GIVING CHILDREN CHORES AT HOME

GIVING CHILDREN CHORES AT HOME


An Expository Essay: Giving Children Chores at Home
Many at times, kids develop their habits and behaviors as they grow. These lifelong
behaviors are accompanied with social and cognitive skills. The kind of behaviors attained by a
kid entirely depended on what they learn from their parents and educators. Thus, schools and
homes are very important in shaping a child’s behavior. However, homes unlike schools play a
significant role in evolving these skills as compared to schools.
Parents usually engage their kids with small household chores like sweeping the
compound, spreading their beds, feeding pets, collecting trash, washing utensils, and so forth.
The chores may vary depending on a family or place of residence among many other aspects. For
example, some families have house managers to mean children in such homes do not do anything
at all. All they do is just eat and play. Some families have huge needs and therefore kids have to
help in completing some, which are not such heavy. If the kids have to take part in completing
house chores, some considerations has to apply. The considerations may include personal
characteristics of a kid, family composition or social surrounding aspects, and the type of tasks to
be completed.1
 For that reasons, parents should assess a task from all realistic perspectives before
assign it to their kids.2
 One of the key factors to consider is whether the child is in a good
condition to complete the task or not. This can save parents from unnecessary misapprehensions
between them and their kids. For instance, parents should always allow the children to express
how they feel about the chores assigned to them and whether they are in good shape to assist.
This way, kids are made aware of the importance of collaborating and sharing tasks based on fair

1
 Dunn, L. (2004). Validation of the chores: A measure of school-aged children’s participation in household tasks.
Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 11(1), 179-190.
2
 LaCaze, D., & Kirylo, J. D. (2012). Family connections: Addressing behavior issues: Practical tips for parents.
Childhood Education, 88(1), 57-58. doi: 10.1080/00094056.2012.643728 
MYHOMEWORKWRITERS.COM
grounds.3
 In most instances, may of the children that take part in completing family chores attain
desirable skills that favors them when they are left to stay on their own in the independent world.
They learn to cooperate with family members and other people socially. Children without these
skills are difficult to work with and most of the times most people do not like to involve them in
their issues. They tend to forget how significant helping is to them especially when they grow
and become independent. Some other added advantage of children taking part in completing
household chores is that they benefit by developing problem-solving skills, decision-making
skills, time-management skills, inspection skills, and so forth. There is also enough evidence in
place that links children that actively participate in completing house chores being able to
exercise self-control as well as not troublemakers.4
 In fact, these behaviors become part of them
as they grow to adulthood.
While some children will complete chores assigned to them on their own, there is need to
guide them. For instance, parents should create schedules that direct kids on how they are
supposed to complete their chores; daily or weekly. Schedules helps kids to stay focused on their
routines. In addition, parents can employ the use of completion charts to track the progress of
work done by their kids. Completion charts tend to be a great deal to kid’s accomplishments.
They feel more satisfied to see their accomplishments as when they do not. This can lead to them
developing intrinsic motivation, which is one of the healthiest practices in life.5

3
 Ibid.
4
 Dunn, 2004
5
 Cline, F. W., & Fay, J. (1990). Parenting with love and logic: Teaching children responsibility. Colorado Springs,
CO: Pinion Press.
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Conclusively, parents should advice their parents on the importance of their children’s
contribution in completing family needs. This way, they will learn to appreciate themselves and
people around them. Importantly, parents should strive to encourage and motivate them in all
ways possible as they grow. They should show gratitude in order for the children to understand
that their input is of great significance.6
 This in return will help them develop life skills that will
help them in their later lives to deal with real-life problems.

6
 Ricker, A., Calmes, R. E., & Sneyd, L. W. (2006).How happy families happen: Six steps to bringing emotional and
spiritual health into your home. Center City, MN: Hazelden. 
MYHOMEWORKWRITERS.COM
Bibliography
Dunn, L. (2004). Validation of the chores: A measure of school-aged children’s participation in
household tasks. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 11(1), 179-190.
LaCaze, D., & Kirylo, J. D. (2012). Family connections: Addressing behavior issues: Practical
tips for parents. Childhood Education, 88(1), 57-58. doi: 10.1080/00094056.2012.643728
Cline, F. W., & Fay, J. (1990). Parenting with love and logic: Teaching children responsibility.
Colorado Springs, CO: Pinion Press.
Ricker, A., Calmes, R. E., & Sneyd, L. W. (2006).How happy families happen: Six steps to
bringing emotional and spiritual health into your home. Center City, MN: Hazelden.