Tips in teaching kids house chores

One of the major responsibilities of parenthood is to raise children to become responsible, mature and well-rounded adult. Engaging children to do house chores at an early age can have a positive effect later in their lives. When we involve our kids in house work, we teach them a sense of responsibility, self-reliance, values, empathy, competence, independence and self-worth.

Housework is an inescapable part of life. Start to teach them house tasks at an early age while they are interested and eager to help.  But of course, we have to assign them age-appropriate chores. It is just practical to prepare them to manage and maintain a home while they are young.

 

Owen, my nephew willingly cleaned the bathroom with the supervision of his mom, my cousin Pam David-Peute. It took long but he got the job done. Good job Owen!

There would be times when it is difficult to get kids cooperate especially when they are glued on their computers or handheld gadgets. Be more patient, slowly they will learn how to contribute to upkeep the family home.  Set house rules and a schedule for their task. If you have 3 or more children, making a chart of their daily duties can help you save time from frequently reminding them of their routine. 

Do not expect chores to be done perfectly at once. When introducing a task, demonstrate the skills you want your children to learn and supervise them until they do it right. Kids doing their fair share to maintain the house clean gives you help around the house.

Why children should learn household responsibilities while they are young? - Because, it will continue to play a significant role throughout their lives. 

It is also important for them to have regular chores to do then gradually increase their responsibilities as they grow. Here are suggested age-appropriate chores.

• For Preschoolers, you can start teaching them simple chores that involve picking up after themselves such as picking up and put away their toys each day after they play, make their own bed in the morning and put their dishes away after a meal.
• For school-age children, you can start teaching them how to organize things, putting their shoes on the shoe rack and backpacks on its proper places when they get home from school. You can also give more chores like setting the table, sweeping the floor, taking out the trash at night, help to take care for a pet and dusting furniture during weekends.
• Teenagers should learn how to cook, mop the floor, wash the dishes, do the laundry, clean the bathroom and more.

Though it is necessary for our children to learn home chores, it would be good to implement a reward system for completing chores once in a while. These incentives will keep them motivated.