This is a collaborative post.
Chores are one of the most important things to teach your child. Not only does it mean another pair of helping hands in the house, but it means they’ll be gaining vital skills that can be used in school and adulthood.
Few of us enjoy doing them but it’s one of those things that can’t be avoided. Many parents would prefer to preserve their child’s younger ages and allow them to have no responsibilities. However, this is the best age for them to get started.
There are many benefits when it comes to teaching your child chores. Here is some advice from a girl’s prep school in London on how it helps with their overall development.
Life skills
Chores help teach life skills. They may be young right now but they won’t be young forever! Get them to help out with small jobs first such as putting their shoes in the right place or folding their clothes nicely. Children pick up skills a lot quicker than thought so use it to your advantage!
Responsibility
Chores help children become responsible. Tasks that affect your child personally such as tidying their room and washing their dishes after eating are ways for your child to become self-reliant too. These are skills that are vital for when they leave home and have to fend for themselves.
Respect
Chores reinforce respect. The majority of the time, parents will complain that their children have no respect for the home they live in.
This tends to be because they do not understand the extent of time and energy that goes into maintaining a clean house as they have never experienced it.
Assigning them chores may be the quickest way for them to understand. Kids will suddenly become more aware of the mess they make and will be more respectful of the home they live in.
Teamwork
Chores help to teach teamwork. Working together as a group means everyone is accountable for taking care of the space they use, in this case, the home. Failure to meet expectations will mean consequences will take place.
This is a simple way of teaching your child the importance of teamwork at a young age so they are able to apply it later on at school and work. They give the family a chance to bond.
Tasks such as clearouts can be shared and done slowly with another member of the family. This is a great time to sit with members of the family you may not be so close to and bond with them. You may end up finding your moody teen is happy to spend time with the family for once!
