Kids and household chores

[*Lisa*]

Do your kids do regular household chores? What are they (and how old are the kids doing them)? How do you fit them into your homeschooling day?

[moss]

Do your kids do regular household chores?

absolutely

What are they (and how old are the kids doing them)?
age 8, and he empties the dishwasher, is in charge of vacuuming, looks after the needs of the cats and the fish, helps tidy up

How do you fit them into your homeschooling day?
we dont 'schedule in' chores if that's what you mean, but doing chores is often a nice break from learning activities. part of ds's learning praxis is livingry which would include all of the household chore type things. we have a rule that part of doing an activity is cleaning up after it--"it's not done until everything's put away". we used to leave learning activities out for days at a time (and the clutter was awful!!), but were finding that ds doesnt actually go back to them to work on them again unless they've already been tidied and put away.

[moominmamma]

Yes, of course. They don't do the same things every day, necessarily, just as I don't. But they contribute somehow every day. Yesterday was an example:

7-year-old tidied the living room, chopped veggies for dinner and helped entertain a 3- and 4-year-old for two hours during a meeting.
11-year-old did laundry, washing, hanging, folding, sorting, putting away. Also looked after the chickens.
13-year-old split kindling for the woodstove and cleaned the small bathroom, fed and watered the cat and scooped the litter.
16-year-old tidied, dusted and vacuumed the music room in the basement, took out the compost

We don't schedule chores. They get done whenever the kids feel like doing them, often in a blitz before dinner, often right after morning academics.

Miranda

[MissRubyandKen]

We all contribute to running the household. Here's how the kids contribute-

Dd, 10- everyday chores are feeding fish, poop scooping the catbox, cleaning the main bathroom sink and mirror (she has a bad habit of smearing toothpaste and leaving spit behind so its fallen on her to clean up after it)

Ds, 8- everyday chores are fresh water and food for cats and cleaning main bathroom toilet (he has a bad habit of not being exact with his urine so its fallen on him to clean up after it)

Both of them are responsible for tidying up their own rooms and hanging up their own laundry. Sometimes they are really great about it, other times it falls to the wayside and I need to remind them. Sometimes I will help them or tidy up myself, but not frequently. I do sweep their rooms once a week and require them to have everything tidied so I can do so. The main rooms I vacuum every day, but I'm not going there with their bedrooms, lol. Dd also helps quite a bit with her younger sister, my dd who is 2. Ds often volunteers to help with the dishes and he likes to cook eggs for breakfast. They're both also responsible for tidying up after anything they've left out in the main areas of the house and making sure the bathroom floor is dry after bathing, hanging up their towel, and putting dirty laundry in the hamper.

Dd, 2- She likes to help with loads of things, tidying up toys, rinsing dishes, stirring things for cooking, pushing laundry into the dryer, wiping down surfaces, emptying the dust pan when I'm sweeping, and more I'm sure, lol. I remind myself to never turn down an offer of help. She's actually really good at cleaning anyway. When ds was smaller his motor skills weren't quite so great and helping often turned into more work for me, but this isn't so much with little dd.

[mama-aya]

Yep, definitely. And chores are scheduled into our day- though by now it's pretty much just part of the natural flow, not something that feels "scheduled".

In the morning we all do our am jobs-
10yo empties the upstairs hamper, sorts laundry, starts a load in the washer, makes his bed
4yo makes his bed, gets the paper, sets the breakfast table.
1 yo empties the plastic bin cupboard and carefully spreads containers all over the kitchen floor while I make breakfast, husband's lunch, which helps with my agility training.

We have our walk, and school time, and the 10 yo and I take turns making lunch.

In the afternoon, early or late depending on our other activities that day, we have our big room clean up for that day (rotating areas of the house), the main floors get swept and mopped/vacuumed every day, the coat rack gets straightened, etc.. Most of those chores (dusting, washing windows, etc) are done on staff rotation, so one day the 4yo does it, but next time I do it. That way it's always done, but to varying degrees of perfection. Supper gets made, the boys set the table, help with food prep, eat, they clear the table while I wash dishes, they have a short bath, get ready for bed, we read, they go to sleep.

My big family rules regarding chores are:
1) When it's chore time EVERYONE helps. Period. We're all together, or at least in and out of the same space, working on a common goal.
2) Chores aren't more important than school or fun, but not less important, either.
3) No housework once the children are in bed. Because then I find myself up til 2 cleaning, and pushing chore time off until the kids are in bed and I can get things done quickly and nicely. Doing it together is more important than doing it well.

[Chicky2]

We have regularly scheduled responsibilities each day, as well as impromptu chores. The latter varies each day.

Yesterday the oldest did all the floors, kitchen counters and bathrooms (4). She's 21, has pretty severe Aspergers, and she does alot of helping around here to pay for her rent. She also runs errands, brings home groceries (she works at Wmart), waters the chickens each morning, and various other tasks we need help with. She also does dirty dishes.

Yesterday the middle 2 (11 and 9) cleaned out the goat stall (BIG job), and hauled all the compost to various areas where I had just planted bulbs, and the rest to the garden. They also vacuumed their rooms, and take complete care of the 50 chicks we are brooding. Daily they put up clean dishes, take care of feeding and watering the cats, dogs, fish, goats, rabbits, and chickens. They also help out w/their little sis when needed. One sets the table each night for supper, and one clears supper and puts away leftovers. One sweeps the kitchen and den daily and the other vacuums the den rug.

The 3 yo puts away clean silverware, throws away trash, helps vacuum and pick up toys, helps to plant bulbs and seeds, helps feed the animals/livestock, and folds towels. She also helps put clothes into the washer and into the dryer when we use it.

[cappuccinosmom]

No written chores. Mine are 7, 5, and 3 (next month)

In our house, we all pull our weight. For the kids this means they help when asked, and they are asked regularly. Cleaning up toys is their responsibility. If I have to clean them up, the toys go on vacation.

Around the age of four they can all manage to do an acceptable job of making the bed (just pulling the sheets up and straightening them a little, not perfect). They all know to pick up clothes and put them in the laundry basket. Their favorite job is taking the basket to the laundry chute and putting dirty clothes down it.

They can help set the table, and they can take thier dishes to the sink. Most days they just need a reminder. They help with getting chairs and benches whenever we have more than usual sitting around the table.

When we have a big cleaning day I distribute jobs like wiping cupboards, baseboards, sweeping stairs, vacuuming, dusting, cleaning sinks, etc. and I work with them.

Thy are big enough to help with some small outdoor jobs. Last fall the older two did fabulously with raking leaves (and they got paid!), and then in the winter they helped with shoveling as well.

[cappuccinosmom]

1 yo empties the plastic bin cupboard and carefully spreads containers all over the kitchen floor while I make breakfast, husband's lunch, which helps with my agility training.

[elizawill]

we don't call them chores but i do have expectations of things they're responsible for. they need to clean up after themselves, throw dirty clothes in the laundry room, etc. they also like to help me cook. basically, if i need help or assistance, i would totally expect them to pitch in. i have thought about a chore chart or something of the likes, but i've just not gotten to it. hth.

[elizawill]

Originally Posted by cappuccinosmom

If I have to clean them up, the toys go on vacation.

i can totally relate!!! my kids went through a phase of not cleaning up after themselves EVER. i was about to lose my mind. i'm a very reasonable mama & their behavior just wasn't cool at all. i finally told them one day that i would happily clean up after them...but whatever they didn't pick up would become mine. if they wanted it back, i'd gladly sell it to them. and to make it totally fair, i would even give them a job to earn the $$ if funds were low, lol. i know that seems harsh - but i've not had a problem since.

[KempsMama]

I popped in this thread to read about older kids, but thought I'd share how our family works so far, even though DS 1 is "only" 2.

C picks up his own toys (although I sometimes re do it to keep things sorted in the correct bins) and also helps me pick up the house by me handing him something and telling him where to put it, if it's something he doesn't already know where it goes. Also I spray down the tables and he wipes them down, and he cleans up his own spills and such. I rarely have to go in after him a re do it, he does such a good job!

He thinks cleaning is fun, and knows that once we clean house we can get to the other exciting stuff of the day, like errands or visiting cousins. Most mornings, he gets me going by saying Wanna Clean Mommy! Clean Mommy! It's adorable.

[karemore]

We don't call them "chores" either. Things are just part of our daily routine.

Since she was a toddler, DD was in charge of putting them away whenever she took them off.

I always had her help with putting toys away even when I was doing most of it. It became habit for her and now she does a beautiful job of cleaning up her stuff.

DD is almost 5 now, and she sets the table, helps empty the dishwasher, helps with the laundry (she folds better than I do), helps in the garden/yard, makes beds, dusts, vacuums with the little stick vacuum, helps with cooking and baking, helps with the grocery shopping.

I think for me, when you call something a chore, it feels like a chore. When I just do it as a natural part of the day, it feels natural for DD to join in. We makes beds and start laundry when we get up in the morning, and fit cleaning in around our scheduled activities. And when we have company coming cleaning gets bumped up on the priority list.

[littlemizflava]

Do your kids do regular household chores?
yes for sure, we all live here so we all have to help out (even when helping is not really helping it is good habit to start from early).

What are they (and how old are the kids doing them)?
this is a rough list because they are always asking to help or to do things for everyone. the list is what both of mine do. ds 3.5 dd 7.5...

daily (atempt to get done)
helping to prepare a meal, setting of table for dinner sometimes removing and putting food away, removing dishes from the table if they ate something, tidying up of toys/home, picking up after themselves (wiping of mirror if it is messy microfiber and a fick of water), heping do shopping and putting away what we bought. feeding of fish & sometimes cats

when needed to get done
help with sorting of laundry, taking out of washer putting in dryer, folding/hanging up/putting away.
dd washes dishes sometimes, dd can but away dishes and they both can put away silverware.
sweeping of the floor,
they help with yard care, planting, fall packing up and shoveling snow

How do you fit them into your homeschooling day?
easy we would be labled unschooling/very relaxed HSing. some free learning goes on in the day but we usually do learning b4 bed.

[Savoir Faire]

My kids are 4 and 5 and we have them help out.

They are expected every day to put up their dishes, put their shoes in the boxes...etc.

Every day we have a workbox for the kids. They are typically doing about 4-6 folders (depending on how much we have to do that day). Every day includes one job for each child. Here's some of the things I have them doing:

*Bring trash cans down from upstairs
*Sweep front porch
*Sweep downstairs
*Water all our plants (a good amount)
*Clean stainless steel fridge
*Refill toilet paper
*Help with laundry
*Help plan snacks
*Clean sinks
*Clean mirrors
*Clean toilets

...you get the idea.

[SagMom]

Originally Posted by *Lisa*

Do your kids do regular household chores? What are they (and how old are the kids doing them)? How do you fit them into your homeschooling day?

We don't refer to them as "chores" and don't have any kind of schedule or assignments. When the kids were little, they'd follow me around and want to join in with whatever I was doing so they learned that way.

As they got older and weren't so inclined to follow me around, they'd pitch in as needed--sometimes I'd ask, other times they'd notice what needed doing and just do it.

We're pretty casual about it--often it just comes down to someone saying, "I'm going to run some errands, when you have a minute, could you fold clothes?" or "I'll empty the dishwasher if you re-load." That kind of sharing of the work is the way we've always talked about it and it worked out well when they started having preferences for certain things over others.

[hipumpkins]

DD is 7 and DS is 4.5:
they are both responsible for picking up their room (they share one)
they are both responsible for putting the toys in the livingroom away at the end of the day.
We also have a job jar and every Wednesday they pick 2 jobs that are their responsibility for the whole week.
In the jar is:
Putting the silverware away (Neither kid can reach to put dishes away)
Dust all reachable surfaces
Put all kid shoes away (I do not think it is fair to make them pick up adult shoes)
Set the table
Wash the table
Wipe down bathroom counter
Clean the toilet (They made me include that and it is like the jack pot choice
That's all I remember but I think there are more jobs in the jar.

[treemom2]

Yes, my children do chores during the day.

DS (5): sorts the recycling into bins (we have to separate a lot), cleans the downstairs toilet room (throws away the trash, cleans the lid and seat with wipes, and swishes the toilet with the brush, he also empties the trash), walks the dog during his morning break (which usually involves cleaning up her poo), sets the table

DD (8): takes the trash (Tuesdays and Fridays) to the trash bin down the street, cleans the upstairs toilet room, makes lunch for herself and her brother, sweeps down the stairs, puts away the clean dishes, gets the water for meals

My children also help sort and put away the laundry, clean their toys in the yard, wash the trashcans when it needs to be done, clean the bathroom sink, put away the shoes by the front door, etc. . .Also, whoever is last to get out of bed in the morning (DS and DD sleep together) gets to make the bed. We also make the bread for the week on Mondays and they love to do all the kneading. We don't have a chore chart or anything like that, but they do know what their jobs are in the house. DS is somewhat difficult to motivate sometimes, but he's much better if it's a "routine" instead of something I am making him do out of the blue.

They do their chores after we complete our morning homeschool routine and when we have cleaning time as a family.