Cultivating Responsibilities in Children
Dear Mama,
One of the areas I’ve struggled with my children is how to teach them responsibility.
Now that my oldest can read, making a list for her made sense. My children’s responsibilities are in addition to their school work.
Here is how I break it down. To make her responsibilities chart, I’m using a Canva template. I modified the template for her needs.
In her responsibilities chart, she has:
* Read (15 min.) - This may be a book she’s interested in or a book from A Gentle Feast literature guide.
* Create something (15 min.) - This includes painting, coloring, building blocks, etc.
* Play (30 min.) - This includes spending time outside, playing pretend inside, games, etc.
* Hoffman Academy - My children will practice the piano, and the time they spend on it will vary according to age and lesson.
* Daily chores - All of my children (ages 8, 5, & 3) help out with laundry. This includes folding and putting it away. My oldest has learned how to wash and dry clothes since she was about 5, and my 5-year-old is now learning to do that. My three-year-old knows how to fold washcloths and puts away his own clothes.
I also have a list of what they can do during quiet time.
If all of their duties are completed without struggle, push-back, or complaints, then they are able to do extras for a little money. Extras are things that need to be done in the house, but I don’t have time to do them.
This may include vacuuming the vehicle, wiping down all the bikes, etc. Extras are not set in stone, and sometimes I come up with them on the spot. They are also inconsistent, so regardless of whether there are extras at the end of the week or not, they still need to do their duties.
Another bonus for doing all their duties is watching a bit of TV after dinner.
I hope that their duties will eventually become habits.
How do you manage and teach responsibilities to your children?
P.S. If you want a copy of my Responsibilities Chart on Canva, click on this link and make a copy for yourself.
Warmly,
Mirley
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