Introducing Chores to Young Children (Part 2)
Last week I talked about why chores are important and what chores are suitable to ask your child to do. This week I want to talk about actually getting them to do those chores.
First of all, setting up a chores rota can be very useful. It should include the whole family, so that everyone knows what everyone else is doing and what they contribute. It also means they can (in theory) get on and do their part without needing to be told once they get into the habit of doing their chores every weekend or every evening.
It’s important that you give your child a task that they know how to do, as obvious as it sounds. You might think that they’re being cheeky when you ask them to tidy their room and they just shove everything under their bed, but it might just be that they don’t actually know where everything goes. It’s often helpful, while setting up a rota or schedule, to go through each of the chores with your child at least once so they know exactly what they need to do and how.
If a schedule doesn’t work out for your family (and there are plenty of reasons it might not work for you), while giving your child a task to do, make sure you’re explicit in your words and tell them specifically what needs to be done so they’re clear on it (and so they have no excuse to be cheeky).
Don’t forget to like and follow The Kid Calmer on Facebook and Twitter.
