One aspect I enjoy (and will enjoy in days to come) about homeschooling and being able to have the kids home more, is implementing life skills into their day.
Although our children are still pretty young, we are trying to encourage the idea of teamwork in light of family. As all mothers/parents know.....it's a lot of work to keep up a home and care for several people. It takes everyone pitching in to make it happen and to keep things running smoothly.
I've found that it's a beautiful thing that our kids LOVE to help mommy and daddy around the house. They are always asking, what can I clean? Can I help you cook? Can I help you fix that? Can I vacuum?
Many times I have said "oh, thank you honey, but I'm just going to do such and such real quick." You know...it always goes a lot quicker when you do it yourself and don't have little ones in tow. Then, I realized I was shooting myself in the foot. As they saying goes, strike while the iron is hot, right?!
What was I thinking?! These kids want to help and I'm telling them no?!
So, we've begun to give them age appropriate tasks to help around the house. Obviously, they've started helping by picking up their toys after they are finished playing. They also really enjoy cleaning the glass doors and windows within their reach. My husband recently bought a hand held vacuum that they also like to use to clean up little spills.
Yes, they are probably still in the "honeymoon" stage of blissfully doing tasks and I'm sure it will become a little daunting as they grow up. My hope is that we can always keep it somewhat fun by using our chore chart, singing while we work and giving out rewards accordingly.
Building good habits while they are young will benefit our family in the short term and benefit them as single and married adults in the long term.
What are some ways your children contribute around the house? How do you make it fun and rewarding?
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