Learning skills to live an independent life

Karen Nave starts with S.O.S pads. "Do not use these on good dishes or pans with a shiny finish," she tells the seven students sitting around her. Following her lead, they practice working up a blue lather on some greasy skillets laid out on the table. She moves on to sponges, Comet and Lysol.

Nave is teaching a life skills class for seven developmentally disabled students at Havre Middle School. Every morning she covers practical things the students will need to know to live as independently as possible: reading warning labels, doing laundry, cooking, cleaning.

"Our primary goal, just like an...