts and other art creations.

Money management

This class introduces and reviews the skill of using money in all forms, including money identification. Participants review the importance of money skills such as making deposits and withdrawals, budgeting for every day needs and properly managing money.

Brain Gym

Brain Gym identifies specific movements that improve stability, mobility and sensory motor coordination for class participants. This chain of movements such as the cross crawl and hook ups activate and coordinate both hemispheres of the brain and promote a variety of beneficial functions. Please see the link to learn more about Brain Gym and the list of activities.
Brain gym – simple exercises for a better mind and body

Café

Café is a signature of the Bridges to Work Program and held every Wednesday. This is a great opportunity for individuals to learn about restaurant operations. Prior to café, everyone picks a job that interests them and works with a team to welcome and serve lunch to one another and guests. The jobs rotate each week, with individuals taking turns to cook, set up tables, give tours of Friendship Home to guests, serve meals and clean up. Individuals gain experience in the essentials of restaurant etiquette along with building relationships with our community.

Community Shopping

This is a small group activity that allows for participants to successfully complete a food shopping trip. Individuals work together to create a shopping list, find sales in nearby stores, and then head out into the community to make purchases.

Current Events

This course helps individuals learn about current events in the world today. Participants learn how to access information through multiple media sources such as the newspaper, online articles and videos. Group discussions encourage individuals to share ideas and opinions about the events. Each individual leaves the class with a better understanding of what is going on in the community and the world around him/her.

Healthy Lifestyles

This course equips individuals with a positive attitude on a manageable healthy lifestyle, including proper diet and exercise. Teachers will ensure how all of these skills can be applied to each individual with providing basic behaviors and understanding of the benefits of these healthy changes. The goal of this course is for individuals to welcome a healthy lifestyle and become more independent in making healthy choices.

Human Rights

Human Rights class describes the rights of all individuals. It focuses on respect for the individual, inclusion in the community and change in society. The class is also focused on building skills together as a group on how to advocate for their rights, speak up with power and make a plan to take action. Participants will do different activities to define what they want out of life, what stands in the way and what supports they can use to achieve these goals.

Job Skills

This class is designed to teach critical skills that will help individuals succeed in a working environment. Through role play/mock interviews, group discussion, online research and presentations, participants will increase their understanding and actively engage in a variety of job skills. This will include, but is not limited to, self-advocacy, work safety, business etiquette, job searching and particular job interests.

Kitchen Skills

This is a hands-on class to introduce participants to kitchen skills, including safety, learning and defining measurements, shopping for and preparing items, proper clean-up and storage of food products.

Life Skills

The life skills course discusses various topics that will help participants learn new independent living skills and improve on existing skills. All facets of shopping for a household are emphasized, including planning and shopping for healthy meals, home maintenance items, personal care products, etc. The class also explores the necessary skills to maintain a household and live safely while being independent. The curriculum  also improves functional reading skills that will help with identifying important text. Along with functional reading, participants learn vital communication and advocacy skills that will help with managing important parts of life. Overall, the focus of the class is to provide participants an introduction and solid platform to live on their own.

Morning News Group

Morning News Group is an opportunity for individuals to catch up on daily news and discuss interests or new topics. Participants will meet in the conference room to watch morning news channels together, read the newspaper and provide peers with current information.

Music

This is a class for participants to learn about the history of music and experience different styles. Individuals are encouraged to discuss their interests in music with their peers.

Book Club

Book Club will provide opportunities for individuals to read their favorite short stories. Individuals will review basic reading comprehension skills while practicing proper articulation of vocabulary. Short stories will be followed by group discussion and worksheets for review and understanding. The emphasis will be on understanding main ideas, sequence of events, context clues, and basic grammar.

Safe Cleaning

This is a hands-on class which covers a variety of skills necessary to safely keep a clean and healthy environment. Individuals will work step by step to review instruction and then actively complete each skill with assistance as needed. A large focus of this training is to emphasize safety risks of using cleaning solutions and the importance of being able to identify products and their purpose.

Self Advocacy

This class is designed to teach individuals to advocate for themselves in a variety of settings. This includes a work environment, at home, at a training program, and in the community. It is essential for everyone to understand the importance of advocating for oneself, expressing their needs and point of view. Through guided instruction, role play, and group discussion, individuals will be able to see the importance of this and also have the courage to apply the methods learned in their daily life.

Social Skills

This class addresses socially acceptable behavior within a wide range of interactions and settings. Through role play, group discussion and presentations, participants will increase their understanding and actively participate in proper social behaviors.

Sports Club

Sports club will help individuals become familiar with a variety of sports. It will review terminology of different popular sports and also rules and regulations of these sports. This club will also give individuals an opportunity to practice their new skills in the community.

Travel Training

This class is designed to teach critical skills that will help individuals travel safely and successfully in the community. Individuals will review and practice proper safety precautions when traveling in the community, review public transportation maps, participate in group discussions geared towards travel training, and participate in group outings in the community to practice using public transportation.

YMCA – Swim group

This is a small group activity that allows participants go to the YMCA in Norwell to use the lap pool with staff. This is a great way for individuals to get some exercise while having fun.
Please note: This is a very popular activity in Bridges to Work, however the group size must be safe and manageable for staff. This will be rotated every 8 weeks with a completely new group each time. So, please do not worry, each individual that would like to swim will have the opportunity to do so at some point.

YMCA – Gym

This is a small group that goes to the Norwell YMCA to workout. They will participate in independent cardio exercises of their choice along and weight training with staff assistance.

Yoga

This class is an exercise group that focuses on stretching and calm breathing to increase strength, focus, and overall well being of participants.

Zumba

Zumba is the popular more recent form of exercise which incorporates fun dance and music to your workouts!