Here is an encore to my "seven ways to clean up after yourself" post. With my kids ages 2, 5, and 8, it has so far not worked to have regular "chores" in the sense of tasks that are completed independently, without direction, each day. Instead we have a sort of family cleaning time, a couple times a day, in which I send them on mini-missions.
It occurred to me that young children need specific instruction in certain tasks before you can expect them to be able to do them without help, let alone without being asked!
Seven Cleaning-Up-After-Yourself Skills that must be taught
- How to make a bed
- How to hang clothes on a peg, hook, or hanger
- How to pick up everything from a given area and put it in a single bin or basket, to be sorted and put away by someone else
- How to pick up one class of items from the floor in one room (e.g., given a floor with all kinds of things on it, to be able to find and pick up "all the crayons" or "all the blocks") and put it in a single basket
- How to clean up spilled liquid or crumbs
- How to put a book away in a bookshelf, using a bookend
- How to scrape a dirty dish into the garbage (or pour out a cup into the sink) and then put it in the dishwasher or sink
A child who knows how to do these seven things is ready to be taught to make his own bed, to look after dirty and clean clothes, to pick up books and toys, to clean up his own or others' dishes after meals, and to clean up many of his own accidental spills. It's not everything you need, but it's a start.
I can't wait until my oldest is old enough to learn all these things. Being there will make my entire life sooo much easier.
Posted by: MelanieB | 04 May 2009 at 03:09 PM