Okay...I'm definitely not an expert in this area but I'm learning so I thought I would pass on the things I have tried so far. First of all you would be surprised how much a child is capable of doing.
I'll start with my youngest. As you can imagine Andrew can't do too much but he loves to help. Sometimes it is more of a hassle then a help but hopefully I am starting to teach him about good work ethic even at his age (22 months). So some of the things he helps with on a regular basis is loading the washing machine and putting clothes from the washer to dryer. He loves doing this and always names the person whose clothes he is holding at the time. He likes to clean windows and mirrors. I spray, he wipes (then I do a quick wipe myself). He loves helping with dishes but I don't let him do this too much. It's just too messy. He loves vacuuming (after I'm done). He loves putting dishes in the sink after meals and throwing trash in the trash can. I can give him a sponge, wash clothe, or wipe and that will keep him entertained for a while cleaning any surface he can reach. So all in all he doesn't really make my house work load any lighter but at least he is involved while I am cleaning.
Lauren is at a tough stage right now or maybe it's her personality but she is not much of a cleaner. She loves to make messes but when it's time to clean up all of a sudden she is just way to tired. Her legs even stop working and she just plops down on the floor! Amazing, huh??? I really am at a lost at what direction to go with her right now so I am open to any suggestions. Right now the playroom door is locked as a punishment because Lauren and Andrew pretty much destroy it on a daily basis. It's tough because at least while they are destroying that room it allows me to have some time to clean the rest of the house but I am so sick of cleaning that room and it is tedious things like putting all the books back on the shelves and picking up crayons and it's almost not worth all the time and effort to try and get them to clean it up. So I usually end up doing it myself. Any suggestions?
Lydia is at a great age for chores. She has her on and off days like any of us but for the most part she likes for things to be tidy. These are things that I have tried with her. When I was first teaching her to keep her room clean I told her that everyday I would check her room sometime during the day and if it was clean I would leave a card on her bed. After collecting a certain amount of cards she could choose to do one of the following: pick out a toy, go to a movie, go out to eat with parents and no siblings, go to the mall, go play putt putt... We started off with the goal of 10 so she could see quick results then we worked our way up to 30. This worked really well to begin with but then she started slacking and I would check her room and although her bed was almost always made she would have clothes on the floor or a few toys out. I was a softie and would give her the card anyways because she did such a good job remembering to make her bed as soon as she got up. Then I found this website www.handipoints.com . It's a free website where you make customized chore charts and you get a cat to name and dress (kind of like webkinz). Anyways this allowed me to give her credit for making her bed but also point out the other things that needed to be done in her room. Also it encourages her to expand into other areas of the house and unlike my little guy she really is a big help. It's really a great website. I would encourage anyone with kids 3 and up to check it out. The child earns privileges and points for each job. The privileges are redeemed with the parents and the points are for purchasing things for the cat such as furniture or clothes. This seems to work for us and best of all it's free so why not give it a try?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Great idea! i'm always up for chore ideas!! I'll check that website and the random room check and leaving a card is a really neat idea! As far as the playroom goes I tried something with our toys because it was absolutely out of control here. We had buckets and buckets of toys and then my boys would complain that there was nothing to do. So here's what I did... I got rid of most of their toys! I use to go for quantity and not quality (by quality I mean certain toys they really loved to play with) Right now I am in the process of changing their toy arrangements again to stations like in a preschool. One place for books, One for dress up(they like to play firemen, doc, vet, etc.), big big blocks (like the ones that are cardboard that look like bricks), matchbox cars&trucks, a kitchen w/food (because they love to cook) and their lego table. It has made clean up easier and because they don't seem to get so overwhelmed with all they have. They have also began to use even more imagination... I dunno...it's worked for me =)
p.s. Check out my ark academy blog...I left a note for you there!
Post a Comment