Chores
are not just for mommy and daddy. Chores teach basic life skills and
responsibility. Do you know that even your toddler can be a part of
housekeeping? Read more for ideas on how to get the whole family
involved.
Think of
chores as a preparation for adult life. Cleaning up after ourselves
is a necessary life skill. Not many of us enjoy housekeeping but it
is a task that must be done and that is a worthwhile lesson to teach
your youngsters. Having responsibility for care and maintenance of
household items gives children real world experience they do not
learn in school. This process can begin at the toddler age.
Little
ones love to help around the house. Begin by letting them follow you
around as you clean. Make a game out of dragging the hamper to the
laundry room. My toddler loves to help load the washer. She runs to
tell me when the dryer buzzes so she can pull the warm clothes out .
You can make picking up toys a daily task after dinner. Personal care
tasks like toileting, washing hands, brushing teeth and dressing
one's self are a big part of this stage of development. Capitalize on
it with sticker rewards and praise for a successful attempt.
At the
preschool age a child is capable of many tasks with minimal
supervision. My daughter became our dog feeder when she turned four.
Every night before dinner she is responsible for filling their food
and water dishes as well as cleaning up around them. Other tasks a
preschool-age child can do are: wiping down counters, dusting and
setting the table. This is a stage when you can implement a concrete
rewards system for chores. Earning money for helping out with extra
tasks is popular among parents of preschoolers.
For the
school-aged children are not typically as zealous to help you out.
Expect whining and feet dragging in this stage. This is when chore
charts become especially handy. Chore charts provide a clear visual
explanation of what is required of your child. Vacuuming, clearing
dinner dishes, loading the dishwasher, taking out the trash and
folding laundry are common tasks for this age group.
Experts differ on whether it is necessary to have rewards for
completing basic chores as they are part of being a member of a
family community. In my home, the basic chores are done without
reward. I feel keeping the house picked up is a necessary evil that
adults must do with only the satisfaction of a healthy living space.
I would rather my children not grow up expecting to be rewarded.
However, I do provide my first-grader with chances for extra-credit
tasks. She can do these after she has completed her regular jobs. She
uses them to earn time to play Webkinz or watch a movie on the
weekend. We check the chore chart every night after dinner and
homework.
Giving rewards to kids is a good way to motivate kids if done sparsely and not very often. I agree with you about the negative effect of rewards. They might end up expecting rewards for every single thing that they do at home. The challenge though is how to motivate kids. Sometimes, appealing to authority and seniority in the family might not be enough.
Matt - mmWine
- Babbling about nothing
|68.30.250.xxx
|2008-09-16 13:33:21
What a great article. We wrestle with this often. Our 9 year old does love to help, and will do so with abandon. We feel that he should get monetary allowance, and work that in to his doing chores.
He is indeed responsible for picking up after himself, keeping the bathroom and kitchen clean and helping us keep up with it. The allowance is for the "other" things, like taking out the garbage, helping weed the yard, etc. this way, he gets a good mix of "must do" evils and "rewardable extras"
I haven't included much about parenting / kids on my blog, but have a post coming in a few days about books for kids in the 6-12 range. Maybe after that, I'll get to chores and our savings plan for him.
I definitely think kids should help with chores, they benefit from them! My kids help with laundry, dishes, setting the table, toy clean-up of course, and making beds. As they grow up a little they get even more chores!!
Mom Topics 
Chores
are not just for mommy and daddy. Chores teach basic life skills and
responsibility. Do you know that even your toddler can be a part of
housekeeping? Read more for ideas on how to get the whole family
involved.
ey do not
learn in school. This process can begin at the toddler age.
r visual
explanation of what is required of your child. Vacuuming, clearing
dinner dishes, loading the dishwasher, taking out the trash and
folding laundry are common tasks for this age group.
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