Heart to Heart: Age Appropriate Jobs

Showing posts with label Age Appropriate Jobs. Show all posts

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Clever, Easy Solutions to get your Kids to do Chores

This post is by Contributing Writer Lori Hernandez of Three Acre Farm .

https://www.kitchenstewardship.com/kid-friendly-kitchen/?inf_contact_key=ae7b12b811a3ddf68e6c89d1a68f63acbe ab32f89ea78e676a5a900ea429d3bf

Note from Lois: Teaching children how to work around the home is so important. Not only is it a great help to the entire family in helping to operate a home more smoothly, but it lays a foundation for each child before they leave home. Having responsibility gives them more confidence as well.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Chores: You Are Not Doing Them All by Yourself, Are You?

by Lori Seaborg ~ Used by permission

When I was a kid, I remember telling my mom once, "You just had us so you'd have servants!" Now that I'm a mother of four, I think ... well, yep, that sounds about right. Those kids make great servants! Plus, they're cute to look at while they work.

But the biggest reason to teach them while they are little is not so you can get out of the work yourself, but because if you don't teach them, adulthood will be that much harder.

I have a friend who was pampered as a child and not taught to do any cleaning or cooking. She is now the mother of four preschoolers and has the hardest time keeping her home. My friend recently found a bag of flour in her cupboard. Her mother had left it after visiting one day. My friend didn't know what to do with flour; she had recipes, but didn't know how to follow one! So she called her mom to ask what to do with the flour. Guess what her mom said?

"I am so sorry I never taught you those things you need to know."

Don't you wait until your child is an adult to teach him or her! Teaching can begin today.

The kids don't need to add to our burden. They can be little helpers! Don't dustpan the floor after you sweep, get your 5yo to do it. Don't wind the vacuum cord after you vacuum! Call him in, tell him it's a race track and he gets to drive the cord around the track, winding it up.

Think of yourself as a manager. You are delegating the small stuff so you can work on the big stuff. You will enjoy the little breaks that you receive and you will be less stressed. Your children will be filled with pride. But their real reward is later.

When they grow into adults they will know how to take care of themselves.

(Sometimes we just don't realize what chores our children are capable of. In the below posts, you will see my lists of chores that my children can do at ages 2, 5, 7, and 9.)

WHAT 1-2-YEAR-OLD WALKERS CAN DO...

1-2 year-old walkers can...

• Load the clothes' dryer as you hand over the items one by one. Say the names of the colors of the clothes as you hand them to her, so she'll learn her colors at the same time.

• Empty the silverware container from the dishwasher. My 2-year-old dumps the silverware into the drawer, so we have to straighten it, but at least it is in there!

• Take the silverware to the table for setting it

• Sit on the counter as you make cookies and dump the cups of ingredients into the mixer as you hand them to her

• Clear her items off the table after she eats

• Fill the dog or cat dish with the food that you give her

• Pick up her own toys (if she can pull them out of the basket or drawer, she can put them back in!)

WHAT A 3-5-YEAR-OLD CAN DO...

3-5 year-olds can...

• Pick up an assigned floor (our little guy is in charge of making sure the living room and the library room floors are clear all day long)

• Dust low areas

• Sort socks (call it the "Matching Game")

• Wind up the vacuum cleaner cord after you vacuum

• Use the mini-broom and dustpan after you sweep the floors into a pile

• Clear the table after meals

• Empty the clothes' dryer into a basket

• Get the mail (if your mailbox is in a safe area, of course!)

• And he can do all of the 1-2 year old's list, in the above post

WHAT ELEMENTARY-AGED KIDS CAN DO...

Elementary kids can…

• Drill the preschoolers on numbers, colors, and letters. We keep flashcards, chalk, a Leap Pad, and dry-erase boards for this reason.

• Fold clothes from the dryer (Start them out with just towels, then shirts, socks, and finally Daddy's looooong pants. Nobody folds anyone's underwear! Those just get :::eww!::: tossed into the owner's pile)

• Clear and wipe the table after meals (our 9yo Brenden does this at supper; 7yo Brittany does this for lunch)

• Sweep the kitchen floor after meals (9yo's job at lunch; 7yo's job at supper)

• Vacuum a room or two

• Be in charge of keeping the floors of two rooms clear all day long (9yo does the boys' room, foyer, and hallway; 7yo does the girls' room and kitchen)

• Clean windows

• Give the baby her bath (I'd wait until she is well old enough to sit, and your elementary-age child has to be trustworthy enough to do this!)

• Clean the bathtub after the younger ones use it

• Make a basic recipe (our 7yo can make French toast if I assemble the ingredients first. She also makes cinnamon toast; our 9yo can follow the directions on a box)

• Fill the cereal bowls of the younger children in the morning

• Fill the baby's sippy cups or bottles, or the preschooler's cups, as needed (our 9yo doesn't always want to do this for his 5yo brother, but I always say, " I was filling your cup when you were his age, so you're going to do it for someone else now!"

• Open and close the window blinds/curtains each day.

• Do everything on the lists above, for 1-2-year-olds and preschoolers.

Lori Seaborg is a wife and a homeschooling mom of four. She enjoys writing and homemaking in the countryside of the Florida-Alabama Gulf Coast. You may subscribe to her monthly newsletter, Keeping the Home, by sending an email to: keeping_the_home-subscribe@welovegod.org . You may also read her blog at: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KeepingtheHome .

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Appropriate Jobs for Children (Beginning at Age One)

Young children love to mimic their parents and help with jobs, so the earlier parents teach their children to be helpers at home, the more eager little ones will be to learn. The work ethic will become part of a child's character, so that needs cultivated very early as they mature. Children who are taught how to work in their homes are much better able to manage their own home when they leave the nest, including being more efficient, organized and respectfully sanitary during their college experience.

His skills or lack of them will follow him into marriage as well. So, parents, we have our work cut out for us, as we teach our growing children the basics of doing many small jobs as little tykes, and as they grow older, gradually moving up the ladder to more difficult tasks, all in the name of child training. Parents who teach their children to work in the home soon reap the rewards of having help with all aspects of running the home and creating increased harmony in the home.

A one or two year old might go along with you to the newspaper box, and as you lift him up to reach the newspaper, he can help by pulling it out. A word of caution about having young children get the mail or newspaper alone, depending where you live. No matter where you live, be watching as a young child leaves your front door. If crossing the street is a factor in getting your mail or newspaper, the age would need to be changed, of course. Use your own discretion on this.

You will notice the last job listed for a two to three year old. And, yes, a two year old is fully capable of vacuuming with a Swivel Sweeper, if he is able to walk. This is a light and cordless vacuum that uses a rechargeable battery and does a very good job at picking up surface dirt. Our grandson loved vacuuming the beach house where our family stayed after he had just turned two, and he did a great job. We were amazed! Your toddlers will surprise you at how willing and capable they are to do many jobs, under your supervision.

First show your child how to do a job, with him watching. Secondly, have him help, and thirdly, have him do the job himself while you watch.

Be gentle in correcting and guiding, rather than being critical. Soon he will be capable of doing the job without your watching! The best part is that after you take the time to teach your children to do these jobs well, they will have learned a lifelong skill and you will reap the benefits many times over!

Ages 1 to 2

Pick up paper and put in wastecan

Help pick up toys

Take own personal dirty clothes to hamper

Be a "gopher" (They love going to get things for you.)

Ages 2 to 3

All of the above, plus:
Pick up toys

Hang clothes on hooks

Carry dirty laundry to the laundry area

Carry clean laundry from laundry area

Get a diaper for baby sibling

Help feed animals