After a busy day at work, you’ve helped the children with their homework, prepared dinner, taken care of the pets and are greeted at the top of the stairs by laundry in the hallway and unkept beds.
Do you mumble under your breath while you collect the kids’ dirty piles? Do you march your crew up the stairs to clean up their mess? Do you announce to the guilty party that there will be no stars this evening or no dessert tomorrow?
One of the many lessons in life that we want to teach our children is how to be self-sufficient. The Bedford-Central School District distributes “The Kindergarten Experience,” which includes information about what to expect in kindergarten and some ideas for helping your little learner at home. Some of the suggestions for kindergarten-aged students include teaching them to put away belongings and giving children simple responsibilities.
We know they must be on to something at the elementary schools. Maybe we should be teaching Sally to put her clothes in the hamper and making sure Junior knows how to wash a dish without a machine lest we send them off to college without the common knowledge of laundry and cooking.
Join our discussion this week as we compare notes on chores and responsibilities.
- Do your children have chores? If so, what?
- At what age do you start chores?
- Should kids do chores for reward or allowance or just because they’re part of the family?
- What resources do you use if you’re trying to find ways to get your children to help out more around the house? We've got one: check out Patricia Sprinkle’s book, Children Who Do Too Little.
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